This is a commercial for the latest Taiko no Tatsujin (太鼓の達人) videogame by Namco for the Wii. While one version of this game has came to America I’m still envious that the arcade version (shown in the commercial for a few seconds at the start) hasn’t come over here. Here’s an additional video which shows a bit more detail from the game — I love the fact that it comes with a drum peripheral: Read more…
There’s nothing quite like the original! This Star Trek USS Enterprise Limited Edition Replica caught my eye with every detail perfectly in place. This 1:350 scale model is made up of 1,250 pieces and is just a bit over 32 inches long. The design was based on the dimensions and geometry taken from a surviving studio miniature and uses internal metal supports to make sure your warp engines won’t warp. However taking command of a starship has a high price, and in this case that price is $2,000.
This featurette is a behind the scenes look at how Universal is trying to go back to their great horror films from the past to bring revive The Wolfman. While it looks like they have some darn good actors and some great special effects, I’m still not sure modern audiences can still be scared by these classic creatures. We’ll have to wait and see in 2010 to see if Universal can pull this off…
Fans of videogames and interface design will love these Controller Ornaments which are based on a wide range of videogame units from the ghost of Christmas past. The set was created by industrial designer Dave Rollins who has a nice sense of whimsy in his work: Read more…
Have you ever been in that particular situation where you need a quick sound effect like bubble wrap popping, a security alarm going off or a toilet flushing? Well neither have I but this these Japanese Funny Sound Button Keychains seem to make the possibilities entertaining! The only catch is that when you purchase these keychains you get them at random, although that’s part of the fun (which at $6 is pretty low budget). Here is a video of the keychains in action: Read more…
I’ve often read about many unusually specialized museums in Japan such as the Towel Museum. One of the better known ones that I’ve actually been to is the Shinyokohama Raumen Museum. I’ve noticed various Blogs and Village Voice restaurant critics have called a Ramusement Park, though I’m pretty sure it’s a case of a witty phrase made up by some blogger and cut and pasted around on the net. Hey, convince me otherwise. Read more…
This December Professor Layton will make the transition from beloved videogame to an anime film when Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva comes out. I sort of like this as I always found the quiz aspect of the DS game to get in the way of the characters. As part of a merchandising wave the manufacturer Dive has a pair “FuruFuru” figures which feature bobbing heads — one of the professor and one of Luke: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2009 in Comic Books
Happy Thanksgiving from Fanboy.com! To celebrate we’ve put together a gallery of turkey themed comic books for your entertainment. The one thing you’ll notice is that most of the holiday humor is aimed at younger comic book readers — an audience that both Marvel and DC are rediscovering once again. Shown above is the cover from Superboy #36 which was published in 1954 — the pencils are by Curt Swan and the inks are by Stan Kaye. Read more…
This Airdrop T-Shirt by Glennz Tees answers the age old question: Where the hell do those damn blocks keep coming from? Of course like any good NASA mission a question always raises another question — and in this case that question is “…and why?”
Catching the trailer for Wes Anderson’s first animated Fantastic Mr. Fox brings to mind Ladislas Starevich’s 70+ year old animated feature film Le Roman de Renard, which I was unaware even existed as of a couple years ago. It was probably the second stop motion feature after Aleksandr Ptushko’s The New Gulliver (1935) though it his was in production and may have been shown years earlier in silent form. It was also likely the 3rd animated feature with sound. Read more…
We so often forget that the magic behind Yoda was really master puppeteer Frank Oz, and this USB Yoda with Illuminated Light Saber is so damn cute that it feels like he belongs more to the world of the Muppets rather than the more serious Star wars universe. In fact he sort of looks like a Muppet Baby rather than an old Jedi master: Read more…
I’m not sure of the date of this public service announcement, but my guess is that it’s from the 70s. This animated announcement by the japan Advertising Council warns about the dangers of wasting food. To an older generation (represented by the old man) who went through World War II food shortages weren’t theoretical — so it felt to be important to pass these values onto the next generation.
