This is part of a line of Obama action figurines, presented at a convention recently. Never before has a sitting US President be the object of such merchandising before. I mean Bill had a lot of appearances in cartoons and games and stuff...but nothing like Mister Barack Obama here above!
Some dude, toy designer Scott Adams (aka MegoScott), built one badass detailed Lost playset.
It's a pretty amazing work of art, with a pop-ups and whatnot! Even the Smoke Monster's in there :P
Adams explains this project:
After a year and a half of design and redesign [...] I'm officially unveiling my custom-built Lost Mego Swan Station Playset. When packed up as a carrying case it weighs 20 pounds, and when unfolded and assembled it measures 45x30 and 20 inches tall at the top of the backdrop.
Here's a lil' video made for the occasion:
And here's a couple more pictures:
Truly amazing! A work of art :P You can see loads more photos on his website.
Sonic Generations will have a special edition. And what a collector it is! :D
SEGA already released plenty of Collectors over the last couple of years. Most of the time exclusive to Europe (don't "BOOH" on me, it's because of the people who buy them in the first place, it seems they sell poorly in the US usually, so Sega prefers to skip them there...).
But this is a first for a Sonic game! This 20th Anniversary special edition (will join my 10th Anniversary edition of Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast and) will be released on November 4 for the HD systems. (and later for the 3DS)
It will feature an special limited release of the game, "free" DLC (I'm betting an extra level for retro Sonic from the looks of it), a figurine containing both retro and modern-Sonics, a (numbered) Gold Ring, an artbook, a documentary "The Story of Sonic" and finally the Sountrack itself! (let's hope it will be as good as usual Sega quality~) But not this game's OST, but one featuring songs from across the franchise...which is kinda in fact the sountrack of this game to begin with...!
And it seems there will be a simpler cheaper Special Edition too with just the DLC-stuff.
Speaking of TV series today, you know Batman: The Brave and The Bold's got canceled to make way for another Batman show, this one will be grittier to tag along the upcoming 3rd Christopher Nolan movie, right?
Well, at some point earlier this year (or in 2010) DC thought they had to replace Brave and the Bold by another old school yet watchable by a young audience-cartoon. Thus we almost ended up with....
DC SUPER FRIENDS!!
The Super Friends were originally a long running cartoon back around the 70s show, that introduced many kids to the DC universe and the Justice League. Sure watching them back nowadays, it was pretty silly, cheaply (barely) animated and it's quite cheesy. But many grown up fans have still fond memories of it, so it continued influencing both the comics and other adaptations form DCs. Characters from the cartoon made it into DC canon, throwbacks and references can still be found on the Brave and the Bold cartoon or more recently, in Young Justice (they use the old Hall of Justice as a decoy base of operations).
Anyway, nowadays the name is used by a toy lineup aimed at kids and its Johnny DC-inspired young readers comics.
And since Brave and the Bold was ending, the "powers that be" decided it would have been nice to turn this cartoon turned toyline back into a cartoon again. Yes, it would have been DC's answer to Marvel Super hero squad.
Only 2-3 episodes were done. (I heard 4, but I couldn't find any concret proof) But in the end, it was canceled, DC's planning already full, with lots of shows at the moment. (to name but a few, a CGi Batman cartoon, a CGi Green Lantern cartoon, the Young Justice cartoon series, an upcoming live Blue Beetle, a TV adaptation of the Sandman, a TV adaptation of Deadman and there's a rumoured Raven Smallville-like TV series coming up too)
Those 2-3 produced shows made their way on DVDs offered along some of these "DC Super Friends" toys. So, here have a look at this unproduced series, and see if you would have liked a whole show like this.
The opening theme:
It is certainly drawing a lot from the 70s. I hate the boots/feet. But I guess that's what you get when you make a cartoon out of toys. Reminds me why I dislike such cartoons...
And here's a bit from the first episode:
Okay, I can say without doubt it's not on the same level as Brave and the Bold, it's much worse. Clearly for very young kids. Though I kinda like the silly tone. Old school! Made to match the tone of the old Super Friends cartoon. I might have liked this in the long run.... Awww... :( (unlike the ugly CGi models from Green Lantern... ugh..)
