We pick interesting products and trends for you!
Buying and collecting Casio G-Shock watches can get really expensive and if you need to match the watch with your outfit, you might need to buy several color G-Shocks. But now you can buy SlingShox’s silicone watchbands that fit most Casio’s G-Shocks and Baby G-Shocks. Now you can roll and rock out many different color flavors. SlingShox also offers various customs and designer collabs, so check out the site!
With the growing popularity of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in recent years, everybody wants to be a DJ now – and even Paris Hilton (I won’t post any video links because it’s just tragic, but if you are curious, you can find the clips on YouTube.)! Now back to the subject at hand, Numark made a super popular beginning all-in-one DJ USB controller – the Mixtrack Pro in the past and it was a hot seller. The company just released it’s latest earlier this month with the Mixtrack Pro II. For me, I think this is a great starter set for anybody wanting to know more about DJing and having friends over a house party.
MSRP: $300.00USD
For more info, go to: Numark Mixtrack Pro II.
This is definitely going on my Xmas wish list later this year – It’s another awesome product by Aviiq, a company known for making modern, sleek, and practical mobile accessories. This is the Portable Charging Station with Battery Pack in its Leather Series. It includes an integrated 5200mAh Lithium Ion battery, a dapper leather carrying case, and a cable rack system for wire management. No more traveling with that zip lock bag full of cables and plugs – I can finally travel with all my gadgets in style.
The Internet been buzzing about this new manga project by Japanese artist Mari Yamazaki (“Thermae Romae”). The Japanese magazine “Kiss” will delivered the first chapter of this Steve Jobs fantasy driven biopic. It’s too bad I can’t read Kanji characters! I need a translator.
For those who are not happy just seeing a digital picture but wants that photo printed out right away, Polaroid has figured out a solution and came out with this neat little camera. This camera still retains all the great features we love about digital cameras – like the 10 megapixel sensor, 720p HD video recording, 6x digital zoom, and anti-shake image stabilization, but best of all, it contains ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology which provides “inkless” printing; no need to install any sort of ink cartridges. What you get are 2″ x 3″ full color prints in less than a minute without the use of any nearby computer or photo printer.
MSRP: $179.99USD
For more info, go to: Polaroid Z2300W.
Ever wonder how you would build your own LEGO Batman Tumbler and Batwing? Well, Taiwanese LEGO fan builder Velociraptor provides incredible detail step-by-step instructions and LEGO pieces you will need. Oh, since the guy is Taiwanese, the site is all in Chinese writing, but hey, you can just look at the JPEG images.
If you’re a fan of AMC’s hit series “The Walking Dead”, check out this cool LEGO diorama tribute by Kyle (K.Kreations).
For more diorama detail images, go to: MOCpages – The Walking Dead.
In the past Incubot Productions have made some really cool USB flash drives with iconic Japanese anime robots like Voltron and Gigantor. Now Incubot wants to put out this cool legendary anime robot – Grendizer 4GB USB flash.
The head and arms have some articulation, the detail on the robot looks amazing, it comes with a USB saucer, and 4GB of solid state flash! What more do you want? Check out their Kickstarter page for more info and details on how to buy this groovy robot.
More 1980s goodness, the iconic Back to the Future time machine car – the DMC DeLorean. Yes, there’s been many toy versions of this, but this exclusive version for Entertainment Earth is the best, it’s the Back to the Future II DeLorean 1/15 scale with hover conversion kit for flying. And it has electronic sounds and effects too. The only bad thing is it doesn’t come with a Doc Brown or Marty McFly action figure, but you can fit some 3 3/4 action figures like G.I. Joes in the seats.
MSRP: $49.99USD
For more details of the toy and to buy it, go to: Entertainment Earth – Back to the Future II DeLorean.
If you grew up in the 1980s, you may remember the NBC TV show Knight Rider. Out now and only available @ Entertainment Earth – the coolest ever Pontiac Trans-Am ever – the Knight Rider KITT car. The 1/15 scale toy car has electronic lights and sounds, and features iconic KITT voice of William Daniels. The KITT car can spew out 4 phrases:
“I am KITT….”
“All systems functioning.”
“May I recommend you engage my auto-cruise mode?”
“Michael, I detect vehicles…”
I told my son that he was getting a laptop for his birthday this year and he got pretty excited. Although, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he opens up the box and sees this laptop inside. This i-Wood Laptop, designed by Bea Seggering & Donkey Creative Lab, should give him endless hours of fun and where the only limit is his imagination. Not exactly sure how he’s going to download his League of Legends onto this but the most important thing is that Daddy kept his promises. A word of warning, this is intended for kids who are at least 3 years old and, if he or she is older, make sure the kid has a good sense of humor. Also, never try this on your spouse, or else she won’t be your spouse for too long afterwards.
MSRP: $61.00USD
For more details on this i-Wood Laptop, head over to: Donkey Products – i-Wood Laptop.
Tank Girl returns in Everybody Loves Tank Girl graphic novel from Titan Books. It’s all new, but just not for EVERYONE. I mean if you don’t like sexy Tank Girl and friends, bad words, drugs, guns, humor and straight-out wackiness – then this graphic novel isn’t for you. Co-creator/author Alan C. Martin and artist Jim Mahfood takes us on a wild ride as Tank Girl gives us the inside look at The Tank; their adventures in babysitting their neighbors’ son Feldman; Tank Girl and friends trying to avoid the evil Arty Farty Gang, and many more crazy insane stories.
