Okay, this is just too amazing not to share. Otaku blogger Meimi132 recently took a trip to Cromer, England and stumbled across what appears to be a giant lobster dressed in Tony Stark’s patented Iron Man body armor. Who could have been insane enough to create this unholy medley of claw and steel? Good question, though, you have to give whoever did it credit for originality. According to Meimi132, there are 80 more lobsters spread around the sea-side town, but I doubt any of them are anywhere near as awesome. For more pictures, including a few of an Avatar-inspired counterpart, check out the full entry here. Read more…
I can’t even begin to tell you how hard it is to find decent formal wear that really speaks to my inner geek, but occasionally I luck out — such was the case with this fantastic Space Invaders inspired neck tie by Since 1337. The aliens are available in both green and blue, while both look sharp, the green might come off a bit loud. Unlike the game, it’ll probably cost you more than a few quarters at $38 plus tax and shipping, but they’re probably worth it. After all, they’re designer ties. For more info, check out the Since 1337 online store. Read more…
Like some of you, I spent a good portion of the early 90’s trying to master Rainbow Road with Mario, Luigi and the gang. I spent most of that time falling off the track and starting over, but that really keep me coming back for more. Its nostalgic for me, but what I remember most about SuperMario Kart was how much I loved the music. I always imagined what it’d sound like performed live, and now it seems like I finally got my wish. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 5, 2010 in Star Wars, Tech
Have you ever wanted your GPS to sound like a Sith Lord, or James Earl Jones? Perhaps you’ve just imagined yourself as a hapless Admiral, in charge of piloting your own Star Destroyer, while fearing for your very life. Well, now you’re one step closer, thanks in part to TomTom’s custom Star Wars brand voice samples for their GPS devices. For around $13 you can have Darth Vader mock your failure to turn at the last light. Over the course of the next three months, additional Star Wars voice packs will go on sale for C-3PO, Yoda, and Han Solo respectively. Pretty awesome, right? Check out the official site for more information. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 4, 2010 in Japanese TV
I’m not sure what it is with Japan and making still images come to life, but the latest commercials for their Shigekix candies — I’m told they’re kind of like WarHeads, but not as sour — do just that. The commercials, which feature some well known paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, have the portraits belting out a cute little jingle while enjoying the tasty snack food. It almost kind of reminds me of a Japanese iPhone app called PhotoSpeak which allows you to animate still pictures with audio recordings. If you’re interested in the app, check out the app store for more info, and if you want to see more of the commercials, check the Shigekix website — they’re all there. Read more…
It’s been nearly three years since Mimobot launched its line of Star Wars themed USB thumb drives, and yet they continue to release set after set of the collectible storage medium. Their latest set finally got around to giving us R2-D2 and Obi-Wan, not to mention Han and Luke disguised as Storm Troopers. When Michael first mentioned them back in 2007, they only came in 2GB models, but since then, Mimobot has started offering models that range between 4 to 16gbs at additional cost. While I’m not sure I need to start collecting these — as if I didn’t already have more thumb drives than anyone else I know — the fact that you could use a Jawa to store your documents almost seems like reason enough to own one. If you’re interested, check out the official Mimobot store for pricing and availability. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 3, 2010 in Comic Books
Manga Mad is a documentary made a few years ago that is now available on Hulu (seen above). The video is only an hour long and a bit flashy, however it does have quite a few good mini-interviews. I was quite impressed to see clips of Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese comic book shop owners, a publisher from Kodansha and best of all Yoshihiro Yonezawa the founder of the Comiket Market who passed away not long after the documentary came out. Read more…
K-9 made his first debut on Dr. Who in 1977 and he’s been beloved ever since. This Doctor Who Remote Control K-9 pays tribute to our cybernetic canine companion and includes flashing lights and speech. Judging by the fact that he runs on AA batteries I think the only flaw that I see with this K-9 unit is that he’s not life sized which would make him the perfect cosplay accessory (or ultimate office toy). Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 2, 2010 in Star Trek
For those who have grown up with Star Trek this trailer for Trek Nation looks — I hate to say it — looks fascinating. The film was done by Gene Roddenberry’s son as an attempt to connect with his father who has passed away. Included are interviews with many folks connected with the franchise like D.C. Fontana and Patrick Stewart, but there’s also the nice touch of have industry legends like George Lucas and Stan Lee talk about the show and the man who brought it to life. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 1, 2010 in Pulp Fiction
This wonderful illustration is from a 1959 ad in Newsweek magazine for America’s Independent Electric Light and Power Companies. The headline for the ad is Your Personal “Flying Carpet” and the copy that follows sounds quite silly until you get to the last line which reminds me a great deal of the internet today: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 1, 2010 in Comic Books
In July Image Comics will be publishing Hellcity (The Whole Damn Thing) which is a collection of the three volumes in the series. If you haven’t seen this book it’s well worth checking out: For starters what makes it stand out is the entire comic is drawn in beautiful black and white. This allows Joe Flood’s draftsmanship to really dominate the page in much the same way that you see with a good Japanese manga. What I like about his style is that it sort of has a 1940s look to it with a bit of hip hop and MTV’s Liquid Television thrown in for fun. Also like a good manga Joe really understands layout — so you feel like you’re watching an action film, each panel throws you to the next with a punch. His style is also very fluid and slightly cartoony, so you feel like you’re looking at animation in motion as opposed to overly posed characters: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 30, 2010 in Science
