Written by Ryan Brookhart

One of the best things about my generation is that we grew up with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, two of the great cultural watermarks in American Cinema.

We had them collectively, singularly, in one place: the cinema. They, in turn, had us in their thrall; we weren't fidgeting away with iPhones texting our friends with constant, pointless information, we weren't calling each other names in that great passive-aggressive realm known as the "chat-room." And we weren't daydreaming about watching those movies in our living-rooms on tiny screens.

I was just old enough to be dropped off at the Dayton Mall by myself, but young enough to be scared out of my mind during the climatic scene in Raiders when faces started melting and Indy was yelling for Marion "not to look at it," still one of cinemas great gag lines.

Although the purer faith for many of my contemporaries was (still is) Star Wars, Raiders was, for me, the gateway drug of the pure cinema experience. I had not seen Jaws, but later I would add that film to the same "cinematic cannon" Spielberg essentially perfected.

Raiders is, quite simply, the best action/adventure film ever made. I highly doubt we will see its equal. And in a way, it has nothing to do with what might come in the near or far off future in terms of pure film making genius. It has a lot to do with the culture of the quickly digested, CGI flourish world we all live in now.

Frankly, I could go on and on, but the point is Raider of the Lost Ark, and Indiana Jones in particular, ranks as a cultural event in the former and an essential American Icon in the later. And today.

So rejoice. This May we see another installment of the man in the hat. It is, to use an over-ripe term, surreal to hear those John William's refrains of the Raider March booming in the Cineplex’s. But it feels so very right, too.

To that end, Hasbro has taken up the mantle of producing a wide array of stunning Indiana Jones figures, play-sets, role playing toys, and vehicles. I am, of course, utterly thrilled at the prospect of walking into my favorite toy store, or more likely, ordering from my favorite toy website, every single one of Hasbro's offerings.

Take a look at the bulk of the first of many waves of Indy figures. From 'Raider' to Temple of Doom,' all the way to the current 'Crystal Skull,' this is a line that should have kids and adults alike ecstatic.

See you in the toy isles or in line at Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on May 22!

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