Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 25, 2010 in Animation
Shown here are three English adverts for Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds themed Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks from the 60s. For me this represents a bit of double lost golden age: For starters this Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows from the 60s had such a wonderful attention to detail that you just don’t see anywhere — and of course in our politically correct obesity obsessed society you’d never even dream of a breakfast cereal with the name “sugar” in the title being tied to a kids television show! By the way I love how the Thunderbirds cereal included those special collectors pins: Read more…
This video by Loren Feldman is nothing short of brilliant: In it he retells his immortal quest for a jacket that features the logo from Leo Laporte’s famed podcast This Week in Tech. The tech fanboy in me cried as poor Lauren after waiting for what must have been emotional eons and was denied his branded goodie. While there isn’t anything as cool as maid cafés or cosplay in the tech world the industry has always been notorious in the past for handing out tons of branded whatnot. Sadly the golden age of this sort of soft bribery was the dot.com era when it was impossible to leave any kind of second rate trade show without a bag full of t-shirts, office toys and giant plushy mascots. Read more…
Back in the day one of the best tools for teaching the principals of animation was to give a child a Super 8mm camera and let them shoot stop motion animation frame-by-frame using their collection of toys as models in motion. Later some video cameras would be able to do the same trick, however it was never quite as cool. So I’m glad to see a digital twist of this old idea with The Anime Studio which actually looks like a miniature version of an giant old school animation stand: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 24, 2010 in Fandom, Star Trek
This amazing silent 8mm film sheds light on an amazing lost moment in Star Trek fandom: It shows a cast reunion at Chicago convention in late August of 1975. I realize today that doesn’t sound like a big deal but you have to step into the shoes of fans of that era to appreciate this special film. This was an age when the only way to watch an episode of Star Trek might have been if you owned a 16mm film print of an episode. There wasn’t much science fiction on television so desperate fanboys and fangurls wanted Star Trek to come back on the air as much as Beatles fans dreamed of another album. So the ability for fans to see their heros reunite on stage must have been true magic — and it’s because of those fans that not only did the cast return to make several films, but that the series still lives on today. Read more…
I’m always amazed at the amazing variety of anime merchandise: Back in the day you were lucky to find your favorite toy robot hidden away in Chinatown, but now there’s every type of anime themed goodie that you can imagine thanks to the net. And this One Piece Jolly Roger Towel is proof of this concept — as you can now go to the beach and proudly proclaim your Luffy allegiance amongst dunes, surfers and sunscreen. Read more…
This animated Japanese commercial for Karno struck a real chord with me — the spot is so simple yet so very powerful. This advert is a real case of less is more as you have very graphic character designs accompanied by minimalist child’s sing song. Yet the story of a little girl crying and being cheered up by her mother offering her a candy is quite universal and heartwarming. People always identify the complexity of anime as a visual trademark, but having looked at quite a few educational animated segments from NHK I can tell you that isn’t the case. To me what sets anime apart is more than just the craftsmanship but also the storytelling. Read more…
I’ll be honest to me Holo always looked more like a fox than a wolf, however that said I’m sure the hardcore Wolf and Spice fans out there would disagree with me. However there’s no question to me that this canis character is quite catchy so I was quite taken with the Toys Works Collection 2.5 Wolf and Spice II (トイズワークスコレクション にいてんご 狼と香辛料 II) which was issued to celebrate the second season of the series. The collection features multiple Holos with a Lawrence and a Fermi Amati figurine thrown in as well: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 23, 2010 in Japanese TV
GummiX is the latest craze from Japan for kids: It’s a kit that allows you to make your own realistic bug candy. So it’s sort of like do-it-yourself gummy worms but allows you to cook up a wider range of more realistic critters. In fact the website shows kids decorating desserts with various candy bug toppings. Here are some screenshots from the official website to give you a better taste: Read more…
I’m really impressed with the level of detail on the drum kit that accompanies this K-ON! figurine which is due out in May. The figurine also does a nice job of capturing the personality of Ritsu Tainaka who plays the drums because she doesn’t quite have the dexterity to handle more complex musical instruments: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 22, 2010 in Animation
You don’t need a million dollar budget to become a filmmaker: Looking at this short animated film by Angel Yau reminded me a great deal of an animated version of dōjinshi (同人誌) which are self published comic books in Japan. Even though this video was done on an ultra low budget Yau’s storytelling skills had me hooked from the first frame through the last. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 22, 2010 in Japanese TV
The above ever so cute promo for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull features the official mascot for the Okayama Broadcasting Co. Apparently their mascot always exclaims Oh! in any situation including running away from a giant ball at an archeology site. There’s something so charming about the low quality animation being used on this spot which contrasts so well with a high budget Hollywood film trailer: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 22, 2010 in Comic Books
I know it’s a gimmick aimed at collectors, yet I love the concept of variant cover illustrations for comic books. And with three variant covers Turf #2 is a good example of this: Each cover has a very different entertaining take on the theme of aliens and the roaring twenties. The above cover is by David LaFuente reminds me a great deal of a shoujo manga, while the illustration below by Bernard Chang has a nice subtle art deco feel to it: Read more…
