Old School Toasters had a Vader/Samurai feel

VFX artist Darth Mojo posted an excellent behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the ancient Cylons that were excavated on "Earth I". FX supervisor Gary Hutzel worked with chief model maker and Cylon builder Pierre Drolet looked back to Samurai battle gear to fashion the ancient Cylons, but found it slightly too similar to the iconic Darth Vader, so they trimmed it back a bit:

Click the link above to read the whole article, and if you haven't already, don't forget to check out Darth Mojo's account of designing and created the original series style Centurions seen in Razor.

Target Practice or New BFF?

For $8590.00 you would think this life-size "Cylon Centurion Robot" offered at NBCU's Sci Fi store would fall into the latter option in this post's headline. On second thought, given what it is the price isn't so outrageous with US shipping for the 300lb toaster included in the price, and it has stereo audio to boot! The "advanced electronics" feature is a tad worrisome though.

"Officially licensed for Battlestar Galactica and exclusively manufactured by the legendary 'Robot Man' Fred Barton, each Cylon Robot is hand-made, numbered and signed by him.

Standing 7-feet tall, each Cylon is carefully crafted out of sturdy fiberglass right down to the delicately spindled fingers. "

Just to be clear, we're talking about the one on the left in the picture.

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If you really want to lay down the big bucks, and want a piece of the real deal, NBCU has booked a weekend at the Pasedena Convention Center to auction off the props used in Battlestar Galactica (the new one if you were wondering) to coincide with the series finale on January 16, 2009. Some auction items will be available on an online outlet, and later will be on ebay. A portion of proceeds will go to United Way. Reuters

See some of the props over at Wired's Underwire blog!