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The Best “Me on November 30th vs. Me on December 1st” Memes

The calendar has finally flipped to December, meaning anyone giving you dirty looks for listening to Christmas music is now officially the bad guy. Of course that also means the internet celebrated the start of the most wonderful time of the year with one of its best annual traditions–showing how our attitudes have completely changed along with the month with a bevy of ridiculous “me on November 30th vs. me on December 1st” memes.

Me on November 30 vs me on December 1st.#December #December1st pic.twitter.com/5vb9qRoHRL

— Izzy Hernandez (@MyDearJournal) December 1, 2017

As huge dorks with a fondness for expressing ourselves via pop culture foolishness, w were eager to get in on the act too.

us on november 30th vs. us on december 1st: pic.twitter.com/BastFNL3YH

— Nerdist (@nerdist) December 1, 2017

Literally what else did you expect from us? If you said “Star Wars” don’t worry, some people we know took care of that.

US on november 30th vs. us on december 1st: pic.twitter.com/Zv3YwIxOtu

— Geek & Sundry (@GeekandSundry) December 1, 2017

But there were so many great ones out there this year, including many you shared with us we, collected some of the best, nerdiest ones we came across. Because what could be better than holiday cheer combined with internet silliness.

us on november 30th vs. us on december 1st: pic.twitter.com/AoPWFZb3Iw

— Erin (@erninlow) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30 vs me on December 1 pic.twitter.com/u4aCojx76N

— Brandon Garcia (@ArchemedisDaVi) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30 vs Me on December 1. pic.twitter.com/8y8AnhWjyv

— Matt Rorabeck (@mattrorabeck) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30 vs. Me on December 1 pic.twitter.com/KyunNPDpCH

— Ilea Chau (@IleaChau) December 1, 2017

me on November 30 vs me on December 1 pic.twitter.com/Kf7ZT1MJxe

— Anna Turner (@OwlsEatMice) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30 vs. Me on December 1 pic.twitter.com/ULNzKL0kaH

— Kareem Yasin (@thekareem) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30 vs. Me on December 1 pic.twitter.com/ZV1o7ARYXH

— Kareem Yasin (@thekareem) December 1, 2017

Us on November 30th vs. us on December 1st: pic.twitter.com/MSyGCinJ4K

— JP Rakath (@JP_Rakath) December 1, 2017

us on november 30th vs. us on december 1st pic.twitter.com/zdixfWjypP

— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) December 1, 2017

Me on November 30th vs. Me on December 1st: pic.twitter.com/cuBYhcr7CE

— Luke Hallett (@notable_loserer) December 1, 2017

us on november 30th vs. us on december 1st: (life day edition) pic.twitter.com/CG0ccNtmEJ

— ThinkGeek (@thinkgeek) December 1, 2017

us on november 30th vs. us on december 1st: pic.twitter.com/F1TtdWhNrP

— Calamity

Daisy Ridley is a Literal Force in New THE LAST JEDI Training Featurette

Warning: This post contains minor spoilers from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Proceed with caution, Padawans!

Happy Rey Day, everyone! Lucasfilm has officially made today the day to honor Rey, the primary heroine of the new Star Wars trilogy. In exactly two weeks, The Last Jedi will shed some additional light on Rey’s past as she charts her course for the future. Of course, Rey will have an even larger share of action scenes for this sequel, now that she’s been revealed as a powerful Force user. A newly released video has given us a look at Daisy Ridley‘s Last Jedi training sessions, and director Rian Johnson just couldn’t stop himself from offering up a few spoilers for context.

Ridley’s training was interesting to watch not only to see how she practices her moves, but also for any hints they provided about the movie. For example, one of the last clips in this video follows Ridley as she rehearses a fight with several lightsaber-wielding opponents at once. We’re really looking forward to watching that battle play out on screen.