Being a Jedi can be a dirty business, so what better way to keep it clean than with Star Wars Logo Soap? This appears to be a fan made item judging by the fact that it’s on Etsy, so enjoy these scented mandarin sandalwood bars while they last: Read more…
Slowly digital photo frames are going from a novelty item for geeks to decor for the masses. Yet most of the frames that I’ve seen thus far are quite tradition, so I was please to come across this Hello Kitty Digital Photo Frame which seems to have a bit of fun with the concept. Granted kitty has so few facial features that it’s a bit hard to see her eyes and nose disappear, but they effect is that it looks like you are looking at what kitty is thinking inside of her head. In addition to storing 16 gigs of images it also looks like kitty can show a calendar or a clock: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 20, 2010 in Science
Robert Satcher Jr. is an astronaut and a surgeon: And not only is he a 21st century of a Dr. McCoy but since he’s also an Chemical engineer you can say that he’s also like Mr. Scott. What I love about watching videos like this is that you get to see people who actually go into outer space for a living, and cooler yet they’re actually quite geeky too! It’s also inspiring to see that Satcher has given back so much too. Here’s a wonderful photo of Satcher in action: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 19, 2010 in Animation, Tech
Anybody who grew up with Star Blazers is going to want to download this Yamato iPhone app right away! The app was released to promote the new Yamato film which came out last year — the only catch is that he navigation is in Japanese, so here’s a quick tour: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 19, 2010 in Comic Books
Sky Doll Space Ship isn’t actually a new series — it was first published in France. And it looks like Marvel is set to release this three part series by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa starting in May. I’d encourage everyone who loves comics to spread the word about this series for two reasons: Firstly I’d love to see more international comics imported into America, and secondly it’s refreshing to see comics escape from the typical superhero clichés that dominate the market. I’m glad that Marvel is getting behind this — it’s also nice to see that they got Pierre-Mony Chan to do a variant cover: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
What’s not in the Pocky commercial? We have dancing salarymen, cosplay clad maid cafe maids, pram pushing mums and a fleet of taxi drivers who all feel the need to express their enthusiasm for their favorite snack! Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Japanese TV
American tampon ads can have that “not fresh feeling” feel sometimes — however these two ads for unicharm are much more out there. The first one features a typical absorption theme but then ends with a zero gravity special effect. However the next advert doesn’t look like anything you’d see here in the States: Our protagonist is sleeping away happily while not being distracting by her stuffed doll collection which then animates to life and dances around her while she is asleep: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Comic Books
This variant zombie cover illustration by Darwyn Cooke captured my eyes pretty quickly. The artwork is for the comic book I, Zombie #1 which will come out on May 5th and features the exploits of a gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery who is also a zombie detective on the side. It seems that DC Comics is working hard to push this Vertigo title, so the book will be priced at only $1 which makes it more than worthwhile to check out. I, Zombie is a “mature title” and features the writing of Chris Roberson along with the artwork of Michael Allred who won an Eisner Award. Here’s the standard cover which is also fun: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Animation
This is the teaser trailer for the next Studio Ghibli film which will be titled Karigurashi no Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ). The name of the film translates to The Borrower Arrietty and is an adaptation of Mary Norton’s novel The Borrowers. The film will be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi who worked on previous Ghibli films as a key animator. The plot of the film will cenrer around tiny people who “borrow” things from normal humans in 1950s England. Here is a preview poster and a screenshot of the website: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Fandom, Star Trek
In attempt to get publicity for the online Star Trek game Namco Bandai (see you knew there was going to be an anime connection) attempted to organize the biggest gathering of Star Trek fans attired in proper Federation gear. This took place on London on Valentine’s Day, and while the quality of cosplay shown could be slightly dodgy at points the scale of this event impressed me! Although there’s no word on if they succeeded: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Comic Books
Jane Austen (1775 – 1817)
Back in the good old days (1941 until 1972 to be exact) Classics Illustrated brought the world of literature to comic books — so it does my heart good to see the classics making a comeback into sequential art! In May Marvel will start publishing their take on Sense & Sensibility, but instead of resorting to improving the title with the zombies or vampires they’re going to go old school and stick to the basics. The series will feature writing by Nancy Butler and illustrator Sonny Liew. I already love the chan figures at the bottom of the cover — so it should be fun to see what Nancy and Sonny come up with.
Shown here are three English adverts for Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds themed Kellogg’s Sugar Smacks from the 60s. For me this represents a bit of double lost golden age: For starters this Gerry Anderson Supermarionation shows from the 60s had such a wonderful attention to detail that you just don’t see anywhere — and of course in our politically correct obesity obsessed society you’d never even dream of a breakfast cereal with the name “sugar” in the title being tied to a kids television show! By the way I love how the Thunderbirds cereal included those special collectors pins: Read more… 
You don’t need a million dollar budget to become a filmmaker: Looking at this short animated film by 