In this video planetary scientist Joel Levine states his case why we need to explore Mars. Levine feels that the geography of Mars makes the case for exploration — if we really want to understand our Earth and the idea of extraterrestrial life exploring the red planet is the best place to start. I think that given the state of NASA as geeks we really need to get our voices heard to accelerate this as a priority for our space program.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 30, 2010 in Comic Books
Looking at this first issue of Officer Downe I’ve got to say that at first glance I was not blown away with the cover — however once I looked inside the book my sirens were going off. The illustrations by Chris Burnham remind me of a cross between classic EC comic books, Gary Panter’s work for RAW magazine in the 80s with just the right touch of French comic book art. The story by Joe Casey is sort of an American take on Judge Dredd, and it also reminded me a slight bit of the first Mad Max movie (which is a good thing). This comic is a one shot published by Image and is due out in July. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 29, 2010 in Fandom, Star Trek
John Krietzer assembled this stunning radio controlled version of the Enterprise A! When I first looked at this video I expected a brief voyage at best, but I was quite tickled to see the Enterprise taking a full tour of the galaxy — err the park: Read more…
This prologue trailer from Sega for the Iron Man 2 videogame looks terrible. It sort of reminds me of everything I hate about bad Dreamworks computer animated films: the voice acting is terrible, the animation is stiff and the humans have this very creepy not quite human feeling to them. My gut tells me that Iron Man 2 will be a great deal of fun, but my guess is that the videogame might be a bit rusty.
So I found myself at my local Asian grocery store and looking in the corner of the ice cream section I spotted a pile of GeGeGe no Kitaro ices. I went ahead and tried the iced bar and after doing a bit of research it seems that it was actually “milk flavored” — although it wasn’t ice cream, but more like an Italian ice. It also turns out that in Japan there is a soda flavored version as well. Here is the entire package design: Read more…
Patrick Stewart (better known to us Star Trek fanboys as Captain Picard) will be showing off his acting skills in Hamlet which will play on most PBS stations tonight at 8pm (check your local listings for Great Performances). Stewart will be playing Claudius, however Dr. Who fans should also take note of this production as David Tennant will be playing Hamlet. In the clip above Stewart talks about making Shakespeare appeal to today’s audiences. And below is a clip of Stewart sharing his feelings on tech issues like Twitter and the iPhone. Read more…
Bandai is releasing a limited edition of 100 official Luffy straw hats. Now these aren’t just any old hats made to make a quick yen — these hand made hats will be crafted fourth generation milliners who live by the Inland Sea in Japan. The hats will be shipping in mid-June and sell for ¥4980 each, although my guess is that the competition will be pretty stuff from the many other One Piece fans. Read more…
What you’re looking at is page 48 from the 1987 JCPenny catalog which showcases many popular cartoons from the era! The first two on the top are characters from Brave Starr (Marshall and Tex-Hex), in the middle row we’ve got Thundercats and on the bottom are the Transformers. And the the robes on the right all glow in the dark! Nope it doesn’t get any more tacky than this… Read more…
Sengoku Bushô translates to The Lords of War — and this memory stick collection features ten different samurai who honor their master by carrying up to two gigs of memories. By the way it’s important to note that these aren’t just cartoon samurai, in fact they’re based on historical figures. Included in the set are the likes of Hanzou Hattori, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Kenshin Uesugi, Masamune Date, Nobunaga Oda, Shingen Takeda and Yukimura Sanada. Although a hazard of being a digital samurai is that often you’ll be decapitated, only to have to be put back together again: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 27, 2010 in Comic Books
As a creative professional one of my favorite forms of inspiration is to visit Japanese bookstores and look through the most recent manga and magazine covers. Unlike the United States there is still a strong market for illustration — and even better yet the variety of styles that you see is just amazing. So I’ve put together a gallery of covers that have caught my eye over the last few months to share these gems. Shown above is the cover for Gee Not which started life as a web comic. I love how the main character and her cats are surrounded by a colorful variety of colorful pachinko machines — another nice touch is how the typography is boxing her in as well. Below is the cover for Ctrl + T which is a book cover for a collection of manga by several artists: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 26, 2010 in Star Wars
Docomo has a new viral ad campaign out that features Darth Vader. The ad campaign which was done with permission from Lucasfilm seems to encourage users to send out messages surrounding the theme of Who Is My Boss? The campaign is being supported through billboards and here are some more screenshots of the website: Read more…
Tragically the Talking TARDIS Cookie Jar doesn’t actually talk — however it does produce Dr. Who approved sound effects. Although if you’re looking for a more authentic experience make sure to fill your cookie jar with traditional English biscuits to enjoy with your tea and favorite Time Lord of choice.
Whenever I see a Mini Cooper it always brings me back to the film The Italian Job — the original from 1969 with Michael Caine of course as opposed to the remake from 2003. So this wonderful set of six Mini Cooper USB 4GB drives caught my eye right away. I can see why the design of this car is so popular in Japan — the mecha design of the automobile almost has a moe quality to it. In fact I’d dare say that it’s the closest a car can come to being cute — the drives are available in black, blue, British Pavilion, green, ivory and a rally auto : Read more…
