Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 21, 2009 in Comic Books
Shown above is the cover for Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #59 by Skottie Young which is due out in January. I never get tired of looking at Skottie’s work, it always pops out from the pack every time I see the Marvel previews. I like the fact that by taking a cartoony approach with the classic Marvel characters that he’s able to give them some personality that you never see in the more serious action packed and over photoshoped covers you see elsewhere.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 21, 2009 in Videogames
Shown above is the trailer for The Beatles: Rock Band Abbey Road download which is available on Xbox LIVE (and will be available later this week PlayStation Network). Watching this footage I realized why from a conceptual point of view that I hate this game: The Beatles started life as a “Rock Band” but when they made it they really became a pop music act. The quality of their work is second to none, but it’s unfair to call them a rock band when other acts from that era really did earn the title like the Rolling Stones: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 20, 2009 in Animation
On the surface Soul Eater looks amazing, in fact the animation in this clip is very well constructed. Yet for me it feels like the studio isn’t taking any chances or trying anything new: For starters the plot is pretty much Bleach and the character designs remind me a great deal of One Piece with just a dash of Jamie Hewlett thrown in for fun. The show looks entertaining yet it’s evolutionary not revolutionary in terms of the field. Frankly is it just me or is the character of Black Star very similar to the character 2-D from the Gorillaz? Read more…
As an old time anime fanboy one of the greatest pleasures I take is in seeing just how far anime fandom has come in the United States from the 70s when it first started. Back then anime fans would meet up at local clubs or science fiction conventions and if 100 people showed up you were blown away. So when I look around at cons today I love the fact that there might be 100 fans standing in line waiting to get badges at a convention. But one thing breaks my heart: The fact that those who killed themselves with little reward to help popularize the medium can too easily be forgotten. Read more…
Back in the day my friend Ardith Carlton (who now lives in Japan) would keep telling us about this amazing anime series called Tomorrow’s Joe (あしたのジョ) which she claimed at the time was one of THE best anime series of all time. Of course none of us believed her because the subject matter in the show was boxing and this being the 80s our obsessions at the time were giant robots and cool looking spaceships and of course Joe offered none of that. Little did we know what a cool series that we were missing out on! Ashita no Jō is now seen as one of the heavyweights of its genre. And in celebration of the series Kaitendoh is releasing a huge 1/6th scale collectable statuette which will come out in December: Read more…
The Star Wars Battlefront videogame asks the big question: What’s it like to be an everyday character in the Star Wars universe? The answer is that it looks action packed! This is a teaser trailer for the latest chapter in that series which is titled Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron and is designed for the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. Of course what you’re seeing above sadly isn’t the actual gameplay, but it shows the level of love that Lucasarts has put into this game which is due out on November 3rd. Below is a beautiful promotional illustration followed by actual screenshots from the game (which feature a nice variety of settings): Read more…
What better way to celebrate a hipster film version of Where the Wild Things Are than with a cool Kubrick figure? This Where the Wild Things Are Max 400 Percent Kubrick Figure won’t be available until December but it looks worth the wait. This figurine is somewhat unusual in that it’s 8 inches tall which is about four times the size of the usual Kubrick creations. Of course being a collectable Max is priced at about $150, but if you’re on a budget for Christmas (or want to start shopping sooner you can get the Where The Wild Things Are Kubricks Figures 6-Pack which should be coming out this month: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 18, 2009 in Videogames
Who knew that 90s nostalgia would be the hot things for videogames over a decade later? In this case LEGO Rock Band has done a very cute job brining Britpop icons Blur to life. Now granted this isn’t my favorite song from Blur, but I still loved every minute of it. However I’d love to see them take this concept a step further and have a battle of the bands with Oasis whilst the Spice Girls made snide comments in the audience.
As a fanboy I thought that the tech sector could get a bit catty at times (example: TechCrunch 50 vs. Demo) but that’s nothing compared to what just went down today in comic book fandom! The leading comic con in NYC is the New York Comic Con which is produced by Reed Exhibitions — the show has been building up huge momentum these past few years. And while it’s not as huge as the San Diego Comic Con, it dominates the Javits Center. Read more…
My latest conquest from my local Asian grocery was the Chocolate Cookie: Meiji Takenoko No Sato Cheesecake and I have to say that I was quite impressed with my choice. Inside the package were seven individually wrapped white chocolate covered cookies that tasted amazing. I didn’t quite get the taste of cheese cake, but the cookies did have a nice vanilla flavor to them (the way the chocolate cookie title in this case was misleading). As for the package design I’ve seen more playful solutions before, but I do love the beatnik chocolate mushroom cartoon characters that adorned the box: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 16, 2009 in Animation
On this day in 1923 two brothers founded an animation studio to produce a series of cartoons for Margaret J. Winkler. Margaret started out as a secretary at Warner Brothers during the silent film era which then branched into cartoons in 1917. Her breakthrough came in 1922 when she put together Pat Sullivan and Felix the Cat. Based upon that success she formed her own distribution company, but had a then falling out with Pat. So Margaret was on the lookout for a replacement when some kid called Walt Disney showed her a pilot reel for a film called Alice’s Wonderland which featured a live-action girl in an animated setting. Read more…
Most of us grew up being told “don’t play with your food!” But the genius of Plush Sushi is that it was designed to be played with, although ThinkGeek notes that this toy is for grownups and not kids. Normally as a vegetarian I avoid salmon roe, tuna and shrimp but I think I might make an except for these cute creations: Read more…
This is the second trailer showing gameplay from the up and coming Astro Boy videogame. It’s funny how sometimes that the more you see of something, the more it just unsells you: And in his case the lack of quality of the game is not only unselling me from the game but from the film itself. Frankly everything associated with this film is starting to feel second rate to me. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 15, 2009 in Star Wars
This is the digital music choice of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as an iPod shuffle; an elegant device for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of the mp3 files of Napster. Before the dark times… before the RIAA lawsuits. Young padawan I present to you the Star Wars Light Saber Kei MP3 Player.
