Ramen @ EVO Championship Series 2016

dsc_0695This 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.

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Vinyl Pulp: Junko Mizuno x Woot Bear

img_1821Vinyl 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.

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Kidrobot x Street Fighter V Vinyl Toy Series

krxsf5-caseKidrobot 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.

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Dance Photography by Al Morales

al-morales-photography-11Al Morales has been focused on the art of dance photography these past two years.  Al has gravitated to doing most of his photography with professional dancers. He didn’t think twice about the idea, because he himself was a former dancer the last two decades. Here is a glimpse of his passion for dance photography with Rachel Winter from San Jose CA, a Studio Company Dancer at The New Ballet School.

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Vinyl Pulp #18: SDCC 2016 BAIT Oni Akuma

baitoniakumaVinyl Pulp takes a look at all the 7″ Kidrobot Akuma’s.  This is the SDCC 2016 exclusive BAIT Oni Akuma.  The limited edition figure features a purple colorway and translucent arms.

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Vinyl Pulp #17: The Baby Fatts Gallery

bf003Vinyl Pulp goes to the Baby Fatts Gallery at Woot Bear!  The custom resin toy art dragon Baby Fatts created by Big C Art aka Colin Hoffman gets the star treatment by many artists in this custom toy art show.  We interview Big C Art and recap the event.

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Vinyl Pulp #16: The Kidrobot Shin Akuma SDCC

IMG_0849Vinyl Pulp takes a look at a neat Kidrobot exclusive from San Diego Comic-Con 2016.  This is the Kidrobot Street Fighter Shin Akuma 7-inch figure.  The Shin Akuma is limited to 500 pieces.

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Vinyl Pulp #15: Kidrobot SF V Akuma 7-Inch

krakuma7Our latest Vinyl Pulp episode takes a look at the Kidrobot Street Fighter V Akuma 7-Inch.  Capcom Street Fighter fans who like these vinyl toys will definitely want to pick this up for their collection.

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Vinyl Pulp #14: The Andy Warhol Dunny Collection

krandywarholThe latest episode of our Vinyl Pulp is out!  Episode 14 takes at quick look at Andy Warhol Dunny Series that was just released.  The 3″ Dunnies get an artsy design twist from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

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I Like To Eat Episode #3: Sweet Mex

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The long awaited 3rd episode of I Like to Eat is finally here! On this episode of I Like to Eat, we visit Sweet Mex in Union City, California for some delicious desserts.
What desserts does Sweet Mex hold for our hungry travelers?  And will The Eddie spoil his dinner? Tune in to find out on this episode of I Like to Eat.

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Interview with Artists Scrotumnose & Onihat

scrotumnosecoveronihatcoverWe have double the fun in Artist Alley from FanimeCon 2015.  Ramen host Eddie Ballar interviews artists David Alegre aka Scrotumnose and Ashley Tahilan aka Onihat.  Davie talks about his food pun artwork and Ashley about her cool stickers.

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Interview with Artist Whitney Jiar

wjcoverartWe take fans into Artist Alley from FanimeCon 2015.  Ramen and a Half host Eddie Ballar interviews artist Whitney Jiar about her art work and FanimeCon.

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Interview with Jrock band Back-On!

back-oninterviewThis video was recorded at FanimeCon 2015, our Ramen and a Half host Eddie Ballar interviews the Jrock band Back-On!  The band talks about how they got together and their favorite anime to watch.

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Interview with Voice Actress Ai Nonaka

jonelleainonakainterviewWith the biggest NorCal anime convention happening this Memorial Day weekend, we had some unreleased FanimeCon 2015 footage that’s out now! From our Retrenders vault, our interview with voice actress/singer Ai Nonaka.  Recored at FainmeCon 2015.

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Ramen and a Half: SVCC 2016 – Artist Ethan Castillo

ethancastillosvcc2016Ramen and a Half host Ramon Angel interviews young artist Ethan Castillo at Silicon Valley Comic-Con 2016 in San Jose, CA.  Ethan drops a new art book:  “I Still Really Hate Spiders!”

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Vinyl Pulp #13: Scott Wilkowski

swcoverOur latest episode of Vinyl Pulp features the art figurine stylings of artist Scott Wilkowski.  We interview Scott on his custom dunnies and glow ‘n’ dark toy art figures.

