A Fistful of Suck

January 2012 Haul

2012-01-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

Layoffs, Lawsuits and Smores

2012-01-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

Things looked bleak after the big news about Bandai Entertainment, and yet things have gotten bleaker. Media Blasters has laid off 60% of their employees. They've spun it as a cost saving measure and that most of those people will be kept on as freelancers. Still that's less jobs or jobs for less money for people in the anime industry.

And Funimation is suing ADV. Apparently back when Funimation acquired the Sojitz titles they also acquired ADV's debt? Or the right to claim that debt on behalf of Sojitz? My leagalese is terrible but I thought that ADV's restructuring into Sentai Filmworks, Section23 and a bunch of other companies was supposed to keep something like this from happening. I've seen fans take sides in this lawsuit which is just silly. I just hope it gets settled without any irreparable damage to either company.

Yet somehow there are still new companies entering the fray. New company S'More Entertainment will be bringing the Galaxy Express 999 TV series and Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo to DVD. I wish S'More Entertainment a lot of luck. Hopefully those closet Bobobo fans come out of the woodwork.

I never thought we'd get the Galaxy Express 999 TV series. I was pleasantly surprised to get the movies from Discotek last year. Although S'more will be handling the TV series, Discotek isn't resting on its laurels. They've announced a ton of stuff including the first Lupin the III series and two Unico movies.

The manga industry isn't doing so hot either, on either side of the Pacific. Jason Thompson wrote up an article for i09 detailing how these problems happened and how the industry might react. It's a great read, so check it out.

The U.K. Toy Fair is currently going on. There's never as many reveals as there are at the U.S. Toy Fair, which is soon approaching. Still there have been some reveals, mainly of the big ticket stuff which is hard to keep under wraps. The Avengers line will have a Quinjet and a three foot long S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. The new big vehicle for the Star Wars line is the MTT, or Multi-Troop Transport from The Phantom Menace. It comes with four fully articulated Battle Droids that can fold up, and 16 pre-foled Battle Droids. I'm sure people will be army building the new Vintage Collection Battle Droid to replace the pre-folded ones.

December 2011 Haul

2012-01-04T00:34:00.000-08:00

And here's the haul for December. It's entirely anime DVDs and except for the third and final Utena collection, they were all Christmas gifts. I also got some clothes and gift cards too but those don't make for a fun photo.

Merry Effing New Year

2012-01-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

From Anime News Network comes this cheerful bit of news:

Bandai Entertainment, the subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings (USA) that handles anime and manga in North America, will stop offering new DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and manga releases next month. It will continue to distribute in its existing catalog lineup, but it will no longer produce and distribute new releases as of this February. Instead, Bandai Entertainment will focus on licensing rights to other companies, particularly in digital distribution, broadcast, and merchandising. The company will be restructured as a result, and most of its contractors and three of its five fulltime staff members will be laid off.

When I learned about this, my heart sunk. My sympathies go out to the people who lost their jobs. I am and have been a big Bandai fan. They had a real knack for acquiring a lot of series I'm interested in. A part of that has to do with their marketing and getting their shows on TV where I was exposed to them. Other fans have criticized them for their issues, sometimes deservedly so, but I always liked Bandai more than the other R1 anime studios.

I never pieced them together, but there were so many warning signs. Of course Bandai shutting down its webstore was a big one, but it hadn't been open very long to begin with so I didn't think much of it. Their final batch of releases in February contains a lot of long overdue re-releases like the second Code Geass and two season sets of Gundam 00. I actually perceived it as Bandai trying to get better at re-issuing older material. I didn't realize it was a last gasp. They're even putting out Akira on DVD, on account of the Geneon version no longer being available. I figured that would be a nice steady money maker for the company, especially with the live action movie on the horizon. The Gundam Unicorn Blu-rays were going out of print but I chalked that up to some Bandai Visual weirdness. And I thought it was crazy that Funimation is releasing the new .hack// series but now it makes complete sense, as well as becoming a reassuring sign that former Bandai franchises will continue under different companies.

This situation is not like with Geneon where hundreds of titles went out of print overnight. Their current library will still be available, and they say they'll even produce new stock until the licenses expire. But those licenses won't last forever. There have been other companies that got by releasing little to no new product. Heck Manga Entertainment hardly releases anything new. Viz gets by these days on just three long-running series. Of course those companies are a part of a larger entity that supports them. Technically so is Bandai, but this move already shows Namco-Bandai is only willing to go so far for Bandai Entertainment.

Another aspect that bums me out is that their release of Turn A Gundam is canceled. Bandai announced the license at Comic-Con 2010 and last we heard it was supposed to come out last fall. We might have had the entire show already had they stuck to that plan. I've been looking forward to a R1 release of Turn A Gundam since I became an anime fan and it was the anime I was most looking forward to in 2012. Maybe it will come out under a different company. Non-Bandai distributed Gundam? What a bizarre prospect.

I hope these other companies take a look at some older Bandai titles as well. I've been dying for an Overman King Gainer re-release. That show has been completely unavailable since before I even learned of its awesome existence.

Twenty Twelve

2012-01-02T00:44:00.000-08:00

Now last year I acknowledged that I was blogging less than I'd like to but I specifically kept from promising to change that. Well now you can see why. I made 85 posts in 2011. That's two less posts than in my first year, 2007, and that didn't start until July. So what went wrong? There were some outside factors. I moved to a new house. Internet connectivity has sometimes been spotty. Digital cameras have gone missing. Photobucket accounts have been suspended. I really do not like Blogger's new layout. Mostly though it's just me. I've been having a harder time writing. Or I'll start to write then I get caught up in the re-editing until I decide to give up.

It's no mistake that the last post of 2011 was a Canceled Action Figure Cavalcade entry. I only wrote three all year, including that one. And I already had a couple planned out. The One Piece article started as a draft I began in May. So I forced myself to finish that one before the year ended.

The Canceled Action Figure Cavalcades are some of the most viewed on AFOS. But what was the most popular post in 2011? The first look at Andrew Garfield in the Spider-Man costume which was nearly a year ago. The second most popular? Happy Meals. Neither of these got as many views as some posts from before 2011. There's a spike in interest in this Toy Fair 2010 write-up which I think is attributable to a fake picture making the rounds. Yes Bandai said they would make a new Dragonzord. Then Saban bought back the franchise. Obviously the original plans had to be abandoned, and Power Rangers Samurai happened instead. Be happy we at least got a Rita Repulsa figure.

So what about the year ahead? Well I won't promise I'll return to the peak of my output but I'll try to at lease write more than 85 posts. (Oh good, I already set myself up for a fall.) I definitely want to get the haul posts back on track. I haven't been adding them until after the corresponding month ends. The latest one, which will hopefully be up soon, features my Christmas haul. Those used to be posted on the day of Christmas. I've been having real problems with the camera's battery, but I was also too lazy to get it done when I should have. That kind of sums up everything, doesn't it?

Canceled Action Figure Cavalcade: One Piece

2011-12-30T22:07:00.000-08:00

In 2006 Mattel launched a line of toys based on Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. Unfortunately 4Kids' adaptation of One Piece somehow didn't attract much of an audience, and the Mattel line didn't last long. But they had more planned including new figures of Monkey D. Luffy, Sanji and a bare-chested Roronoa Zoro (or rather Zolo as he likely would've been on the package). There's also new characters Portgas D. Ace, Arlong brandishing his teeth in his hands, and Tony Tony Chopper in his Arm Point form. What figures weren't planned were Robin and Nami, in keeping with Mattel's girl-unfriendly policy. That's a reason why I can't say I miss the line all that much.

Mattel's One Piece action figures were split up into a basic figure and deluxe figure lines, with the deluxe figures having more gimmicks than the basic ones. Dubbed the "P-Ripz", each deluxe figure had an action feature implemented by a ripcord. However the deluxe line was a bit unusual in that they were slightly larger size than the basic figures. While the basic figures were around 5 inches the "P-Ripz" were closer to 6 inches. To this day I think that was one of Mattel's more baffling decisions, and that's saying a lot. One Piece was a pretty small line and they chose to split the figures up into two very close but noticeably different scales, with each grouping featuring unique villains and different show-accurate looks for the heroes. The new P-Ripz figures would have been Zoro in a new outfit and Chopper in his Horn Point form.

Mattel's One Piece role play toys are probably better than the action figures. They were planning to release a Luffy mask and a Luffy fist with what I assume was supposed to be a stretchy arm. Actually maybe it's not so bad that these were canceled. They spared me from buying these things and looking ridiculous chasing the cat as I yelled "Gum Gum Jet Gatling!"

Merry Heavens Day

2011-12-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Heavens Day! If you've been good all year then you too will be assaulted by crazy hobo Santa.

10 Most Anticipated of '12

2011-12-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

These lists are always a chore to put together. It's hard to figure out which movies I'm excited for when they're still months away. However this year it seems like I had a lot more to choose from. That's a good thing, and hopefully there's some movies I don't see coming that I end up enjoying a lot.

Honorable-ish Mention:
Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace 3D

I do want to watch Star Wars Episode I 3D to feed the weird nostalgia I have for the prequel and to check out the quality of Lucasfilm's 3D post conversion. I would like to see all of the Star Wars films in theaters again. Releasing them in chronological order should be the logical decision but who knows if people saner than I will turn out to revisit the least popular movie in the saga. If they don't will Lucasfilm cancel plans to release the rest of the movies in 3D?

10. Lincoln

Steven Spielberg has has an Abraham Lincoln biography on the backburner for years. Liam Neeson was cast in the role of the 16th president in 2005, but he eventually left the project. So instead we're getting Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln. I'd say that worked out. Both Spielberg's War Horse and Tin-Tin are getting great reviews proving he's still got the touch. And Lewis is the best actor working today. We will believe a man can wear a stove pipe hat.

9. Skyfall

There isn't a whole lot of info out there about the upcoming installment in the James Bond series. Daniel Craig is back as Bond, Javier Bardem will play the villain, and Ralph Fiennes has an unspecified role. Judi Dench is tying Roger Moore's record for appearances in James Bond movies. Sam Mendes is directing, who is an oddly high-profile choice for a Bond film. Granted the closest thing he's done to an action movie is Jarhead.

8. The Amazing Spider-Man

In the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Peter Parker makes a deal with Mephisto to alter reality, undo his relationship with Mary Jane, make him a teenager again and reclaim his credit for co-founding Facebook. Reboots are synonymous with superhero fiction, so I'm less phased by The Amazing Spider-Man than I should be. The question becomes how will the rest of the world accept it? There's definitely things they could do to improve upon Sam Raimi's films (Mechanical webshooters!) but an involved backstory with Peter's parents is a step backwards.

7. Prometheus

I looove Alien but I don't think it needed a prequel. But it's okay because according to Ridley Scott, he didn't make one. Then again the sound effects in the trailer are awfully familiar. Prequel or not, the movie looks amazing and I'm looking forward to it. Will there be Space Jockeys? Do I want there to be Space Jockeys? I have no idea.

6. Dark Shadows

Johnny Depp continues his mission to re-imagine classic characters as quirky outsiders. This time he's Barnabas Collins, the vampire of Dark Shadows. The original Dark Shadows was a gothic daytime soap opera that ran from the mid Sixties to early Seventies. I can't believe such a show existed and was a success and I'm sorry I wasn't around to see it. I will be around to see Tim Burton's movie adaptation starring his frequent collaborators Helena Bonham Carter, his wife, and Depp his hetero life-mate.

5. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

I was surprised that a Silent Hill sequel was being made. And more surprised that it wasn't a straight to DVD cheapquel. The first Silent Hill was the best video game to movie adaptation which isn't saying much at all, but I'm happy a follow-up is coming which will feature Heather Mason, the protagonist of the Silent Hill 3 game. Like the first film, I expect Revelation will end up drawing from multiple games in the series and invent some of its own mythos.

4. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

It's a little too apparent that Retaliation is trying hard to make a better impression than Rise of Cobra did. With Disney buying Marvel and J.J. Abrams taking longer than expected to make a Star Trek sequel, G.I. Joe suddenly became very important to Paramount. Their problems are our windfall. Cobra Commander is wearing a chromed helmet, and faithful treatment of characters is half the battle.

3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I was always looking forward to The Hobbit but it wasn't until the fantastic trailer that it really hit home for me. I know nothing of the novel so I didn't know what to expect. The Hobbit already addresses my problem with the Lord of the Rings trilogy; not enough dwarfs. Clearly that's not going to be an issue with The Hobbit.

2. The Dark Knight Rises

The follow-up to The Dark Knight was always going to be a big deal. The fact that it features Catwoman and Bane, two of my favorite characters, is crazy. But neither look quite like how I would have hoped they would. Or sound like, in Bane's case. I still give Christopher Nolan a lot of leeway. Typically the third movie in a franchise is wear things start to go faulty. I hope Joseph Gordon Levitt doesn't end up playing a computer programmer with an embezzling scheme.

1. The Avengers

It's the Super Smash Bros. of super hero movies. (There has to be a better analogy for that.) Part of the appeal of superhero comics was always the idea of a shared universe, the idea that our favorite characters co-exist and can team up together. It was something that was never reflected in the movie adaptations until Marvel began their grand scheme in 2008. Now the payoff is arriving and I can't wait. It's time for our heroes to assemble to take on a grand new threat. Which is probably Skrulls.

Bask in the Scare Glow

2011-12-13T23:52:00.000-08:00

Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Serpentor

2011-12-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

The G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer is up. There's the Rock as Roadblock, Ray Stevenson as Firefly, the actress who was supposed to play Wonder Woman as Lady Jaye, Jonathan Pryce as Zartan as the President, Bruce Willis sleepwalking his way to another paycheck and ninjas. Lots of ninjas. The trailer kind of gives away Channing Tatum's death without actually depicting it. Then again maybe he'll just fall into a coma that he'll wake up from off-screen.

Building the Hype

2011-12-11T23:38:00.001-08:00

New posters have been revealed for both The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. The new DKR poster matches the feel of the first one and oddly enough so does the Spider-Man poster. Looks like dark and shadowy is in.

The preview scene for TDKR has been screened for journalists and, like the poster, it focuses on a Bane who has it in for Batman. It also focuses on a Bane with unintelligible dialogue. Reporters are saying Tom Hardy is hard to understand because of the mask he has to speak through. I hope they take this feedback seriously and redub Hardy's lines. The mask covers his mouth, so it's not like they have to worry about proper lip syncing.

November 2011 Haul

2011-12-10T13:19:00.001-08:00

These things are running later and later. The fallout from that is I included some stuff that was ordered in November but that arrived in December. Hey it still counts.

Lounge Lizard

2011-11-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

So apparently this is what Rhys Ifans as The Lizard will look like in The Amazing Spider-Man. It looks like a skinny Killer Croc. Or Voldermort with a tail. What it doesn't look much like is the Lizard as he's been depicted in the comics. He's far too humanoid. It kind of takes some of the fun out of the idea of a lizard man. Lately in the comics he's been depicted as even more monstrous than in previous incarnations. I thought they would push it even further in the movie but it seems like they went in the other direction.