And it's even drawing a bit from the relaunched "New 52", the rebooted DCnU! See, Cyborg's part of the Justice League!
Anyway, we can't say it would have been good or bad in the long run, since we'll never know. But if the toy line reflects what the show might have been like...
We would have had characters like Ted Kord!Blue Beetle!! (and Wild Cat!!)
Screen from one of the episodes, Booster Gold as a mascot cereal on a billboard in the background.
...And probably Booster Gold too at some point!! Awww, socks!
Now, I've never been one to collect "figurines" per say. For one, it is a sort of big investment for those who consider themselves "collectors". And I'm always on a pretty strict budget and all. And you also need lots of place to pose these kinda figures around your place. And since most of my place is occupied by games/books/movies already...
Also I tend to prefer the actual media than its merchandising.
Aside from the occasional McFarlane toys bought yeaaaars ago, I have almost little to no super heroes hanging around. Now, I've always wanted to at least have a Booster Gold and/or Blue Beetle. Since I live in the middle of Europe, getting actual official DC Directs figures was pretty out of question. Finding a Batman or Green Lantern in the local comic book store is easy. But when you're a fan of the C-Lister or D-Lister heroes, forget about it!
By chance there's this European collection of superheroes figurines produced & published by eaglemoss. Now, my uncle's bought lots or almost all of them. (<- if you wanna see some pics of this, just ask!) But I manage to at least grab a couple of characters I like for m'self. For this time, here's just Booster Gold and Blue Beetle!! What I like about these figurines it's that unlike the action figures you usually get with super heroes, these are well crafted and don't take much space in a collection. They're small-sized hand-painted and weigh enough not to drop off your desk. Or you can, like, keep them in their original boxes which is transparent enough to showcase the characters.
The level of details' been pretty impressive and the colors beautifully rendered, specially on the DC Heroes. Oh, wait, didn't I tell you, there's also a Marvel Heroes line.
There's currently almost 200 Marvel figurines out. (counting special big sized figurines like Galactus, Rhino..) DC Comicsstarted its line much later, and is only now reaching its 100 figurines now. (with its specials non-numbered ones as well) They come out one at the time. People have to either subscribe or go buy them each 2-3 weeks at the newsstand.
They're pretty cool, right? Enjoy them in their full glory:
I personally don't plan on buying lots of others... (though my brother wants to collect the whole Shadowpact gang)
I just couldn't not have the Blue & Gold duo! (though the whole JLI...mmmh..) I like how they don't just make the big characters that appeared on cartoons/movies/videogames/whatever.. There's plenty of B and C-listers showcased in this series!
Badass shot for the finale?!
Aaaaaand one more to go:
If you liked these, be sure to check out this French guy's website, featuring his collection and all the latest updates regarding this collection.
I'll probably make more posts about these if you guys and gals demand it!
Some "movie" Green Lantern figurines just hit the web, thanks to an early batch of Toys 'r' Us toys who already hit ebay. Oh!... Excuse me.. I meant "Adult Collector"...what??
Anyway, look at Hal Jordan and Tomar Re's "special movie design" (aka ugly): (click for larger pics!)
I do not like to being mistaken for a Sonic fanboy or something.. I'm more of a Sega fan, as a whole brand. Alex Kidd, Shenmue, Virtua Fighter, the Sega Saturn, etc.. Sonic fanboys are mostly newbies who jumped out on the franchise when it went multi-console on the Gamecube *sorry guys, it's the thruth!*
Anyway, I cannot not like Sonic stuff when I see things like that:
Super happy fun Sega All Stars Racing action figure pack!!!
This looks like..Sega's finally putting out some merch'? I always thought that the reason Americans were never as big fans of Sega as here, Europe, or South America because of the lack of cool cartoons (other than Sonic) and figurines.