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SixOn Clothing Fashion Showcase

sixonnewfashion2016SixOn Clothing recently held a fashion show for their new clothing line-up of hoodies at Desu Nation in Temple City, CA.  Inspiration for these new hoodie designs came from the anime Macross and video games like Zelda and Final Fantasy.  The hoodie line-up is available for pre-order right now @ SixOn Clothing.  Prices range from $70.00-$75.00USD.

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Ghostbot on Emerging VR Technology

RETRENDERS GhostBot Inc - Emerging VR Technology

Where will virtual reality take us? The landscape is limitless at this point and finding that one spectacular use for this technology that makes this the next leading trend might be just around the corner. We caught up with Bay Area animation studio Ghostbot after their VR technology discussion panel at Silicon Valley Comic Con and interviewed them to find out where VR is heading.

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Silicon Valley Comic-Con 2016 Round-Up

Retrenders - Silicon Valley Comic Con - SVCC - by Johnny MorenoCheck out our latest Ramen & a Half episode from Silicon Valley Comic-Con (SVCC)!  The first SVCC by tech icon Steve Wozniak and comic book icon Stan Lee taking place at the San Jose Convention Center.  Our Ramen team roams the showfloor as we talk to the San Francisco Giants baseball team about all the cool special events they will have this 2016 season.  Go Gigantes!  Next we hit up BuzzingBots with cute robot plush dolls.  Ramon visits artist Jesse JFR on his avocado TMNT art and Boba Fett candles.  Eddie interviews Kaz over at Plastic and Heroes on their vinyl toy art collectible shop in San Jose.  And the Ramen guys close SVCC with special cosplay guest Abbey and Keiko.

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Red Chapter Clothing Company with Marvel Comics

RETRENDERS Red Chapter Clothing Elvis Monroe 02

Bryan Hopkins demonstrates his Ambigram tattoo

What is an Ambigram? I would have to say its the art of font design and creative wordplay, where one word passes off as two at the same time… or maybe superimposition, where one thing is placed over an existing thing to conceal something?

Okay enough, just watch the video we shot at Silicon Valley Comic Con with Bryan Hopkins, lead singer of Elvis Monroe, who is the co-founder of Red Chapter Clothing with world famous Ambigram artist Mark Palmer. He’ll tell you what an Ambigram is and how they have creatively designed them for the Marvel Comics world !

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Sayori Chu interviews Stan Lee!

RETRENDERS Sayori Chu Interviews Stan LeeWe caught up with Stan Lee at Silicon Valley Comic Con to talk to him about the “BIG” direction with comics, how did it begin, what were its influences, and where is it going now that it has become immensely and worldly popular!

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Welcome to Silicon Valley Comic-Con 2016!

Retrenders - Silicon Valley Comic Con - SVCC - by Johnny MorenoWelcome to the first Silicon Valley Comic-Con! The inaugural of SVCC was the largest Comic convention in San Jose, California, thanks to Steve Wozniak and Stan Lee. The convention was a collaboration between panel talks of surfacing technology such as Virtual Reality and how will we use it? So when you you took a stroll through the convention floor, you were literally walking through the imaginative world of stories ; and if you chose to attend a tech panel, you can see how comics and Sci-fi have contributed to innovative technology and its use –Such things as the hoverboard which is the future of skateboard transportation! Now that’s what I call the ying and the yang.
Now who said we were just here to see Stan Lee? – RETRENDERS, or course!

Vinyl Pulp #12: Fad Dunny Signing with J*Ryu

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Kidrobot recently released the 8in FAD Dunny and host a signing with its creator, J*ryu!
Join us as we interview J*ryu and talk about the meaning of the name FAD and what went behind creating the dunny.

For more on Jryu check out:
Jryuart.com

 

Vinyl Pulp #11: Jeremy Dale aka ValleyDweller

JeremyDaleArtOneHere we are, the first episode of Vinly Pulp for 2016!  Our team was at Woot Bear with artist Jeremy Dale aka ValleyDweller and his #AlphaSketch art exhibit.

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Vinyl Pulp #10: KR Holiday Food & Toy Drive 2015

holidaykrcoverA few weeks back, the Kidrobot SF store held a food and toy drive to donate to local charities with artist J*RYU and cosplayer Vampy Bit Me.  Here’s the highlights from the event:

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