Lego Mario Created with a 3D Scannner

Nintendo fanboy Keith Brogan used a NextEngine 3D scanner and modo software to bring a giant Lego version of Mario to life.

Found via the Brothers Brick and Gizmodo.

Voltron Bookends

Ready to form Voltron! Shown above are the Voltron Lion Force Bookends which are currently in pre-production but available for pre-order. This limited edition goodie (only 1000 to be produced for die hard Voltron fanboys) features Voltron on the left and King Zarkon’s Robeast on the left — and my guess is that your manga collection is stuck in the middle of these well beloved 80s Anime warriors.

Film Version of Tintin Deaddead?

To be fair to Universal I’m never liked the idea of Tintin as a 3D animated film, and even then I’d trust Pixar to get that right but I’m not sure about Spielberg and Peter Jackson:

Studio says no to Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson
Squeezed by rising costs and leveling revenues, Universal Pictures declines to finance ‘Tintin.’

“Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson don’t hear “no” very often. But after they submitted a final budget of $130 million for their 3-D animated movie “Tintin,” based on the Belgian comic strip, to Universal Pictures, the studio balked. The decision has left the two powerful filmmakers scrambling to find another financial partner.

When even Spielberg and “The Lord of the Rings” director Jackson, who have made some of the biggest blockbusters in history, can’t get their movie made, you know something is up in Hollywood. Universal’s refusal to finance “Tintin” underscores how in today’s tough economic climate, bottom-line concerns trump once-inviolable relationships between studios and talent.”

Haumea is Hawaiian for ‘Pluto Humiliation’

Look at this damn rock shown above, the newly named Haumea isn’t even round! Yet she’s lumped in there with Pluto which has been sadly demoted from being a planet. Just to rub it in the mythological references for Haumea (Hawaiian goddess of childbirth and fertility) that I couldn’t find any authentic folk art drawings of her — yet she’s placed up there next to Pluto who sports his own Disney mascot: I tell you the International Astronomical Union have no respect:

Controversial dwarf planet finally named ‘Haumea’

“After years of dispute, the last unnamed dwarf planet in the solar system has finally gotten a name. It will be called Haumea, after the goddess of childbirth and fertility in Hawaiian mythology. The International Astronomical Union, which announced the new moniker on Wednesday, has struggled with naming the object, because two teams have laid claim to its discovery.”

Can Apple Return to Gaming? Hell Yeah!

I’ve always believed that if something is in a companies DNA that there isn’t any reason they can’t do that something well. In this case Apple use to be a major player in the gaming market — now I’ll grant you that was in the days of the Apple ][, but then again Steven Jobs was running the company at that point. Well it seems that the mainstream media is picking up on this too, here’s an article from MSNBC:

Games are serious business for Apple
Should Sony and Nintendo be shaking in their boots?

“Certainly Jobs’ announcement raised more questions than it answered. Should gaming behemoths Sony and Nintendo be shaking in their boots, like, for reals? If so, is Nintendo’s DS or Sony’s PSP more vulnerable to this new challenger? While answers to these questions sit perched on a distant hill somewhere, there is one thing that most involved in the games business do know – the iPhone is revolutionizing mobile gaming.”

Shat Strikes Back!

In this latest video below William Shatner pretty much calls J.J. Abrams a liar (in a kissy kind of Hollywood way). Now is the time to bring back Shat! Seriously how can you have Nimoy but not Shatner? Frankly if it weren’t for Shat you wouldn’t have 50 million fanboys waiting in line to see the next film in the first place. Forty years from now will Lost inspire a four spin off shows and a dozen movies? No I don’t think so Mr. hot shot director…

Found via trekmovie.com.

The Awesome Corpse-Housemaid Returns!

It’s been a while since the last episode of Omakase Maidokuro but I never grow tired of finding a new episode in my iTunes directory. To me the show represents the next phase for anime which will be studios in Japan releasing their work to a worldwide audience simultaneously. It will start small (and the giant film studios aren’t going any where for a long time) but my bet is that the next generation of anime will see YouTube and iTunes in the same way that Viz deals with Cartoon Network today. And as computer help make animation cheaper and worldwide collaboration becomes the norm I think we’ll see a creative revolution that follows and “changes the rules”.

