BenSpark Family Adventures

I cannot wait to see Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame but I don’t want to see any more trailers. This one was great but revealed a couple of things that, while we obviously know that some people are going to escape their awful predicament just leave us wondering a it longer. I’m talking about Tony Stark. In the first trailer he is on the Benatar (Star Lord’s Ship) and he’s near death. Leave it at that until the movie. If you are watching closely then when the team is assembled in their new uniforms heading, presumably into the new Super Quinjet which is probably fitted for space travel. Those new uniforms look like they are space suits. Walking out to it is Tony Stark and Nebula. He’s on Earth. He’s back. Why did they have to reveal that in the trailer! I mean, we know that he has to survive being stuck in space but come on, let the movie reveal that not the trailer. I also noticed that the trailer showed a lot of Hawkeye who will probably go as Ronin in the film, maybe. He looks ...

The first full trailer for Aladdin has been released and it looks really good. I am going to give Will Smith’s genie a chance because I am a fan of his and I thin he’ll bring his own spin to the character. Robin Williams was a genius and can never be replaced. I think it is okay that there is a new interpretation of the character. So I a going in with an open mind knowing that this is something different. Take a look at the trailer. A thrilling and vibrant live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, “Aladdin” is the exciting tale of the charming street rat Aladdin, the courageous and self-determined Princess Jasmine and the Genie who may be the key to their future. Directed by Guy Ritchie, who brings his singular flair for fast-paced, visceral action to the fictitious port city of Agrabah, “Aladdin” is written by John August and Ritchie based on Disney’s “Aladdin.” The film stars Will Smith as the Genie; Mena Massoud as Aladdin; Naomi Scott as Jasmine; Marwan Kenzari as Jafar;...

Photo-A-Day #3889 I ran over to Verizon today to pick up the new Star Wars themed Google Cardboard. When I went in to the store I ran into my friend Brian from Built From Bricks. We talked for a bit and then I got my own Google Cardboard. I chose the BB-8 one. There were some R2-D2 ones, Stormtrooper ones and Kylo Ren ones. They were out of the Kylo Ren ones so I took BB-8. It is a pretty great little device. I got it for free because I am a Verizon subscriber. When I finally got a chance to try out Google Cardboard I took a tour around our solar system. The app that I used was Titans of Space – Cardboard VR. So as you use this you are flying from planet to planet and learning some basic facts about each one. It was very cool. I later installed the Star Wars app and there is a little feature in that one called Jakku Spy where there will be plenty of little updates leading up to the new movie which I will be seeing two weeks from today.

Photo-A-Day #3888 We received a copy of Laser Maze Jr. from ThinkFun to play with and review. Opinions of the toy are 100% our own.  If you have a young puzzler in your house then this is great for their Christmas gift list. I was planning on playing this game with the kids last week when we were on our thanksgiving vacation but I didn’t open it before the trip and so didn’t put in the two AAA batteries. So, today I put the batteries into the game. Andrew and I went through the the easy and the medium puzzles together. I then tried the last one of the puzzles in the game and I found it pretty challenging myself. Andrew wanted to help with that one and he did. I liked how he began to pick up the way the game worked right away. The great thing about this game, which is rated for six and up, is that the game can still be played by my four year old son. I was able to teach Andrew a bit about how light and lasers work. We were also able to talk a bit about angles and mirrors. Of course,...

Photo-A-Day #3887 We received this incredible Star Wars™-Chewbacca™ Animatronic Interactive Figure from Thinkway Toys to try out and review. Opinions are 100% our own. Wow, this is such an incredible toy. We’ve been playing with this for the past couple of days and have really enjoyed the results. Chewbacca is one of our very favorite Star Wars characters and he is so cool. The figure is covered in authentic looking hair and then his head is rubbery so that when he moves and vocalizes his mouth moves as well. There are a bunch of other Star Wars Animatronic Interactive toys from Thinkway Toys. In addition to Chewbacca there is a Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Stormtrooper, and a C-3PO figure as well as remote control toys like R2-D2 and an AT-AT Walker. I know of some friends who also have these toys and are having great times playing with them. Very much like how Andrew is having a great time with Chewbacca. Check out how it looks in this short video. Andrew obviously enjoys playing with Chew...

If you have been playing Disney Infinity 3.0 and using the Star Wars characters who have Lightsabers, haven’t you thought to yourself, “I wish these lit up.”? Well, the wait is over but the search is on because Disney Infinity 3.0 has just released six Limited Edition characters with Light FX. The six characters are Kanan Jarrus, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Each character can be found at a different retailer. I am not sure if later they will be available in all stores but since these are Limited Edition they might be more difficult to gather in one single trip. However, for a true fan these are going to be very sought after. If I end up getting some they are definitely not going to be left out for Andrew to break. He’s already snapped the lightsaber off of Vader and broken Chewy’s crossbow. I think that I initially heard about these at D23 and was very excited about them. I’m really excited to see that they are finally being released. Happy s...

THIS CONTEST IS OVER Marvel’s ANT-MAN is coming out on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On-Demand on Tuesday, December 8th. To celebrate I have a fantastic giveaway for the Digital HD version. I received my own code as part of this giveaway and promotion and am very excited to add ANT-MAN to my movie collection. Even more excited to add him to the DIGITAL movie collection. This is the way I want to have my movies from now on. I enjoy DVDs but being able to pull up my entire Disney movie collection on so many digital platforms is incredible. With ANT-MAN, big things come in small packages so it makes sense to me that ANT-MAN would help me shrink the amount of things I have in the home and digital movies take up no room at all. MARVEL’S ANT-MAN GET IT EARLY ON DIGITAL 3D, DIGITAL HD AND DISNEY MOVIES ANYWHERE November 17, 2015 AVAILABLE ON 3D BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK, BLU-RAY, DVD, DIGITAL SD AND ON-DEMAND December 8, 2015 Includes Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes, Making-of Featurette...