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In this edition of the Dandy Fun House, we’re going to close out 2024 by looking ahead to 2025 and seeing what’s on the horizon for theme parks, movies, pinball and my favorite TOTY AWARD NOMINATION picks for the upcoming 2025 Toy of the Year Awards! All this ahead! Let’s step into the FUN HOUSE! 

Hello and welcome to the Dandy Fun House 2024 year-end extravaganza where we celebrate retro pop culture, toys and games and all the fun stuff! I’m your host Neil Dandy and while most shows are just mailing it in this time of year and giving their audience a “best of” mishmash of what they’ve already done over the past year, this show is instead going to take the opportunity to look ahead into the New Year of 2025 and explore the most exciting things on the horizon. 

But first! I have to show you these futuristic DANDY FUN HOUSE T-Shirts! They do have a front and a back so you don’t get cold and we even cut 4 holes in them with the rattiest pair of scissors we could find! One to crawl your body into, one to stick your head out of and two to poke your arms through! All because we care! Find them in the Dandy Fun Shop at the Dandy Fun House website at dandyfunhouse.com 

While you’re there, be sure to load up on all the gogo juice you’ll need for the new year with our Coffee Badger t-shirts, mugs and bags of harshly-ground dark French Roast coffee! You don’t have to love France to love their harshly-ground coffee, but it helps! Just get your oui-oui over to dandyfunhouse.com and get busy! 

Alright, let’s get into this new year we’re starting down the barrel of. There’s a lot of amazing stuff on the horizon and we’re going to explore that right now starting with… 

THEME PARKS!

And I’m going to start with the big thing everyone is talking about because it really is the attraction that is sucking up all the oxygen in the room right now as far as theme park chit chat goes and that is… 

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, Orlando Florida – EPIC UNIVERSE.

This is a brand new theme park located adjacent to Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure and it’s going to include 5 different specially-themed areas: Celestial Park, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon, Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. 

Let’s just cut to the chase and talk about the REALLY interesting part of this new theme park and the only part that makes me want to visit: DARK UNIVERSE!

This is a special land within Epic Universe that is dedicated exclusively to the classic Universal Monsters, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolf Man! Sorry, no live for the Mummy or the Creature From the Black Lagoon. I mean someone has to recreate the movie theater attack from THE BLOB at some point don’t they?

Anyway, First off we’ve got an incredible looking ride called MONSTERS UNCHAINED: The Frankenstein Experiment. This one takes place inside Frankenstein’s Castle! Dr. Victoria Frankenstein continues the work of her ancestors deep below the family estate. A demonstration of her experiments to control monsters goes awry when Dracula leads a revolt of enraged monsters including The Wolf Man, The Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more!

Then we have CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF! This appears to be a roller coaster where you ride in gypsy wagons to escape a pack of hungry werewolves. One thing that stood out to me in the renderings was a picture showing people sitting sideways, forwards and backwards on this ride. The information doesn’t divulge whether or not the cars spin or if you merely have different choices on the type of seating, but further investigation into the animated tour of the overall land of Dark Universe actually does show the cars spinning freely from side to side. It has a top speed of only 37 miles per hour so as long as you can handle the werewolves, I think pops can probably handle this one with you!

THE BURNING BLADE TAVERN: Upon first viewing from the outside looking in, this appears to be fashioned after the climactic final scene from Frankenstein where he (supposedly) meets his end in a burning windmill tower. It is indeed an eatery where you can enjoy burgers, wings, bratwurst and pretzels. But just the fact that they have the burning windmill from the movie Frankenstein with the windmill ACTUALLY ON FIRE is just blowing my frankin’ mind!

Another eatery in this portion of the park is DAS STAKEHOUSE: (notice how STAKE is spelled). This is apparently the more upscale dining option in the area and is a Vampire-Themed dungeon filled with vampire artwork and artifacts. 

DARKMOOR MONSTER MAKEUP EXPERIENCE: This appears to be a laboratory where you, the visitors can yourself become on of Doctor Pretorius’ mad experiments and be transformed into werewolves, vampires, mummies and more!