Marvel is Off to See the Wizard

I love the work of illustrator Skottie Young, shown above is a cover for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz #1 which is an 8 part series that is starting in December. I’m impressed that Marvel is tackling such a classic story instead of the same old superhero stuff — and it’s nice to see that Skottie from both the imagery from the film and the original Edwardian book illustrations. Just look at this detail of Dorothy in action:

Read more…

A Lush Cover for the Saga of the Swamp Thing

Shown above is a wonderful detail from the cover art for Saga of The Swamp Thing Book One (the hard cover edition which is due out in December), the illustration is by artists Stephen Bissett and John Totleben. What makes this cover stand out is that it reminds me of a classical painting, not only that but the artists managed to make swamp thing look beautiful too! Here’s the full cover:

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Mr. and Mrs. Vader Out for a Stroll

Darth Vader seems much more lovable when Mrs. Vader is hanging around! This photo was taken at DragonCon this year.

Found via uniquedaily.com.

NASA Swipes Idea from Space:1999

Now I’ll grant you that the main function of Moonbase Alpha was to look after the nuclear waste generated on Earth, but this new NASA concept of having a nuclear power station on the moon does remind one a great deal of Space:1999:

NASA Eyes Nuclear Power for Moon Base

“Nuclear power could make a comeback beyond Earth if NASA goes forward with a proposed a fission reactor in its future moon base. A fission-powered system could generate up to 40 kilowatts and give any lunar outpost enough power to supply eight houses on Earth. More importantly, astronauts will require a reliable and steady energy source on the moon and Mars.”

Edamame Keychain

It’s the official keychain of Iron Chef fanboys every where:

Japanese Popping Edamame Keychain

“Each Japanese Popping Edamame Keychain has three beans. The end beans are small and immature. The middle bean, however, has one of 12 random faces printed on it. Why? We don’t know, but there is nothing like the smile it puts on your face. And the beans are connected to some sort of elastic band, so they pop back in to be popped again as many times as you want. It sounds silly, but trust us, these things are highly addictive. They are also a great way to keep your fingers busy during boring meetings and your mood positive – because no one can frown when their edamame smiles.”

Publishers Set to Run Over the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Have they no shame? Of course not! Douglas Adams wrote five books in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, but not being happy with the lame movie that was pumped out it seems that publishers have picked an author to slug out a sixth novel in the series. The PR around the book claims that Adams always wanted to write a sixth book, but I think it’s pretty lame stuffing words into his mouth at this point:

And another thing…

“Douglas Adams died in 2001, having written five of the enduringly popular Hitchhiker books – still inaccurately dubbed a trilogy. About 16 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide, but fans were left disappointed when it seemed as though Adams’ early death ended the series with all the main characters seemingly meeting a grizzly end. Children’s author Eoin Colfer has been chosen to write the sixth of the series by Adams’ widow Jane Belson. He writes of his joy at being able to continue the series with the new book And Another Thing.”

One Piece: 4Kids vs. FUNimation

The above video is from a One Piece fanboy who edited several sword duels from the aired 4Kids version of the show followed by the DVDs issued by FUNimation. I’d have to say that i agree with the editor that the FUNimation version blows the 4Kids version out of the water. Now granted that the business goals of 4Kids is to recreate their success with Pokemon, but I have to say that FUNimation knows how to stay true to the series. It’s also interesting for me to see a movement within fandom urging fellow fanboys to support FUNimation by buying the DVDs instead of downloading. Here’s where you can find the series on Amazon:

One Piece – Season 1, First Voyage (Uncut)

Emergency Temporal Shift! Dalek Coasters in Place!

Ah yes the Daleks are hell bent on exterminating the good Doctor and any soda or beer residue that may stain your beloved coffee table! Of course I know full well that if you’re a real Dr. Who fanboy you’ll never break these Dalek coasters out of their tin case to be shoved under your beverage (and be stained no less!), but instead they’ll proudly gather dust on your bookshelves:

Doctor Who – Dalek Coasters Set of Four in a Tin Case

“Four brilliant coasters featuring different images of The Doctor’s nemesis the Daleks packaged in a tin case.”

Found via GeekAlerts.

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Sneak Peak

I tend to be against Hollywood remakes but this seven minute clip of The Day The Earth Stood Still looks pretty well produced, and frankly having the likes Kathy Bates and John Cleese makes it even more promising. The film is due out on December 12th, here’s a recent trailer:

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Lucky Star OVA Trailer

The new Lucky Star OVA DVD isn’t due out until September 26th, but we’re slowly starting to see more and more hints of what it will look like. Shown above is a trailer, I love the faux videogame footage — and that doggie character looks too cute!

Shat Should be in Trek, Not Shilling TekWar

It depresses me no end to see Williams Shatner being forced to shill copies of TekWar comic books, when he should be a cornerstone to the upcoming Star Trek film. As someone who grew up loving Star Trek as a kid it’s depressing for me to see the way that they’re treating William Shatner. It would be one thing if Nimoy wasn’t in the film, but he is and that’s just rubbing salt in the wound. And sadly at this point it seems more and more like this isn’t some sort of Andy Kaufman stunt to get PR for the film — but shoving Shat out into the cold.

