Balls! (lemmy.world)
 

I found this photo in an eBay listing for a batch of used pinball-machine balls in July of 2000.

I didn't bid, but I messaged the seller letting them know they absolutely made my day with this photo and they replied with gratitude. I even set it as the desktop image on a computer I used in the arcade workshop I worked in at the time.

It's been sitting on my hard drives for 26 years, and I no longer wish to keep it to myself.

Dozens of shiny metal balls as used in pinball machines have been arranged on a carpet to form the word "Balls!" with an exclamation point and underlining.
 

Back in 2012 Diamond Select Toys released a highly-detailed 8-inch This Island Earth Metaluna Mutant action figure that comes with his own interocitor. (Like, who doesn't have an interocitor?) I'd been keeping an eye on evilBay for one to come up at a not-so-stupid price, and eventually lucked out and snagged one.

The Mutant figure and Interocitor as sold, with the original image on the interocitor's screen.

As manufactured, the interocitor has a sticker on its screen depicting the pattern of curvy lines seen once or twice in the film. This sticker is surprisingly chintzy and easy to pull off, with a little gentle encouragement from an xacto knife under the corners.

Meanwhile, I'd grabbed some screenshots from MST3K: The Movie of our beloved Dr. Forrester in various sizes, and had them printed up cheaply at my local pharmacy/photo processor where you can upload any images you want. These are 6x4" prints with matte finish.

A few different Dr. F. shots from the film printed up as photos, with one cut into a suitable triangle to match the toy screen.

Because I was just eyeballing things, most of these ended up with Dr. F's head too big for the screen. The one that fit perfectly was from the scene in which he's zapping Mike and the bots from the interocitor in Servo's room. Here's the cropped screenshot I used.

Cropped screenshot from "MST3K: The Movie" of Dr. F. laughing maniacally on the screen of Servo's interocitor.

As it turns out I didn't even have to use any glue or tape to stick the new Dr. F. pic in place, as the adhesive left behind on the toy by the peeled-off sticker does the job perfectly by itself.

Another shot of the modded toy with Dr. F. screen, with the Mutant gesturing triumphantly at my work.

I'm the god! I'M THE GOD!

A "This Island Earth" Metaluna Mutant figure with accompanying interocitor prop, but the image on the interocitor is now a laughing Dr. Forrester from MST3K: The Movie.
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