Introduced in 1976 Atari Breakout was a breakthrough game — it’s interesting to note to that future Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak worked on the prototype (who was hired by Steve Jobs). This Japanese piggy bank celebrates this legendary arcade game — and what’s cool about it is that you can actually play a function version of the game on it. I also rather like the fact that all the decals on the piggy bank are in Japanese: Read more…
Introduced in 1984 by Galoob Sweet Secrets were purse shape toys which would transform into dolls — this 1986 spot shows them turning into a puppy, teddy bear and a girl with long blond hair. There was also a related line of jewelry that would transform into a panda, a koala and a “pretty friend”: Read more…
Hello Kitty is a master multitasker and that’s why this Hello Kitty USB Hub is so brilliant: It allows you to consolidate your clutter by allowing you to plug in two USB devices. Yes I know in terms of the geeky side two isn’t that many, but how many other hubs might you own that feature a cute kitty sitting on top of a mushroom? Read more…
This is Noto Arisa (能登有沙) who is nicknamed Nocchi, this video is a regular feature on the DogaDoga7 Anime NewType Channel. I’m somewhat addicted to these videos on YouTube because Nocchi is always hanging out at anime cons and sneaking around animation studios. In the video above she’s announcing her 2nd personal manga, talking about some DVD and mentioning that she will debut as a voice actor in an animated drama titled Deba no Hime Goto. Below is the video of her snooping around Gonzo, the studio responsible for the Strike Witches: Read more…
The Daruma doll (達磨) are a classic Japanese toy — you fill in one eye upon starting a quest, and then you color in the other eye once you finish. This cute digital variation of the doll actually stores 2 gigs of memory — which makes it the perfect companion for overachievers: Read more…
I recently came across these two Kenner toy commercials from 1986 for M.A.S.K. (which stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand and shouldn’t be confused with the 1995 animated series based on the the Jim Carey film The Mask) and was surprised to discover that this classic 80s kids series was in fact anime! The series was produced by DIC, but the actual animation was produced by three Japanese studios: KK C&D Asia, Studio Juno, Studio World and Ashi Production. Of course they weren’t alone back then, many anime studios did work for American series — the best example would be ThunderCats from that era. Read more…
You can relive your memories of the early days of anime with this Mobile Suit Gundam USB Memory device. It will hold up to 4 gigs, which might just hold a few digital backups of your old VHS tapes or photos of your giant robot collection: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 13, 2009 in Animation, Cinema
We like to think of sci fi films as something new, but the fact of the matter is that the genre is now over a century old. On this day in 1909 the French film Le Voyage sur Jupiter opened in the United States. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Segundo de Chomón in 1907 the movie is quite similar to Le voyage dans la lune from 1902 by Georges Méliès. Although to his credit Chomón was very good at special effects and shows off a few new tricks here. Read more…
My good friends Carolyn Lengel and Mike Enright are running a very cool Bollywood film series up at the Ossining Public Library (in Ossining, New York of course!): This Saturday they’ll be showing the 1998 film Dil Se (दिल से which translates to From the Heart). Shown above is their wonderful video promotion for the film which gives you a very good taste of the plot. And below is a fan made trailer for the film: Read more…
No it’s not Meow Mix, but the Meow Mixer! This Hello Kitty Kitchen Hand Mixer comes with a red or blue dress, and they claim that it’s easy to clean the metal mixer part. Although if you are a hardcore kitty fan I couldn’t imagine you actually using said device clearly it would be on display or kept in an unopened box to ensure the collectibility factor.
Above is author Neil Gaiman at the opening of Worldcon 2009 in Montreal. What’s a Worldcon you ask? Well for those of you not in the know Worldcon is the world science fiction convention which has been held every year since 1939 except during World War II (because most of the fanboys were being drafted). As someone who was active in fandom going back a bit I can tell you that once upon a time Worldcon was THE place where Hollywood would show their latest. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 11, 2009 in Comic Books
One Model Nation looks like a captivating graphic novel about a fictional revolution set in 1977 in an alternate reality Germany. What I love about this book from little I’ve seen is that there is no dialog at all, thus giving you a page turning silent movie experience. The story is by Courtney Taylor who is best known for his musical career as Dandy Warhols, normally I’d hold this against an potential author but I like what I see here. And in terms of what you see the book is illustrated by Jim Rugg who has done some amazing work in the past — and he’s done a nice job here: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 10, 2009 in Videogames
Looking at this latest trailer of Samurai Warriors 3 (known as Sengoku Musou 3 in Japan) I’m very impressed with the level of detail that Koei and Omega Force have put into this Wii game. This series has been running since 2004 and combines historical settings with just a little bit of magic for fighting scenes. This latest version should be out at the end of November, 2009. Here are some very well done character designs I from their preview website: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 10, 2009 in Comic Books
I always get excited when I get to see a preview of a Rob Guillory cover illustration, unlike so many other artists his work always features a wonderful sense of humor (and he’s not afraid to get cartoony). But when I came across the cover of Chew #5 I was a bit let down once I started out of the box: I mean yeah there’s a cannibalism joke, but it’s not that funny and the picture is a bit stark. But then I looked just a tiny bit closer, and what I found made me realize that this was perhaps the best Guillory cover to date: Read more…