Jim Mahfood’s artwork is super-fun to look at with the various strips in black and white and colored. Plus in the back of the book, there is a collection of his Tank Girl galley artwork. One word – SEXY. And best of all is the out-there sense of humor. I mean if you don’t get it, you probably won’t get it Tank Girl, but for all us Tank Girl fans – we get it. I admit I was laughing hard at “The Sixteenth Annual Australian Swearing Competition short! No SPOILERS here – you will just have to BUY to graphic novel to read it and laugh your butt off.
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Hardback Graphic Novel: Everybody Loves Tank Girl
Author: Alan C. Martin
Artist: Jim Mahfood
Publisher: Titan Books
MSRP: $19.95USD
Available: February 22, 2013
If you really hate the Marvel standard 4 inch Iron Man action figures, why not order a Revoltech Iron Man?
Japanese toy company Kaiyodo’s latest Sci-Fi Revoltech action figure – the Avengers Iron Man Mark VII. The figure is slightly pricier at around $60 but you gets lots of cool details, inner workings of the Iron Man suit, and highly articulate ball joints which makes this very posable.
MSRP: $57.00USD
Grab one @ BigBadToyStore.com – Revoltech Iron Man Mark VII.
This is stunt veteran/director Jesse V. Johnson’s fan short film for DC Comics’ Wonder Woman. It’s really well done with high production values.
For more info, click the link: Wonder Woman short film.
MaiHiro x HoneySoYummy Contest
MaiHiro is an artist collab group creating and designing cool toy characters and they are giving away a Golden Ninja Spiki Necklace. This giveaway is easy, it takes only 3 easy steps – 1. Like this photo on Honey’s Instagram, 2. Share and like this post, 3. Comment on this photo.
For more info, go to: MaiHiro.net
Nick Cardy is best known for his comic book art during the “Silver Age of Comics,” where he drew DC Comics’ Aquaman and the Teen Titans. Cardy, who’s now in his 90’s, is releasing a collection today of World War II art titled Nick Cardy: The Artist At War showcasing his work in the Army from basic training to Europe’s final days in the war.
As promised in last Friday’s Catching up with Animation Studio Ghostbot, we wanted to share with our readers an interview with one of the lead creative brains behind the studio – Ghostbot Co-Founder and Animator Alan Lau. A fan of Japanese Anime and an active gamer, he’s worked for several esteemed studios in the past such as Wild Brain, Laika, and Madhouse. His ability to seamlessly integrate captivating 2D animation to each and every project is what stands out when looking at all his works en masse.
For Ghostbot, their most recent project was working on every 2D cinematic for the new Sly Cooper video game out now on the PS3 titled Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. I’ve seen the game in action and it’s great to see them keep the charm of the original Sly games intact while pushing the quality of the game art to higher levels. Recently,we had the good fortune to sit down with Alan and find out what other video game projects the company has worked on, what his reaction was on getting the opportunity to work on such a beloved franchise, and the amount of pressure they put on themselves to get the character attributes just right.
Since we reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, we bump into a number of devoted and talented local artists who are not afraid of working together to come up with very creative original content. One such group is Ghostbot, a small, but experienced, animation studio that has set up camp on the outskirts of San Francisco. Founded in 2004 by three young animators, they work tirelessly on a multitude of mediums, ranging from TV commercials to short films on the web to video games. With a deliberate and unique 2D style mixing pop sensibilities and cartoon art, they’ve produced and have worked on many projects that you may recognize, such as the Erin Esurance ad campaign and the painfully cute Happy Tree Friends animated series to name a few.
Dead Space: Liberation is a brand new graphic novel by British sci-fi/fantasy illustrator Christopher Shy and British writer Ian Edginton and the story follows the events after EA’s hit video game Dead Space 2, plus acts as a prequel to the upcoming Dead Space 3.
In Liberation, we find out there’s another Marker on the planet Uxor. Earthgov Sergeant John Carver now races back to save his family as religious fanatics attack the Marker site. John is then forced to join with Ellie Langford and Captain Robert Norton as they race to unlock the true secrets of the Marker, fight off Unitology, and save mankind.
These plastic green figures aren’t Army Men, but AJ’s Toy Boarders sporting a skater figure in a skating action. The plastic toys come in a 24 pack count with 8 different skating action poses.
If you just can’t enough Marvel’s the Avengers, check out this neato PVC 3″ figure set featuring – Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther and Ant-Man with The Wasp.
MSRP: $19.50USD
Buy it @ Marvel.com – Avengers PVC Set.
Today, toy company Hasbro is generating some PR buzz for the classic board game Monopoly by retiring one of its classic tokens. The public will get the chance to vote on which classic token to be saved – either the car, thimble, boot, Scottie dog, battleship, hat, iron or wheelbarrow.
You have until February 5, 2013 on Monopoly’s Facebook page to decide. My vote is for the “Iron”. Vote!!!
Nissan celebrated it’s 55th year of the iconic Skyline in 2012. Nissan Japan teamed up with artist Eizin Suzuki to depict every generation of the Skyline with a cool scenic background. The 12 wallpapers can be downloaded for your PC or smartphone for free on the 55th Anniversary website.
I’m not a huge manga reader, I grew up with comic books and graphic novels, but a friend of mine told me to check out this cool manga about Japanese food since I was a such a foodie monster. I first read Oishinbo – Ramen and Gyoza volume and was totally hook by not just the art but the reading and explanation of certain Japanese dishes. Each little episode takes a specific dish and through the characters explains the history of dish, ingredients, how it’s prepared and so on. It’s like watching the Food Channel. I really enjoyed all 7 volumes of this collection. A bit of warning – you will be hungry and crave Japanese food after each little episode.
MSRP: $12.99USD for print edition, $4.99USD for digital edition.
For more info, head to: Viz Media – Oishinbo.
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