The video also features a few of Ridley’s co-stars training for their fights, including Adam Driver and Kelly Marie Tran, the latest addition to The Last Jedi cast. It’s good to know that Rose Tico will be able to handle herself in a fight, but the other major attraction here is the grudge match between Gwendoline Christie‘s Captain Phasma and John Boyega‘s Finn. Boyega also dropped a potential spoiler about that battle while hyping it up here.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will arrive in theaters on Friday, December 15.

What did you think about the cast’s training video for The Last Jedi? Unleash the Force in the comment section below!

Need More from the Star Wars Galaxy?

Will Rey be a part of Star Wars after Daisy Ridley?
Look how chill Benicio del Toro’s The Last Jedi character is.
Sebastian Stan has a message for his dad Mark Hamill.

Images: Lucasfilm

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH Gets a 2-Season Order at Netflix

Although the adaptation of Archie Comics‘ classic series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was expected to land on the CW as a companion series to Riverdale, the comic brand has officially announced the new Sabrina series has instead landed a 20-episode, two-season, straight-to-series order at Netflix. This means no greater Archie-verse on the CW (for now), but it at least guarantees that Sabrina fans will get two full seasons of the series, and—without censors—the show will be allowed to go to much spookier (and sexier?) places than it would have on network television.

A lot of the same creatives that helped bring Riverdale to life will also be bringing Sabrina to the small screen as well. The new show will be written by Archie Comics Chief Creative Officer and Riverdale Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, directed by Lee Toland Krieger, and produced by Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Brothers Studios. Greg Berlanti will serve as executive producer, because his plate is apparently not full enough with fifty gazillion comic book shows already.

The new, as-yet-untitled series (which we’re betting will be called Sabrina for simplicity’s sake), will be mostly inspired from the critically acclaimed Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book series written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and artist Robert Hack, which gave fans an updated and modern re-imagining of Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s occult origins. This dark coming-of-age story deals with horror, the occult, and witchcraft and finds Sabrina struggling to reconcile her dual nature (being half-witch and half-mortal) while protecting her family and the world from the forces of evil.

In the introduction to Chilling Adventures’ original collected edition, Aguirre-Sacasa said this of the comics’ tone: “If Afterlife with Archie was about Lovecraft and zombies and body horror, Sabrina would be more psychological, a bit more subtle (but only a bit), a bit more sexual (as stories about witches often are). There would be less humor than Afterlife, which strives for a Sam Raimi-vibe; this would be more like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist and The Omen and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible…. A dark, occult coming of age story.” If he can translate that to television, we are so very down.

One thing is for sure: it seems, based on the description, this version of the classic character will be a total departure from the 1996 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch comedy series starring Melissa Joan Hart. But producer Greg Berlanti loves a bit of stunt casting when called for (See: original movie Supergirl Helen Slater and former TV Superman Dean Cain as Kara Danvers’ parents on Supergirl), so don’t be surprised if Melissa Joan Hart gets some kind of role on this new series.

No firm date has been given for the show’s premiere, but it is expected to drop sometime in 2018.

Are you as excited as we are for a darker version of everyone’s favorite teenage witch? Be sure to let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Need More Sabrina?

Take a look at the first few script pages!
Here’s why Melissa Joan Hart prefers a Clarissa reboot to Sabrina!
And finally, check out 7 Archie Comics that’ll seriously spook ya.

Images: Archie Comics

Ugly Christmas Sweater Turns Smartphones into a Yule Log Fireplace

It’s that time of year again when everybody gets to be jolly, open gifts that are hopefully in the shape of a giant LEGO Millennium Falcon box, and relax around the yule log fire that sits just above somebody’s naval. OK, that’s not exactly how the classic holiday scene usually looks, but it can with this Knitted Crackling Fireplace Ugly Christmas Sweater, which utilizes a smartphone playing video of an 8-bit yule log fireplace to set the mood for sippin’, snugglin’, and seriously considering the odds of a lithium-ion battery fire.

The sweater is made by Digital Dudz, the company that was founded by former NASA engineer Mark Rober. You know, the guy who’s built the world’s largest super soaker, skinned whole watermelons, and taught us the best ways to avoid getting scammed at carnivals.