At the end of the below excerpt of an interview Shatner argues that that Star Trek is science fiction and it’s easy to write him into a script. But I’ll take that a step further — not only is it easy to write him into a script, but if they did it in the right way they could have done it as a future flashback or something. I feel many of the old Trek movies were a mixed bag, so there’s no reason you have slavishly follow the plot if you feel like you’re reinventing the series.

No doubt I’ll be there on line when the film hits the street with my fellow fanboys, but after reading this I’m not sure that I’d love the show as much from this point on:

Shatner On Comics And ‘Star Trek XI’

“Shatner will have his name emblazoned in the title of the new comics, and it would have been a nice tie-in if the early issues were coming out amid the hoopla of his appearance in the next “Star Trek” film, the J.J. Abrams reboot set for May, but that’s a party he is not invited to. Only Leonard Nimoy, sharing the role of Spock, will be returning to the cast, which will otherwise feature young actors portraying Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew fresh from Starfleet Academy.

Read more…

Shenzhou Spaceflight Includes a Spacewalk

While NASA is working away at getting back to the moon, China is slowly building up an amazing manned space program with a strong focus. It was only back 2003 that they had their first manned launch, and now by the end of the month they’ll perform a spacewalk on live TV:

China Gears Up for Third Manned Spaceflight

“China is gearing up for its third manned spaceflight, set to include its first ever spacewalk, later this month. The three-member crew is not yet named for the Shenzhou 7 mission, due to launch sometime between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, China, but a spokesman for the launch center told the Shanghai Daily newspaper that preparations were on track for liftoff.”

…It may not happen for a few years but my bet is at this rate China will beat the United States back to the moon. These programs take years to develop and by the time politicians are paying attention it will be too late. Of course it should be said that if the United States, Russia, Europe and China worked together my bet is that we could be talking about landing on Mars instead of going back to the moon (but sadly that is very much science fiction right now).

The Mecha of LEGO Batman

When I was a child we’d have to use physical LEGO bricks to build things, and even then only the most creative children might make up their own stories to accompany these self made inventions. But now videogame companies have solved this imagination problem once and for all!

Just kidding: Everyone knows that these games aren’t aimed at actual kids but overgrown fanboys like myself. Although while the wide range of vehicles does look cool in this title it would be nice to see a LEGO game that allowed the user to create and kitbash stuff as much as go through a linear story.

Nick’s Nippon Notebook: At Midnight Your Ride Home Becomes A Pumpkin (Part 3)

In the past two articles I’ve been writing about staying out late night in Tokyo when trains and busses make their last run at midnight.

Part 3: Last month I went to a restaurant in Shibuya real late with a special friend. I think my friend thought I was staying in Shinjuku, which isn’t too far, but actually I couldn’t find a hotel there and settled for Edogawa, which is quite a ways East of the center of town, almost as far as Tokyo Disneyland. It was 2 subway transfers and about 40 minutes from Shibuya. Taxis run all night. A Shibuya to Shinjuku taxi might be $30 or so, but a Shibuya to Edogawa would surely cost a lot more than a night at a normal hotel room.

But I figured that I really wanted to see my friend and would maybe either crash at their place or hang out in Shibuya until around 5 AM for the morning trains. Anyway what I wasn’t going to do was leave in a rush and risk getting stuck somewhere unfamiliar because of all the transfers to get back.

So after the dinner I said my mock teary farewells a decided to find a Manga Kissa (sometimes spelled Mangakisa) to hang out at. These are somewhat buzzworthy and controversial establishments typically on upper floors of buildings where you basically pay a fairly reasonable hourly fee to read their manga library.

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Milk Mêlée

I love how over-the-top quality of this Japan Dairy Council advert!

Found via omarac.

Ultracute Evangelion Rei Memory Stick

This Evangelion Rei USB Memory Stick is just too cute for words! Buffalo Japan will be doing a limited run of this Anime collectable which will store up to 4 gigs of files and is available at GeekStuff4U.com on pre-order.

Found via akihabaranews.com.

Tags: Anime, Evangelion

Surrealistic Soccer Showdown: TV Champion

The above video is from a Japanese game show called TV Champion. It’s very strange yet surrealistic watching all of these oversized mascots playing a game of soccer. My favorite part is when one character can’t lift his oversized head off the ground in front of the goal post! Apparently in other episodes the oversized mascots engage in other sporting activities (although there are other episodes that feature boring normal people who aren’t in mascot costumes).