Being a professional obsessive might make me a social pariah, but it does offer me the opportunity to trawl the internet looking for my worldly fix with relative impunity – “what! This is work!” And even more importantly, it introduces me to some extremely cool stuff. Stuff that I will invariably buy on my own recommendation, or at least leave major hints to loved ones that I need them for Christmas of my birthday. Both of which are coming up, just in case you’re reading this, Mum… Anyway, a wise man once said that the important things in life aren’t things, but I would put it to him that he obviously hadn’t seen Disney’s Villain Vinylmations, or Sideshow Toys’ Batman busts, or Derek Deal’s posters, the big idiot. Luckily, no one here shares his false philosophies, so here are all of those lovely things below…

To start – a news flash. The collecting world holds it breath in slightly anxious anticipation this week as The Bridge Direct, Inc dominated the merch-related news columns thanks to first being confirmed as Warner Bros toy maker of choice for next year’s massively prestigious The Hobbit line, and then blaming Justin Bieber’s haircut for losing them $100,000 in unsellable mop-topped dolls. The company have some previous in the merch arena, though nothing this grand yet, so it’s difficult to say whether they’ll meet expectations, and potentially pull a Star Wars action figures on us or not. My vote goes with not – there just isn’t the same fever in buying action figures these days, outside of Games Workshops, and those places are GRIM. Anyway, while we wait for those particular items (released next fall), which will include Basic Action Figures, Adventure Packs, Beast Packs, and Collector Figures, as well as “premium role play items” such as a Basic Sting Sword, a Basic Orcrist Sword, a Dwarven Battle Axe, and a Deluxe Sting Sword, here’s the usual weekly look at what else is out there for those interested in buying merch. Or at least mentally spending the thousands of dollars it would take to make these suggestions into a real collection… Hold tight for three hugely important auction lots from around the world’s greatest auction houses, including some letters written by a Rebel Without a Cause, Jim Carrey’s most puzzlesome film costume and Henry Winkler’s two wheeled nemesis. And yes, [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

I guess today isn’t just about seeing 16-minutes of footage from Avatar, the latest from James Cameron. It’s about Panasonic announcing a road trip and me buying a $1200 Avatar maquette from Sideshow.

In today’s edition of our newest column, Stuff You Need — which is a close cousin to our now defunct feature Officially Cool — we are going back to the topic of Trek thanks to the folks at Entertainment Earth.

Officially Cool is back with the weirdest crossover we’ve seen in a while: Barbie and Star Trek. Who knew the Malibu Beach House was on Toroth?

With Christmas fast approaching it is important that we do our part and help you find gifts for your most beloved geeks. Today’s selection is both fun and useful, if you prefer your breakfast with a serving of The Dark Side.

It is unlikely that this will hold you over until Battlestar Galactica makes its return in January, but we do what we can.

Terminator is back this week with the premiere of the second season of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” The movie franchise that inspired the TV series always has been a big hit in the collectibles market, and here’s a look at some of the coolest Terminator goodies.

Today we head over to BestBuy.com, one of our favorite retail outlets, where they have started a pretty neat little promotion around the pre-order of the Disney/Pixar film WALL-E.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that a film called Cthulhu completely slipped under my radar and is having a limited release this week. And it stars Tori Spelling, no less! Cthulhu fhtagn, indeed.

The most wasteful thing, is buying a box-set when you already own the movie…and you find that it was totally not worth it. Well you don’t already own either of these, so get your wallet ready.

Star Wars is going animated again this week with the release of The Clone Wars theatrical movie. This gives me the opportunity to take a look at one of my favorite current collectibles lines, Gentle Giants’ Star Wars animated style statues.

since there aren’t any big toy-type movies on the way, I’m taking the opportunity to dig into my own personal collection to show off some things that I think are officially cool. This week’s feature is all about the Women of the DC Universe line, produced by DC Direct.

The geek in me realized that if I got this, I would only be a Delorean away from having a working-fake time machine.

I just know that I need the bat-signal in my house. I’m just going to go with one of those “just in case” excuses. Like, “I need it just in case Batman was real, and my hometown was in peril.”

Today’s Officially Cool topic is directly related to a film that doesn’t come out until next week, but we have a feeling that you are thinking about it — maybe just a little bit. That film is The Dark Knight, probably the most anticipated film of the year.

Michael Turner was an amazingly talented creator and influenced a generation of artists in his relatively short time in the business. He’ll definitely be missed, and here’s a retrospective look at some of the awesome collectibles that have been produced based on his art and characters.

What is a week of The Incredible Hulk without some incredible collectibles? Look below, and you will find some of my favorite Hulk statues and figures.

I took one look at it and I said “Oh my god, I need this!” You can expect it in stores in August, which will probably be the month you have to go on welfare after all the awesome Dark Knight collectibles hit stores.

So, just to let everyone know. My birthday is August 11, and I would want nothing more than this toy. Pixar is going to be my demise. I turn into a babbling 5-year old any time they come out with a new film. Anyways, watch the video and start balancing your checkbook. I guarantee you will want this.