Ever since his first “gaping hole” Halloween costume garnered tons of attention and praise, Rober has been using a combination of upper body wear (torso clothes?) and smartphones to create cool little visual scenes inside of festive outfits. And as with most of the other Digital Dudz wear, all you have to do is purchase this ugly Christmas sweater, then download the free Digital Dudz app and play the 8-bit fire, which also features cracklin’ fire sounds. And voila, you have your own little naval-tivity scene.

To display this dankest of Dudz, you’ll need to dish out about $60 dollars plus shipping. There are also plenty of other, somewhat cheaper, Christmas sweaters to pick from as well however, including one that showcases Santa brandishing his buttocks. Turns out his belly isn’t the only thing that wiggles like a bowl full of jelly.

What do you think about this relatively high-tech Christmas sweater? Would you dare wear this spicy holiday gear or do you prefer your ugly a little more retro? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: Digital Dudz

Need More Gift Ideas?

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Westeros Pops to Life With GAME OF THRONES Paper Art Cards

We might not be able to send scrolls via raven like they do in the Seven Kingdoms, but now there’s a way to add a touch of Game of Thrones to our holiday letters this year, thanks to these gorgeous new pop-up paper art cards featuring some of the most memorable locales and characters from the Realm.

These stunning, officially licensed HBO paper cards are made by Lovepop and are designed in their “Slicegami” style. They offer five different designs for you to choose from. You can get Daenerys riding a fire-breathing Drogon, the Night King on the back of wight Viserion breathing whatever that blue stuff is, the Iron Throne in King’s Landing, Euron Greyjoy’s massive warship, and the weirwood tree at Winterfell.

The cards recently went on sale, and while you might expect they are pricier than your standard Hallmark fare, you won’t need a loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos to buy them either. Each one individually will cost you $15, but you can buy a package with all five for $50. You can see the rest of them in our gallery below.

So while it would be cool if we could send our Christmas cards with ravens, we’re confident our friends and family who are big Game of Thrones fans will prefer opening these up instead of a regular old scroll.

Which one of these cards would you most like to receive in the mail? What other characters or places from the Seven Kingdoms would you love to see get its own card? Send your best ideas via your keyboard to our comments section below.

Images: HBO/Lovepop

Stay in Westeros with more Game of Thrones stories!

That time Kit Harington pranked Rose Leslie with a Jon Snow head.
HBO is building a literal spoiler wall for season eight filming.
What the latest casting tells us about the final season.

Automats, Soylent and How Retro-Futurism Influences How We Eat

There’s just something so cool about retro things coming back in style. Vinyl sales are up when most music sales are down, arcade bars have surged in popularity, and it’s only a matter of time before we all start Instagramming drone-operated iterations of window-mounted baby cages. Basically, good ideas have a tendency to resurface from time to time and that’s certainly the case with a new Wow Bao restaurant in Chicago that’s brought the automat, a largely dead concept, back into fashion.

The initial concept for the automat was simple: a cafeteria-style restaurant where cheap, pre-made meals could be procured quickly, via vending machines that lined the walls. Wow Bao takes that conceit to the next level, adding in touchscreens that present orders far more made-to-order than the automats of old. Instead of coin-operated vending machine doors, Wow Bao’s semi-see-through flat screen monitors open when your food is ready.

You simply wait until your name is displayed on one of them…



…and give it a quick double-tap to open it up so you can grab your food and go!



Automats were long lauded as the future of convenience for modern-day living, touted by old-timey newsreels as a compliment to the “go-go city lifestyle” of “the world of tomorrow!”; the flashy, futuristic intersection of food and convenience. And while I doubt I’ll see a completely automated restaurant experience in my lifetime [editor’s note: please, of course you will], the concept is such a fun mish-mash of retro futurism, it may just catch on once again in our nostalgia-and-convenience obsessed world. As a culture, we’ve always been inspired by things that combine the two: just look at sci-fi movies.

Things like computers, AI, and space travel were written about in fiction long before they were a reality. Hell, the Jetsons even had a Roomba! And though the “kitchens of tomorrow” often got things very wrong, there’s a few real life culinary contraptions out there that seem rather kindred to stuff in TV and movies.