In other news:

There's new DragonBall animation in the works. It's an adaptation of Episode of Bardock, the spin-off manga published in V-Jump. Episode of Bardock is a sequel to the TV special starring Goku's father Bardock. The animated Episode of Bardock will be screened at Jump Festa next month. The DragonBall Jump Festa special from 2008, The Return of Son Goku and Friends!!, has yet to be released in North America so I'm expecting a long wait for Episode of Bardock as well.>

And here are some more new Thundercats toys including a set of chibi figures. I suspect these will be showing up in stores very soon. Bandai's 2012 Power Rangers Samurai toys are already being found.

Toy News International has a look at some of NECA's Evil Dead 2 action figures. I'm really looking forward to these. They look great especially the possessed Ash with the tape player and Linda's severed head.

ThunderCats 2012 Figures

2011-11-15T19:51:00.001-08:00

MTV Geek has the exclusive first look at upcoming six inch ThunderCats figures from Bandai. The new figures include Cheetara and Tygra from the modern series and Lion-O and Mumm-Ra from the classic series. Now the previous classic figures, Lion-O and Tygra, were eight inches. Bandai decided to restart the line at a different scale. I loved the eight inch figures so the scale change is personally disappointing. I understand why Bandai did it. Six inch is a popular scale amongst collectors, and Bandai even chose to use it for the modern ThunderCats figures. Both lines will probably benefit from being compatible scale-wise. The new Lion-O has a head sculpt that looks like he's roaring. It was a good idea to make this Lion-O different from the eight inch one, to lessen the feeling that we're buying the same figure again. Unfortunately the roaring face isn't nearly as good as the one from the eight inch Lion-O.

All that said, the scale change isn't necessarily a deal breaker for me. Hey that Mumm-Ra is awesome. And I do like the idea having both eras of ThunderCats in the same format. Also Bandai did hint that the eight inch line isn't done yet. They hinted at a new figure in the works and that "she is a fan favorite". Fingers crossed for Pumyra! (I know it's Cheetara. Let me have my delusions.)

Updated 11/16: MTV Geek has updated with more new ThunderCats toys. This time they have images of Mumm-Ra's Storm Charger vehicle and the Armor of Omens, a giant lion themed battlesuit for Lion-O.

Who You Gonna Claw?

2011-11-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

That Peter Venkman plush in yesterday's post was something I won in a claw machine of all things. Claw machines are like slot machines, in that you have to accept that you're about to throw money away if you're going to play them and enjoy it. And maybe there's an infinitesimal chance that you'll get ridiculously lucky and win some money or better, a stuffed doll.

I came across some Ghostbusters plush in a claw machine at a Toys R Us. I noticed that Peter seemed close enough to the opening hatch to be winnable. It was in my second attempt, that I not only won Peter but on it's way to the hatch, it knocked over a Cat-popping-out-of-a-Jack-O-Lantern plush. So I won two prizes at once. That was insane. (I gave the Cat-popping-out-of-a-Jack-O-Lantern to my sister.) I tried a third time to win a Slimer and lost. That's why you walk away when you're ahead.

Later I sae a claw machine at my local supermarket that was just filled with Ghostbusters plush including Egon, Winston and most enticingly the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I think this is how gambling problems get started.

October 2011 Haul

2011-11-13T16:47:00.001-08:00

Here's October's haul, and it is very late. I've completely abandoned any sense of timeliness. I still have a post from Halloween that doesn't seem worth completing now. I guess I haven't been in a blogging mood lately. Blogger's new layout isn't very encouraging either.

Clown Prince No More

2011-10-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

There can be no argument, Mark Hamil is the best Joker we've ever had and may ever have. He debuted in the role on Batman: The Animates Series and was perfect for it from the get-go. Hamil has since voiced the Joker in Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventure, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Justice League, DC Universe Online, Batman: Arkham Asylum, even Robot Chicken, an animated storyboard on the 1989 Batman movie DVD and the live action Birds of Prey. Hamil has said that Batman: Arkham City will be his last time as the Joker and has even Tweeted as such. It's sad but I respect his decision to hang up the purple trousers.

Now I'm not one of those guys who throws a hissy fit any time there's a DC project that doesn't use the original DCAU voice actors. Why the last time I read a Batman comic I was surprised to hear Bruce Greenwood in my head instead of Kevin Conroy. Still Hamil as Joker seems like it's going to be particularly hard to follow up. I'm not crazy about Jeff Bennet's Joker on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Now that's a different type of Joker and it shouldn't sound like Hamil's but I preferred Michael McKean's taken on the classic Joker from an epsiode of TNBA. And I'm really not a fan of Brent Spiner as Joker from last Friday's new episode of Young Justice. Now part of it might be the awful dialogue they gave him but it just struck me as particularly notable in light of the news of Hamil leaving the role.

The Criterion Collection will unleash the original Godzilla film on DVD and Blu-ray next January 24th. Their release will include Gojira, the 1954 Japanese classic and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the 1956 re-edit featuring Raymond Burr. Criterion's cover artwork uses neither title. It just says Godzilla, which is technically the name of the 1998 Tristar movie. Yes it bugs me and yes I'm a huge nerd.

And just as a reminder, we're getting some other Godzilla movies on Blu-ray. Destroy All Monsters is set to be released next Tuesday. Media Blasters has posted the cover art on their Facebook page. Godzilla vs Megalon will follow on November 22nd

And to further the discussion of giant lizard movies on Blu-ray disc, Best Buy will have an exclusive version of the Jurassic Park trilogy this Tuesday. It's a combo set with Blu-ray, DVD and digital copies. The artwork matches that of the Future Shop exclusive steelbook leading some online to speculate that Best Buy's is also a steelbook. We'll learn for sure when Best Buy updates their weekly ad.

Updated 10/20:

a steelbook

The new Halloween pails are now available at Mcdonalds. And the Monopoly game is currently ongoing. And the McRib is back. Congratulations McDonalds, you are in full-on God mode.

Hostess Snoballimus

2011-10-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hostess is currently running a tie-in with Transformers: Dark of the Moon. The promotion includes Chocwave, Hostess Cupcakes themed after Shockwave, and Snoballimus, Sno Balls themed after Optimus Prime. It's the latter that I was intent on finding. Sno Balls are the best thing made by Hostess, well after Chocodiles but those are rare. Snoballimus wasn't easy to find either. I looked everywhere. I kept seeing Twinkies and Cupcakes, which despite having Transformers pictured on the box are just the standard snacks. I finally found Chocwave and Snoballimus at a Target.

So what is Snoballimus exactly? It's pretty much a Sno Ball with some wacky food coloring. Sno Balls are chocolate cake filled with creme and coated in marshmallow. The marshmallow is covered in coconut flakes. I know coconut scares off a lot of people and I am among them. I couldn't eat a Mounds bar if my life depended on it, but the coconut on a Sno Ball tastes fine. It's a flaky shield protecting you from getting marshmallow on your hands.

Here's where the wacky food coloring comes in. The coconut is blue and the creme is red, evoking (with a little imagination) Optimus Prime's color scheme. It tastes the same as a regular Sno Ball. That's all there really is to it. I really didn't need an excuse to buy Sno Balls but having Optimus Prime on the box sure didn't hurt.

Avengers Stuff

2011-10-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Promotion for the Avengers is starting to ramp up. official photos have been released and footage will be shown at New york Comic Con. If you're keeping track, that's one panel at D-23, one at NYCC and zero at San Diego Comic-Con. Me, bitter? Uh, how about that picture of Loki being escorted at gunpoint? That looks cool.

September 2011 Haul

2011-10-01T13:45:00.000-07:00

And here's September haul. The long awaited Rita Repulsa figure looks pretty much like she did when Bandai first revealed her. Despite that I was surprised at how happy I was to find her. I guess waiting eighteen years will do that. I wonder if the reason it took Bandai so long to make a Rita so long was because of likeness rights, and their way around it was to intentionally make the figure not resemble any human being who ever lived. Okay now it's time to campaign for a Scorpina figure.

I also picked up all of Jubei-Chan, a series I've wanted for years. After being reminded of the ephemeral nature of anime DVDs, I decided I had waited long enough. I've been in situations before when DVDs I had my eye on go from easily attainable to impossibly rare almost overnight.

Ye Olden Days

2011-09-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hey remember when manga used to be published in the U.S. in "comic book" form with the artwork flipped left to right? Neither did I until I found my Gundam Wing comics back when I was moving. It was like I had a colony of nostalgia dropped on me. I decided to share the thrill on AFOS. Because it's awesome. And I just wanted to post something today since the monthly haul post is going to be late.

Transformers 3 Exclusive Roundup

2011-09-27T22:49:00.000-07:00

Transformers: Dark of the Moon comes out on Blu-ray this Friday, on September 30th. Friday releases seems to becoming a regular trend lately. A downward trend on the other hand are retailer exclusives for movies. There doesn't seem to be any crazy transforming cases for the third Transformers movie. But hey you get your choice of what Transformer you want on the cover. The standard release is a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy combo pack and has Optimus Prime on the cover.

Best Buy will have an exclusive double sided slipcover with Bumblebee and Shockwave.

Wal-Mart will have a single disc edition. It doesn't come with the DVD or the Digital Copy, but it does have Sentinel Prime on the cover. It's probably the better choice for fans of Leonard Nimoy and/or firetrucks.

However you might want to hold out for the 3D Limited Edition coming out later. It's existence was confirmed when the HD Room got an early copy of Dark of the Moon with a $10 off coupon packed inside. At least Paramount is trying to take some of the sting off for those who will double dip. The 3D Limited Edition will have "never before seen content" which means it will have the extras that Friday's release does not, so that's something else to keep in mind.

Shinkenger Figuarts at TRU

2011-09-26T22:57:00.000-07:00

Toys R Us will be selling imported Japanese figures based on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, the series currently being adapted into Power Rangers Samurai. The figures are from Bandai's Figuarts line. The website currently has Shinken Red and Shinken Gold listed for sale for $34.99 each, although neither is actually in stock. They will eventually be sold in stores. In Japan the other Shinkenger Figuarts were only available as exclusives. I hope Toys R Us carries the exclusives as well just so that more people can get a chance at them.

This is pretty awesome. If it were the Gokaiger Figuarts that were being imported I'd probably buy them. Of course we're only getting Shinkenger because of the Power Rangers Samurai tie-in. However there are a lot of Figuarts I would buy if they were less expensive and available locally, such as One Piece and DragonBall Z. Does Bandai of America still have the DragonBall license? I always thought it was odd that Bandai seemed to give up on Dragonball just around the time the series returned to TV in the form of DragonBall Kai.

Rage of the Red Preschool Toys

2011-09-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

Fisher-Price's Hero World toyline is sort of a successor to their classic Rescue Hero toys, but Hero World also includes the DC Super Friends sub-line. I like the Super Friends toys. They may not have the character selection of DC Universe Classics, but they seem a lot more fun. Until now DC Super Friends were mostly focused on Batman and his rogues with Superman and Hal Jordan thrown into the mix. But yesterday I spotted several Green Lantern vehicles at Toys R Us. I saw Hal Jordan with a jet, Kilowog on a motorcyle and Tomar Re with ...well the website just calls it a vehicle. It looks like a helicopter without a rotor.

On the back of the packages are pictures of some single carded figures, Green Lanterns Sinestro with B'Dg and Red Lanterns Atrocitus with Dex-Starr. I don't think they're out yet. They're not even listed on the website. Sinestro would have been much cooler as a Yellow Lantern but I guess B'Dg makes up for it. Atrocitus and Dex-Starr are insanely awesome. Would it be too much to wonder if Fischer-Price included a blood vomiting feature?

Update 9/30: Here's a slightly better picture of the new figures.

Happy Halloween Meals

2011-09-16T18:44:00.000-07:00

Both Burger King and McDonalds will have Halloween themed kid's meal toys this year. What's more both are retreads of Halloween giveaways from years' past.

Burger King has The Simpsons Horror Classic toys, which are akin to their Spooky Light-Ups from 2001 and Creepy Classics from 2002. They are available now, which seems a little early for Halloween toys. Each toy has a light which reveals an image in their respective backdrops. Club BK has images of all of the toys.

What's interesting about these new toys compared to the Creepy Classics and Spooky Light-Ups is that those were a mix of original designs and ones taken directly from The Simpsons' annual Treehouse of Horror episodes. All of the characters in Horror Classics are taken directly from the show. That would make Horror Classics more appealing than the older toys, but there some real head-scratchers being offered.

The Homer toy is based on the time traveling Homer who appears briefly at the end of "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms". That's a pretty obscure choice. They could have done Donut Head Homer, Jack in the Box Homer or Blob Homer instead.

Even stranger is the Fly Bart toy from "Fly vs. Fly". It's based on what Bart imagines he'll turn into instead of what he actually becomes. Wouldn't the actual Fly Bart be a better choice? Or how about Bart as Stretch Dude? Clobber Girl and The Collector are part of the assortment, so why not Stretch Dude?

McDonalds' current promotions are Power Rangers Samurai and iCarly, but according to the Happy Meal website their next giveaway will be Halloween pails. They're the same basic design as last year's Mr. Potato Head pails but they have faces this time. That makes them more similar to the classic McBoo pails which makes them better in my book. I still wish they'd ditch the sculpted handles and bring back the plastic lids though.

This Came Out of Left Field

2011-09-01T17:20:00.001-07:00

The Rocketeer on Blu-ray is now available for pre-order on Amazon. And because I look gift horses right in their mouths, I really wish they had used this art for the cover.

August 2011 Haul

2011-08-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Summer's End

2011-08-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

The premiere of Evangelion 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance on Japanese television was followed by a preview for the third movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series. Evangelion 3.0 Q [Quickening] has been announced for a Fall 2012 release, and that's the Japanese theatrical release we're talking about. So we're looking at 2013 for the North American home video release, if we're lucky. Check out the preview to see a glimpse of Asuka piloting her Eva in a surprising new environment. My guess is it's a crazy re-imagining of the battle against Arael.

And here's a trailer for the upcoming Gundam AGE series. There's also some commercials for model kits, lest we forget Gundam's true purpose.

Mike Toole has an article up at Anime News Network that really hit close to home for me. It's about the increasing difficulty of trying to collect certain anime titles on DVD. It's really one of those "I think this was created just for me in mind" moments you sometimes enjoy on the internet. But in fact I'm clearly noit alone out there,judging by the multiple pages of reactions to this article on ANN's message board.

I'm not quite in a Halloween mood yet myself but I've noticed that Halloween stuff has started to creep into stores. I suppose that is the true sign that Summer drawing to a close. I saw this collection of Jack O'Lantern pails at a KMart.