So, basically, two rides, two places to eat and a makeup shop. You’re not likely to spend your entire day in Dark Universe, but if the other lands, especially Nintendo, in this park interest you, then this very well may be worth your hard-earned theme park dollars. 

Regardless, you absolutely have to visit the Universal Orlando Website and see the animated tour renderings for yourself! They are amazing!

Okay, let’s go to Sandusky, Ohio and CEDAR POINT: If you know anything about Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio then you know this is the Mecca for all things roller coaster. I don’t usually exhort about coasters on this show BUT they have a new one coming out for 2025 called SIREN’S CURSE based on the mythylogical Lake Erie lore of the sirens of the lake who lured sailrs to their doom with their sweet, seductive songs. Okay, a sea monster-themed roller coaster. Yawn! What’s the big deal about that? Well, this particular roller coaster is what is known as a “Tilt Coaster” meaning that the cars come up to a ledge where the track ends and then the entire track the riders are on tilts forward until they are all looking 160 ft straight down. The track then connects to another section of track which is also straight down and releases the cars to go hurtling at pretty much the highest rate of speed possible. Maybe some of you enthusiasts have seen tilt coasters before, but I personally have never seen anything like this before and it just looks absolutely sick! 

2025 also marks the 40th Anniversary of DOLLYWOOD in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! Of course there will be all sorts of special shows going on for the year-long celebration, but I’m really not noticing anything new here except they are touting a bigger and more spectacular drone and fireworks show. Come on Dolly, step it up a little!

 

Moving on to PINBALL – Ok, I’ve been trying to find some lists of the best new pinball machines we can expect in 2025 but in my research, all I’m finding is old articles about 2024 and the search results are otherwise completely clogged by some website called The Pinball Spot with misleading headlines and what appears to be articles written by A.I. that don’t deliver the promise of the headline. Not sure how the search engines are allowing this, but it is what it is. But being the professional that I am, I trudge on. 

The most anticipated new pinball release I’ve learned about coming for 2025 in my opinion would have to be from Spooky Pinball: THE EVIL DEAD featuring the actual voice of the man himself, Bruce Campbell. Evil Dead Pinball is the 4th game by the designer duo “Spooky Luke” and Corwin “Bug” Emery. It features a double barrel shotgun ball launcher and more goodies than you can imagine. The shack, the basement, the hand and a life-sized version of the old lady even pops out of the top of the backboard! This thing just looks absolutely bonkers! I can’t wait!

Dutch Pinball is highly rumored to be releasing an all-new version of Back To The Future expected to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the film’s release and this would also mark 35 years since the release of the first Back To The Future Pinball release by Data East Pinball in 1985. 

I did learn via knapparcade.org of a likely new release from STERN PINBALL which would be X-MEN ’97. 

And if you’ll be around the Frisco, Texas area this coming March, you might want to flap your flippers into the 2025 TEXAS PINBALL FESTIVAL happening from March 21st through the 23rd at the Embassy Suites. This will have an abundance of exhibitors where you can see the latest and greatest along with long lost classics, tournaments and just about everything pinball your feeble brain can handle. Learn more and register to attend at www.texaspinball.com ! 

I also stumbled across the 41st Annual Pinball Expo which will be happening from October 15th through 18th in beautiful Schaumburg, Illinois at the Renaissance Shaumburg Convention Center Hotel. At the time of this recording it’s a bit soon to tell you about everything this expo will have, but after 41 solid years of holding this event, I’m pretty sure they know how to do it right and this one should be worthy of your time and attendance should you be able to get your shiny silver balls to Schaumburg!

Are you ready for some MOVIES? 

Before I get into the movies I’m looking forward to in 2025, I want to acknowledge a few of my favorites from 2024. 

First off: JOKER Folie A Deux with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gag Gag. This movie was panned so hard I thought it would get a flat nose and I don’t see how this one is not going to receive a Razzie Award. It really is hands-down the biggest box office flop of the year. Knowing how everyone was screaming about what an absolute dud this thing was, I decided to go see it, clear my mind of all expectations of the payoff of finally getting to see Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker run around Gotham doing Joker stuff like everyone wanted to see him do. Instead, I let all of that go, cleared my mind and allowed the movie to take me where it wanted to and tell me the story IT had, not the story I wanted it to have. 