3D Printers are Proto-Replicators

Star Trek wrote the book on on-demand food replication. Simply call out what you want—“Tea, Earl Grey, Hot!”—and their replicators instantly materialize it for you. The tech in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy may have had trouble making “something almost, but not quite entirely unlike” tea but the craving detection machine from the 2005 film is an improvement on the Trek version.

Due to the lack of teleportation and mind-reading technology, we’re nowhere near getting these in real life, but people have started to create on-demand food items using 3D printing. You can print chocolate into various shapes, use the Foodini to prepare difficult food items, and there are even folks who’ve found a way—for some awful reason—to 3D print meat.

All-in-one FoodGoop is Already Here

Most people value their feelings about food so much that dystopian movies and TV can give us a quick punch to the gut simply by offering a bleak meal plan. The protein slop in The Matrix had “everything the body needs” but tasted like “runny eggs,” Rick & Morty recently featured a boring pill-based economy, and the Charlton Heston classic Soylent Green’s eponymous foodstuffs was, well… why don’t you take this one, Chuck!

Oddly enough and, despite often being framed as a negative in fiction, the idea of absolute convenience is pretty appealing IRL. There’s a multi-billion dollar industry surrounding protein supplements and you can’t listen to a podcast today without hearing about a hassle-free meal prep service. Plus, setting aside the weird choice of name, the meal replacement company Soylent has become massively popular in recent years for those who seek expensive simplicity in their diets.

The Snowpiercer’s Menu isn’t THAT Bad

Some fiction gives food a future that’s, let’s say, hard to swallow but is probably pretty likely. Whether it’s the Akrennian Beetle Sashimi in Titan A.E., Kep-mok Blood Ticks in Galaxy Quest, or a nice big bowl of Klingon racht—a time may come where most meals are made from bugs. It’s even one of the more jarring reveals in Snowpiercer.



As bleak as bug-filled dinners might seem, a sustainable future for food probably involves both the creepy and the crawly. Insects have a smaller impact on the environment, are often a rich protein source, and are far more economical to raise as food. A piece on CNBC cites the FAO explaining that crickets require “six times less feed than cattle.” And insect-centric meals aren’t too far fetched, since many cultures already eat them regularly, and recipe lists like this are all over the internet.

When it comes to food, movies, TV, books, and the like, are rarely spot-on with their portrayals. There’s just no telling what trends—past, present, future, or fiction—will do to the world of food but, for the most part, we seem to be getting the best of it. Though I am pretty bummed I’ll probably never get that flying ramen shop from The Fifth Element to scoot up to my third story apartment window.

What futuristic, retro, or just plain impossible food concepts would you want to be a reality? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Need More Weird Food Content? Eat These Stories Up!

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Images: Blake Rodgers;  Buena Vista Pictures; 9 News Perth

How AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Could Bring Back Cate Blanchett’s Hela

Warning! This post includes spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok. Proceed with caution.

Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t come out until May of 2018, but since the trailer finally dropped this week, we’ve got Marvel on the mind. Specifically, we need to talk about Thanos’ motivation. The MCU’s big bad first appeared way back in 2012 in the mid-credits stinger for The Avengers. Since then, he’s popped up here and there, always wanting to take over the known universe. But why?

To some, that may seem like a ridiculous question. Thanos is a larger-than-life supervillain. His motivation is evil. Duh. But there’s more to it than that.

In the world of comics, Thanos is driven by one of the most base desires among sentient beings: love. But who could a monster like Thanos be in love with? The anthropomorphic personification of Death, obviously. In the Marvel universe, Death is one of the beings birthed at the beginning of the Universe. Her siblings include Eternity, Infinity, and Oblivion. In his quest to gain the love of Death, Thanos brings her souls and corpses like you would bring your love interest flowers and chocolate. While never that impressed, Death nonetheless keeps resurrecting Thanos because, hey, free souls.