All Is Not Right With The World

2011-08-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

So this is weird. ADV Films is suing Gainax for the rights to produce live action films based on Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Gainax is the studio that created the Evangelion anime series and ADV distributes the 26 episode TV series, but not any of the animated movies, in North America. And Gainax granted ADV the rights to develop a live action movie based on Evangelion. Pre-production work had begun by Peter Jackson's company WETA Workshop, but it's been a very long time since there was any word on the status of the project. So ADV's option to make the movie expired and Gainax didn't want to renew their deal.

ADV seemingly doesn't think Gainax had the right to do so, saying Gainax deliberately delayed handing off materials so the contract couldn't be renewed in time. Their lawsuit claims that not only is ADV the sole rights holder for a live action Evangelion but that they hold those rights for all time. In fact their demands are both very extensive and oddly specific. ADV believes they have can produce three live action theatrical movies, five TV programs (meaning ongoing series? TV movies?) and three straight to video movies. ADV also wants all inclusive rights to exploit these projects including general merchandise and even a theme park.

This is not the only kerfuffle between an anime distributor and a licensor we've heard of, but this is an odder case. Not only is this news the reemergence of the thought to be forgotten Evangelion movie, but also of the thought to be forgotten ADV. ADV had some financial problems which resulted in them breaking up into a few different smaller companies. The ADV as people knew it no longer exists. The company now using the name ADV may only exist now to claim ownership of live action Evangelion. And probably to shoulder some debt.

If the past is any indicator these disputes of ownership usually mean nothing positive for fans. Any Macross fan can tell you that. This sounds harsh but I for one hope ADV does not win in this lawsuit. I wish no harm towards the company. I was sorry when ADV had the problems that it did, and I'd like to see them to do well in their current form. But I'm afraid that if ADV possessed the rights to make a live action Neon Genesis Evangelion, then they might actually end up making one.

Over the Moon

2011-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

I spotted some Sailor Moon shirts at Hot Topic. (Yes I regularly shop in the women's section at Hot Topic.)

Sailor Moon paraphernalia has pretty hard to come by in North America. The licenses to the various aspects of the franchise were not renewed when they expired a few years ago. And one of the biggest anime and manga series quietly disappeared outside of Japan.

But Sailor Moon has been making a slow comeback in recent years. Several countries in Europe and Latin America have re-acquired the anime series and are rebroadcasting it. As for the North America, Kodansha will be publishing the manga in English via their Kodansha USA branch. Toei has been licensing Sailor Moon for merchandise in the U.S..

Yet there's still no word of a new North American license for the anime series. It's possible Toei's asking price is just too high, or maybe they have conditions that North American anime distributors don't think they can meet. It was expected that someone would announce the license at a convention this summer but that opportunity seems to have passed. Still there's a lot of fans who have their hopes raised quite high. I'd like to see it happen just as much as any of them.

Jumbo Breakfast Platter

2011-08-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

Jack in the Box is one of the few fast food restaurants to serve their breakfast menu all day, which I appreciate as I'm not usually able to eat breakfast during so-called breakfast hours. Plus sometimes I just like to have breakfast foods later in the day. That's what I did with Jack in the Box's new Jumbo Breakfast Platter.

Jack in the Box's Jumbo Breakfast Platter is a lot like other restaurant's breakfast combos with a few exceptions. It doesn't come with a bread side and the pancakes are mini pancakes, but you get enough of them that it doesn't feel like you're getting any less pancakes than if they were regular sized. In fact mini pancakes aside the platter really lives up to the Jumbo name. I was surprised at what a large portion of scrambled eggs it comes with. The hash browns come in stick form and are also in good supply. You have a choice between sausage or bacon. I went with the sausage patty and even that seemed a bit larger than what you typically get at other restaurants.

Jack in the Box sells the Jumbo Breakfast for $2.99. For something that costs $2.99 and is served all day, the Jumbo Breakfast Platter would have to taste pretty gross for me not to recommend it. Well it doesn't taste bad at all, so if you're looking for a late breakfast than the Jumbo Breakfast Platter is a good choice.

Riding the Cat-Pod

2011-08-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Dark Knight Rises is currently filming and there's a ton of photos and video being taken from the set. I've looked at quite a bit of it but I kind of regret doing so. I feel like I spoiled a bit of the movie for myself. What constitutes a spoiler can be pretty vague though. I think the set footage is a spoiler to me because it was recorded by fans and not yet intended to be seen by the public at large.

The above picture is of Anne Hathaway as Selena Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman. She's riding Batman's Bat-Pod. Did she steal it from him? Does she have her own Cat-Pod? What are those goggles she's wearing? Is that supposed to be her "mask" or does she have a more cat-like outfit later on? But thinking about these things doesn't bother me because that photo was officially released by the movie studio. They want us asking these questions.

It is a weird line and not set in stone. I've seen plenty of official images and trailers I wish I had never seen. But in this case I find the Anne Hathaway photo intriguing and the other stuff I consider too much information. I'd go into more detail about some of that other stuff but I don't want to spoil it for anybody.

Henry Cavill as Superman

2011-08-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Warner Bros. has released an image of Henry Cavill as Superman in the Zack Snyder directed Man of Steel movie coming in 2013. The costume's colors are too dark and it has a weird "basketball texture" look, but it looks exactly how I'd expect a live action Superman movie costume to look like. There's been so many movie superhero costumes recently that it's all starting to feel pretty similar. So about the costume, I can live with it.

There's something about Cavill himself that feels off. He looks pale and I don't like the grimace, but I think it's the hair that's really bothering me. He has an off center widow's peak and his hair is too puffed up. He looks like Superman as a 1980's businessman.

July 2011 Haul

2011-07-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

I picked up the Faker vs Bizarro two-pack at Comic-Con. It was one of the few exclusives I wanted that wasn't sold out before I arrived. I also got a Boo Berry vinyl figure at the con.

Comic-Con 2011: Wrap-Up

2011-07-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Here is my final batch of photos from Comic-Con.

And lastly here's a pic of some of the swag I amassed during my day at the Con.

Comic Con 2011: Action Figures

2011-07-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sideshow Collectibles, Medicom and Hot Toys have an unholy alliance to deprive sixth scale Star Wars collectors of their money. Sideshow is really outdoing themselves with Battle Droids, Boba Fett, IG-88 and General Greivous. But Hot Toys is just getting started with Bespin Luke who comes with a weather vane to dangle off of. There are pretty high expectations for what Hot Toys will do with the Star Wars license.

A ton of companies have made Army of Darkness merchandise, but I think NECA is the first to tackle Evil Dead 2 and they're doing an amazing job. I love that Deadite Ash comes with Linda's head and Henrietta as a second head with elongated neck.

Another area where NECA is impressing is with their Gremlins line. Phantom of the Opera Gremlin and Electric Gremlin are new reveals. I hope the line is successful enough that we eventually get Spider-Gremlin and Bat-Gremlin.

Mezco's putting out an Earthworm Jim action figure and plush. I don't what the occasion is, (Is there a new EWJ game coming out?) but hey it was a nice surprise.

I have no idea what possessed Diamond Select to make Munsters action figures but I'm glad they did. They look fantastic as do Diamond's figures of the less friendly monsters. The 2012 wave of their Universal Monsters line includes the Phantom (masked and unmasked with a ), the Invisible Man (with and without false facial features), and the Metaluna Mutant form This Island Earth.

I've been waiting for the return of Marvel Legends for a long time but now that they're on their way I'm a bit underwhelmed. I think I'm most excited for Iron Man in his Extermis armor and Heroic Age Thor and not so much the new characters. While I think Arnim Zola is awesome I don't have much interest in the Wrecking Crew or Constrictor.

I really dig Mattel's Golden Age Batman but I didn't know if I should buy yet another Batman figure. If I can find this K-Mart exclusive edition packed with Bat-Mite, than I think I will.

Marvel Monstergeddon

2011-07-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

An exhibit of a different kind at Comic-Con was the one for Marvel Monstereddon. What is Marvel Monstergeddon you ask? It's a monster truck show where the monster trucks represent various Marvel superheroes, and they drive around an arena littered with Marvel iconography. At least that was my understanding as to what it is. Here are the trucks they had there. Smoke machines do not make for good photographs. The Spider-Man truck was signed by Stan Lee.

The Flaming C Art Exibit

2011-07-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Not everything interesting at Comic-Con happens at the actual convention. There's plenty of things to do just outside the convention center, including an upscale art exhibit tailored around Conan O'Brien's superhero alter ego The Flaming C.

Comic-Con 2011: The Cosplay

2011-07-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ah the cosplayers, possibly the most essential part of any fan convention.

The Sights of Comic-Con 2011

2011-07-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

I attended the San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday. It was return trip for me after not being able to go last year. It was still as insane as it ever was. Over the next few days I'll be sharing some photos I took at and around the convention.

The DC booth had costumes and props from The Dark Knight on display.

The Nickelodeon booth had a look at the Ninja Turtles from the 2012 cartoon.

This is apparently Ghost Rider's bike from the upcoming movie sequel.

That's an Adventure Time parade going by. As you can see, I was standing in a great place to watch it unfold but a lousy place to get decent photographs.

I Still Exist (Barely)

2011-07-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

I am now completely moved into my new home. Moving was not an enjoyable experience but now that it's over I can at least try to get back to normal. That isn't easy because the internet has yet to be set up there, so my access to the net is spotty at best. Here's some stuff that happened:

Hasbro finally got around to formally announcing the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Marvel Legends Thor action figure and it looks great. Despite really wanting the figure since it was first mentioned, I'm reconsidering it. The pupil-less eyes makes me think this is a repaint (prepaint?) of a Thor figure coming in a mass retail Marvel Legends wave. This early report from the convention floor is a little vague, but it seems to hint at that. That lineup for the first new wave sounds a bit weak, so including Thor would be an improvement.

Promotion for the The Dark Knight Rises has begun with the release of a teaser poster and a teaser trailer. I find the teaser trailer a bit dull, even by the standards of teaser trailers. The Dark Knight teaser showed even less, with dialogue snippets playing over the Bat logo but even that managed to be more exciting. The Dark Knight Rises' imagery of the Bat logo amongst the decaying skyscrapers is a little too close to Inception.

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part II opening night at midnight. Every screen at the theater was playing the same movie at the same time and it was completely packed. It was a lot of fun. And the movie was good too. I don't know when or if I'll marathon all eight Harry Potter movies but I definitely want to play both halves of Deathly Hallows back to back when I get the chance.

Without the internet or even TV for the first couple of days at my new home I've had to find other ways to entertain myself. This included rewatching the entire first DVD boxset of Batman: The Animated Series. I know the entire world knows this already but Batman: TAS is an awesome, awesome show. I even caught an easter egg I never noticed before at the very end of the Grey Ghost episode, which predates the first Clayface episode.

Han Solo In Hoth Pursuit

2011-07-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

Action Figure Insider has pics of Hasbro's 2011 Comic-Con exclusives. It looks like the unreleased Spider-Man with removable mask Mighty Mugg is finally seeing the light of day. So can we get the Deadpool Mugg in 2012 then? Hasbro's My Little Pony exclusive is not Friendship is Magic related which is a pretty good example of how to not strike when the iron is hot. Oddly absent from the group is the Marvel Legends Thor that had been announced at Toy Fair. That was the exclusive I was most looking forward to. Dang

In other Habro news, Galactic Hunter as pics of some upcoming Star Wars toys. There's the new mail away figure, prototype Boba Fett, which is just different enough from concept Boba Fett that it doesn't feel like a complete waste of time. There's also the new Ponda Baba figure in Vintage style packaging. Ponda is a favorite of mine and I'm lookin forward to this figure which has a removable arm and even interchangeable "flipper" and "furry" hands, to reflect the differing looks for the character. There's a bunch of other stuff including the Target exclusive "The Search for Luke Skywalker" battle pack which features Han in Hoth gear, a Rebel soldier and a Tauntaun. If this is meant to be Han's Tauntaun than I hope it features an opening stomach with guts squeezing out. Man, Star Wars is gross.

This is my 100th post about action figures, and that doesn't even include my hauls which because those fall under a separate tag. Let's hear it for my single minded obsession.

Anime Expo: Now with 100% Less Me

2011-07-03T01:37:00.000-07:00

Anime Expo is going on right now and for the first time in a couple of years I'm not attending. While I wish I could go it's doesn't feel bad to take a break. (That's right Anthony, hold back the tears.) Here's some licensing news from the convention and hopefully someone will share a first person perspective later.

Aniplex of America has announced Blue Exorcist and Madoka Magica. I'm not familiar with Blue Exorcist but Madoka has a lot of hype. It's apparently an unusually dark magical girl show.

Nozomi Entertainment announced a bunch of former ADV tites; the original Dirty Pair OVAs, Dirty Pair Flash, Dirty Pair Project Eden, Garasaki and the Nadesico TV series, movie and Gekigengar OVA which is new to North America. I already have ADV's release of Nadesico I'm hoping Nozomi makes Gekigengar available separately.

Viz announced a few movies: Pokemon: Zoroark Master of Illusions, a Naruto Shippuden: Bonds and Bleach: Fade to Black. More Pokemon, Naruto and Bleach, way to expand your horizons Viz. Okay so Viz also acquired Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, a movie based on the series of Nintendo DS games.

Bandai Entertainment announced a new title in Sacred Seven but my favorite bit of news is that The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya finally has a release date of September 20th with a Blu-ray release also being confirmed. Another title Bandai announced awhile ago is Turn A Gundam which still doesn't have a release date but they did say it was coming in the Fall. I also might bite on Bandai Entertainment's DVD release of Gundam UC on account of Bandai Visual's Blu-ray versions being so dang pricey.

Not specifically AX related but somehow I don't think I've written about Gundam AGE. AGE is the newest TV series in the Gundam franchise and it looks particularly unusual. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It has a retro design style which I like, and seems to be aimed at a younger audience which could go either way. It's a Gundam show so I'll be giving it a shot.

A couple of observations after watching [adult swim] tonight: I'm still trying to figure out what Durarara is about but I'm not not enjoying it. And a discovery about Bleach: Sosuke Aizen is a dick.

Rock You Like A Hurricane

2011-06-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

Moving would be easier if I wasn't trying to find silly ways to amuse myself with all the stuff I'm supposed to be packing.

Moving Away

2011-06-29T00:50:00.000-07:00

So I'm moving to a new place. And it is not fun. I'm considering buying only 1:18th scale figures from now on just because they'd be easier to pack. It's also means I've been too busy to blog, again.