I’ve always hated Penn Station in New York City, but one of the few silver linings was a nameless magazine shop located on the LIRR level on the west side of the station. I’ve know this shop since the 80s so it’s fair to say that it is at least 25 years old, although I suspect that it’s much older than that. What made it unique was that it was the largest magazine shop in all of Penn Station. This made it a welcome oasis in the desert wasteland of commuting on the Long Island Rail Road. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 8, 2009 in Videogames
Ah yes the trailer with the masses chanting “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” Now I’ll grant you that Eddie Van Halen is one of the most amazing living guitar players of our time (well sort of living if you look at that photo), but the real point of Van Halen is the dysfunctionality of the band itself! And a proper video game should reflect this discord as the central game play of the product. Frankly no one has fantasized about playing a Van Halen air guitar riff since the Reagan era, instead the real game should focus on what went on off stage: After all that’s what we’re really interested in. Heavy metal as a genre lends itself best to a This is Spinal Tap state, so why not give the people what they want instead of some juke box hero plot device that we’ve already seen a hundred times before? Read more…
Hello Kitty is catching the urban vinyl toy trend with this latest Hello Kitty Urban Vinyl Mini Figure 2-Packs Wave 1 Set which is due to come out this month. Featured in this set are Duckies Mimmy, Soap Kitty, Piano Kitty, Flower Power Mimmy, Peace & Love Kitty and Boom Box Mimmy. I guess you’ll have to wait for set two to see if they do a Walkman Mimmy or a VHS Kitty…
This Panasonic VHS deck commercial from 1986 opens up with the Robert Palmer hit Addicted to Love from just a year before in 1985 — also the animated wiggles and zig zags are lifted from the Dire Straits video Money for Nothing (which was also produced in ’85 as well). Although what’s funny about video was that if you were well to do in the 80s you’d be watching MTV on cable which was still a slightly expensive treat back then. Although I would have my friends tape blocks of programming on VHS which I would then replay in my lower budget household. Read more…
At long last The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is starting to see the light of day! This first trailer looks amazing, it sort of reminds me of what Terry Gilliam was doing with Brazil in a roundabout way. Many folks are focusing on the fact that this was Heath Ledger’s last film, but for me th real story is that this is a make-or-break moment for Terry Gilliam. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 7, 2009 in Comic Books
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 will be out next Wednesday, August 12th and I don’t think I’ve been this excited about a Spider-Man comic book since my childhood! David Lafuente is a comic book illustrator from Spain and I really love what I’m seeing in this book. First we start with the cover which looks good and is pretty strongly designed (the layout has a nice dramatic effect) but usually at this point I groan about the bait-and-switch where the interior art just doesn’t measure up — well in this case it actually looks better! Not only that but each frame of the comic book feels like your looking at a well composed action film. Lafuente really understands how to make the page look dramaic in a way that reminds me of a Japanese manga. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 7, 2009 in Animation
We already know that Ponyo is going to be a great film — but the real question is if Disney would mess up the voice acting? I always hate when Hollywood studios favor screen actors over good old fashioned voice actors, but I’ve got to say that it sounds like they’ve pulled it off looking at this second trailer! The film opens on August 14th so get ready to reserve your tickets…
If you told me a few months ago that I’d be looking ahead to a live action version of Where The Wild Things Are I’d say that you were crazy — however it looks like Spike Jonze is set to change that! I also love the fact that Maurice Sendak really seems on board: When was the last time that a book author was behind a Hollywood film? I think the last director to pull that off was Stanley Kubrick…
As a Star Blazers fanboy at heart I have to admit that I feel slighted by the slew of high quality Gundam merchandise I’ve been seeing hitting the streets of Japan. Well as if to answer my prayers I just spotted this amazing new replica of Leader Desslok’s wine goblet that just came out: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 7, 2009 in Videogames
This is a bit of a self plug, but my design firm has just launched a free online game for the WNET/Thirteen kids series Cyberchase which runs on PBS Kids! The name of the game is Stop the Stormerator and I’d have to say that it’s the largest scale game project I’ve worked on since the CD-ROM era. We were lucky in that we got to work with the actual voice actors from the show, and the game features their talents a great deal. The only catch is that you have to register to play the game, but that only takes a few seconds. Here are some screenshots which show off how rich the game is: Read more…
Ah yes the trailer with the masses chanting “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” Now I’ll grant you that Eddie Van Halen is one of the most amazing living guitar players of our time (well sort of living if you look at that photo), but the real point of Van Halen is the dysfunctionality of the band itself! And a proper video game should reflect this discord as the central game play of the product. Frankly no one has fantasized about playing a Van Halen air guitar riff since the Reagan era, instead the real game should focus on what went on off stage: After all that’s what we’re really interested in. Heavy metal as a genre lends itself best to a This is Spinal Tap state, so why not give the people what they want instead of some juke box hero plot device that we’ve already seen a hundred times before? 