It’s pretty late in the game for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to add Death into the mix. Infinity War is already brimming over with superheroes, and Thanos is bringing his “children” along for the ride. Gamora and Nebula may have left the nest, but Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, and Cull Obsidian are still on dad’s payroll. Throwing in anthropomorphic personifications of immortal entities might be a bridge too far for the film’s runtime to handle. Luckily, there’s a tailor-made solution waiting in the wings: Marvel already has a Death and her name is Cate Blanchett.

Introduced in Thor: Ragnarok, Blanchett’s Hela is already known to the audience, cutting down on origin story time. And she’s the perfect fit. One of Blanchett’s best line reads in Ragnarok is when she declares herself to be unlike anything Thor has ever fought before. “I am not a queen or a monster,” she proclaims. “I’m the Goddess of Death.”

There’s little reason to believe Death herself can ever be truly vanquished despite how Ragnarok shook out. On top of that, audiences have no clue what Hela was up to in the millennia between her fall from Asgard and subsequent return. As the ruler of the dead, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Thanos was drawn to her. After all, she’s Cate Blanchett, for cripes’ sake!

Letting Hela slip into the Death-shaped hole in Thanos’ heart would give the man some decent motivation. Who wouldn’t take on a team of superheroes for the love of Cate Blanchett? It would also give Marvel a reason to bring Hela back into the fold, no doubt leading to some wonderful scenes between her, Thor, and Loki. Picture it: Brothers Thor and Loki and sisters Gamora and Nebula all stand together before Thanos in a climactic moment. Thanos looks around sheepishly and motions off-camera. Hela appears and the two embrace. Suddenly Thor and Loki realize they are now uncles to Gamora and Nebula. Shenanigans and the end of the world ensue.

Villains who want to rule and/or destroy the world for the mere sake of it are boring. What would make someone like Thanos get up and try to seize the universe day after day? Surely more than a thirst for blood. That would get boring after a millennia or three, right? After testing audiences with years of glimpses, Thanos is too important to fall back on such rote tropes. Spice things up, Marvel. Give the man an unrequited love of Cate Blanchett’s Death.

But should Marvel add Hela into the Infinity War mix, how would the Goddess of Death feel about such a thing? When last we saw her, Hela was trying to restore the Old World Order of conquest and subjugation, a task she’d been created for. How would she view Thanos’ crusade? As I see it, there are three ways it could shake out: Hela joins Thanos, Hela rebuffs Thanos, or Hela uses Thanos. Each one would create an imbalance of power that would spill over into whatever Marvel has planned for Phase IV. Like a Rainbow Bridge made of blood and corpses.

So, let’s break these options down. The first, and honestly least likely, is that Hela joins Thanos. I say least likely because Hela doesn’t play well with others and is not about to start taking orders from a giant purple warlord. The second option, that Hela would spurn Thanos’ attempts to woo her, feels like something she would do. Blanchett does an amazing version of “scorned and annoyed.” How dare Thanos take away kills that should rightfully be hers? If Loki has taught us anything, it’s Asgardians are capricious creatures. Should Hela denounce Thanos, it’s possible she could (temporarily) join the Avengers in order to defeat him. Why? Because if Thanos destroys the galaxy, there’s nothing left for Hela to do. I said she might help them, not that she wouldn’t be selfish about it.

Finally, and the most likely option, is a combination of the two. One where Hela pretends to love Thanos in order to use him to further her own agenda. I wouldn’t put it past her to play both sides, turning to the Avengers with a false white flag of surrender. With Asgard destroyed, the Goddess of Death needs a new power source. What better one that the Infinity Gauntlet? Whether she acquires it from her doting boy toy or the naively trusting Avengers matters not. The point is, Hela would be unstoppable once the Gauntlet was on her dainty, deadly hand. A foe worthy of Phase IV if ever I saw one.