Durarara!! has begun it's run on [adult swim], Saturday nights at 12:30. I'm not at all familiar with this anime series but that should make watching it a more interesting experience. The first episode was was spent setting up many characters and a really weird ...entity? I'll keep watching to try to figure it out.
They're making a live action Rurouni Kenshin movie. Sounds like it could be good. The actor playing Kenshin was the choice of Nobuhiro Watsuki himself.
Hot Toys will be making a pair of figures based on Tsukasa Hojo's classic manga City Hunter and they look fantastic. Seriously these are my favorite Hot Toys figures, not that I'd be able to buy one.
Marvel has unveiled a Mighty Muggs Avengers boxset that will be sold exclusively at Comic-Con and Hasbro Toy Shop's website. The set includes Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor as Mini Muggs. Mini Muggs debuted last Christmas with a trio of Star Wars sets. I thought it was odd that we haven't seen any more Mini Muggs since then. The set also includes a full sized Mighty Muggs of Giant Man, bursting out of the package.
Some ingenious bastard recreated Bioshock's Rapture in Lego form. Seriously, look! It's even topped with a plane wreckage in the water.

Jurassic Park on Blu-ray

2011-06-27T15:38:00.000-07:00

Jurassic Park is coming to Blu-ray. That's another movie to check off the list. Jurassic Park will be available in an Ultimate Trilogy boxset along with The Lost World and Jurassic Park III on October 25th. I'm still not a fan of the practice not making each movie available individually off the bat, but I don't mind the Jurassic Park sequels as much as the the sequels in some other movie series. There will also be a Limited Edition which packages the Blu-ray set with a sculpture of the T-Rex bursting through the iconic gates. Sure that never happened in any of the movies, but hey it looks cool.

May 2011 Haul

2011-06-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

So my blogging habits have fallen so far off the mark that I'm posting May's haul in late June. June so far has been way lighter by comparison. I'll probably fold over any upcoming June buys into July's haul pics.

Tim Diesel

2011-06-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Tim Drake as Robin will be a downloadable playable character in Batman: Arkham City if you pre-order the game at Best Buy. Robin will only be playable in "challenge mode" which is not as cool as Catwoman being fully playable in the main game, but you take what you can get. Compared to the Joker's Carnival Challenge Map available at Gamestop, I think Best Buy has the more interesting pre-order bonus.

The promo image of Tim Drake shows him in bulky armor similar to Batman's in the game. He also has a buzz cut I don't think he's ever been depicted with before. As you can surmise by the title of this post, the haircut has captured my imagination.

The download will come with an alternate skin for Tim's Red Robin costume. I assume it will be based on the original Red Robin costume, that first appeared in Kingdom Come worn by Dick Grayson, and not the version Tim will be wearing in the upcoming reboot of the DC Universe. He looks like a poor man's version of Marvel's Falcon in that.

Mr. Negotiator

2011-06-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

Max Factory has announced yet another amazing Big O figure and this time it's Figma Roger Smith, a fully articulated version of the Big O's pilot. It'll make a great companion piece to the Figma R. Dorothy.

The bad news is Roger's an exclusive to the upcoming Wonder Festival in Japan. I'm not accustomed to purchasing imports in general, so I'm even more out of luck with a convenion exlusive. Good luck if you decide you have to have one.

Crunchwrap Supreme

2011-06-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

Taco Bell is having a promotion all week in which they sell their Crunchwrap Supreme for only 99¢. I had one tonight, which is the fastest turnaround ever for a food review on this site. Unfortunately it isn't soon enough as the promotion ends tomorrow, June 18th.

The Crunchwrap Supreme is one of Taco Bell's most interesting configurations of their go to list of ingredients. It's a tostada with beef and nacho cheese on one side and lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream on the other. And it's all wrapped together in a giant flour tortilla.

If I have to say something bad about the Crunchwrap it's that it's not too fun to photograph. It's a tortilla discus on the outside and it's too flat to get a good look at the ingredients on the inside.

I typically add some hot sauce to a Taco Bell product before I eat it, but I forgot to this time around. The good news is the Crunchwrap tastes great without any additional sauce. It has the right amount of ingredients giving a great mix of flavors and textures. It's soft, cheesy, crunchy and savory all in one. It's the perfect Taco Bell product. In fact I think if they wanted to make a "Supremer Crunchwrap Supreme" by adding guacamole, beans, rice or whatever I doubt I'd like it as much. The Crunchwrap as it exists is nice and filling without being overstuffed. It might be my favorite Taco Bell item and it's worth ordering at regular price. If you can still get one at 99¢, then I recommend you do.

Denny's Fried Cheese Melt

2011-06-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

I made a rare trip to Denny's recently and while there I ordered one of their newer menu items. My affection for unusual takes on grilled cheese is well established, so I ordered Denny's Fried Cheese Melt. The Fried Cheese Melt is a grilled cheese sandwich with fried mozzarella sticks inside. The meal incldes a side of fries and, as part of Denny's dollar menu, sells for $4. Not a bad deal for cheesy goodness.

If you've eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and mozzarella sticks in the past, you can safely assume what the Fried Cheese Melt tastes like. There are two mozzarella sticks split across the two halves of the sandwich. The sandwich comes with a cup of marinara sauce, although I wouldn't have gotten one if I hadn't of reminded the server about it. The marinara sauce adds a different flavor and I like the different cheeses but it's really not very complicated. The novelty of it is less novel than I was hoping. Still it was a good grilled cheese sandwich. If I end up at Denny's again anytime soon I might order it again.

E3, Wii U and the Avengers

2011-06-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

The latest Electronic Entertainment Expo has wrapped up. The internet is brimming over twith E3 coverage but I personally reccomend this first hand account of the sometimes harsh conditions that come with waiting in line to play a game demo.

The big news from E3 is Nintendo's announcement Wii U. The touch pad control is more than I was expecting. I think the ability to switch back and forth from playing on the TV to the handheld is neat, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way HUDs are implemented in games. Still it seems like a half-step. The ability to play the same third party games that the PS3 and 360 can play is important but that's really something Nintendo should have thought about back in 2006. I feel the Wii U is going to seem quaint once Sony and Microsoft unroll their new consoles. Of course there's no word when that wll happen.

At the 2011 Licensing Expo a promotional image of the Avengers gave us our first look at what the team will look like. Hulk, Thor and Black Widow look much the same. Iron Man seems to have a slightly different suit go armor. Cap's costume is modernized but still not that different from the first movie costume. And we get our first look at Hawkeye. It's not a great first look mind you. He's not wearing a mask, which isn't surprising.

NECA has announced they have the license to produce products based on Valve games. I thought I read Valve wasn't interested in licensing their properties but, according to the press release, it was Valve that approached NECA. Valve's games include Half-Life, Team Fortress, Left 4 Dead and Portal, which all have big fan followings. I'm curious which of these NECA will tackle first.

All titles of DC Comic's September relaunch of their comics line have been solicited. Maybe I'm naive but when DC first announced this I honestly expected it to be an attempt to make the DC Universe better than it was before. Rebooting the universe is a waste of time if Damian Wayne will still be existing. And the costume re-designs range from bland to terrible. The re-designs created forDC Universe Online were better than any of these.

I'm disappointed Barbara Gordon is Batgirl again. There's no mention of Cassandra Cain or Stephanie Brown, which is particularly upsetting as they've seemed to bend over background to include every male former Robin. Jason Todd on a team with Arsenal and Starfire? Does this mean Jason was never killed in this continuity? DC cannot think Jason's magical resurrection caused by a Superboy from a different dimension punching a wall is fitting for a simpler, more reader friendly universe.

Mattel and Classic Media are teaming up to promote the 30th Anniversary of Masters of the Universe in 2012. We'll be seeing MOTU themed clothing, accesories, Halloween costumes and a 30th Anniversary DVD set. Classic Media are the current rights holder to the Filmation library which includes the original Masters of the Universe cartoon. Now that they have a working relationship with Mattel, it leads to speculation that we'll be seeing characters from the cartoon integrated into the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline. I can only think of a few Filmation characters I'd want as figures, but I still want to see it happen.

The New DCU

2011-05-31T22:13:00.000-07:00

This September DC Comics will relaunch their line of comics with new #1 issues for every title and will begin of a new incarnation of the DC universe. While the DCU is no stranger to reboots, this is pretty huge.

It's hard to judge something that's still months away from happening. We have no idea just what exactly DC will do or how extensively they'll be altering the status quo. No matter what DC does there will be some irate fans. I can imagine certain issues that seem likely to happen that I wouldn't be pleased with.

DC will also be making all of their comics available for digital download the same day as their printed comics. That will have just as much impact on the comic industry as restarting the DCU. Both initiatives are meant as an attempt to reach a broader audience who don't go to comic shops or are put off by the continuity.

One unfortunate aspect is that Action and Detective comics would lose their current numbering which are #901 and #877 respectively. They were on their way to being the first comic books to reach issue #1000.

I wish it had been Marvel that tried to do this. I think they're the comic universe more in need of a reboot.

MTV Geek has the first look at DC Universe Classics series 19. It's another themed wave, based on the Justice Society, including Stargirl, Lord Naga, Magog, and the golden age versions of Hawkman, Sandman, and the Atom. The build a figure is S.T.R.I.P.E. who recycles pieces from the Green Lantern Stel. It's not as bad as Hawkman who is nearly the exact same Hawkman figure with a new goofier helmet. It wil be very interesting to see how these sell compared to the Lantern deputies and Super Friends waves. None of the themed waves seem like surefire hits.

Mezco's mysteriously disappearing jacketed Scott Pilgrim figure has reemerged as a 2011 Comic-Con exclusive. I suspected they would pull this. What's frustrating is they announced the exclusive after the standard Scott figures were released and I already bought one. So now I'm on the fence about buying a second Scott.

Turner Classics Movies will be airing classic (mostly from the '50s) monster movies every Thursday in June. They're kicking it off with four Toho movies on June 2nd; Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rodan, Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster and Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero. I'll be watching.

Silents, Wookies and Kaiju

2011-05-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

The first Doctor Who Series 6 toys have been revealed and they're a little underwhelming. The Doctor wearing a Stetson is just the same Doctor with a new head. Young Amelia is neat but is technically a from Series 5. Nephew is just another Ood figure, but with green eyes. The Silents look great, as we knew they would. Sadly there's still no word of a Rory figure.

The floodgates of Clone Wars news have been smashed open. Waves Ten, Eleven and Twelve have been revealed, which probably doesn't leave Hasbro with much to debut at Comic-Con. There's some neat stuff like Seripas and Even Piell but I'm most excited for Savage Opress and Chewbacca. There are two Savage figures, one bare-chested and snarling and one wielding in full armor rocking a double bladed lightsaber. I'm partial to the latter but I sort of want both. And Chewbacca looks fantastic. I want more Original Trilogy characters done in the animated style.

Disney exclusive Marvel merchandise was bound to happen eventually. The Disney Store will be carrying a series of Marvel Select figures. The Art Asylum Blog has shared a preview of a Hawkeye figure. He comes with a base featuring a destroyed Ultron and the Wasp perched on an arrow. The image on the back of the box gives a sneak preview of upcoming Thor, Captain America, and Black Widow figures. The character selection is clearly influenced by the Avengers movie, which incidentally will be distributed by Disney. So how long before we get Marvel Vinylmations, or toys of Mickey dressed as Spider-Man?

Media Blasters will be releasing classic Japanese monster movies Destroy All Monsters and Godzilla vs. Megalon in North America. Destroy All Monsters was previously released as a non-anamorphic dub-only menu-less DVD by ADV years ago. Godzilla vs. Megalon, which was one of three Godzilla movies I reviewed way back when, has never had a legitimate U.S. DVD release, except as part of a MST3K that was quickly discontinued. A rumor that Media Blasters already had Godzilla vs. Megalon was actually debunked, but because of the rumor Media Blasters decided to inquire about the movie and they ended up licensing it anyways! Plans for Godzilla vs. Megalon haven't been finalized but Destroy All Monsters will be out on DVD and Blu-ray in October.

Aniplex USA announced at FanimeCon this weekend that they will releasing the Rurouni Kenshin movie and OVAs on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray discs will be simultaneous releases in Japan and North America which means they'll be sporting Japanese price tags. I know no retailers won't be selling these for full price, but even discounted these won't be cheap. Aniplex also announced that Durarara!! will air on [adult swim] in June. That was a nice surprise.

Funimation has licensed the movie Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos. Now Funimation licensing more Fullmetal Alchemist is not very surprising but what's interesting about this announcement is that the movie won't be released in Japan until July 2nd. That's pretty quick to be involved. I wouldn't be surprised if Funi had partially funded the movie's production. Funi will release The Sacred Star if Milos on DVD and Blu-ray in the Spring of next year.

Break the Bat

2011-05-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Dark Knight Rises is officially in production and the mysterious official site has kicked things off with the first look at Tom Hardy as Bane. It's a bit less lucha libre and a bit more Slipknot than I would have preferred.

Dilatory Me

2011-05-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

I did it again. An entire half a month went by without any updates. So I'm forcing myself to write something today. I can't promise it'll be interesting but it will be something.

One big bit of news that I didn't write about back when it happened, was the the specs for the Star Wars Blu-ray sets. There is a method to my idleness however. I couldn't get excited about the reveal since the Blu-ray sets don't include the unaltered theatrical editions. Part of me was hoping the bonus material would be enough to make me want the set, but that didn't really happen. I'm sure it's interesting stuff but I'm just as undecided as I was before. Enough of my whining, here are the specs.

Another Blu-ray set I'm interested in, but not entirely gung-ho about is Citizen Kane. Warner has yet to officially announce the set yet, but it's already up for pre-order on Amazon. It comes with a lot of stuff including a second movie, RKO-281. There's also an Amazon exclusive edition that includes The Magnificent Ambersons on DVD. I hope the final version includes a sled. It'd be as fun as it is revelatory.

Here's the trailer for Real Steel, a movie about competetive robot boxing. It's like a Rock 'Em Sock'Em Robots movie which I vaguely recall actually being in development at some point. Looks like Real Steel has beaten them to the punch. Get it? Thank you. I'm here all week.

Tomorrow is when Transformers: Dark of the Moon toys officially go on sale. Of course your mileage will vary on what your local store will have on the shelves, or whether they have anything at all. If you're lucky you've already found something since toy stockers aren't too good with street dates. Lushkwok of HK-TF.com has posted reviews of a great deal of the DotM toys. The reviews aren't in English but they do have plenty of pictures. And he was kind enough to share links to all of them in one place at the TFW2005 forum.

The Smallville series finale sucked. Okay it wasn't that bad in relation to the average Smallville episode, but for a series finale it was disappointing. Most of the episode was spent in the same fashion as the last ten years of Smallville, with the other characters, including both of his dead fathers, fruitlessly trying to convince Clark to do something. But this time Clark finally does something, which is carefully edited so we see as little of it as possible.

I saw that Tootsie Pops commercial with Mr. Turtle and Mr. Owl on TV today. It's nice to know they still air that. See this is why I hardly update. I got nothin'.

April 2011 Haul

2011-04-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

I went a little easier on the wallet this month, but not too easy.

