Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 20, 2012 in Cinema, Fandom
I’m surprised it was still standing after all these years, but recently some fans took it upon themselves to raise the money necessary to restore the Lars Homestead — Luke’s home which he shared with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in Episode IV A New Hope. It’s amazing to think what fans can accomplish when they set their mind to it. As you can see from the clip above, it wasn’t an easy task, but after battling with the blistering heat of the North African desert, they finally managed to finish the job on the igloo and as you can see from the end of the video and the photo below, they might have made it look too good. Given the harsh nature of the environment, that might not last for long, however. I’m just glad fans still exist who will be willing to preserve such a historic location. For more info, check out the project homepage here.
Recently I was at Anime Boston, and met an interesting cosplayer with a rich in potassium banana. I also definitely attended panels hosted by this person of interest. Meet Charles Dunbar aka Anime Antropologiest of Study of Anime. From the time I have met him to now, his panels at conventions will pack rooms. This is a scholar that has made my appreciation toward anime more interesting and academic in a sense that is away from the college environment. I hope to see more of this man speak, so I happened to be able to conduct an email interview with him. Read more…
For hobby enthusiasts, developing a passion and devotion to an industry takes time, and while it can be visually measured with how much you own (thus bringing in the materialism and consumerism aspect). There is more to the limited examples for what was presented in Tokyopop’s search for the Greatest Otaku. Otaku can be defined as being loving all things Japanese anime, or obsessive introverts, but to be a devoted fan really is have the knowledge and sincere passion for it. Similar to uncovering the layers of an onion are identities and fandoms of this niche cultures that is worth exploring and considering. Before getting to the list, I have to mention that some of the labels I have used is an approximation of how a certain fandom treats aspects of the anime hobby. Read more…
Yes if you had the cash and spare time you cold fly many all the way to Japan to experience a maid cafe in person — but what’s a poor ramen-eating non-passport holding fanboy suppose to do? Well with the Akiba Maid Welcome Sensor you can replicate the sounds of maid cafe without the maids, amazing desserts and well stocked manga library. When you enter a room you’ll be greeted by cutely voiced phrases like “Irashaimase” or “Arigatou Gozaimasu”. Plus the magic microphone also works with a CD-ROM which will let you customize your faux cafe experience: Read more…
It’s so rare for me to come across wearable Otaku-oriented clothing. I use the term wearable in that I’ve seen more than my fair share of lounge shirts plastered with gaudy designs — be it the choice of the color or the anime inspired prints themselves. These jeans, however, are hardly an eye-sore. With the words of Monkey D. Luffy gracing your rear-end, you too can aspire to rule the high seas and collect the ultimate treasure — that is, if you can manage to fit in them. Read more…
The other week, we posted some photos of this amazing Star Wars-themed car mod known as the H-Wing. Shortly after that, I was contacted via Facebook by the man who built it, Shawn “ObiShawn” Crosby, who provided some additional info about the vehicle and his work. ObiShawn works as a toy, prop and game designer, and had constructed the car’s modifications himself — an effort he attributes as the culmination of these interests. So what was it that really impressed me?
I admit it, I’m a furry. Admit it? Right now I’m feeling rather proud of it. I don’t know what you think furries are, you’ve probably been brainwashed by the Vanity Fair–CSI Complex. What we are is a bunch of people with varied but overlapping interests in anthropomorphic animal characters. Like the Democratic Party, we’re a ‘big tent’ fandom – if you’re into cartoon, comic strip or comic book ‘funny animals,’ if you’ve built a ‘fursuit’ so you can physically become your animal alter-ego, if you draw your own pictures or write your own stories about ‘anthro’ characters (also known, just like us, as ‘furries’), you’re in. Read more…
And why is today Star Wars day? Because some ingenious fanboys re-engineered the catch phrase “May the Force Be With You!” to “May the 4th Be With You!”. You can follow Star Wars day on Twitter…
Editor’s Note: This essay is the result of my walking about the New York Comic Book Convention this year and asking myself the question “What brings you here?”
While escaping the New York Comic Book Convention I came across a series of Watchmen posters in the street, saturated by the orgy of the show I naturally assumed that the posters were aimed at folks entering and exiting the mega gathering of geekdom. However several blocks I realized that I was only kidding myself as I came across the same set of posters again — what was once the realm of fanboys twenty years ago was the mainstream of Hollywood today. In this way Watchmen is no different than Oprah or any frat boy focused reality TV show on MTV that’s a hit. Read more…
Anime and manga expert Gia Manry is now the managing editor or Anime Vice a well done website which is worth adding to your RSS reader. Vice is a video rich community focused site which has quite a few user friendly features — and is already stocked with a wealth of cool content. I really loved their up and coming release section and of course their cosplay photo collection has to be seen. The devil is in the details and one can tell that Gia sweated those details to put together one of the better fan oriented encyclopedias that I’ve seen in a long time (and as a blogger it’s nice to have other places to link to rather than ANN or wikipedia).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 18, 2008 in Fandom, Lost
There are two things we love at fanboy.com: The TV show Lost and people who write books about fandom! So we’re very honored to have an interview with Amy “hijinx” Johnston the co-author (with Jon “DocArtz” Lachonis) of Lost Ate My Life: The Inside Story of a Fandom Like No Other which is now out in stores. Amy is also currently hard at work on her next book which will examine the evolution and psychology of online fandoms for television shows, and it will be out sometime in Spring 2010:
Q. What was it about Lost that made you a fan of the show in the first place? And what makes it extra special to you?
I knew the show was being made by JJ Abrams and I was a HUGE fan of Alias. I knew he was an amazing storyteller who typically thought “outside the box” – breaking the rules of conventional television storytelling – which has always appealed to me. He has also been very character-driven with his shows – the characters are not just puppets playing a part. They live, they breathe, they make you FEEL something. LOST from the beginning has been that way – stories that break convention, characters that are unforgettable. Plus the show has always been this package deal – it’s the writing and it’s the acting, but it’s also the directing and the cinematography and the SFX and the score. Watching LOST is an all-encompassing experience. Read more…