Of course, this would all hinge on Hela surviving Ragnarok. Fortunately, an easy explanation was embedded within the film: the Eternal Flame. This is the magic Hela uses to resurrect the ancient Asgardian army to do her bidding. It seems entirely reasonable a spark of said Flame could stave off oblivion from an immortal being such as the Goddess of Death. Perhaps, if Marvel wanted, Hela could be in a weakened state at the beginning of Infinity War, leading her to use subterfuge, flattery, and lies to accomplish her goals until she’s regained her full strength.

What do y’all think? Should Infinity War bring back Hela as a Wild Card? Would you like to see Cate Blanchett team up with or against Thanos? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Marvel Entertainment

Want more Avengers?

Our full Avengers: Infinity War trailer breakdown!
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Will Rey Be Part of STAR WARS After Daisy Ridley?

Daisy Ridley says Episode IX will be her swan song as Rey, but do we hope the character will return? We discussed that on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, along with what Universal’s Dark Universe might have looked like in the hands of Guillermo del Toro, and the internet’s best reactions to the Avengers: Infinity War trailer.

Jessica Chobot was joined by Director of Development Brendon Schulze, Bizarre States‘ Andrew Bowser, and Nerdist News writer Aliza Pearl on today’s show, and they led off with Daisy Ridley’s comments she’s done playing Rey after the final movie in the trilogy. Would we like to see the character in more adventures though? Will she get a strong sendoff in Ridley’s farewell performance? And do we wish director Rian Johnson went through with his plans to make Luke blind in The Last Jedi like Rogue One‘s Chirrut Imwe?

The panel then moved on to Guillermo del Toro saying he regrets turning down Universal’s offer way back in 2007 to lead their Dark Universe. Considering that was before shared universes became so prevalent, does Universal deserve some credit for being ahead of the curve? If del Toro had accepted their offer would the franchise have been successful instead of being DOA like it is now? Is his new film The Shape of Water his own take on the Creature From the Black Lagoon? Could this universe get a reboot some day? And what’s our dream cinematic universe?

Finally, the internet did not disappoint us with their reactions to yesterday’s amazing first Infinity War trailer. Which ones were our favorites? Did we love the jokes about Thanos’ missing hat, or all the memes about all the people he looks like? And could Steve Rodgers please share his hair care secrets with us?

pic.twitter.com/2cYO1f9W4h

— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) November 30, 2017

We always want you to tune in to Nerdist News Talks Back when it airs live weekdays at 1:00 p.m. PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels, that way you can be a part of the conversation. And we promise we’ll still be there long after Episode IX.

But you can still share your thoughts on today’s topics by talking back to us in the comments below.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

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LEGO’s 2017 STAR WARS Advent Calendar is Strong with the Festive Force (Review)

Warning: If you like to be surprised by advent calendars every day—surprised, at least, by the days that haven’t been given away by the box artwork already—be warned that this review contains spoilers for that sort of thing. If you’re reading to know if this will be a good gift that will happily surprise its recipient, you’re in the right place.

When I was a kid, advent calendars made December extra fun as Christmas was counted down to with a new surprise picture every day (save Christmas Eve, when the image would always turn out to be a Nativity scene). I’d envy the more-spoiled kids whose parents got them the ones with a new chocolate every day; my parents were a spare-the-teeth couple. But never could I have dreamed there’d be one with a new toy every day, and a new Star Wars toy at that.

These are golden days, kids of today.

This year’s LEGO Star Wars advent calendar is heavily themed to The Force Awakens, with a fold-out display that shows Jakku and Starkiller Base all decked out for Christmas Life Day. But for the first three days in December, you get Rebels toys: The Ghost, Sabine, and the Phantom.

One big difference between LEGO and its competitors can be seen in these skillfully designed miniature vehicles, where shape and color is cleverly used to suggest the real thing. Note also the different panels suggested on the Millennium Falcon.

After the three Rebels items, the calendar follows a chronological Force Awakens timeline for about ten days. Troop lander, Stormtrooper, Poe, Poe’s tripod gun, Rey’s Speeder, Teedo, the Luggabeast…interestingly, Teedo’s minifig is full size, even though he’s a smaller character onscreen.