Dark of the Moon Trailer

2011-04-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Transformers: Dark of the Moon marketing machine is finally getting into gear. There's a new poster, pictured above, and a tnew trailer is up. The trailer doesn't really show anything a whole lot more interesting than what was already in the Super Bowl spot. It's the same action sequences slightly longer and little in the way in plot details. The building collapsing at the end is cool. That and Shockwave.

Mattel has released official details of their Comic-Con exclusives, which is necessary because Attack of the Show left out a lot. It turns out Monster High Gouhlia Yelps is a zombie nerd cosplaying as a zombie superhero. So I might have to buy one. There's also a Franken Berry Hot Wheels car. I'm torn between my love of Franken Berry and my apathy towards Hot Wheels. Another Hot Wheels exclusive is a Back to the Future item which is still a secret. Obviously it's a DeLorean, but I guess which exact version is the surprise.

It probably says a lot about Star Wars fandom that there's an official site with a countdown until news of the Blu-ray is revealed. I can't judge too harshly because I'm looking forward to the news myself, as the Blu-ray specs will likely determine whether or not I pre-order the set. The news goes up May 4th.

Mattel Comic-Con Exclusives

2011-04-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

Mattel has announced their San Diego Comic Con exclusives. As with last year they were revealed in a segment on Attack of the Show. Unlike last year I didn't watch the show as my cable provider dropped G4. But hey that's why we have the internet. The Masters of the Universe Classics exclusive is Queen Marlena with Cringer. Plus there's a Polly Pocket three pack of She-Ra, Frosta and Catra. I'm sure someone out there is irrationally upset about that. In other girl's toy news there seems to be an exclusive Monster High Ghoulia Yelps although I don't know what makes her unique, maybe just a new outfit?

The DC Universe exclusive is one that fans have been hoping for: Swamp Thing who is bestowed with Mattel's signature unnecessarily grandiose packaging. We have Superboy in a test tube as seen in the first episode of Young Justice. Movie Masters Green Lantern Kilowog, which we've already seen and knew was coming, seems to have been retroactively deemed a Con exclusive. We get a six inch super-articulated Voltron first Mattel produced Voltron toy. And last but not least is the humongous Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. You can watch the AOTS segment here.

Kevin Smith is hosting a 20th Anniversary screening of The Rocketeer at the El Capitan theater in Los Angeles. If tickets weren't $50 a pop, I'd consider going myself. That Disney is acknowledging the following for this movie can't be a bad thing. Fingers crossed that a 20th Anniversary Blu-ray is in the works.

Sandtroopers.com has an early look at the Savage Oppress action figure. We all knew he was coming and I was surprised he wasn't at Toy Fair. He looks like he's a brighter shade of yellow than he is on The Clone Wars but that doesn't bother me. I love that the facesculpt looks like he's snarling. Apparently there are two Savage figures coming. I'm guessing the other one will have a shirt on and have his double bladed lightsaber.

Canceled Action Figure Cavalcade: Big O

2011-04-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

We're extending the Big O love (try not to read too much into that) with a look at a toyline produced by Bandai of America that was never released. Bandai had included Big O and Big Duo toys in their Bandai Anime Collector line, a series that encompassed different Bandai Entertainment licensed anime such as Escaflowne and Cowboy Bebop. Soon afterwards they were developing a full line for the Big O. Bandai showed off the line at Toy Fair 2003, the year the second season premiered on [adult swim]. I suppose retailers didn't order enough because Bandai's line never appeared in stores.

Bandai's line was to include the Big O, Big Duo and the underground dwelling Archetype. I'm not completely sure what scale they were to be. I'm guessing around seven inches. In fact I can't be certain that Big O and Big Duo weren't just the existing Anime Collector figures with more detailed paint jobs. The Archetype was definitely an all new figure. Notice the Roger Smith and Schwarzwald on display in these pictures. Those are Kotobukiya trading figures and they did get a separate release. Perhaps Bandai planning to pack these in with the mecha?

Bandai also planned a larger scale figure appropriately named Mega Size Big O. According to the mock-up packaging it would have "spoken phrases" from the show, probably some of Roger's reoccurring phrases. I know this may not seem nearly as impressive compared to Max Factory's Big O, but this was made eight years earlier. Also it would have been available in U.S. stores and been much more affordable, so its cancellation is quite a sad thing. No side.

Big O! Showtime!

2011-04-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

Japanese toymaker Max Factory is churning out some merchandise based on The Big O. The series came to an end eight years ago so I can't figure out why that is, but hey let's just roll with it.

Roger Smith's Megadeus has recieved toys in the past. But Max Factory's Big O stands apart from the rest. It's a beast at just under a foot tall and made of diecast. The grapple hooks are on real chains, the chest opens to reveal guns and it comes with a little version of Roger's car. All of it will cost you ove $450.

The Big Fau and Big Duo are also getting figures but they're not quite as impressive. They're meant to be in scale with Big O, but aren't articulated and are made of vinyl. I'd prefer actually these to the diecast Big O, which I'd always be afraid of dropping and damaging both it and the floor. Plus they are more affordable at around $150.

Last but not least is R. Dorothy Wayneright as part of their Figma line. She has a clear standee that allows her to strike some of her dispassionately acrobatic poses. She also comes with her broom and cat Pero. Sadly their doesn't seem to be a disc drive under her headband.

Cold, Pointy & Logical

2011-04-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Shockwave from Transformers: Dark of the Moon was officially revealed at Yahoo movies. I'm not a fan of the movie Transformers that don't have Earth-based altmodes, but at least this is recognizably Shockwave. Underneath all that scraped metal, he is purple.

As part of Christopher Nolan's continuing goal of working with as limited a pool of actors as possible, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have been cast in The Dark Knight Rises. And once again all the geek fueled speculation was for naught, as they won't be playing anyone from the Batman mythos. Cotillard will playing a Wayne Enterprises board member and Gordon-Levitt a Gotham City cop. Okay Cotillard might still end up actually being an incognito Talia Al Ghul.

I barely keep on top of video game news, so I learned of the existence of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City when I saw it featured on the cover of a magazine I saw for sale in a grocery store. As you can figure out by the title the game is a return to the setting of Resident Evil 2 and 3. RE:ORC (ever the acronym is long) is a squad based third-person shooter in which you play Umbrella soldiers carrying out missions that include killing Raccoon City's favorite son, Leon Kennedy. I look forward to its release and me not being able to play it.

Yet another anime that I never expected to get a continuation but is supposedly getting a continuation is Rurouni Kenshin. Just what the nature of this new Kenshin anime will be has yet to be announced. It seems to be part of a Kenshin 15th anniversary celebration in Japan which among other things include Blu-ray releases of the movie and OAV series. Fingers crossed that those eventually make it to North America.

Did anyone else watch The Office? Deangelo Vickers is the Scranton Strangler. I'm calling it now and if I end up being wrong I will eat this blog.

Tokyopop Ends plus a Question

2011-04-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

Okay I admit this a weird paring of subjects. Bear with me.

How did dinosaurs have sex? I was obsessed with dinosaurs as a kid, but not surprisingly that question never really crossed my mind. This Slate article has piqued my imagination and I feel like a kid again, asking some not so kid-friendly questions. Just how big were dinosaur penises? Did dinosaurs even have penises at all? And how do you have sex with something covered in spines or plates?

Tokyopop is ceasing publications in North America. They will continue to publish in Germany and will keep open their film division. This news is not all surprising except for the timing. They recently revamped their website and fired much of their staff; moves that seem like they were restructuring to buy themselves more time. Tokyopop ushered in the modern era of English translated manga, making many decisions that would revolutionize the industry.

There are a ton of factors involved in the company's downturn. Piracy of course is a major problem. Chains that once sold Tokyopop's books, like Tower, Waldenbooks and Suncoast, have closed. Their presence in those stores was part of their success, by being able to reach their target audience who didn't go to comic book stores. Also Japanese publishers are becoming more directly involved in the market and cut out Tokyopop as a potential licensee. Many of Tokyopop's early hits have been re-acquired by other companies.

Still Tokyopop made a lot of poor decisions that alienated readers. For a company that trumpeted authenticity and pioneered unflopped manga, they were very willing to play loose with translations to create broader material. They also insisted in marketing original comics created by English speaking artists as manga. The sad part is they discontinued many of those English language titles but will sit on the rights in order to adapt them into other media. I'd mock their attempts to become a multimedia company but they do have a Priest movie opening next month. I don't know what demand there was for a Priest movie one has been made. If it's successful we may have to endure a Princess Ai movie.

Burger King Chicken Tenders

2011-04-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

For the first several years of my life the only thing I would ever eat from Burger King, besides the fries, were their Chicken Tenders. As I got older I moved on to other menu items. Then at some point Burger King changed their Chicken Tenders, from strips to crown shapes. Feeling nostalgic I ordered Chicken Tenders thinking they were the same recipe as the classic Tenders but in wacky shapes and they were not. It's a classic example of not appreciating something until it's gone. Well the cycle has repeated itself and the Chicken Crowns have been replaced with new Chicken Tenders. I was secretly hoping the "new" Tenders were just the "old" Tenders making a comeback.

I was disabused of this notion pretty quick. Not only are Burger King's new Chicken Tenders not the same as the old Chicken Tenders, they're not really chicken tenders. I consider chicken tenders as strips of breaded chicken. These seem to be chicken nuggets which are emulsified bits of chicken.

I ordered the four piece, which costs only a dollar. Only three Tenders are pictured because I was too impatient to take a picture until after I ate one. They also come in eight and twenty piece servings.

So how were they? Not bad. They tasted a bit like frozen chicken nuggets. That might sound unappealing but by comparison the previous crown shaped Chicken Tenders were closer to school cafeteria nuggets. So in that sense they are a big upgrade. They still don't taste like the classic Tenders, but I'm okay with that. Let's be honest I'm probably remembering them as being better than they were. There was a reason I grew out of them in the first place. This batch did seem like they just came out of the fryer. They were warm and peppery which was nice. Considering the dollar price point I can't say I regret giving them a try and I recommend giving them a shot.

It's Already Mid-April.

2011-04-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Yeah, sorry for the lack of updates recently.

Nickelodeon held an event promoting the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and invited some high profile fans. Ninja Pizza has an extensive write-up with details on the preview and some early prototypes presented by Playmates. While I do think the series sounds promising you know I'm more interested in the toys. Playmates is planning a line of super-articulated figures based on the original cartoon. This sounds like one of my dream lines, or it would be if they produce variants based on the original Playmates toys. But if they did that I'd just end up buying nearly every character twice. The toys for the new series actually sound pretty cool as well. Ninja Pizza has all the details.

In celebration of its tenth anniversary, the anime series s-CRY-ed is being re-edited into two "volumes", which I'm guessing means direct to video movies. As is common with these types of compilation movies, s-CRY-ed Alteration will feature newly animated scenes. I liked s-CRY-ed and even if it isn't all new material I'm surprised to see it revisited in any form.

While we're on the subject of anime from the early 2000s that are receiving long overdue follow-ups, here's the trailer for Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam.

Michael Shannon has been cast as General Zod in the upcoming Superman movie. He strike me as an odd choice for the role. He's not quite the Terrance Stamp type. Are we sure he's not playing Non? I would have preferred any villain from the comics to General Zod for the new movie. Except if it's Lex Luthor pulling a real estate scam. I think this is the first time I've written about the Superman movie since Zack Snyder was announced as the director. Just to recap Henry Cavill is playing Superman himself and Amy Adams has been cast as Lois Lane.

Hey Dude is coming to DVD. HEY DUDE IS COMING TO DVD. That is stunning. I remember I stopped liking Hey Dude once Ted left the show. Still if Hey Dude can be released then I hope Welcome Freshman isn't too far behind.

March 2011 Haul

2011-03-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

March was a good month. My wallet disagrees.

It's Time to Stop Dueling

2011-03-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

TV Tokyo Corporation and Nihon Ad Systems have ended their license arrangement with 4Kids Entertainment for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. And they are suing 4Kids for over four million dollars. The Japanese licensors claim 4Kids withheld money owed to them from profits made from deals with Funimation and Majesco to produce Yu-Gi-Oh DVDs and video games. After some unsuccessful attempts to settle the dispute, 4Kids have lost the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh.

I find this to be sad news even though I'm not personally affected. I've never been much of a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh. Granted Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds does have the greatest premise of all time; in the future people battle against each others in packed stadiums by playing trading card games while simultaneously racing against each other on motorcycles. And yet I can't say I've seen an entire episode. I did like the surprisingly dark early chapters of Kazuki Takahashi's manga before the story was overtaken with card games. But beyond that I'm not a fan.

Still is a world without Yu-Gi-Oh a world we want to live in? Okay the world will still have Yu-Gi-Oh and it probably won't be absent from North America for very long either. There's a new series, Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal, debuting in Japan very soon. I'm doubtful they would continue making new Yu-Gi-Oh series if not for their international appeal. TV Tokyo and NAS will probably find a new distributor for Yu-Gi-Oh. However if Yu-Gi-Oh isn't as integral to this new distributor as it was to 4Kids then I could see the production of new episodes eventually drying up.

This isn't the first property 4Kids has lost. They lost the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when Mirage sold the rights to Viacom. Before that was Pokémon. My understanding is that Nintendo underestimated how profitable Pokémon would be and felt they were giving up money by letting a third party company handle it. Pokémon has turned out to be consistently popular so that loss probably hurts 4Kids now more than it did when it happened. Yu-Gi-Oh on the other hand isn't as successful as it once was.

4Kids hasn't had a new hit in awhile. Years old repeats of Sonic X outperform any of their other shows. 4Kids even commissioned an additional season of Sonic X that did not air in Japan. I'm surprised they haven't ordered even more episodes, but there is a rumor that 4Kids' relationship with Sega has deteriorated. In interviews former CEO Al Khan said he wanted to decrease his ties with Japan. Perhaps that was an early hint at their problems? He said "Japan" was a fad and was over. He wanted to develop original properties that they wouldn't have to share. However Viva Piñata and Chaotic did not set the world on fire, and they seemed to have re-embraced anime as the basis for their programming, rebranding the CW4Kids as Toonzai and airing Dragonball Z Kai.

People have been predicting the end of 4Kids for some time now. While the end hasn't come just yet, the loss of their biggest cash cow is a huge blow. It's theorized that the recent retirement of CEO Al Khan may be the result of knowing this lawsuit was coming. Is a world without 4Kids a world we want to live in? Yeah, most would. A lot of the damage done to the company has been self inflicted. Most fans hate them, with good justification, and would love to see them go away. My own sense of schadenfreude is a bit less than I would have expected, but it's there.

Goku Needs Your Energy

2011-03-26T23:41:00.000-07:00

Watch this message from DragonBall and Dr. Slump creator Akira Toriyama. All proceeds earned from views of the video will be donated to relief efforts for the earthquake in Japan.