And now, in 2010, finally, there's a toy combo pack of both Eggman & Metal Sonic:
And Vector and Espio!!! (from the 32x Chaotix game and Sonic Heroes)
Plus the guys at Jazzware, who made those, already answered:
"I know a lot of you have requested Mighty the Armadillo, Rouge the Bat, and Omega. I have put all your requests in with the design team, and will keep you posted! Thanks!!"
How cool is that?! What?! I sound like a fanboy?! But...but... Mighty the armadillo! Anyone?! -sigh-
First 4 Figures just announced a new batch of Sonic inaction figures. And you gotta admit, if you like or hate current Sonic, their figurines are still pretty nifty.
First 4 Figures is a "collectible toys" company. They already made a couple of Sonic figurines and worked with other gaming franchises such as Zelda, Metroid, Assassin's Creed, Gears of Wars, etc.. Their work is pretty professional and I'd say rivals if not beats the competition, Neca, McFarlane Toys and others!
Yes, those are actually on my wall, I like to keep some trophies around.
Their new figurines won't be giant 15 inches collectors nor more of the series started with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles above this text. It will be instead a whole box of various characters "all in one". Still using the retro 16-bit Sonic designs!
Wow! I gotta say, they look pretty lovely^__^ Retro Sonic still has his charm! The pack will contain those 6 characters from Sonic The Hedgehog; Sonic himself, Knux, Tails, Metal Sonic, Amy and Suuuupaaaaa Sonikku!
These six 2 inches Sonic characters will be available in this neat pack in September 2010 for around ~30 dollars.
And now, here's some dramatic pictures:
And more pictures:
I gotta say, they all look great... Let's criticise them a bit, shall we? Well, shouldn't Super Sonic have greenish, if not red-ysh eyes? I clearly remember S.Sonic sprite having green eyes?! :P They all look sorta Chibi/Super-Deformed too, no? Well, at least the colors are flashy and they look pretty cool... Tails does look a bit weird/out of model... Also, no EGGMAN love? :(
Anyway, I'd get it for Metal Sonic alone! Look at that!
Eyz smart advice of the day: Don't rush to buy those, even if you want to grab a copy of this pack collection! First 4 Figures are easily available and mass produced! I pre-ordered the original 3 Sonic figurines at full price..and could easily find them as soon as they were released on most gaming/electronic/media stores and cheaper too!!!
Do you know the Marvel's Super Hero Squad? Nope? It's that toys series they've been releasing since those past few years. SuperDeformed chibi super heroes in cheap plasting with limited "action" parts.
I won't lie to you... For a long time, I really wanted to find the Ghost Rider/Punisher pack.
Yep. Those. There's also Super Hero Squads not based on Marvel proprieties (like Transformers) Well, did you know they already made a videogame out of this? Yeah, a simple cash-in commercial little game. They're preparing a massive MMORPG based on that now. (what is the target audience of such game? geeks? otakus? gamers? very young kids with access to an online computer to play a MMORPG with a monthly subscription???) Anyway, did you know there was an animated cartoon based on these toys?
Toys and cartoons. The two always went together. Be it GI Joe and Transformers evolving into those cult cartoons during the 80s (which I admit, never been really a fan of it...) or Batman The animated series and Spider-man The animated series producing tons of toys during and long after their run.
That's some pretty ugly...heroes... Look at Torch's head! Cap's face! Wolverine's look! Ugh..
So what my problem with this so called Super Squad? They're so...evidently designed to be toys! They kinda ugly!
I know it's a show for kids but...can't they get something a bit better? Something based on the excellent comic series Mini Marvels instead?! I would soooo follow that, record that and later buy that! Or even the Marvel Babies or Marvel Apes, I dunno!
Anyway, if you wanna check it out, here's a clip:
Looks...not good. I didn't try watching a whole episode...but..I'm sure I wouldn't be able to... I'm all for light hearted fun, I love Batman: The Brave and The Bold for example! And they're even so lazy that they must use that much CGi everywhere?!
Is this the way Jeph Loeb's gonna use Marvel Animations? Couldn't he help the Spectacular Spider-man cartoon get a new season instead??
