Given that it’s Metroid’s 25th anniversary this year (poor Samus gets overshadowed by Zelda), it’s great to see somebody else giving our favorite video game bounty hunter some love. If you’re more in the mood for something sexy, Good Smile is releasing a 1/6 PVC of Zero Suit Samus in June 2012. More interested in functional? Max Factory is bringing a figma of Samus in her trademark outfit sometime in 2012. Both of these figures are fantastic, so no matter which one you get (or both!) you can’t go wrong. Read more…
Check out Kotobukiya’s latest DC Comics Batman ARTFX statue. Does it look familiar? It should — it’s a re-release of their first Batman ARTFX statue, which featured the blue & grey batsuit from Jim Lee’s Hush graphic novel. Now discounted, that original statue was among Kotobukiya’s most popular to date, and while it’s out of print, this latest edition more than makes up for the loss. Kouei Matsumoto’s masterful sculpt still stands as a perfect testament to Lee’s work, and the new black cowl almost makes it worth owning twice. Thankfully Kotobukiya tends to keep their figures and statues reasonably priced for the most part — I’m estimating ~$125. The statue should hits stores next July. Read more…
It’s funny I always remember my sense of disappointment as a kid when looking at the amazing realistic cover art on videogames of that era and seeing what I perceived as the terrible lack of quality as to the 8-bit images that I’d see on the screen: So it’s a bit of a joy to reverse that in my later years and embrace the ugly pixels of days past. This 8-bit t-shirt collection does a nice job of taking Star Wars characters and converting them down from 70mm to good old fashioned 8-bit: Read more…
If you’re looking for the ultimate gift for the Spider-Man fan in your life, this may just be the ticket. Sadly, it doesn’t come out till the second quarter of 2012, but this Black Suit version of Spider-Man from Spider-Man 3 is one of the best Spideys I’ve seen. The joints are all hidden under the fabric of the suit, which looks fantastic. Not only that, the sculpted head of Tobey Maguire is up to the usual Hot Toys standard of ‘looking almost as real as the person’s actual face.’ Read more…
I have a huge love for classic anime films, especially Miyazaki. A little Lupin III doesn’t hurt either. Castle of Cagliostro is one of my favorite films, but if you’re a figure collector there’s only been a few worthwhile items out there (although they did make a model of the castle itself). Luckily, Dive has been bringing out several Lupin III figures, with their most recent being a Castle of Cagliostro version of Fujiko Mine. She’s roughly 8 inches tall, and is going for ¥6,825. Read more…
LEGO has their hands in everything these days. From the immensely popular LEGO Star Wars and Harry Potter lines to Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story, they’ve tried their hardest to embed themselves in current pop culture. It’s served them well, especially with the success of the LEGO video games series, which have done a pretty good job of appealing to pretty much everyone. So what’s next? Lord of the Rings, of course! Read more…
In March 2012 Bandai will be releasing the Bravism: Bleach Styling set of Bleach figurines. You can buy them individually or in a pack, and if you’re lucky enough to be in japan on December 17th at the Jump Festa 2012 you can see them in person — but if you can’t make it here’s a preview: Read more…
I confess, I love Kotobukiya’s bishoujo line. They’re easily collectible, are often equal parts sexy and cute, and for whatever reason, my wife loves them as much as I do. Not only that, but each of these figures are based off a sketch by one of my favorite artists, Shunya Yamashita. Recently, Kotobukiya posted images of their upcoming Storm bishoujo figure, and the fan reaction hasn’t been as positive as one would expect. Read more…
Here’s a look at Major League Mods‘ latest project — a special Transformers-themed Xbox 360 slim. Modeled after Bumblebee’s appearance in the live-action films, the unit comes packed in a remote control 1977 Camero, complete with its very own built-in 8″ LCD display. Read more…
So what did fanboys do to collect their favorite shows before the advent of videotape? Believe it or not collecting actual films was a passion of a select few fans back in the day — the hardcore fans would actually purchase 16mm prints, however you could buy on the market a wide range of 8mm film prints which featured clips from many of the popular TV shows of the day. By the 70s this faded, however in 1978 this very cute Pocket Flix viewer from Ideal toys shows the very last gasp of that era. This toy was aimed at kids and one could buy a variety of “easy to snap-in movie cassettes” to recapture a few precious seconds of a show like Star Trek or the Hardy Boys: Read more…
I’ve always had a fascination with music boxes. They may have gone the way of vinyl and become a novelty for collectors, but there’s always a certain level of care and craftsmanship involved in creating one. That’s something I can respect, not only as a musician but as an artist. That’s why I freaked out the moment I saw this — a limited edition 50 note music box featuring Aerith’s theme from Final Fantasy VII. Supposedly, only a thousand of these boxes were ever produced, and they’re highly sought after. Finding one for sale is next to impossible, but anyone willing to part with it can usually ask for over a thousand dollars to start. To see it in action, click here.
