Editor’s Note: Let me guess: Super Shoppa’s secret powers are getting on line first for limited edition toy robots and being on “the list” for exclusive after hours Comic Con parties.
After getting more than a little lost we caught up with our main man Patrick Ma of Rocket World. Based in San Francisco, this independent custom toy outfit just launched a very tight themed custom toy collection. The I.W.G. Astro Krieg space hunters collection is really well thought out. Patrick attributes this design to the fusion of outdoor hunting, the military, toys from childhood, and an industrial design ethos. We picked up the hippo and the bear both wearing space suits!
Posted by Guest Author on Jul 26, 2008 in Star Wars
The Medicom Toys booth: These are super hot! We have 5 versions of this cute Darth Vadet with the big head and big hands. Everything from gangsta to steampunk and all in one glass case. I am surprised these fat headed ego cadets don’t tear each other apart. Oh wait they are not alive…
Posted by Guest Author on Jul 26, 2008 in Comic Books
Oh no you didn’t! Oh yes we did: Met up with Hector Casanova and Harold Stipe of the now famous Screamland comic. All five issues are sold out so everyone is waiting for October 29 and the launch of the series in a combined book. The publisher is Image Comics – as in McFarlane and Silvestri! This is whopping big!
UNKL Toys booth: I made it to Kow Yokoyama’s signing. This limited toy is awesome. Pictured here is SUG. Also comes with a pet dog in same suit. We bought the set and MAK.Po!
Brian Flynn founder Super7 explaining the infinite line of villains portrayed behind him. Note the Cobra Commander colorway. This booth is hot! Below is a Prototype of new line by Super7 and Gorilla Supreme:
What I spotted at the Merit International booth: This piece just made it here on time! The series is called STD which stands for Slick, Toonie, and Dez.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2008 in Comic Books
The cover above for Four Eyes #2 made me take a second look: The draftsmanship in this cover illustration by Max Fiumara is nothing short of suburb. Even though the image is in black and white you get an vivid sense of lighting and shadow. And then here’s all of that wonderful texture that breathes life into that dragon. My bet is that Image Comics will ruin this cover by coloring it, but we’ll have to wait to see when it hits the streets in October.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2008 in Animation
Banpresto has just released these nifty looking Mobile Suit Gundam portable speakers which are based on the Zaku suit. Sadly these will onlybe available in Japan at arcade centers.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 24, 2008 in Comic Books
For this cover of Marvel’s Secret Invasion: Front Line #4 (Of 5) illustrator Juan Doe has created a wonderful comic tribute to Norman Rockwell’s Freedom from Want. While I always appreciated Rockwell as a vegetarian the site of the poor turkey in the original painting always turned my stomach — but in this homage Doe turns our feathered friend into a cut looking lizard creature (of sorts):
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 24, 2008 in Star Wars
So I’m checking out the comments on my iPhone Lightsaber video and another fanboy brags “Go watch our video it’s a real battle: It’s a hundred times better than this!” And much to my shock and horror not only is their video cooler than my, but I think they even went a step beyond the notorious Star Wars Kid!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 23, 2008 in Science
Any old time Star Trek fanboy knows that having a good tractor beam is a must have for any starship — and it looks like science is now catching up: Shown above is an artists conception of a gravity tractor spacecraft that could push a dangerous asteroid out of the day:
“Real-life scientists are actually exploring the gravity tractor, the keyhole problem and other issues surrounding the very real, if remote, danger that a comet or asteroid will some day cross Earth’s orbital path at precisely the wrong time. A crowd of them met this week in Baltimore as part of the “Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2008” conference sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory.
It’s not an idle concern. On June 30, 1908, astronomers say, a comet exploded over a remote area of Russia with the force of a 10-megaton nuclear bomb. The “Tunguska” impact, as it’s known, flattened 80 million trees over 830 square miles – that’s enough destructive power to devastate a city of millions, had it struck one.”