Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 23, 2009 in
Comic Books,
Hobbies and Collections 
A very old school approach to wallpaper was to take paste up newspapers, this Marvel Comic Book Chair Rail Prepasted Wall Mural gives a post-modern fanboy take on this time honored decoration technique. The instant wall mural is six feet high by ten feet wide and includes covers from Spider Man, X-Men, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Thor, and Captain America: Read more…
Tags: Marvel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 22, 2009 in
Design,
Hobbies and Collections 
We’ve all grown up with the Bazooka Joe gimmick: Half the fun of opening the single package of gun was to read the comic tucked inside. And of course the Cracker Jacks version is to give you a secret surprise inside the box — a technique that cereal companies turned into a fine art (not to forget McDonald’s Happy Meals as well). However today I leaned a twist on this old marketing hook thanks to an imported Japanese pack of Doraemon gum. Upon opening my gum I discovered that each individual wrapper had a unique design based on the well known anime cat: Read more…
Tags: Anime, Japan, Japanese Package Design
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2009 in
Cinema,
Hobbies and Collections 
The first toys for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland film are starting to be announced: Shown above is a Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Doll for Johnny Depp fans — although at $200 you’ll have to be a hardcore fan. More to my own aesthetic and financial liking are the Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat Kubricks below which are $19 for the pair. Sadly these goodies won’t be out for Christmas, but you can pre-order them for April 2010. Read more…
Tags: Action Figures, Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton, Urban Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2009 in
Animation,
Hobbies and Collections 
It’s amazing to me to think that Akira is now over 20 years ago: So if you want to celebrate old school Neo-Tokyo the folks at Sideshow have produced a Kaneda’s Bike Die-Cast 1/6 Scale Replica. Although this is no average mecha replica as this model features LEDs which light up. In addition to the lights this set of wheels features sound effects, the headlights move up and down and you can remove the exterior panels: Read more…
Tags: Akira, Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 15, 2009 in
Cinema,
Hobbies and Collections 
Is he an evil mechanical doppelgänger or just misunderstood? Since 1974 poor Mechagodzilla (メカゴジラ) has always been played up as the nemesis of Godzilla — but I like to think of him as more of a beloved sparring partner. And now you can show your love for this mechanical maestro with your very own Godzilla MechaGodzilla Plush which features a soft surface instead of the usual space titanium.
Tags: Godzilla
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 14, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Star Wars 
As if living on a swamp planet wasn’t bad enough poor master Yoda must suffer the extra humiliation of having to sit by and watch as his body is used to backup excel spreadsheets and photos of the family cat. Of course for a mere $40 you can recreate this horrific scene with the Star Wars 4GB Flash Drives which are available through ThinkGeek. In addition to Yoda you can decapitate the likes of Darth Vader, Boba Fett and some poor Stermtrooper: Read more…
Tags: Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, USB Flash Drive, Yoda
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 11, 2009 in
Animation,
Cinema,
Hobbies and Collections 
Yes I know James Cameron will make a billion dollars with Avatar. But you know what Cameron will never know how to do? Create a damn high quality giant robot that kids will want to buy thirty years from now! Shown above is the reason why: The Avatar AMP Suit (shown above) looks like a left over prop from the film Aliens: Read more…
Tags: Anime, James Cameron, Macross, Robots
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 11, 2009 in
Comic Books,
Hobbies and Collections 
It’s amazing to think that Buck Rogers got started as a fictional character in an issue of Amazing Stories from over 90 years ago (August 1928 to be exact) — however Buck made his first huge mark as a comic strip series illustrated by John Flint Dille. Those old strips have a wonderfully quirky look to them, and the folks at Dark Horse have picked on this by introducing a line of swag which was designed by the folks at Retro-A-Go-Go. The collection goes on sale on February 24th, 2010 and includes a wide range of goodies including picture frames: Read more…
Tags: Buck Rogers, Dark Horse, Science Fiction
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 10, 2009 in
Cinema,
Hobbies and Collections 
The unintentionally ironic thing about the Cheech & Chong Action Figure Set is that it strikes me as being the most effective anti-drug statement I’ve ever seen: And of course that irony goes even deeper as pretty much all anti-drug advertising always seems to make drug use somehow cooler. Read more…
Tags: Action Figures
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 8, 2009 in
Animation,
Hobbies and Collections 
Sadly the reviews that Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen received were slightly less than stellar, however if you’re a fanboy you may still want to purchase the film because it comes on this nifty re-useable 4GB USB Stick. The packaging is pretty cool too, it’s so sad that they didn’t put the same amount of care into the movie: Read more…
Tags: Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, USB Flash Drive
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 7, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Horror 
This is no ordinary cute Cthulhu! This release of My Little Cthulhu actually glows in the dark. This limited edition 8-inch vinyl figure designed by John Kovalic won’t be out until March of 2010, but you can pre-order now. Can’t wait for your cutie? The original My Little Cthulhu Dark Edition Vinyl Statue is available now: Read more…
Tags: H. P. Lovecraft, Urban Toys, Vinyl Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 5, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Videogames 
Shown above is the ever so cute Street Fighter IV Fight Pad Action Voice Key Chain. This keychain looks like an old school arcade game controller, but when you press the punch button you get the Japanese voice of the character you are punching (and the same with the kick button). There are four versions for this device which feature the actual voice of the characters Chun-Li, Dhalsim, Ken and Ryu.