What makes this Alien themed USB device so cool is that when you plug it in it sticks out its inner mouth you and lights up in red at random: Read more…
This demo of iTimeLapse was shot in Japan — the software allows an iPhone user to make a timelapse film. You can purchase iTimeLapse Pro for about $3, although buying a fancy tripod could add to that price. Here’s a screenshot of the Japanese version of the software (which is also available in English): Read more…
This is an amazing promotional film produced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) documents their attempt to enter the PC market in 1982. DEC owned a major chunk of the mini-computer market and to their credit they got the idea that the PC was the wave of the future and they knew they had to compete. Although in retrospect by 1982 it may have already been too late to get into the game when you think about the fact that the Apple II hit the market in 1977 (not to mention the fact that they were hitting the market after IBM defined it). Here’s the DEC Rainbow Triple Boot Computer which DEC introduced in May of 1982: Read more…
A very old school approach to wallpaper was to take paste up newspapers, this Marvel Comic Book Chair Rail Prepasted Wall Mural gives a post-modern fanboy take on this time honored decoration technique. The instant wall mural is six feet high by ten feet wide and includes covers from Spider Man, X-Men, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Thor, and Captain America: Read more…
Anyone who uses the Twitter retweet functionality to do anything but share something of value is spamming your tweetstream. In fact I’d even go further and say that anyone who retweets more than once a day is a spammer. But sadly there are so many newbies on Twitter that common sense can be lacking, so here’s my tutorial on how to shut off serial retweeters: Read more…
We’ve all grown up with the Bazooka Joe gimmick: Half the fun of opening the single package of gun was to read the comic tucked inside. And of course the Cracker Jacks version is to give you a secret surprise inside the box — a technique that cereal companies turned into a fine art (not to forget McDonald’s Happy Meals as well). However today I leaned a twist on this old marketing hook thanks to an imported Japanese pack of Doraemon gum. Upon opening my gum I discovered that each individual wrapper had a unique design based on the well known anime cat: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2009 in Comic Books
I think comics are a great way to reach an audience of kids who might not otherwise pick up a book — in fact a little know secret is that librarians across the nation are now putting graphic novels and manga on he book shelves to bring in young tweens and teens through the doors. The result? Not only do these kids read the comics, but they go on to read other books on related topics. That’s why this trailer for the film Comic Book Literacy got my attention — it’s drawing more attention to a powerful idea that works. Read more…
The first toys for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland film are starting to be announced: Shown above is a Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Doll for Johnny Depp fans — although at $200 you’ll have to be a hardcore fan. More to my own aesthetic and financial liking are the Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat Kubricks below which are $19 for the pair. Sadly these goodies won’t be out for Christmas, but you can pre-order them for April 2010. Read more…
It’s amazing what you can discover on YouTube sometimes: The above commercial for NTT is from the year 2000 and features the J-Pop band SMAP as Gatchaman! Of course Gatchaman is known to use old school anime fans as Battle of the Planets which played a key role in introducing Americans to sci fi ninjas. There were four commercials in total and below is a fully animated spot which looks amazing: Read more…
It’s amazing to me to think that Akira is now over 20 years ago: So if you want to celebrate old school Neo-Tokyo the folks at Sideshow have produced a Kaneda’s Bike Die-Cast 1/6 Scale Replica. Although this is no average mecha replica as this model features LEDs which light up. In addition to the lights this set of wheels features sound effects, the headlights move up and down and you can remove the exterior panels: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 19, 2009 in Animation
What you’re looking at above is an example of the “good old days of anime” which weren’t so good. When it came out Captain Future wasn’t so bad in terms of quality, but the dubbing here is amateurish to say the least. This wasn’t so unusual in the early days of anime as small companies would blow everything they had to acquire the rights to a show — only to realize that they had little budget to do a proper dub. Read more…
Catching the trailer for Wes Anderson’s first animated Fantastic Mr. Fox brings to mind 
This is an amazing promotional film produced by 