First Full Captain America Trailer

2011-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

The digital Chris Evans as pre-super serum Steve Rogers is ...weird. I think it's his shortness. I think if all they did was make him look frail I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Updated 3/29: The video has been removed. The trailer is viewable at the official site.

Skeletor Figures I Want In Masters of the Universe Classics

2011-03-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

I only recently got into Masters of the Universe Classics and I don't yet have figures of the big two, He-Man or Skeletor. Both characters had a few different variations in the vintage line and with Classics meant to encompass all incarnations of Masters of the Universe there's potential for way more. Mattel has already released some surprising version like Preternia He-Man. Battle Armor Skeletor went on sale on Tuesday and is already sold out. That's not a Skeletor figure I have a great interest in but there are a few that I would like to see. Here are five incarnations of Skeletor I want to see included in Classsics line.

5. Horde Skeletor

This is a sketch for an unproduced figure of Skeletor wearing what appears to be Horde armor. He has his own version of the Horde bat insignia with his face on it. I think we could see this design finally turned into a figure in Masters of the Universe Classics. With Vikor, Mattel has shown they're willing to turn unused concepts into action figures. How will they fit this design into Classics canon? Perhaps it represents Skeletor soon after merging with Demo-Man, hence the more demonic appearance.

4. Laser Light Skeletor

Along with Laser Power He-Man, Laser Light Skeletor was one of the last toys to be released in the original line. They were only made available in parts of Europe. Another thing that makes the figures interesting is how they have a similar aesthetic with the New Adventures toys and act as a bridge between the two eras. In some ways I prefer Laser Light Skeletor to the New Adventures version. I like his cape and hood and the translucent red Havoc Staff.

3. New Adventures Skeletor

I still have to rank New Adventures Skeletor just above Laser Light Skeletor. Skeletor's first figure from the short lived '90s He-Man line has probably the best chance of the variants on this list to actually be made as Classics toy. It'd be a little different from the original with a stockier build. I think Skeletor worked better as a slimmer character than New Adventures He-Man did. Additionally I think it'd be cool if the NA Skeletor figure's staff, instead of being molded in solid gray like the original toy, featured a deco that matched that of the role-play staff.

3. Disk of Doom Skeletor

Technically this is also a New Adventures Skeletor. Disk of Doom Skeletor was his second figure in the line and was incorporated into the cartoon. Although I'm using an image based on the toon, I would greatly prefer a figure based on the original toy. I had it as a kid and I loved the detail in the figure who was even more "cyborgy" than the first NA Skeletor. But most of all I loved the face mask that opened up and revealed a face that strongly resembled the vintage Skeletor toy.

1. "Lifetime" Skeletor

I want a Frank Langella movie Skeletor as much as the next guy, but Mattel doesn't have the rights to the movie and honestly I wouldn't be interested in a "Classic-ized" movie Skeletor. I want a movie Skeletor figure to look like Frank Langella as Skeletor.

You know what figure I would love to see in the Classics line? Skeletor as seen in "Lifetime", a two-part storyline that ran in 12th and 13th issues of the Masters of the Universe comic book published by Star Comics. I only had the second part as a kid but I loved it. In "Lifetime" Prince Adam travels to a future where Skeltor has conquered Eternia. The future Skeletor wore an outfit clearly inspired by the live action movie. A Classics figure based on that design would be a way to pay some homage to the movie as well a pretty cool story from the comics.

Anticipated Blu-ray Discs 2

2011-03-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

It was a year ago today that I wrote about some movies I wanted to see released on Blu-ray disc. Amazingly a large amount of the titles I mentioned ended up being released in the past year including the Alien Anthology, the Back to the Future Trilogy, the 1933 King Kong, Seven Samurai, the theatrical cut of Grindhouse and Disney’s animated Alice in Wonderland.

In addition to those the Star Wars Saga, Citizen Kane, and the original Tron have all been announced as coming this year. That’s amazing. So what titles from last year's article are left.

Jurassic Park - It hasn't been officially announced but the rumor is it's coming soon. Hopefully sometime this year.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair - There's been some major recent developments concerning this one. Tarantino will be screening the complete cut at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles beginning at the end of the month. Supposedly this will be more than just Vol. 1 and Vol.2 edited together. O-Ren Ishi's origin story features newly animated footage. I think some kind of home video release for The Whole Bloody Affair will happen soon enough.

Suspiria - Dario’s Argento's Inferno comes out on Blu-ray at the end of this month, but what of Suspiria? I think the Weinstein Company has the rights and they might be sitting on them until the remake gets off the ground.

The Rocketeer - It's an obscure adventure title from the early Nineties, but I was the right age to be a fan of it when it came out. Since then the film has developed a nice cult following. I think the Rocketeer stands a chance of being released on Blu-ray, especially if Disney tries to capitalize on the film's director putting out another WWII era superhero movie this year.

Super Mario Bros - Much of what I said about The Rocketeer applies here as well except Mario Bros lacks a cult following. Actually it’s pretty widely derided. I enjoy the movie out of nostalgia and in an "I can't believe this movie even exists" sort of way. I don't know if there are enough people out there who feel similarly to warrant Mario Bros getting a Blu-ray release. But if the Van Damme Street Fighter is on Blu-ray release then I can't completely give up on Mario Bros.

Disney Classics – There are certain movies expected to be released as part of the Diamond Edition line and others which do have the same guarantee. Last year I wrote about Aladdin and Dumbo, the latter of which did get a Blu-ray disc just not in the U.S. The outlook has improved with Disney releasing animated classics that are not considered Diamond Editions including the recently announced The Fox and the Hound. And Fantasia was not labeled a Diamond Edition which leaves room for Aladdin to be a part of the line.

Studio Ghibli films – I mentioned Princess Mononoke and Only Yesterday by name in the previous article, but I'd love to see all the Ghibli films come to Blu-ray. One that just came out is Nausicaä. It was released in Japan first, and I think that's the key to how the Ghibli films will be distributed in North America. We won't get titles until after Japan does. Currently Laputa: Castle in the Sky and My Neighbors the Yamadas are available in Japan. I have a hard time imagining Disney giving the Yamadas a hi-def release in North America. Still I'll be very much looking forward to Laputa on Blu-ray.

End of Evangelion - On a similar note I don't think an End of Eva Blu-ray is in the cards until Gainax releases one in Japan. With their focus on the Rebuild of Evangelion I don't see it happening for awhile, but it is inevitable. When it comes to Evangelion Gainax isn’t going to leave money on the table.

Perfect Blue - Here's an anime movie that does have a Blu-ray in Japan. Why hasn't it been issued here? I'm pretty sure Manga’s license expired and unfortunately no other company has picked up the rights. I hope one does soon.

Pokémon movies – Yeah I don't see this happening anytime soon. FWIW the fourth through seventh Pokémon are now being distributed by Echo Bridge Entertainment. They might willing to put them out on Blu-ray. I wouldn't hold my breath though.

Now let’s add some more films to the wishlist: Rumble in the Bronx, Jaws, Jackie Brown, Hackers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie, Dick Tracy, Airplane!, The Blues Brothers, Castle of Cagliostro and Millennium Actress. Let's see how lucky I get the second time around.

Nickelodeon Ninjas

2011-03-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series set to air on Nickelodeon in 2012. It can only be read by subscribers but some kind folks saved the image from the article.

The actual cartoon will be CG so I'm guessing this is just concept art. It looks alright. Michaelangelo is suitably wacky. His nunchucks have been replaced with a different weapon. This isn't the first time this has happened. Mikey had a grappling hook in the later episodes of the original toon and tonfas in the live action TV show. Apparently the illegality of nunchucks in certain areas even extends to their depiction in cartoons. In this pic it looks like Mikey is wielding a surujin, a chain with a weight on the ends. It actually seems more dangerous than nunchucks.

I know I wrote about an upcoming animated series based on a preview image just yesterday, so apologies for another one so soon. A Fistful of Suck: don't expect much variety.

Updated 3/11: Well that didn't take long for something more substantive to appear. There's a brief teaser trailer online. Seeing the turtles in their CG forms, they remind me of the Mirage designs.

Uncanny Anime

2011-03-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

Marvel and anime studio Madhouse have been producing series based on Marvel's characters. Iron Man has already aired in Japan and Wolverine is in the middle of its broadcast. The next series will be X-Men and Blade. Eventually they'll be airing on G4 in the U.S. which doesn't do me any good since my provider dropped G4.

The promotional campaign has already started for X-Men which premieres April 1st in Japan. It looks like the team will consist of Professor X, Cyclops, Beast, Storm, Wolverine and most interestingly Armor. That's a pretty clever of them to use her. They can try to appeal more to the Japanese viewers while still staying true to the comics, and put a character in the spotlight who hasn't been done to death. They easily could have used Sunfire instead and it would work just as well, but anime runs on bishoujo.

I'm excited for this one, moreso than the other Marvel anime. I like the X-Men. I liked Wolverine first, since before I could remember. There's something intrinsic about the character that appeals to kids. But when I learned there were a group of heroes that Wolverine pals around with, I latched on to them as well. I read the comics but they passed the point of accessibility before I discovered them, probably before I could even read. But the X-Men seem to work as a television format. I ended up liking X-Men Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men and my memories of the Fox Kids toon are better than the other Marvel '90s cartoons. I hope this new series follows suit.

Smarch

2011-03-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

The 3D version of Star Wars Episode I will be released to theaters on February 10th, 2012. I wasn't expecting it to come out in less than a year, but I thought about it and it makes sense. It's probably wise to release it in the typically slow month of February. Just the fact that it's a re-release of a thirteen year old movie sort of limits it's box office potential. That it's also the least popular Star Wars movie won't help either. I might check it out. I don't think I've watched in full since 2000.

And on a related note the packaging design for next year's Star Wars products has been revealed. It's clearly Episode I focused, featuring a grimacing Darth Maul. However the blue logo on white background is more reminiscent of The Clone Wars packaging. It'll be odd to see an image of Darth Maul used for The Clone Wars line. Then again it could be a perfect fit if what the end of "Witches of the Mist" implies actually pans out.

Here's the trailer for the upcoming Tron Uprising animated series. The series is set between the events of the two Tron movies. It debuts next year on Disney XD.

And here's another animated trailer. This one is for the new Thundercats series. Looks like a lot of action taking place on Thundera. Will they even go to Third Earth in the new series? Or am I being duped by clever editing? The new Wily Kit, Wily Kat and Snarf are much cuter.

We got a pretty good, if brief, look at the Red Skull in the Super Bowl ad for Captain America: The First Avenger. But Entertainment Weekly has the first official picture of Hugo Weaving as Red Skull. He looks pretty much perfect. I think Weaving in this role could end up being the highlight of the movie.

The second G.I. Joe movie will arrive on August 10th 2012, from the writers of Zombieland (Sweet) and the director of Never Say Never (Yikes). Although no officially confirmed, Rachel Nichols says the only ones returning will be Duke, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow. I don't know if that actually refers to the characters or the actors who played them: Channing Tatum, Ray Park and Byung-hun Lee respectively. I don't see the point in making the movie without the main villains. Both Cobra Commander and Destro could easily be recast, though I'll miss Joseph Gordon Levitt as the former. I'm not attached to any of the other actors, yet I do admire that Nichols is eager to reprise her role as Scarlett. I hope she gets her chance.

Feb 2011 Haul

2011-02-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

The more stuff I get, the more awkward the photos become as I try to cram it all into a few shots. I received the entire sixteenth wave of DC Universe Classics figures. I think there's only been a single other instance in which I've purchased an entire wave at once. I really wanted Collect N' Connect Bane.

Toy Fair 2011: Follow-up

2011-02-22T23:03:00.000-08:00

I started writing this back when Toy Fair didn't already seem like an eon ago. I finally got around to completing it. Pics are from ASMZine.com.

It looks like the 5" vinyl Super Mario line is getting Princess Peach and King Koopa figures as well as a rainbow of Yoshis. While I'll be happy to see these characers get made I wish the character selection went a little deeper. Waluigi is getting a keychain but dangit he deserves more.

I don't know if Diamond Select couldn't afford the likeness rights to Bela Lugosi or if they just weren't available, but man their Dracula figure really suffers for it. The Toy R Us exclusive version has a facial expression that kind of hides it but it still looks more like a generic vampire.

One of the bigger surprises of Toy Fair was NECA's Gremlins line. NECA first releases Gremlins figures eight years ago. They said they had plans for more and it looks like they're finally happening, likely thanks to the reissues from the last year. And it's stunning how dedicated NECA seems to be with multiple Gremlins and Mogwais from Gremlins 2 including the amazing Spider-Gremlin.

Frightening. For many reasons. I guess it'd be silly to criticize Gargamel's scale in relation to the Smurfs but holy crap is that one huge cat.

I think Bandai is doing pretty well by their Power Rangers Samurai line. Everyone got caught off guard by the Mega Rangers figures but that got smoothed out when it turned out those suits are actually in the show. Now figures of the Ranger's standard costumes are coming so everything worked out.

The figure in the foreground on the left is Captain America based on Captain America: The First Avenger. The other figures are based on the comics. It's to Hasbro's credit that even Captain America wearing a winter coast looks like a decent toy. I guess Hasbro didn't receive reference material to make more stuff from the movie. Maybe they'll have more at Comic-Con.

The Thor line on the other hand is a proper movie toyline with several characters represented as figures. Still it would have been nice to see some comic-based Thor figures. See, even I'm ungrateful. Toy companies just cannot win.

A DC Universe Classic Crime Syndicate set? Awesome. And it's a five pack with only a single repeated character, but it's a character that was only available in an online exclusive set and in a different outfit so even that is forgivable. For some reason though Power Ring and Johnny Quick are the silver age versions and the rest are the modern versions. Mattel just can't do anything without being weird somehow.

Jakks Pacific's Pirates of the Caribbean figures have skeletal bodypaint that appears when exposed to what I think is blacklight. I've already seen them in stores and thanks to "Try me" packaging I can vouch that they work. I don't know what the story behind the feature is though. I think it represents the characters' zombie forms or maybe they're just Misfits fans. Jack Sparrow is totally punk rock.

Toy Fair 2011

2011-02-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

I've had a busy weekend so I didn't have time to do a very thorough write-up but here are some quick highlights. Pictures are from ASMZine.com.

One line I was looking forward to seeing was the six inch Young Justice figures and they did not dissapoint. I was not expecting the diorama bases. I was hoping to see Superboy, Speedy and Miss Martian though.

The Batman Legacy information ended up being true, but the exact lineup is a bit different than reported. For example there wasn't any mention of Arkham City Two-Face at all but there he is. But hey, Gary Oldman action figure!

Hell hath frozen over. Bandai will release a Rita Repulsa figure. A very ugly Rita Repulsa. Not that it matters because fans will buy it, and so will I if I ever find one. Rita will be a shortpacked chase figure. I think the Juzo Fuwa figure looks better though.

