A while ago The New York Times has declared that poor Hello Kitty is out of style — however I think the fact that she’s out of style makes her even cooler as it eliminates the wannabes: Not only that but I think this now allows kitty to graduate to being a mere cult feline to a timeless classic icon. So to show your good taste I wouldn’t be ashamed to be spotted with this Hello Kitty Ball Bento Box which comes with a cute little red carrying case.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 31, 2010 in Animation
This very cute short film by Hiroki Mori should serve as proof to many a fanboy that anime doesn’t always have to look like anime (or feature ladies running around in maid outfits chasing giant robots). This film also illustrates what I love about animation itself which is that for really good animation you don’t need a translation as what’s going on the screen quickly communicates the story. Read more…
I recently read about some new Street Fighter sneakers from Nike, only to be disappointed by how little the shoes seem to resemble the characters they’re supposedly “inspired” by. I can understand Nike’s desire to aim for subtlety rather than an out-and-out declaration of geekdom, since they could sell plenty of these shoes by “accident” and still probably hit a few sales among the Street Fighter fans, but that Chun Li shoe looks like it could have been sold by them for years and just decided to slap Chun Li’s name on the tag. BORING.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 30, 2010 in Star Wars
As publisher of Fanboy.com I’m the eternal marketing target of every entertainment company from small one man indie comic book publishers to major Hollywood studios and after many years I’ve come to see that the master of the industry is George Lucas. While everyone in the entertainment trade can learn something from him I think there are broader lessons that he can teach anyone in business about salesmanship. Here are the lessons I’ve been able to draw from one of the most financially successful independent producers of all time: Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 29, 2010 in Videogames
I’ve always been a huge fan of Robotech, so much so that I’ve owned several iterations of the show since it went off the air so many years ago — one of which happened to be Super Dimension Fortress Macross. For those of you who may not know, it was one of the original three series used to create Robotech for syndication here in America. However — unlike Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA —Macross became a hit, spawning numerous movies, OVAs, and sequels. With only a few exceptions, the legal situation surrounding the Macross license has pretty much prevented the series from being licensed for distribution in North America, and as such, any related works have also met a similar fate — such is the case with the upcoming PS3 title Macross Trial Frontier.
Nobody seems to know how Marvel will react to this, however a number of weblogs have posted a leaked trailer for the upcoming Thor film set to release next May. The 5 minute trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con International last week, but it wasn’t long before someone managed to leak it to the net and it’s since spread like wildfire. While I’m not about to join everyone else in posting the trailer, I’d gladly point you all in the right direction. My suggestion? Watch it before the cease and desist letters are sent out, because it’s bound to happen. As for the trailer itself, Chris Hemsworth, and Natalie Portman look promising. It’ll be interesting to see how they transition from Asgard to Earth and vice-versa. At least we can expect plenty of action. Click here to see the trailer while it’s still on the net.
Like him or hate him, Wesley Crusher’s name makes for a fantastic bowling team — at least, Sheldon seemed to think so. To be honest, I can’t decide on if I actually want this myself. While I enjoy Star Trek puns as much as the next guy, I’m a little miffed that the shirt isn’t in fact a bowling shirt. That’s right, I’m actually bothered by the fact that it’s not a lounge shirt — it may seem petty, but I’d like to think I’m entitled to that much. Still, I’m glad the guys over a ThinkGeek were clever enough to print this, even if they didn’t just go the extra mile. There’s always next time, besides, I’d definitely want to name my team “Pin Farr,” or “The AWAY team.” I just hope they don’t make the shirts red, I need all the luck I can get. Read more…
I heard several months back that ABC had planned on auctioning off a good number of the props from Lost now that the curtain has officially closed, but I wasn’t quite sure when and where that was taking place — it could have been on an remote island for all I knew. Turns out it’ll be in Santa Monica — not quite an island with polar bears, though I was hoping they’d at least have some bears available to auction off. In fact, I would have settled for a brown bear that was spray painted white. Needless to say, they have some pretty cool props to auction off, including but not limited to the baby-blue DHARMA Van, Locke’s trusty wheelchair, a classic Apple computer, and Hurley’s red Camaro.
