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Leader Desslok Wine
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 4, 2008 in Hobbies and Collections
Thanks to the marketing division of Bandai shown above (click for a full image) is Deslar Wine. It’s no secret that Star Blazers was quite an inspiration to me growing up, well it seems a generation on wine drinking fanboys in Japan have now arrived — and want to enjoy more sophisticated memorabilia associated with Space Cruiser Yamato: A Blythe Doll Happy New Year
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 1, 2008 in Hobbies and Collections
There’s something so creepy about about the Blythe dolls, it’s like they’re always watching you… Kabaya Petit Pastel: Ice Cream Themed Chocolates
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 30, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Kabaya Petit Pastels are ice cream shaped chocolate candies. What caught my eye in the package design was the strong use of pink, magenta and yellow which are colors that you almost never see in American package design. The designers of the package were what I would call “anti-minimalist” and have crammed every centimeter of the layout with little details: Miku Hatsune Figurine
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 28, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
I found this ever soooo cute Hatsune Miku figurine at Amazon.co.jp. For those not in the know she’s the character featured in all of those Vocaloid videos that you keep seeing on YouTube. Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Nostalgic Interfaces
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 26, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Retro good fans will enjoy Maywa Denki’s 2002-2003 series of “oldie- but-goodie” interface revivals. On the left is the Zihotch. Apparently you dial 117 on the phone dial and “schedule” a wakeup call or you just dial to hear an automated time announcement. On the right is the Gachacon. It brings back the rotary switch as a means to change channels on your TV remotely. I doubt it’s fully compatible with all sets (but the packaging mentions what Japanese models it’s compatible with). Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit. A Six Million Dollar Man Christmas
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 25, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The exciting Christmas adventures of Steve Austin from 1978 includes the Kris Kringle Caper and the Elves Revolt. To listen to the adventures check out Accordion Guy’s website. Here’s the exciting flipside of the record cover: Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Maywa Denki
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 21, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Is Maywa Denki a company making electrical products? Are they a band? Sculpture? Performance art? Multimedia? Well probably all of the above. Maywa Denki was a company run by Sakaichi Tosa making electrical components for a decade starting in 1969. About a decade later changes in the economy likely due to the energy crisis at the time bankrupt the company. In 1993 his by then adult sons Nobumichi and Masamichi revived the company introducing some peculiar, whimsical and sometimes even somewhat disturbing inventions: Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Limited Initial YMCK
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 20, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Many bands and their graphic designer friends dream of doing something special when designing the packaging their new album release only to be told “no” by their labels that the cost would be too prohibitive. A popular win-win style strategy in Japan is to press up just one run of special, more deluxe packaging to coincide with an album’s release and then revert to standard packaging for the rest of the album’s run. This is usually referred to as “Limited Initial Packaging”. Sometimes it can mean a larger picture booklet, different case or maybe a DVD single. Sometimes it’s something more unusual like Cornelius including a pair of album cover color matching ear buds with the first copies of his “Fantasma” album. Pulp Fiction: Bring Out the Gimp!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 19, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Don’t get me wrong I’ve enjoyed watching the recent films Quentin Tarantino, but for some reason Pulp Fiction had a real magic to it that I miss: Pulp Fiction Geoms Mini Figures: The Gimp Set “For the first time ever, the characters from Quentin Tarantino”s Pulp Fiction come to life as 3-D collectibles! This series features four unique figure sets, each packaged in window boxes. The figures stand approximately 3″ tall, come with their own movie accessories, and feature many points of articulation. This set includes Butch, The Gimp, Zed, and Marsellus.” The Hobbit: Peter Jackson to Direct
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 18, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Because a good hobbit is always hard to break: Hard ‘Hobbit’ to Break: Jackson’s In “After publicly feuding for more than a year, “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” a planned two-film prequel to the blockbuster trilogy. Jackson, who directed “Rings,” will serve as executive producer for two “Hobbit” pictures. They will tell the story of how the young hobbit Bilbo Baggins originally came to possess the nefarious One Ring that Frodo, his adopted heir, needed three films to dispose of. Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Black Ice Cream
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 17, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The other day I visited Namjatown. It’s run by Namco, the video game company. It’s a food theme park fit into two mid sized department store floors inside Ikebukuro’s slightly euphemistically named Sunshine City Mall (well it’s indoors and near the former site of a notorious prison). One of it’s three food themed zones is ice cream city. After passing on a curry flavored frozen dessert I went for the Gelato Nero which I believe was being promoted as the most popular flavor. It’s very black and scooped into a black cone. I was hoping it would be something more original than say chocolate or fudge and I was rewarded. It was very tasty black sesame. It did require a but more clean up with a wet napkin given the dark color. Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit. LEGO Iron Man
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 14, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
This amazing LEGO Iron Man creation is by Brickshelf Gallery user Arvo. Found via the always interesting Neatorama. Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Denki Bran in a Can