This is a short clip from a longer video by Dr. Lise Eliot which talks about the different toy interests in boys and girls. Her observation is that at age one boys and girls will play with the same toys, but by age three that all changes. We’re slowly making progress as girls now feel it’s alright to play with toys that were aimed at boys in the past like construction sets — but not the other way around. Read more…
Today is the 82nd birthday of Sir Roger George Moore, who sadly is known to most folks as “the James Bond that isn’t Sean Connery!” Now I know it’s a classic fanboy argument to rate each James Bond and then chastise poor Roger Moore for being too slick, too smooth and too English to be James Bond. Yet I think that’s an unfair argument because to really appreciate why Moore got the 007 role you have to go a few years back in time to 1962 when Moore made his name as The Saint. Read more…
I had such high hopes for the Meiji Poporon Strawberry Cookie but alas even with my sweet tooth I couldn’t eat more than just a few of these bite sized saccharine treats. They have puffy wheat outside and a super sweet strawberry filling on the inside as shown in the packaging. And as for the packaging it was slick, but I was a bit let down at the lack of cute illustrations that would have given it that extra something: Read more…
To celebrate the European Soccer Championships the Italian anime inspired brand Tokidoki collaborated with sporting goods maker Mikasa to create this limited edition soccer ball. Only 1,000 have been manufactured worldwide and they look quite playful: Read more…
Galactica to me was always a Diet Coke to a Star Wars chocolate shake. Not only was it a bad rip off, but it wasn’t even in the same category. But like a chubby kid with a sweet tooth for sci fi I drank it by the gallon back in the day and watched every damn episode. But even with a sweet tooth you hit a limit and for me that was the travesty called Galactica: 1980. Now those fancy producers who reimagined Galactica knew this; so they beat every bit of cheese out of the show they could find. Suddenly Galactica seemed to have more in common with Blade Runner. But like a dork trying to act cool, sooner or later the inner lame will manifest — and I’m proud to announce that with issue #2 of the Galactica: 1980 the franchise has jumped the shark for good: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 12, 2009 in Japanese TV
It’s been a while since I’ve followed Tensai! Shimura Dobutsu-en (aka Genius! Shimura Zoo) a Japanese kids show which features a new animal each episode. This latest show features the J-pop group Hey! Say! JUMP and shows band hanging out with run away cats, a sloth, a cute baby hedgehog and an ostrich: Read more…
If you’re too poor to afford an internet toy like the Chumby (which still costs $200) the next best thing may be the Pet’z (PEZ) PET-6008-PK Sandra animated alarm clock which costs about $32 plus shipping from Japan. This toy pig does double duty by acting as an alarm clock and virtual pet (which will get angry if you don’t feed it). The pink critter has the ability to produce animal sounds and features nine types of animated facial expressions: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 11, 2009 in Comic Books
Starting this month the Japanese book publisher Kodansha will publish a series of paperbacks titled The Complete Works of Tezuka which will include every manga that Osamu Tezuka created. The books will be published on a monthly basis and the series starts off with Astro Boy, future editions will include Jungle Emperor (Kimba the White Lion), Princess Knight, W3 and Pinocchio: Read more…
The 49th All Japan Model Hobby Show will be finishing up this Sunday in Japan, the first two days of the event are for the trade but over the weekend the show opens up their doors to the public. One of the things I’ve always loved about Japanese toys and hobby kits is the wonderful level of detail and craftsmanship. There’s a wide range of old toys (i.e. trains, planes and automobiles) but every so often you’ll notice an anime themed knickknack. For example shown above is Hatsune Miku themed radio controlled BMW car, and below is a set of trucks which feature anime characters on the side (which was part of a larger set that included a train set): Read more…
Back in the day my friend Ardith Carlton (who now lives in Japan) would keep telling us about this amazing anime series called 
As a fanboy I thought that the tech sector could get a bit catty at times (example: TechCrunch 50 vs. Demo) but that’s nothing compared to what just went down today in comic book fandom! The leading comic con in NYC is the 
