Our Ramen team was at Comikaze … oops wrong name, it is Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con, now that’s a mouthful. One of our first interviews with various guest from the show was with “We’re Alive” creator Kc Wayland (Wayland Productions). Ramen host Eddie Ballar talks to Kc Wayland about his hit zombie post-apocalyptic radio podcast.
“We’re Alive” Zombie drama podcast!
November 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Kidrobot x Sonic the Hedgehog
November 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It was the year 1991 when SEGA launched their video game mascot Sonic the Hedgehog on the world. Celebrating 25 years this year, SEGA and Kidrobot releases Sonic the Hedgehog Medium Figure with 2 colorway version and is limited to 200 pieces. The scene is from Christmas Island, the mini-diorama features Sonic getting ready to grab rings.
The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition
October 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
One of most iconic filmmaker in our generation was director Stanley Kubrick. His films stood out for being strange, weird and visually artistic. He did not make mainstream flicks like director Steven Spielberg or summer popcorn fluff like Michael Bay, Stanley Kubrick was unique. This was the last week of “The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, so being cinema fans here at Retrenders, we stopped by the museum.
Ramen @ EVO Championship Series 2016
October 28, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This past summer our “Ramen & a Half” crew attended EVO Championship Series 2016 in Las Vegas. Host Eddie and Ramon participated as players in the event. We also interview lifestyle gamers Mike Ross and Peter Rosas.
Vinyl Pulp: Junko Mizuno x Woot Bear
October 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Vinyl Pulp interviews artist Junko Mizuno at Woot Bear on her “Junko Woot Bear” silkscreen print, T-shirt and upcoming projects. You can grab the colorful graphic tee at Woot Bear and the 8×11 silkscreen print is limited to 50 copies, so don’t wait to pick it up.
DTLR x Starter = ’90s NBA Throwback Jackets
October 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Lifestyle retailer DTLR teams up with Starter to release retro 90’s NBA jackets. The 90’s inspired “Black Label” jackets feature the bright colors and big logos with 2-side pockets. The collection will drop this Friday October 28, 2016 at DTLR retail locations and DTLR.com.
Crafting the Playskool Heroes Millennium Falcon
October 21, 2016 by Leave a Comment
One of my favorite playset/vehicles is the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. I have memories of looking at the Kenner Millennium Falcon in toy catalogues and watching the TV ads. Disney BOXED takes a look at designing and crafting the Playskool Heroes Star Wars Jedi Force Millennium Falcon Playset. This is the Toys”R”Us exclusive version featuring 4 figures: Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3-PO and R2-D2.
Cinema Alchemist, A Memoir – Roger Christian
October 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Imagine yourself in 1970s Hollywood and you’re on set meeting a nobody director at the time George Lucas, who is wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. He talks to you about this secret script named Star Wars. What would do? This was before so-called “Hollywood blockbusters”, before movie franchises, before green screens, and before SFX studios like ILM. Roger Christian accepted the gig and of course, the rest is history. Cinema Alchemist, Designing Star Wars & Alien is a memoir by Oscar-winning Roger Christian.
Pop! Animation: Cowboy Bebop
October 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Funko’s popular line of Pop! figures gets some Cowboy Bebop action. One of my all-time favorite animes is Cowboy Bebop. The Pop! Animation line will feature Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed. These figures will drop this December 2016.
Kidrobot x Street Fighter V Vinyl Toy Series
October 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Kidrobot is back with another Street Fighter vinyl toy series. This Street Fighter V series features some new characters and new artistic design. Vinyl Pulp host Eddie does an unboxing and review of these new 3″ art toys.
BAIT x Street Fighter Tees
October 14, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Street Fighter fans will enjoy these BAIT x Street Fighter Chibi graphic tees. This collection features 3 different tee designs: the Chibi Boss shirt with Akuma and his crew, the Chibi Group tee with Ryu and team & the Chibi Dhalsim tee.
LEGO Ideas: 21306 Yellow Submarine
October 12, 2016 by 1 Comment
It’s now official from LEGO, the iconic rock band The Beatles and their magical Yellow Submarine get the Lego treatment. From the LEGO Ideas imprint the set features 550 bricks and 4 minifigures: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. There is also Jeremy Hillary Boob figure included.
Stranger Things Eleven Action Figure
October 12, 2016 by 2 Comments
If you have not watch Netflix’s Stranger Things, I suggest you do. Get a Netflix account and then binge watch Stranger Things! I was hoping Super 7 or something would do a ReAction line, but for now – Special Ed Toys and toy artist George Gaspar aka couchgrouch produced this cool Eleven action figure. The action figure also comes with that 1980s-style toy packaging.
Sneakers in a Bank Vault – 24 Kilates Bangkok
October 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
With the age of the Internets and shopping for stuff online, good old fashion retail stores need that “shock and awe” to get shoppers into stores. Like the cool geeky Apple retail stores, streetwear boutiques have done the same by making brick & mortar stores a neat event place to come in and buy stuff. One such shop is 24 Kilates in Bangkok, Thailand. This innovative sneaker shop looks like a Swiss bank vault. The shoes are kept in safety-type deposit boxes. Now that’s neat.
The Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino
October 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
If you were that kid that grew up with the Atari 2600, you will definitely remember the distinctive box art packaging. As a kid seeing the Atari video game box art made me go to my mom and say to her, “I want you to buy me those games!” This October 2016, Dynamite and author Tim Lapetino take Atari fans on journey of video game artwork with The Art of Atari.
Kidrobot x Scott Tolleson = The Odd Ones
October 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Kidrobot collabs again with artist Scott Tolleson on a new Dunny series – The Odd Ones. This Dunny collection drops tomorrow, October 8, 2016. The 3″ Dunny series takes a Halloween themed inspiration. There are 14 character designs including the chase figures in this collection.
Gentle Giant LTD DC Super Powers Micro Figures
October 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I wish I could go back in time and tell my 1980s self not to damage, throwaway or giveaway my various Kenner DC Super Powers action figures. I was at Walgreens this week and finally spotted the Walgreens exclusive Gentle Giant LTD release of the DC Super Powers Micro Figures. The 2″ PVC figures in Series 1 features Batman, Robin, Joker, The Flash and Lex Luthor. The packaging is reminiscent of the 1980s Kenner DC Super Powers line-up.
Batman: Facts & Stats from the Classic TV Show
October 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Pow! Bang! Hum the theme song! The 1960s classic Batman TV show was colorful, bright and cheesy. From Titan Books authors Rian Hughes and Y.Y. Flurch deliver a fun book and design feel of the 1960s Batman TV show.
Arrow: Oliver Queen’s Dossier
October 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Just in time for Arrow Season 5 on the CW Network. This companion book is Oliver Queen’s Dossier, it is Oliver’s notes and clippings on his battle to fight crime in Starling City.
Oliver gathers up newspaper clippings, government documents, images, blueprints and maps while writing down his notes and opinions on post-its. The dossier profiles allies, friends and enemies. The book also provides information on weapons and vehicles used on the show.
Frankie’s Garage: The Hyundai Racing Hatchback
September 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Hyundai will be launching their “M” division with their N performance brand of racing inspired street legal cars. At the 2016 Paris Motor Show, Hyundai unleashes the RN30 Concept. The hot hatchback features a 2.0L turbo 4-cyclinder engine pumping out 374 horses. Hyundai looks to compete with the likes of the Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST segments.
UNDEFEATED x A BATHING APE
September 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Two streetwear brands Undefeated and A Bathing Ape join forces for a super duper mini-capsule collection which drops today – September 24, 2016. This 24-piece collection features graphic tees, shirts, jackets, one type of sweatpant and one type of hat. Looking fresh for this Fall will be wallet-busting as prices range from $112.00USD and up to $681.00USD for this mini-collection.
The Art of Deus Ex Universe
September 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Have you played Deus Ex: Mankind Divided? Go play it! Have you read Deus Ex: Black Light? Go read it! After doing all this now you can enjoy this by Titan Books – The Art of Deus Ex Universe.
Video game journalist Paul Davies takes us to EIDOS Montreal and interviews the players – the design and art teams behind the Deus Ex universe. The artist and designers talk about the incredible world building and designing the right characters. They also talk about building the atmosphere and emotion to get players into this world. The art book contains over 300 images, art pieces, concept designs, character profiles, CGI art and sketches from Human Revolution and Mankind Divided video games.
Deus Ex: Black Light by James Swallow
September 15, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Based on the video game series Deus Ex, this new official “canon” novel Deus Ex: Black Light bridges the gap between the end of the video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution and prequel to the new video game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Author James Swallow who has already penned various Deus Ex original novels starts Black Light like the first Bourne Identity, as Jason Bourne, I mean ex-cop and ex-security Adam Jensen is found at sea and has no memory of his last mission.
Our cyber “augmented” hero Adam Jensen must piece together his past and retrace his steps to find what is going on and all roads lead him back home to Detroit and his former employer Sarif Industries.
Suicide Squad – The Official Movie Novelization
September 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I will stay out of the critics/fans Suicide Squad movie squabble mess. Yes, the movie had some misses, like the under-character development of various characters and the overly long 3rd act, but overall I enjoyed director David Ayer’s Suicide Squad as a just a fun summer popcorn action flick. With the hoopla surrounding the Suicide Squad movie, I was intrigued with the Suicide Squad novelization by long-time DC comic book author Marv Wolfman.
The U.S. government appoints Amanda Waller to establish Task Force X part of the A.R.G.U.S. program to use super criminals locked-up in prison for special government missions. Dr. June Moone aka Enchantress finds a way to raise his trap brother Incubus back into the world of the living. Together they have a plan to destroy and rule the world. Waller taps Colonel Rick Flag to be the liaison for this “Suicide Squad” team and assembles Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, El Diablo and Slipknot to stop the Enchantress and her brother Incubus.
A Bathing Ape x Capcom Collection
September 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Capcom video games gets a BAPE collection of graphic tees and tote bags for games like Resident Evil, Street Fighter V and Monster Hunter. The collection drops September 17, 2016 at BAPE.com.
Edward Ballar
GuestContributor
Ramon Angel
Al Woo
Stephen Jang
SW biko
Retrenders 