As you can see, it then gets a li’l goofy at the end with a snow-blower for the snowtrooper. Other gag toys include a sled with presents, and…a toolbox (maybe it represents Dad’s favorite present?).

Other vehicles and figures mixed in include a Scout Walker, Death Star Gunner, Rogue One TIE Striker, and an Imperial Officer whose sideburns make me think he’s Admiral Motti. Now that’s irony, since Motti was no fan of religion and would therefore probably hate Christmas.

Figures can ride some of the vehicles chibi-style, if that’s your thing.

All told, there are eight minifigs, including the main lure of Santa BB-8.

But you’re going to want to be very careful with him, and here’s why. Look at the instructions first, which show you how to put a red stud on his head before adding the Santa hat. If you just put the hat on, you get this…

…and immediately after you get a crying loved one going “I RUINED IT! I’M SO STUPID!” And while it is tough to separate the pieces, they have ruined nothing. Here’s what works to fix it: boil some water in a teacup in the microwave. Hold the head underwater with a spoon for a few minutes (it will naturally float otherwise). When the water cools a bit, pick the head up, then drop it on a hard floor and the parts should pop apart.

Note: beneath their helmets, these First Order troops are not in the holiday spirit.

Entertainment Earth furnished this sample for the purposes of review, and they charge $39.99 for the set. That’s pretty standard retail, with Amazon offering a range in which $39.99 is the low end. Considering it ought to provide a small moment of happiness every day for 24 days, that seems like quite the deal.

I still don’t know what this one is supposed to be, though. Can somebody let me know in comments?

Images: Luke Y. Thompson

LIKE TOY REVIEWS? HERE ARE MORE!

Now you see this Predator…Now you don’t (see parts of him).
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Luke Y. Thompson has been a Star Wars toy collector for…well, more years than you can imagine! Tweet him!

Did the AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Trailer Reveal Iron Man’s Fate?

With over 230 million views, the Avengers: Infinity War teaser is now YouTube’s most viewed trailer inside of 24 hours. We may have collectively watched it a few hundred times as we prepared our epic breakdown of the trailer. But along the way, we noticed that the trailer could have some pretty big implications about the fate of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. Today’s Nerdist News is borrowing the Eye of Agamotto to determine what this means for Tony Stark’s future in the MCU.

Warning: there are potential spoilers ahead for Infinity War! It’s only a theory, until it isn’t. Either way, this is your last chance to turn back!

Join host and Stark Industries’ top shareholder, Jessica Chobot, as she takes us through the pivotal scenes that may lead to Tony Stark’s demise. Nearly ten years ago, Downey’s starring role in Iron Man set the stage for the MCU as we know it. It’s no secret that Downey’s extended contract is up after the fourth Avengers movie, and we’ve long suspected that his exit from Marvel would come with some finality for Stark. After all, what better way to kick off the new era than by letting the MCU’s biggest hero get the epic death that he deserves?

Remember the shot early in the trailer of Tony Stark nursing an injured hand? That appears to be the same location where we see Thanos kick the crap out of Iron Man later in the trailer. If so, then Stark either lost his armor due to damage or he intentionally took it off. In the footage, we also see Thanos put Spider-Man through a pretty intense beating as well. And that’s why we think that Stark removed his armor. We can easily see a scenario in which Stark puts the armor on an injured Spider-Man before sending him away to save Peter’s life at the cost of his own. The first Avengers movie also had Stark make the sacrifice play, and maybe it will stick this time.

Again, this is our working theory. It may or may not happen. But it would make a lot of sense. Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming set up Stark as Peter Parker’s very reluctant mentor. Stark tried to keep his distance from Peter, in part because he wanted Spider-Man to be a better hero than he is. Peter is someone that Tony would probably be willing to die for, because he may genuinely care for him by now. Plus, if Spider-Man goes on to become the lead of the next phase of films, then Stark’s death would pass the torch to Spidey as the MCU’s new flagship hero.

Do you think that Tony Stark will die saving Spider-Man? Share your Infinity War theories below!

Images: Marvel Studios

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