As those of us who spend our evenings glued to our laptops can tell you, nothing’s worse than accidentally knocking over your coffee in the dark. I’ve made the mistake more than once, so I’ve been looking for a solution that doesn’t involve leaving the lights on, and I think I might have just found it. Check out these awesome little Pac-Man Ghost lamps. Not only are the conveniently small, just four inches tall and just bright enough to light up my desk, but they speak to the retro-gamer — those of us who grew up on rolls of quarters and joysticks. Best yet, I can take it anywhere I take my laptop. The Ghost is powered via USB, so all I have to do it is find a port to plug it and I’m good to go. It’s also incredibly cheap, ThinkGeek currently has them on sale for just $10. Read more…
Oh sure anybody can make a plain old gingerbread house for the holidays! However fangurl supreme Rachel Klemek created this yummy AT-AT which can feed several hungry rebels. Rachel is based out of Irvine, California and you can find her cool website here.
The year is 1980 and what you don’t quite understand as young fanboy is that your parents are dealing with a recession — so while you dream of giant Kenner playlets for your Land of the Jawas playset action figures instead you settle for using your imagination! Or at least that’s what your cash strapped parents told you to do, so alas the sandbox became Tatooine and when you were lucky to get a snow storm it was time to play on planet Hoth. Well through some magic we’ve come across three amazing vintage Kenner playsets from 1979 and 1980 — a magical time when the hype and merchandise machine for The Empire Strikes back was going into high gear: Read more…
I’m not sure why I would want a Luke Skywalker with a scarred up face and missing hand, but if I did, Hot Toys would have me covered. Recently they unveiled the latest addition to their DX series of collectible figures, the 1/6th scale Luke Skywalk in Bespin outfit two-pack. Like all Hot Toys products, it’s sure to cost you a hand, or a leg (see what I did there,) but at least you’ll be able to faithfully recreate the greatest moment of Empire Strikes Back, and no, I don’t mean the scene where Han gets dropped into a vat of Carbonite after completely blowing Leia off.
Tired of waiting for Lego to officially license your favorite films like Star Trek or Back to the Future? Me too. I had my hopes up when Lego started releasing those awesome Star Wars kits a few years back, but nothing ever came of it. Fortunately for us, the guys at Ichiban Toys have decided to release few custom kits to fill the void. There’s just a catch or two — the sets are incredibly small and extremely expensive for what you get. Don’t get me wrong, they look awesome, but judging by the size of some of these kits, $15 for a Klingon Bird of Prey that only usesaround fifty small pieces can seem a bit steep. That said, they’re all official Lego pieces, so anyone with access to the right ones could probably build it themselves after giving it a close enough look.
An average bunny can live for over ten years — however sadly a Star Trek red shirt bunny might not last more than ten seconds if beamed down to the wrong planet! This cute creature is the handy work of Jennifer Hugon who has a shop on Etsy called Woolykins. Logically her collection also includes a Spock bunny as well: Read more…
At long last the One Piece x Hello Kitty goodies are hitting the shelves in Japan for all of those kitty pirates who want something cool for Christmas! This collection includes a line of phone charms, ear buds, a notebook and of course and iPhone case which can be purchased online (of course your ill need to know how to read Japanese): Read more…