Tags: Street Fighter
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 4, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections 
Because diamonds are a kitty’s best friend! Well these are sort of faux diamonds on this ever so cute Crystallized Swarovski Hello Kitty MP3 Player. For those not in the know Swarovski Elements Crystallized are high fashion crystals that have been used by well known fashion designers like Giorgio Armani. Although if you’re a geek you’ll also appreciate that this MP3 player holds up to 2 gigs of storage and offers a 10 hour battery life and costs a bit under $200.
Tags: Hello Kitty
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 2, 2009 in
Cinema,
Hobbies and Collections 
The great thing about zombies being so in style is that you can write about then after Halloween without feeling guilty! So it’s with pleasure that I can share this Night Of The Living Kev Inaction Figure which captures director Kevin Smith who is sporting the Monroeville Zombies t-shirt as worn by Seth Rogan in Kevin’s film Zack & Miri Make a Porno: Read more…
Tags: Kevin Smith, Urban Toys
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2009 in
Animation,
Hobbies and Collections 
PansonWorks from Japan has created a line of One Piece air-deformed (and super cuter) figurines. PansonWorks is best known for a hip collection of character designs known as Robin and his 100 Friends. The One Piece figurines go on pre-sale on December 14th. Here’s the rest of the collection: Read more…
Tags: Anime, Japan, One Piece
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 31, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections 
I was blown away to see that MTV 80s icons Blondie, Joan Jett and Cyndi Lauper have all been turned into Barbie dolls! Of course back in the 80s the animated TV series Jem gave Barbie a run for her money — while Barbie struck back with Barbie and the Rockers it was never quite cool as Jem. Too bad the licensing folks Mattel didn’t approach these 80s rock legends a bit sooner! Here’s Debbie Harry as Blondie doll which comes out in December: Read more…
Tags: Barbie Dolls, Mattel, MTV
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 30, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Horror 
In the 70s Aurora had an amazing line of horror themed model kits which I haven’t looked at since the Carter administration. Well the vintage Aurora kits are back! And man I forgot how silly they were: When you’re a kid everything seems so much more serious — but after looking at this cover art for the Monster Scenes Dr. Deadly Model Kit I couldn’t stop laughing. Yeah you’ve got the poorly attired doctor doing something, well what is he doing? Well it must be evil, but the best part is the added touch of his little pet to the right. That bunny looks completely silly, it reminds me of the Monty Python killer rabbit sketch: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 27, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Star Wars 
Noted fashion design Marc Ecko has an entire line of Star Wars clothing that’s available for pre-order. The collection consists of t-shirts and hoodies, but they look pretty amazing. Here’s the Marc Ecko Darth Maul Spray T-Shirt: Read more…
Tags: Star Wars, t-shirt
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 25, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections,
Star Trek 
When your child grows up to watch the second (or third?) reboot of Star Trek they’ll know that it all started when you first put them into their very own Star Trek Uniform Onesie. There are four options available: cadet gray, science blue and command yellow. However we strongly urge you to not dress your child in operations red: Read more…
Tags: cosplay, Star Trek
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 24, 2009 in
Animation,
Hobbies and Collections 
If there are characters that deserve the title non-action figures it would have to be he characters from Family Guy. Sure GI Joe has to go out and fight Cobra, but the Griffins would be more at home attacking a pizza. This Family Guy Mini Figure Boxed Set contains Peter, Lois, Brian, Chris, Megan and Stewie and will be in out in November: Read more…
Tags: Family Guy
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 19, 2009 in
Animation,
Comic Books,
Hobbies and Collections 
Back in the day my friend Ardith Carlton (who now lives in Japan) would keep telling us about this amazing anime series called Tomorrow’s Joe (あしたのジョ) which she claimed at the time was one of THE best anime series of all time. Of course none of us believed her because the subject matter in the show was boxing and this being the 80s our obsessions at the time were giant robots and cool looking spaceships and of course Joe offered none of that. Little did we know what a cool series that we were missing out on! Ashita no Jō is now seen as one of the heavyweights of its genre. And in celebration of the series Kaitendoh is releasing a huge 1/6th scale collectable statuette which will come out in December: Read more…
Tags: Anime, Japan, manga, Tomorrow's Joe
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections 
What better way to celebrate a hipster film version of Where the Wild Things Are than with a cool Kubrick figure? This Where the Wild Things Are Max 400 Percent Kubrick Figure won’t be available until December but it looks worth the wait. This figurine is somewhat unusual in that it’s 8 inches tall which is about four times the size of the usual Kubrick creations. Of course being a collectable Max is priced at about $150, but if you’re on a budget for Christmas (or want to start shopping sooner you can get the Where The Wild Things Are Kubricks Figures 6-Pack which should be coming out this month: Read more…
Tags: Maurice Sendak, Spike Jonze, Toys, Urban Toys, Where the Wild Things Are
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 17, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections 
My latest conquest from my local Asian grocery was the Chocolate Cookie: Meiji Takenoko No Sato Cheesecake and I have to say that I was quite impressed with my choice. Inside the package were seven individually wrapped white chocolate covered cookies that tasted amazing. I didn’t quite get the taste of cheese cake, but the cookies did have a nice vanilla flavor to them (the way the chocolate cookie title in this case was misleading). As for the package design I’ve seen more playful solutions before, but I do love the beatnik chocolate mushroom cartoon characters that adorned the box: Read more…
Tags: Japan, Japanese Package Design
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 16, 2009 in
Hobbies and Collections 
Most of us grew up being told “don’t play with your food!” But the genius of Plush Sushi is that it was designed to be played with, although ThinkGeek notes that this toy is for grownups and not kids. Normally as a vegetarian I avoid salmon roe, tuna and shrimp but I think I might make an except for these cute creations: Read more…
Tags: Japan, Sushi, Toys