If this Thundercats playset was modeled after the classic Cat's Lair I would have bought it and a collection of 3.75" figures to populate it. While that's not the case it does come with a mini-vehicle that homages the Cat's Lair.

I had my fingers crossed that Mezco would have additional Scott Pilgrim figures to show at Toy Fair. In fact they had less. What happened to Scott with his jacket? Ah well.

This G.I. Joe Skystalker has been repainted to resemble Generation 1 Starscream. It comes with Cobra Commander carrying G1 Megatron in gun mode. It is a Comic Con exclusive this year. It is the greatest thing ever.

Toy Fair 2011: It Begins

2011-02-11T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well not really. It officially begins on Sunday. And Hasbro has their event the day before on Saturday. But in the past week companies have shown off a lot of early stuff in anticipation.

Batman Legacy: The craziest pre-Toy Fair news to me is the discovery of a new Batman Legacy line by Mattel. Information was posted at the blog Idle Hands which has been a reliable source. Now a new Batman line isn't surprising. I just wasn't expecting it to be announced until Comic-Con with the toys hitting shelves just before The Dark Knight Rises is released, mirroring how Green Lantern Classics was handled.

The crazy part is the accompanying images. They're pictures of fans' custom figures and some blurry photoshopped images. Now it's not so out of the realm of possibility that these are legit. Mattel has used fanart in their presentations without the artist's permission. (And it's not as bad as Shocker Toys displaying products that were actually customs using an different companies' molds.) The purpose of Toy Fair is to sell products to retailers. These might just be mock-ups to give an idea as to what the toys will eventually look like.

I do hope Batman Legacy is on the level because I want these figures. I didn't even know I wanted Golden Age Batman and Joker figures but now I do. The only thing I take issue are the two-packs. I like the idea of Mattel produced Arkham City figures and continuing the Movie Masters line this way but it seems like we'd have to buy several Batman figures to get any non-Batman ones.

Thundercats: Bandai has released a decent selection of images of the line including classic Lion-O and Tygra figures. Both look great to me. Here's hoping they show off more classic figures at Toy Fair, particularly Cheetara and Mumm-Ra. I also like the designs for the new series. I'm curious to see the six inch figures based on the new show.

Surprisingly Mezco is also producing Thundercats toys. They've revealed a large scale Lion-O. It should be interesting to see what else Mezco has planned for the Thundercats.

The Walking Dead: McFarlane Toys will be making toys based on The Walking Dead. The first series is based on the comic book series and includes the the katana wielding Michonne. Series two will be based on the AMC TV series. It's been some time since McFarlane has done someting I might be interested in. I hope they knock this one out of the park.

Transformers: Earlier this week Hasbro released a bunch of pics of Transformers Prime toys. There's even toys of the kids on the way. I wonder how they'll balance Prime with Dark of the Moon. The show's already in full swing so it'd be nice if there wasn't still months to go before the toys are released.

As for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the most recent reveal is of Sentinel Prime and the Ark which are most likely the Transformer and spaceship seen in the teaser trailer. And then there's the Optimus Prime with trailer that he can combine with. This is probably the form we saw Optimus rocking in the Super Bowl spot.

Hasbro has the coolest new toy in the form of their Robo Power Cine-Masks. They're masks of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee with RealD-3D glasses built in. That should add some extra fun to the movie's opening night.

A Multitude of Tron

2011-02-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

Disney is releasing Tron Legacy on home video in a few different configurations. There's a two-disc set with Blu-ray and DVD. There's a four disc set with Blu-ray, DVD, 3D Blu-ray and a Digital Copy. There's a five disc set with Legacy in those four formats plus the original Tron on Blu-ray. The five disc set will be available in both standard and special edition Identity Disc packaging. Or you can buy the original Tron separately in a Blu-ray/DVD combo set. A release date hasn't been announced yet but rumors hint that it's sometime in April.

9 Most Anticipated of '11

2011-02-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

I was pretty reluctant to write another one of these lists. Past experiences have taught me these lists aren't perfect indicators of what I'll eventually like or even what I'll watch. I still haven't seen everything on my 2009 list. And then there's my 2010 list. Not only have I not watched everything on it, there's one movie that is supposed to be legendarily bad.

The problem is I write these lists before there are any solid details, so it becomes a guessing game. There are several months left before the movies are released giving me plenty of time to change my mind, or discover other movies I find even more interesting. I usually go with sequels or adaptations, not anticipating good original movies. Still I've decided to give it another go. So here are my nine most anticipated movies of the year, as they currently stand.

9. Kung Fu Panda 2

The only Dreamworks animated film I like is Kung Fu Panda. I remember enjoying the first Shrek but the sequels have made it hard to look back on the original with any fondness. I am looking forward to Kung Fu Panda 2, but it's possible Dreamworks will end up bungling it. Here's hoping I'll at least be to still watch the first one without cringing.

8. X-Men: First Class

I really, really like the idea of a superhero movie set in the 1960's. But I don't know about the X-Men running around during the Kennedy administration. Sure the comic was created in the '60s but it didn't take off until much later. And First Class features very few of those original X-Men characters. Instead it stars a very odd collection of obscure mutants from the comics. It might be good. Matthew Vaughn impressed me with Kick-Ass and he could impress me with this.

7. Green Lantern

Green Lantern would have ranked higher on this list but after a pretty weak trailer my enthusiasm for the movie has cooled off. I was never a Hal Jordan fan and Ryan Reynolds seems miscast simply by the virtue of having a personality. The one line of dialogue spoken by Blake Lively does not bode well for her acting ability. And we're stuck with giant headed Peter Sarsgaard and Geoff John's living retcon as antagonists for the first movie, I assume because they're saving the more popular villains for the sequels. How about Manhunters? Couldn't they have used Manhunters?

6.The Thing

I don't know if I'm anticipating The Thing or dreading it. I love John Carpenter's 1982 movie. The new film, despite the title, is not a remake but a prequel to the '82 film. I'm not sure if that makes the new Thing more or less exciting. On the one hand it shows a lot of respect to the previous movie to make a prequel nearly 30 years after the fact. On the other hand if the 2011 Thing is bad it will be harder to disavow it since it's set in the same continuity. Will it take away from the mystery of the '82 Thing once we learn the events that occurred at the Norwegian base? The '82 Thing was a remake itself, so no one can claim a remake would have been destined to be bad.

5. Cars 2

Cars is the perfect movie for a sequel. The original is a lot of fun, could have been better, and is in the hands of people with an impeccable record. The plot for Cars 2 involves Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater taking a world trip. That sounds promising to me. By comparison next year's Monsters Inc. 2 strikes me as a bad idea because it's continuing a story that ended on a perfect note.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II

I liked Deathly Hollows Part I but I didn't love it. It is only half a movie, so I'll cut it some slack. I am expecting Part II to be excellent. It's the culmination of ten years and eight films. I'm looking forward to a climatic resolution and ideally not a lot of sulking in the forest.

3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

I'm feeling pretty positive about Dark of the Moon. No really. It's got Shockwave, the Wreckers as stock cars, Optimus Prime with a trailer, Megatron with a decent altmode, Sentinel Prime (or so I think), and a plot that may or may not involve space and/or time travel. How can it not be good? I am not in denial.

2. Thor

It was a close call between my top two choices. Thor ended up in the second slot, mainly just because I don't have the greatest familiarity with the character. Kenneth Branagh is a fascinating choice for the director of this movie. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with it. The trailer and images have all been encouraging so far.

1. Captain America: The First Avenger

So I went with Captain America for number one. It's a risky move since there's not even a trailer released yet. But I like the character. I like the idea of a superhero movie set during World War II, as much as I like the idea of one set in the '60s. I like Joe Johnston as the director. I like Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull. And I like Chris Evans, but Steve Rogers is pretty far removed from Johnny Storm. Will it all work out? Time will tell.

Jan 2011 Haul

2011-01-29T21:41:00.001-08:00

I'm abandoning the clever-but-not-really titles for haul posts. It's just simpler. I should probably start listing what's actually part of the haul, but I figure a picture speaks a thousand words. Should I change my mind about that?

Canceled Action Figure Cavalcade: Men In Black The Series

2011-01-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

I've been watching Men In Black: The Series on the Hub lately. I was a big fan of the show when I was a kid. The Worm Guys get a ridiculous amount of screentime but otherwise I think it holds up pretty well. I'm disappointed it never got any toys.

Toysite, the toy company that failed to release those Nintendo toys, previewed Men In Black: The Series action figures at the same Toy Fair. We may never find out just what happened with Toysite. If it were just the Nintendo figures that evaporated I'd chalk it up to a falling out with the licensor. But how do you explain the Men In Black stuff also getting canned?

Of course Toysite's line would have included figures of Agents Jay and Kay. Kay was to come with what looks like a projectile launching gun and Jay with an over-sized version of his Noisy Cricket with silencer. They were also to come with little pack-in aliens, evoking memories of Kenner's Real Ghostbusters figures.

Jay had an additional figure planned, with an alien disguise for Jay to wear.

There were also figures planned of a large red alien that I don't know the name of.

And the series' recurring villain Alpha. Well one of his forms anyways.

The Worm Guys were in a four-pack with coffee cups and a thermos. Unfortunately I couldn't find close-up pics of them.

The coolest piece of Toysite's lineup is the proposed MiB headquarters playset complete with the Twins working at their console. I would have liked to have seen these toys produced and even more beyond that. Agent Elle and a Zed figure to sit at his desk in the playset come immediately to mind. It's such a missed opportunity.

Reveal of the ThunderCats

2011-01-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

At the UK Toy Fair someone from the ThundercatsLair forum took some photos of Bandai's booth. This is our first look at characters and Bandai's toyline. The pictures are blurry and it's hard to make out what exactly is pictured. There are 3.75" figures, a ThunderTank, and a Sword of Omens role-playing toy. I think I see a playset in one of them, but a playset of what? The Cat's Lair hopefully? There's going to a 20 cm line od classic ThunderCats figures as well. Really all of this just makes me look forward to the U.S. Toy Fair next month so we can get more details.

I really like the new character designs. Lion-O has a boyish face. I wonder if he's still been rapidly aged in he new series. His outfit looks like they took the look of his leotard from the original series and made it armor instead. The Claw Shield is now metallic, instead of fuzzy. Cheetara looks great. I love her hair ..amongst other notable attributes. I dig Panthro's mutton chops and his number of scars. I don't know if he had to quite as big though. Tygra seems to have been altered the least physically but his new costume is the most radical departure from the originals.

Probably in reaction to the unforeseen reveal, Warner Bros. released their own official image. It gives us a better look at Tygra's front (and Cheetara and Panthro's backs). The promo image is quite brighter than the photographed banner. I'm not sure which is more reflective of the actual animation, though the difference isn't that significant.

The Bat, The Cat & The Luchador

2011-01-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Big news has been announced concerning The Dark Knight Rises. Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selena Kyle, more commonly known as Catwoman. And it's been revealed the role Tom Hardy will be playing in the movie is Bane.

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman works for me. She was the best choice of the list of actresses that were bandied about as potential candidates. Tom Hardy as Bane should be interesting but I do have one issue. He's a good actor and all but I don't understand why they couldn't have cast a Latino in the role.

Now assuming Selena actually does put on the Catwoman costume, then I'm personally thrilled about these announcements. If I had to pick two villains for a Batman movie I'd pick uh, Killer Moth and Firefly. But if I had to pick two reasonable choices than I'd pick Catwoman and Bane. Bane in particular works I think because he is a strategist with a personal obsession with Batman while additionally posing as a physical threat.

I wasn't as happy with some of the rumors we'd been hearing. I mean Hugo Strange isn't a terribly exciting choice for the major villain of a Batman movie. Why that's almost like making Hector Hammond the major villain of the Green Lantern movie. Talia al Ghul might have worked if Liam Neeson came back as Ra's al Ghul. I was even okay with Riddler being debunked early on. I've got nothing against Riddler but everyone was counting on him to be in it that it was more interesting to learn that he wouldn't be.

Both Bane and Catwoman have suffered greatly at the hands of Hollywood before. Bane was reduced to mindless lackey in Batman & Robin. And then there's Halle Berry's Catwoman which I had successfully blocked out of my memory until now. It's time they corrected some past wrongs.

Class Photo

2011-01-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

An image of the cast for X-Men: First Class was put up on MSN and disappeared soon thereafter. Of course some saved it and the pic has been available on other sites have You can't stop the internet.

I didn't know what X-Men: First Class was going to be about when it was first announced. Was it a follow-up to X-Men Origins: Wolverine focusing on a team featuring a young Cyclops? Was it a "next generation" type of story with a new cast of mutants? Was it a trussed up version of the long in-development Magneto origin movie? It's sort of the latter. That's Michael Fassbender as Magneto on the far right. James McAvoy on the far left plays a not-yet-bald Charles Xavier.

Where this movie falls on the timeline is still hazy to me. I suspect some plot holes are in the cards. I can use my geek powers to explain some things away. Let's assume Hank McCoy has been blue and furry since he was a teen, wore a disguise in his public life such as when he did a TV interview during X2 but came out as a mutant before the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. And maybe there just happens to be two blonde mutants named Emma Frost, the one seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and this new one played by January Jones. I think that works. With great geek power comes sad justifications.

Update: 1/19: MSN has put the picture back up and added an interesting interview with Michael Fassbender. Some details shared are that the film is set in the 1960's and Fassbender will don a costume that is more typical of what Magento traditionally wears.

DCUC Rehashes I Want

2011-01-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

I've created a list of DC Universe Classics action figures that I wish Mattel would produce. However because I like to aim low this isn't a list of brand new figures I want Mattel to make. That would be a much longer list. These are figures that have been made before but I want to see tweaked with a new deco or headsculpt. There are a couple of others, such as a lighter blue Superman and Detective Batman without the black on his mask, that I don't have a whole lot invested in but I still think Mattel should release.

Penguin

The Penguin was part of the first wave of DCUC figures. I passed on it partly because the face was too ugly even for the Penguin. I also didn't care for the orange vest and purple pants, but I'd give the figure second chance if they re-release the suit in different colors. The most obvious alternate deco would be one based on Penguin’s Super Powers figure, but I'd also like to see a figure of Penguin's white suit. But the deco I'd most like to see is one based on the not movie-remotely-movie-accurate Batman Returns action figure. I know there's no way that would happen but hey I can dream.

Here's some pictures for reference:

Sinestro in Sinestro Corp Uniform

Man what kind of an egomaniac Sinestro must be to name a Lantern Corp after himself. Sinestro's first pair of figures in DCUC wave 3 were aggravatingly undersized. Mattel has recently released a taller Sinestro in a two-pack with Hal Jordan, but that Sinestro is wearing the classic blue costume. I'd rather have an unstumpy version of the character wearing his yellow Sinestro Corp uniform.