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 12, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Japanese convenience stores almost always carry a small selection of cocktails in a can. Occasionally something more unusual than a Mojito or a Fuzzy Navel can be found in at one. I discovered a seemingly family run convenience store somewhere in Kansai selling Denki Bran in a can which featured a retro design with an old Japanese city photo. “Denki” I know means “Electric” only adding to the mystery. “Bran” I guess could mean something leading to regularity. At first worried it might be healthfully un-tasty, like the Korean wheat flavored soda I once had. After tasting some it was clear that “Bran” was short for brandy. But what about the electric part? Chocolate Biscuit Burgers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 11, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
I’m a vegetarian, but i very much approve of these burgers! Shown above is the packaging for the Bourbon Every Burger which are chocolate biscuit burgers. What impressed me with these chocolate biscuit faux burgers are that they look so realistic, in fact they throw in a few random cheese burgers for fun: Fanboy Heaven: Buying a Batmobile
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 10, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Sadly the new owner had to sign an agreement which states they can’t drive the Batmobile in public: The Batmobile from “Batman Forever” sells for $297,000 “The Batmobile, which was featured in the 1995 “Batman Forever” movie, starring Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey and Nicole Kidman, was recently sold by Warner Bros at RM Auctions. Though estimated at around $800,000, the buyer paid “only” $297,000. And if you think that’s much, you should know that the car cost around $2,800,000 to make ($2.5 mil for the mold, plus extra $300,000 for completion).” Glico Rice Crackers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 5, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
The design of this Glico package is somewhat bland to me, but what caught my eye was the whimsical quality of the rice cracker character design. It reminds me of similar American trademarks from the 40s, 50s, and 60s:
Nick’s Nippon Notebook: A Taste of Mystery
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 3, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
After missing out on Pepsi’s popular but limited edition Pepsi Ice Cucumber flavor, I was on the hunt for a soda challenge. I guess to some extent I found it in the new Fanta Mystery Flavor from Coca-Cola Japan. Apparently it’s a combination of 2 fruit flavors but you’ll have to determine which ones by drinking it. There’s some sort of mobile phone mystery game tie in to play along with and eventually discover if your guess is right about the 2 (very artificial) flavors perhaps long after you really care to know. I notice the little fruits on the bottle have legs. Maybe they are fleeing from the scene of a crime? I remember years ago there was an old man with a now gone shoebox sized store in Akiba. It might have been a smoking den since all I think inside there were vending machines and benches. What I remember is he had a drink vending machine with one of the display cans all wrapped up in brown bag paper and question marks written in magic marker on it. I didn’t go for it because it’s surely risking something not nice tasting. Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Meet the Beetles
Posted by Guest Author on Dec 1, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
While gashapon (capsule toys) of beetles are far from uncommon, I noticed this series of dung rolling beetle miniatures utilizes the capsule as a replica of a dung ball (click on the image above to view the vending machine at full size). There have been enough stories of actual live beetles sold from vending machines to maybe make some people believe that it’s commonplace, ranking right up there with school girl underwear vending machines. While I’m sure someone must have tried the idea, it’s a fallacy that either is commonplace. I’m sure someone must have tried it back in the 1990s sometime, but it’s more legend than something one may likely run into. Remembering Evel Knievel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 30, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
Sadly Evel Knievel has passed away, but his legend lives! No fanboy’s childhood in the 70s would be complete without wishing for an Evel Knievel toy for Christmas! Looking back at it I can see why kids liked Evel, back in the 70s it was the era of the sensitive man from Woody Allen to Alan Alda to the lovable loser Ziggy. But it’s hard for a boy to see these complex characters as role models, while Mr. Knievel’s simple philosophy was “I’m not sure if I’ve run out of bones on my body to break”. Everyone looked up to Evel, even Fonzie from Happy Days – but when Fonzie tried to imitate Evel he only managed to jump the shark. Here’s a commercial from that now gone golden age: Ideal Space Toys: Fire Rockets!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 29, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
What’s great about these toys from the early 1960s is that they were created before the era of dumbing playthings down in the name of safety. Can you imagine the warning labels that would be on these toys today? Warning this space base may cause you to polk your eyes out! Found via the wonderful website tvdays.com. Nick’s Nippon Notebook: Bingo Bongo
Posted by Guest Author on Nov 29, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
I came across the above can of grape flavored Bingo Bongo soda that I found in an Osaka vending machine. I can’t help but to notice more than a little resemblance to Oingo Boingo’s Danny Elfman. Well as per Bingo Bongo there’s not much more to it than seeming to be a pretty odd potential infringement case… Nick Kent is a New York based artist who works with electronic media and is an occasional pop culture pundit. Ame-comi: Wonder Woman Vinyl Figure
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 23, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
I’d love to see this reimagined anime inspired Wonder Woman Vinyl Figure in an actual comic book! The statue is designed by Udon Studios and goes on sale July 23, 2008. There are also some other nice figures in the Ame-comi manga inspired line put out by DC Comics. Hot Toys Cosbaby: Alien vs. Predator
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 20, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
This is too cute! Shown above is an Alien vs. Predator Cosbaby by Hot Toys. There are six in the series (Alien Warrior, Grid Alien, Scar Predator, Chopper Predator, Celtic Predator, and Alexa Woods) and they each stand about three inches tall (perfect for terrorizing your desk) and will be available early in 2008. Found via Action Figure Hub and toysblog.it. Lost in Space: Laser Pistol
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 18, 2007 in Hobbies and Collections
At long last it’s a Lost in Space collectible that isn’t Robby the Robot or the Jupiter II! Shown above is 1:1 scale model of a laser pistol made by Sci-Fi Metropolis in collaboration with master propsmith Richard Coyle. Although the laser pisol will set you back $600, so it’s targeted at aimed at only the most serious Lost in Space fanboys. Found via Neatorama. |
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