We pick interesting products and trends for you!
On a brezzy night in San Francisco’s Haight/Ashbury area, Kidrobot held a Artist Signing and Release Party for super talented artist Martin Hsu. A few weeks back, Martin released his latest vinyl artwork – “Blacky” – the dragon/dog 4″ figure. The figure is limited to 300 pieces worldwide, so you might want to pick it up, since it’s also sold at a reasonable price of around $25.00USD.
A food cart that specializes in a yummy dessert treat – shaved ice found in New York City’s South Street Seaport. Reserve Channel interviews the 3 co-founders Danny Che, David Sat and Kenneth Sa of Wooly’s Ice. Imported from Taiwan, the 3 co-founders hope to spread Wolly’s Ice across America.
Another Munchies episode with chefs on a night out on the town in Berlin, Germany. This episode, Munchies follows co-owners Oliver Rother and Quirin Schwanck of restaurant Parker Bowles in Kreuzberg on their journey of eating out. They stop by a Chinese restaurant in Charlottenburg called Good Friends and back to Kreuzberg for some Japanese ramen at Cocolo Ramen.
If there’s a mention of Ridley Scott’s iconic film “Bladerunner” anywhere, I’m usually there in a heartbeat. The early concept art and ideas of Bladerunner began with this man – Jim Burns. The British award winning artist has the distinction of winning 3 Hugo awards and creating science fiction book covers for authors like George RR Martin, Peter F Hamilton and Anne McCaffrey.
If you ever watch the animated movies like The Ant Bully (2006) or Escape From Planet Earth (2013), one of the concept artist behind it was Greg Spalenka. The Art of Greg Spalenka: Visions From The Mind’s Eye by Titan Books showcases Spalenka’s artistic career over the years in the many art mediums he uses, from paintings, drawings, sketches and photography.
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“Here was art with a purpose – communicating issues about humanity, from gun violence and racism to social welfare. These images were speaking to thousands, and in some cases, millions of people. I learned that the publishing world could be a powerful platform as well as an industry to work in.” – Greg Spalenka
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Total Heroes is another line-up of DC Universe 6″ action figures and you can find these figures at big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart. I bought a few of these Total Heroes like Batman and The Flash, since I liked how they look and it was ten bucks. Now these already sold out at Matty Collector, these are Total Heroes Ultra editions, meaning they come with more accessories like various interchangeable faces, hands and weapons. The Batman Beyond figure looks really cool and you can probably find them online somewhere at the $25-35 price range.
I’m a big fan of the Marvel Legends 6″ action figure series since it’s affordable and detailed enough to collect and play with. And when you want to move up to the next step yet can’t afford the Hot Toys pricey $200 per figure, then I would suggest the Figma action figure line-up from the Good Smile Company.
From the Japanese toy manufacture Good Smile Company comes the Figma Metroid Samus Aran action figure. The pose-able and articulate 6″ figure comes with a stand and various accessories.
The premier headwear maker Kangol teams up with Disney once again for their stylish mini-capsule collection. The 6 hats in this collection features Disney’s mascot Mickey in various flavors along with Kangol’s kangaroo logo.
Everybody’s favorite Star Wars bounty hunter Boba Fett and this time his personal spacecraft get’s the LEGO Star Wars Collectors treatment this coming January 2015. The LEGO 75060 Slave I craft is super detailed with many cool play features.
If you’re looking for new outfits to wear to work or a night out on the town with your girls, then this ELLE Runway Collection should do the trick. Feel upscale and modern, yet affordable with this Parisian-themed collection of dresses, tops, pants, coats and make-up sold exclusively at Kohl’s.
Can I sell you a pen that cost over $50.00USD and holds not too much ink? Well, you will buy it if you’re a Transformers and G1 Optimus Prime fan. Produced by Sentinel Toys, this is Optimus Prime Convoy pen! In robot mode, the action figure looks close to the classic G1 cartoon series and has good articulation. After you’re finishing playing with it and you need to do some homework, you can transform it into a pen.
Celebrating 30 years of the iconic film Ghostbusters, Mattel has launched a 2-pack action figure exclusive on their Matty Collector website. The first 2-pack features Peter Venkman & Egon Spengler and the second 2-pack features Ray Stantz & Winston Zeddemore. The 6″ figures are articulate, comes with various accessories and special 30th anniversary packaging.
The 2014 Paris Motor Show kicks-off October 4 thru the 19th, and there will be plenty of hot rides and concepts cars. But knowing me, if I was in Europe right now, I would be up in a little town called Munich for Oktoberfest drinking beer and eating all kinds of meats. Now back to the topic at hand, the 2014 Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris will showcase concepts and future offerings to the car buying public. One wish, please bring the UK-spec Honda Civic Type R hatchback to the U.S.
When I was on my anime-marathon watching a few years back, one anime that I had fun viewing was Full Metal Panic! This is the latest Metal Build release from Bandai Japan, the ARX-8 Laevatein mecha.
When I was a wee young lad, one of the very first FPS I played was the game DOOM. It’s been 20 years since Doom premiered, and here’s a LEGO tribute to this iconic game.
Another great Munchies episode about draft beer culture in Japan. You may have generalize beer in Japan as just Sapparo, Asahi and Kirin, but it’s more than that as host Yuka Uchida explores the neat beer trends in Japan.
It’s always a fun night with people in the restaurant business, this episode of Munchies goes to Berlin to check out their foody scene with guide and chef Dong Phuong. Chef Phuong is owner of District Mot, a Vietnamese street food restaurant.
If you weren’t satisfied with this year’s lame Bandai America’s Godzilla Destruction City playset, why not try ALGERNON Product Geocraper – Tokyo Scenery Vol. 1 series? Yupe, this toy line is called GEO-CRAPER, something got lost in translation here, but I digress. This is a great way to build a mini-toy diorama playset and putting your toy kaijus on display.
This is a definite must-buy for G1 Transformers fans – the Masterpiece MP-20 Wheeljack. Like all of the Masterpiece series the robot modes and articulation is great, but this car mode looks sweet as Wheeljack is based on the Lancia Stratos Turbo 5 rally car.
Okay, I’m getting really hungry now watching all these food shows on the Reserve and Munchies channel! Located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC, the El Olomega food truck cooks and sells the ultimate yummy Pupusas. Siblings Janet and Marcos Lainez have been dishing this El Salvadorian street food for over 25 years.
I love watching this Vice off-beat foody channel Munchies! Host Yuka Uchida takes her friend around Tokyo to explore the Japanese love of sake. The girls go sake-hopping learning everything and anything about sake.
Burger King Japan re-introduces the “Black Burger” which features bamboo charcoal powder to get the dark color buns and cheese. The sauce is made of BBQ sauce and squid ink.
Cute and humorous is this animated short – Cap’n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale. From Omens Studios, Cap’n Shmelly is hunting down his nemesis the big whale that took his leg.
Like many major car manufacturers who have their own in-house racing/tuning programs like AMG, the M Division, SVT, SRT, TRD, just to name a few, Nissan’s NISMO (Nissan Motorsports) celebrates 30 years. This video by Nissan highlights NISMO – the past 30 years of amazing wins on the track and street legal tuned cars.
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