Last year, Marvel Animation discussed their upcoming forays into the realm of Japanese animation by debuting several concept trailers featuring two of their most popular characters, Wolverine and Iron Man. I had enjoyed the trailers, but we were left wanting more, and there had been no updates regarding either series — that was, until last weekend. We have yet to hear more regarding Wolverine, but Marvel debuted the first official teaser trailer for their upcoming Iron Man anime, which will debut on G4HD next year. In it, we briefly see a mid-air battle between Iron Man and his government owned counterpart War Machine. There are still no details regarding the plot of the series, but I imagine we’ll learn more in the months to come. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 27, 2010 in Comic Books
With the recent passing of Al Williamson, I thought it might be nice to give another nod to one of the series that made him famous, Flash Gordon. Of course, I’m well aware that he didn’t have anything to do with Alex Raymond’s original Sunday strips, but they were indeed the inspiration needed to launch his storied career. IDW recently announced that those original Sunday strips will be completely remastered, alongside Jungle Jim, in a 12 x 16 inch “champagne” format. Read more…
You’ve read the manga, you’ve watched the anime — but is there a way to actually have Chi as your pet? Most likely not, but this Chi’s Sweet Home Futari Plush is pretty darn close and doesn’t require you to clean up a litter box. Meow!Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 26, 2010 in Animation
This public relations photo was taken in 1967 by McFadden, Strauss, Eddy & Irwin-Public Relations. The white haired man on the left had to drop out of high school because of the Great Depression, and the man on the right worked as a banker before teaming up with the gentleman on the right. These two worked their way up from the bottom of the biz and by 1957 (ten years before this photo was taken) they took a huge chance and went out on their own and started their own company. By the time this photo was taken their company would dominate their industry — and their two names are still household names today that every fanboy knows. So who are these two gentlemen? Read more…
It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs! I am of course talking about the Millennium Falcon — and this Millennium Falcon Auto Sun Shade allows you to give the illusion that our rebel alliance buds are about to take off in your automobile. Of course make sure to avoid any “Imperial entanglements”…Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 25, 2010 in Animation
Betty Boop, M.D. (shown above) is an amazing animated short by the Fleischer brothers from 1932. Before you look at this its important that you understand two things: The film is making fun of the era of patent medicine which was brought to an end in 1906 with the Pure Food and Drug Act — that and the film is really just an excuse for the Fleischers to have a showcase for pushing animation to the edge. This short was only made a few years after the introduction of sound, unlike Disney the Fleischers would record the sound after the animation was done which is why there’s no lip syncing (and which also adds to the surrealism of the film as well). Read more…
Of course you can safely assume that as an anime fanboy I’m impressed with anything with One Piece artwork on it — but what impresses me about this is that it’s the first time that I’m seeing really accessories for the iPad start to emerge from Japan! This One Piece Hard Shell Jacket for the iPad protects your Apple gizmo from scratches with illustrations of Luffy, Chopper, Nico Robin and many more: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 23, 2010 in Television
The latest season highly anticipated season of Mad Men is set to open this weekend so we decided to take a look at the time honored tradition working at a fictional ad agency. Once upon a time ad agencies didn’t have much of a place in pop culture but the book that changed all of that was Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy in 1963. The year before Ogilvy got on the cover of Time magazine and as the 60s progressed so did the golden age of advertising agencies. And television shows picked up on this new career path for the smart set: Read more…
Bruce Campbell is a geek’s hero: the star of the Evil Dead franchise and the man’s own tongue-in-cheek charisma have skyrocketed him to superstar on his own terms. If you’re ever at a fan event featuring Campbell, you should do yourself a favor and attend his panel– especially at Comic-Con. Here’s why. Read more…
The goodies are emerging from the San Diego Comic Con this year! The first gem is a longer trailer for Tron: Legacy which shows a great deal more footage than the previous teaser: Read more…
Hot Toys, perhaps one of my favorite Hollywood toy manufacturers next to Sideshow Collectibles, has managed to secure some of the hottest licenses this summer. Some of those titles include Silvester Stallone’s upcoming film The Expendables, Spider-Man 3, Tron Legacy and Resident Evil: Afterlife — you know that strange looking 3D Resident Evil film that they’re working on. I really wish they already had some of these figures to show off, but one look at their current offerings, and you can pretty much know what to expect in terms of quality. In fact, I’ve had some people mistake some of the high resolution photos of their Joker figure for Heath Ledger himself. Not too bad if you ask me. The only draw back is that these figures can be a bit pricey. We’re talking in the upwards of $150 or more — on the 0ther hand, the quality honestly justifies the price. Check out their official website for more of their current products and keep an eye out for these new lines in the months ahead. Read more…
HBO’s True Blood has been a huge success, no doubt due in part to the Vampire craze that’s plagued the nation since Twilight hit the scene. It might be slightly more overplayed than mixing zombies with our favorite Sci-Fi series, but that certainly won’t stop anyone from watching the show — or, reading the comic. That’s right, IDW has picked up the license to the hit show and will now be publishing the True Blood comics. The first issue should be available in stores now, but a special edition is available at San Diego Comic Con with a limited edition wrap-around cover. The comic should continue the on-going adventures of Sookie Stackhouse and her lover Bill. No word on if the series will actually feature any cannon storylines, but I imagine it won’t unless the producers get involved.
Improv Everywhere is a group located in New York City that puts together flash mobs and other public improv events (or “missions”) conducted by volunteers (“agents”). Some of these missions are more infamous than others– the Slo-Mo Home Depot mission, for example –but quite a few of them are astonishingly geeky. Here are the ten best, organized by geek type. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 21, 2010 in Videogames
When I first heard that the upcoming Bond film would be delayed indefinitely while MGM executives attempt to sell the studio, I was terribly disappointed. Not only was MGM shelving their upcoming reboot of Robocop, and a remake of the 80’s classic Red Dawn, Eon was forced to halt production to a series of what I’ve considered some of the best Bond films in recent years. Thankfully, not all was lost. Rather than sit around and do nothing, they’ve decided to work with Activision on the next Bond video game — 007: Blood Stone. Read more…
If you’re like me, odds are that you never get around to collecting comics. It’s not that we don’t want to read them, but with so many being released, sometimes we just can’t make it to the store in a timely manner. Thankfully IDW’s already thought of a solution to all our problems — the almighty omnibus. Their latest, entitled Star Trek: The Original Series Omnibus, combines a number of Original Series comics such as Year Four, the Enterprise Experiment, Alien Spotlights and more.
I’m sure a lot of you probably don’t know the company very well, but I’m almost positive that all of you have probably seen their work. Weta, believe it or not, is responsible for a significant portion of the props, conceptual designs and effects that you’ve seen in so many recent blockbusters like Avatar, Lord of the Rings, District 9, and more. So, when I received an e-mail about their upcoming presence at San Diego’s Comic Con International, my it perked my interest. Read more…
The latest season highly anticipated season of Mad Men is set to open this weekend so we decided to take a look at the time honored tradition working at a fictional ad agency. Once upon a time ad agencies didn’t have much of a place in pop culture but the book that changed all of that was Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy in 1963. The year before Ogilvy got on the cover of Time magazine and as the 60s progressed so did the golden age of advertising agencies. And television shows picked up on this new career path for the smart set: 