What I came away with was a magically tragic tale of the prison life of Arthur Fleck, his experience with a mentally unstable woman with a romantic prisoner infatuation combined with a burning desire for personal fame and attention. And no second thoughts whatsoever about using Arthur Fleck for however much of this she could wring from him. 

And finally the courtroom drama of Fleck’s mass murder trial and his ultimate, quite unspectacular demise at the hands of a fellow prisoner with a shank. It was an interesting-yet-uncomfortable tapestry of tragedy, fantasy and the human condition interwoven into a mega box office flop of preposterous proportions! And for the chutzpah of taking everyone’s expectations (and money), wadding it all up, tossing it in the garbage while extending a huge special finger to all the built-up pretense surrounding this sequel and the audience along with it, JOKER FOLIE A DEUX has indeed earned the respect of THIS moviegoer! What say you? 

Another one that surprised me was WICKED. I did not expect to like what I thought was going to be just some silly chick-flick. I tried not to like this. But I did. This is an adventure beyond measure, a massive undertaking from the visuals to the acting to the music. It’s just filled with performers that I don’t like who are blowing it all out of the water anyway and shoving their raw donut licking talent right in my face and making me eat a heaping helping of spectacle pie whether I wanted to or not. This movie abused me and I liked it! Fantastic all around, and this was just part one. Grab your broom and go see it! 

And speaking of broomstick riders, Demi Moore in THE SUBSTANCE! Wow! I mean just wow! If you’ve ever wanted to see Demi Moore in the craziest horror sci-fi film you’ve ever experienced, you have to see THE SUBSTANCE but don’t take the kids cause she’s nekkid in it. 

OK Moving right along to the movies I’m looking forward to in 2025!

Lilo and Stitch, the live action remake. This could be good or it could burn like a kerosene-soaked tiki hut. 

Jurassic World Rebirth – I don’t know… I’m pretty over the whole Jurassic thing but I’m sure this will be a fun popcorn movie. 

Then we’ve got the new Superman movie entitled… Superman. As you probably know, Henry Cavill is out and David Corenswet is in. Henry was a fantastic Superman and was set to reprise this role and for some reason, Director James Gunn recast the part which I’m really troubled by. I was really enjoying the harder edged, darker places they were taking things with Henry Cavill and now I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I will say I like the new emblem which looks more like an alien symbol than the letter S, which in my opinion is exactly what it should have always looked like. 

A Minecraft Movie – This is the big Jack Black flick of 2025 and it looks like a fun one for the kids that adults can also enjoy. I’ve seen the trailer and to me if looks like one of the new Jumanji movies repackaged in that 4 people get sucked into the game and connect with an expert builder who helps them survive the endless challenges and pitfalls of this crazy, crazy digital world (zeros and ones!) 

Then there’s the live action remake of Snow White. There was a lot of ridiculous controversy this past year over a picture of a group of actors who were portraying the dwarves and people were wringing their hands and clutching their pearls in that they didn’t look like the dwarves they grew up with. And I’m going to say it, they were upset that the actors portraying the dwarves weren’t white and believing that they weren’t white because of the woke diversity-pushing agendas of Hollywood. 

I don’t even know where to begin with this except to say, These were pictures of the MOTION ACTORS BEING REPLACED WITH CGI ! They used these real actors to play against and to capture better human movements and interactions between the characters! It didn’t matter what they look like! I can understand being sick of identity being interjected for the sake of an agenda but for the love of God, get a clue before getting offended by every picture you see floating around the internet people! 

This stated… speaking of looks… The premise that the gorgeously stunning Gal Gadot playing the evil queen would be jealous of a Dora the Explorer-looking Snow White with clammy skin and a giant hairy mole on her face (still cute, I’m just saying in comparison to Gal Gadot) is beyond credibility. It’s like that SNL skit where Chris Farley competes with Patrick Swayze for the last open Chippendales spot. What are we doing here folks? 