Harley Quinn

Harley was first released in wave two with a blue paint wash on her face. Paint washes are a tricky thing. Sometimes they really bring out the details in a sculpt but in this instance (and others where I've seen blue used on a white base) it did not look good. She should get a re-release with a plain white face.

Since I'm making requests anyways, how about a new headsculpt for Harley? There’s nothing wrong with the existing one but I always liked the way the way Jim Lee drew Harley in Hush with the tips of her jester hood being longer and droopier.

Supergirl

Of all of my requests this is the one least likely to happen. Mattel released a modern Supergirl in the DC Superheroes line and re-issued it in a DCUC two-pack. I want a modern Supergirl figure but not that one. It's not an entirely bad figure. I just don't like the face. It's a bit too mannequin looking to me. I wish they'd give her a new headsculpt. A new Supergirl figure is on the horizon but it’ll be of a different version like the headband sporting Supergirl from Crisis on Infinite Earths or her V-neck and hot pants wearing Supergirl from the Seventies. I think the modern Supergirl ship has sailed.

Cassandra Cain as Batgirl

I actually don't care if they alter this figure. I just want it re-released so I could actually have a chance to buy one!

Two-Face

The DC Superheroes Two-Face was is another from that line I wanted but never so much as saw in stores. Mattel released a repaint of Two-Face in Silver Age colors. I like that version even better. Problem is that it was only available in a boxset with four figures I have no interest in. If they should get around to producing any of the figures on this list I hope Mattel doesn't package them with other toys I don't want. It's a plea doomed to fall on deaf ears.

And Now Another Costume

2011-01-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

It seems when it comes to images of superhero costumes when it rains it pours.

This is a scan from Entertainment Weekly showing Chris Evans in costume for Captain America: The First Avenger. It looks like the concept art but seeing it made out of actual material makes it look a lot better. The concept art was too sleek. I complained about the use of black in the concept art. On the real outfit it's gray instead of black, and there's less of it. Now had I not seen the concept art and had time to get used to it than I might have ended up liking the real thing less than I do. Even the gloves look nicer than they did in the artwork, where they looked pretty generic. The helmet chinstrap is straight out of the Ultimates comics. Oh and the helmet has wings. They're just painted on but it's probably better that way. I don't know what those guys in the background are. Hydra solders?

Updated 1/14/11: Higher quality picture from Entertainment Weekly's website added.

Spider-Man's Costume Reboot

2011-01-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Ever since the 2012 Spider-Man reboot was announced one of the major questions I had about it concerned Spidey's costume. The costume Tobey Maguire wore was already as well designed as one could reasonably hope for in a live action movie. Yet the reboot costume would need to be different, and therefore it was guaranteed to be a step-down by comparison. The only way to stay true to the comics and still be different from the first movie, and possibly even better, is if they went with cloth homemade-looking costume. Well turns out Sony didn't go in that direction. Here's a picture of Andrew Garfield wearing the new Spider-Man costume.

It's pretty much your standard live-action-adaptation-of-a-comic-book costume. It certainly doesn't reach the highs of Iron Man or the first Spider-Man costume but at least it's better than what we've see in the X-Men movies. Its different for the sake of being different. There are two things in particular that bug me. One is the lack of red wrapped around his waist simulating a belt. The othe is the spider insignia on his chest and how its legs extend down the front of the costume. It's like they're trying to draw attention to his crotch. Beyond that it's hard to judge further. I'm assuming this picture shows Spider-Man after a battle and it doesn't always look this dirty. Plus we're still missing out on a key feature: his mask. I can't wait to see what that looks like.

On Ice

2011-01-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

As the world knows by now Star Wars is coming to Blu-ray Disc. It's coming this September in a nine disc boxset of the complete saga for $139.99 MSRP. There will also be separate three disc sets for the prequel and original trilogies for $69.99 each. I think it's better to buy the complete set for the bonus discs. That being said I'm not positive I'll be buying any of these sets. I'm holding out until we learn more details about what's being included. There isn't even an exact release date yet.

Speaking of Star Wars, new episodes of The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network resumed on Friday night. The first episode felt very different from what had come before in this season. We seem to be moving away from the ponderous senatorial deliberations and into a really exciting direction. There are events that happen in the latest episode that forward the overall plot of the series greater than anything we've seen before in a single episode. Still I'm a little wary of them delving too deep into the mythology. I'd prefer some thing to stay mysterious.

What do Jason Bateman, Alyssa Milano, Mr. Belvedere, and the Super Mario Bros. have in common? They're all a part of the most insane show ever preformed. ON ICE.

Concept art for Captain America's Red Skull and the Cosmic Cube is online. Don't click on the link if you don't want to be spoiled. I'll just say it looks good to me.

One subject I considered featuring on Canceled Action Figure Cavalcade was Godzilla: The Series, the animated continuation of the 1998 movie. The disappointment of the movie killed the chances for the series' toyline. Well an article on Sci-Fi Japan has taken a far more in-depth look at this toyline than I ever could have. I highly recommend it.

Twenty Eleven

2011-01-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

So 2010 ended. How was your year? Mine was actually pretty decent. I've been busier though and I haven't worked on the blog as much. I made 112 posts this year which is way less than the 183 I made in 2009. This is where I would make a resolution to do fix that but I can't do that. I promise nothing! But hey have a nice 2011.

Toys R Us.com has an exclusive Green Lantern movie preview action figure up for pre-order. It's a four inch figure with a numbered base and what I assume is a wearable ring. It's pretty pricey at $24.99. There's also a six inch Tomar Re that's been auctoined on eBay. That character design looks like a rubber chicken in green spandex.

Jedi Temple Archives has an article about which figures from the vintage Star Wars have yet to be receive an update in the modern line. To me the most fascinating part is the gallery that compares the vintage figures to their modern counterpart. I love seeing these types of comparison shots, especially with the figures from the last few years. Some characters that haven't had a figure since the Nineties could use a new one.

Apparently there's an animated Tron series in development. Hey I totally dug Legacy so I'll look forward to this. There's a lot of animated series with built-in geek appeal coming next year. There's a new Voltron, Thundercats, Young Justice, Transformers Prime, the CGI Green Lanern, Ultimate Spider-Man and that's just off the top of my head. Is the new Ninja Turtles show coming next year? Man I kind of liked the fact I was watching fewer cartoons. I almost started to feel like an adult.

Hauly Jolly Christmas

2010-12-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a great holiday. I'm having one. Check out my Christmas haul. That's DC Universe Cyborg tucked behind Luigi. He's the last figure I needed to complete Collect 'n Connect Despero. I also got the Megazord. That's awesome!

Taste the Rainbow

2010-12-22T23:56:00.000-08:00

Today Mattel revealed wave 17 of DC Universe Classics, confirming the widespread rumor of it consisting of the Lantern deputies. In the comic crossover Blackest Night a group of established heroes and villains receive power rings from the various Lantern Corps. There's Blue Lantern Flash, Star Sapphire Wonder Woman, Sinestro Corp Scarecrow, Indigo Tribe Atom, Orange Lantern Lex Luthor and variants of Hal Jordan as a Black Lantern and a White Lantern. This is the first true themed wave of DCUC. It's a controversial decision (or at least as controversial as a wave of action figures could be) since not everyone is into Blackest Night. Plus DC Direct is still in the process of releasing versions of these characters. Usually Mattel and DC Direct go in different directions.

I'm not sure Mattel needed to make another Hal Jordan figure, much less two. He's giving Batman a run for his money in terms of amount of action figure, and it's only going to get worse when the movie hits. Since Hal was a living Black Lantern he doesn't even have the cool zombie thing gong for him. The problem with the Hal figures is that they took the place of Red Lantern Mera. Mera, if you're not familar with her, is Aquaman's wife. Unlike any of these other characters, Mattel has yet to make any Mera figures. And she's gotten a huge profile jump because of her prominence in Blackest Night and Brightest Day.

While I'm sorry there's still no DCUC Mera figure, I understand why they included the Hal(s). He's basically the existing Hal figure with new head sculpts, which must have been easy on the budget. I think Blue Lantern Flash might be a straight repaint. Indigo Tribe Atom looks pretty elaborate. It does suffer from the Indigo Tribe's terrible fashion sense. Oddly enough he'll end up being way easier to find than the regular Atom. I'm sure Star Sapphire Wonder Woman shares some parts with the upcoming Star Sapphire Carol Ferris, but her design is different enough that she has a lot of unique parts.

The Orange Lantern Lex Luthor is a modified version of the DC Superheroes Lex Luthor. The obvious difference is it's translucent orange. I can't tell if the head is a new sculpt or just a new paintjob. It has a new skirt and a new upper torso. The collar and chest plate are separate pieces, unlike the DCSH Luthor. I think this is so they can swap the chest piece with the Orange Lantern symbol with one accurate to the Super Powers Lex Luthor. I think a new Super Powers inspired Luthor is likely.

I do wonder if Mattel will release a new regular Scarecrow. I love the head sculpt on Sinestro Corp Scarecrow. And I've loved the idea of Scarecrow in a trenchcoat on account of his excellent New Batman Adventures design. But in order to turn SC Scarecrow into a normal version he'd need an entirely new body and forearms. Mattel might try to cobble one together with the DC Superheroes Scarecrow. I should probably just learn to live with this new one.

The Collect 'N Connect figure is the Anti-Monitor. Mattel went with modern version seen in Brightest Day, instead of his classic Crisis on Infinite Earths look. That's another thing that likely miffed some collectors. I don't really care much either way but I think this Anti-Monitor looks cool enough. I guess that's my whole outlook on this wave. They look good (Scarecrow looks great) and I don't dislike them.

Spy of the Sky

2010-12-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here's my haul for December and November. It's an embarrassing amount of stuff.

Pandorica Puzzle

2010-12-16T18:15:00.001-08:00

There's a wave of Doctor Who figures coming where each figure will come with a piece of the Pandorica. Each wall of the Pandorica has a CD with half of an audio book story. I feel sort of unsure about this. I love the idea of a Pandorica toy. I think releasing one as a "Build-An-Accesory" is a clever idea. I can live with the Pandorica toy being a hollow box, without the interior. And I appreciate the extra effort of packing in the CDs as an extra bonus. But having the Pandorica as a glorified disc holder is a little underwhelming. The art on the CDs is not quite the same as having actual deco on the toy.

I'm pissing in the wind by complaining about this, since I'd still very much like to own it. Of course I probably never will either. The figures themselves are nice which is always a bonus with a "Build-A" series. There's a mix of reissues and new figures. My favorites are The Doctor with his fez and mop and the battle damaged Cyberman. It's probably too much to ask that the Cyberman's head be removable, but it's cool enough already. Toy News International has pictures of the entire wave.

Hammer Bro

2010-12-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

This has become the week for teaser trailers. Thor's trailer will be online later today. I'll update this post once it's available. In the meantime check out this newly revealed poster.

Update: The trailer is now up at Yahoo Movies. The Destroyer looks cool. I'm also happy to see Thor's helmet even if he doesn't seem to wear it often.

Beardface of the Moon

2010-12-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

The teaser trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon is up on the Apple trailer website.

So who is the Tranformer we see at the end? My first thought was Alpha Trion, the Autobot who built Optimus Prime. Internet speculation seems to suggest Sentinel Prime or Vector Prime. Vector would make sense based on what we think we know about the movie, considering he's a guardian of time and space. This all supposes there's any sense to the depiction of characters in the Transformers movies.

BK Double Stacker

2010-11-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

Some technical difficulties derailed food week but I'm going to wrap things up as I originally planned. The BK Stacker has been around for a couple of years at Burger King, but this was the first time I had one. The blog is encouraging me to try new things. I'm not sure if that's a good thing though.

The Stacker features two beef patties, two slices of cheese, and two pieces of bacon. The bacon is cut in half so it looks like you're getting four pieces. The Stacker also features Stacker Sauce. Apparently Stacker Sauce is a variation of Thousand Island dressing, much like the other 90% of secret sauces.

I was surprised by how much I liked this. The bacon was a little tough but good. Stacker Sauce doesn't really taste like anything. I scarped some off with a french fry just to be sure. I think I was fortunate enough to get a fresh bun because it was unusually warm and soft. I wish they usually arrived like that. It's a really tasty explosion of meat and cheese. You can also get a Triple or Quad Stackers. Those might be too much for me, but I think I would try a Double Stacker again.

Philly Cheesesteak Burger

2010-11-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

I've never had a genuine Philly cheese steal sandwich but I've always enjoyed the reasonable approximations that I've had. Not too long Carl's Jr. introduced a Philly Cheesesteak Burger which could be called an unreasonable approximation. They sell it in single, double, and Six Dollar burger varieties. I went with the single.

The inside is not pretty. You get two slice of cheese, Swiss and American. Between the cheese are onions, bell peppers and steak. And it's all piled on top of the hamburger patty. It's pretty messy.

This was the first thing I've eaten to review that I just flat out did not like. I suppose I wasn't too kind to Carl's chicken tenders, but they weren't that bad. The Philly Cheesesteak Burger I had a problem with. It was all just too much. And nothing in that conglomeration of ingredients really stood out. I sort of remember tasting the peppers. Mostly I just remember the thick moistness of the burger. It's like eating a used mop. I was hungry at the time so I did finish it, but one Philly Cheesesteak Burger was more than enough for me.

Jack in the Box Funnel Cake

2010-11-24T21:56:00.000-08:00

Food week resumes with the first desert item to be featued here, funnel cake from Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box introduced it earlier this year. They sell it for only a dollar. Who doesn't love funnel cake? It's not quite the classic funnel cake you're probably used to (Faux-nel cake?) but I still wanted to give it a shot.

Well they really skimp on the powder sugar. I hardly got any. I ordered my funnel cake along with a meal. I rarely order deserts and with good reason. By the time I was done with the meal I didn't want to eat anymore. Plus by that point, if the funnel cake was served warm it wasn't anymore. I ate it anyways and found it to be decent. It was a little too chewy but maybe I was just reluctant to chew at that point. I would like to try it again. It seems like it would be a great between meal snack.

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Carl's Jr. Chicken Tenders

2010-11-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Food week continues with the new Chicken Tenders available at Carl's Jr. This is a relatively new menu item, particularly for this slow paced blog. Carl's Jr. sells their new Chicken Tenders in either three or five pieces.

So how are they? The breading is okay. It's flaky and reminds of KFC but not as flavorful. The chicken is kind of rubbery. They're far from the worst chicken tenders/strips/nuggets/wings I've had. They're just not particularly good. Now that I've satisfied my curiosity about them, I don't know if I'll order them again.

The Chicken Tenders come with barbecue sauce in a clear plastic cup with a lid. The strange thing is the BBQ sauce tastes exactly like the kind Carl's Jr. serves in standard packets with their Chicken Stars. So I don't know what purpose the cup with lid serves other than to class things up. Carl's Jr.'s BBQ sauce is a tangy and paste-like sauce. I don't really care for it but I'd rather have it than eat the Chicken Tenders dry.