Captain America – Brave New World : OK I’m not crazy about the title. It’s not bad. It’s just not good or interesting. That said, the upgrading of the B-level superhero FALCON finally putting on his big boy pants and taking up the shield of Captain America is an interesting angle that I’m looking forward to. It’s about time FALCON got his due. Too bad it will not be in the form of a true FALCON movie (I guess you could argue that this is a true FALCON movie in that it combines his strengths with the remaining assets of Captain America to take him to the next level), but this is pretty close and I’ll take it! I think what I’m reserved about is that I feel this movie is telling me that FALCON couldn’t measure up the way he was and needed Captain America’s leftover technology to bring him up to snuff. And to me, that hints of a disrespect for the legacy that’s been built up over several movies for the FALCON character. Regardless, it’s an interesting dynamic, I’m looking forward to seeing it. I just would have at least liked a better title. Brave New World is just sort of lackluster to me. 

Guillermo Del Toro’s new adaptation of Frankenstein which will star Mia Goth is also coming in the new year. There’s not a lot of information out about this one, much less a trailer but I’m of two minds about this one. Half of me us saying Do we really need another Frankenstein movie? Let’s move on to something new and fresh. While the other half of me is screaming with joy like a little teenaged fangirl. If course we need a new Frankenstein movie! 

Then we have Popeye the Slayer Man (yes, you heard that right) who was apparently misconfigured and physically altered by a chemically tainted batch of spinach. He now lurks in the shadows of the old abandoned spinach factory on the docks and metes out his horrific punishments on any who might dare trespass. I’m guessing the rights to Popeye have recently become public domain. Umm… Yeah . 

There’s a whole lot more in the world of movies but honestly it’s mostly sequels, remakes and reboots but hey.. Dogman is finally getting his own feature film and that’s Hollywood throwing us a bone! 

2025 TOY INDUSTRY NEWS! 

Ok it’s a bit tough to get a list of next year’s most anticipated toys when we’re in the middle of Christmas season for this year, so in the TOY category what I thought I would do instead is to let you know some of the most interesting toys of 2024 that are currently nominated in various categories for a coveted 2025 TOTY Award (Toy Of The Year).

ACTION FIGURE OF THE YEAR

Probably the coolest nominee in this category I found had to be the Godzilla x Kong 13″ Mega Figures by Playmates Toys, Inc. How can you go wrong? 

COLLECTIBLES

In the COLLECTIBLES category, the one that caught my attention the most would have to be Deddy Bears Plush in Coffin by Innov8 Academy which are cute stuffed bears that come in coffin-shaped boxes and I suppose the idea is for kids to get comfortable cuddling corpses?

CONSTRUCTION PLAYSET OF THE YEAR

For CONSTRUCTION PLAYSET OF THE YEAR I’m giving the nod to Gecko Run: Marble Run by Thames & Kosmos which is a playset where you set up a series of tracks, tubes, funnels and loops to hurl your marbles through crazy adventures and scenarios!

CREATIVE TOY OF THE YEAR

In the category for CREATIVE TOY OF THE YEAR I’m really liking the Clixo Tropical Birds Pack by Toyish Labs which consists of various colorful foam parts that you snap together to create your own flock of tropical birds! Now that’s neat!

DOLL OF THE YEAR

There’s also a category for DOLL OF THE YEAR which I’m going to skip because as a 56 year old man I don’t feel quite qualified to make a pick here but I will venture to say the doll collection NAME I found the most interesting in this category would have to be YUMMILAND!

EDUCATIONAL TOY

For the best EDUCATIONAL TOY I’m thumbs-upping the National Geographic Epic Circuits Science Kit by Blue Marble. I’m looking at pictures of this kit and I couldn’t tell you what half the things are here but it looks cool! Way cooler than the science kits I played with when I was a kid. I just want to dig in and geek out like crazy on this thing!

GAME OF THE YEAR

For the best GAME OF THE YEAR, honestly the only one nominated that I found interesting was SNAP 2 IT by Elenco Electronics which looks like a bunch if components you snap together to make various electronic gizmos that do electronic gizmo types of things. I’m not really sure how this is a game but I’m guessing it must be competitive in some nature for it to be in this category. 

GROWN UP TOYS

In the category of GROWN UP TOYS I didn’t see much that really caught my attention except this line of high end hot wheels cars with crazy teal-colored tracks to run them on called Hot Wheels x Daniel Arsham Collection. This just looks like a super nice set of collectibles for the adult Hot Wheels enthusiast. The cars appear to practically be jewelry! Or if Hot Wheels and Faberge eggs had babies… 

INFANT / TODDLER TOY

Speaking of babies! For the tiny tots in the INFANT / TODDLER TOY category, I found the Ms. Rachel Surprise Learning Box by Spin Master to be the neatest thing. It looks like you get a colorful box that you stick your hand into and pull out a variety of different toys. Because teaching kids to stick their hands and fingers into dark hidden places with the promise of a toy surprise is always a great idea dontcha think?

OUTDOOR TOY

In the OUTDOOR TOY category I’m really liking the EastPoint Sports Premium Axe Throw Target Game by Buffalo Games. It’s a freaking home version of axe throwing! How can you not want this!?

PRESCHOOL TOY OF THE YEAR

Fisher-Price Rockin’ Record Player has this one hands down! I mean, it has to be! It’s a modern version of the classic toy record player from the 60’s and 70s but instead of just being a glorified windup music box, this thing plays real recordings and scratches like a record when you move the tone arm and has a great modern look! Nicely done!

SPECIALTY TOY OF THE YEAR

I absolutely have to not only go with Pinball Machine Maker: Gumball Rally by Thames & Kosmos but I don’t see how I could stand to live with myself if I didn’t get my hands on one of these and do a full-on review for this show! It’s a kit where you put together your own actual working pinball machine that uses gumballs! It’s pinball and a treat! This WILL be on my show agenda for early 2025!

TECH TOY

In the TECH TOY category I don’t know if I actually like this thing, am creeped out by it or a little of both, but I found the Hero: Sound-Sensing Robot by Thames & Kosmos to be the neatest thing going here. You basically assemble a 6-legged robot that responds to audible cues via a handheld clicker not unlike robot toys we had in the 70s, but this thing is a bit more sophisticated I believe and it also dances. It looks kind of like a mechanical cyclops spider. Definitely something you want to point towards your sister’s bedroom and march right in there after dark!

And that’s our look ahead at the amusements to watch for in 2025! What are YOU looking forward to? Let me know! If you’re enjoying this episode on one of the socials, leave a comment. Otherwise you can email me at neil@dandyfunhouse.com 

MY FAVORITE DANDY FUN HOUSE EPISODE OF 2024!

I don’t usually like doing retrospectives but I am going to look back at 2024 for just a moment here and would like to say my favorite episode was undoubtedly the Halloween episode. It’s always the Halloween episode and it’s always the episode that results in my lowest ratings as far as viewership and listenership. But I don’t care. I love Halloween and this year we had the amazing return of Count Drahoon which just put everything on a whole nuther level! 

DANDY FUN HOUSE Plans for 2025

I would love to start including content from YOU! Yeah YOU! Like your theme park visits, toy and game reviews, favorite retro amusements. I would really like someone in the pinball business to show off new pinball machines as well retro classics. Just remember, while this show is not aimed at kids, it is family-friendly and made to be something you can enjoy with the kids! So don’t be raunchy. You can be gross, just don’t be raunchy! Feel free to include a quick plug for yourself and/or your business as long as the whole thing isn’t just one big commercial. Sound interesting? Send me links to your SHORT FORM videos at neil@dandyfunhouse.com or just use the contact form on the Dandy Fun House website at www.dandyfunhouse.com 

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And THAT ladies and gentlemen puts a bow on 2024. Come on back next year for some amazing new adventures in 2025,right here at the Dandy Fun House where everything is always FUN AND DANDY! See ya next year!

Neil Dandy is the creator of The Dandy Fun House and the alter-ego of Neil Smith, the Big Cheese at Neil Smith Entertainment, musician, Emcee, Paratransit Driver and Author. Aren’t you impressed?