|
|
Thu 26 Feb 2009 |
The team at New Zealand based special effects company Weta Workshop have recently co a fully functional Mermaid tail for Auckland woman Nadya Vessey, who is a double leg amputee.
 Ms Vessey approached Weta with the ambition of making a tail that was both practical and beautiful, a task that proved to be a pleasing challenge for Weta’s team of talented artists and craftsmen.
“We really couldn’t resist the opportunity to help Nadya on such a magical project” says Richard Taylor, five-time Academy Award TM winner and Creative Director at Weta Workshop. “We’ve made mermaid suits and prosthetics for the movie Peter Pan, but this project was to make a huge difference to a real person, which makes it incredibly satisfying”.
The unique articulated construction of the tail will allow Vessey to propel herself through the water with an undulating movement as if she were a mermaid.
Every aspect of the tail has been custom made to Vessey’s body using a blend of 3D modelling and milling technology, combined with vac forming and a poly carbonate spine and tail fin. The skin of the tail has been made from a layer of neoprene and a lycra outer-layer digitally printed with a stunning ‘scale’ pattern, designed by one of Weta’s concept artists.
Vessey was born with a condition that meant her legs would never develop properly, but began swimming after she had her first leg amputated at seven. Despite having her other leg amputated at 16, she swam competitively in high school and now swims as often as she can.
Vessey says she is thinking of using the tail to help her complete the swimming section of a triathlon.
"I thought rather than just having it as a plaything, I would take it further." Vessey, who is in her 50s, was inspired to get a tail a few summers ago after an encounter at the beach.
Weta has donated staff time and expertise into making the tail, and Vessey has been able to cover the costs of the materials from a grant she received from the Kerr-Taylor Foundation Trust.
|
|
Wed 25 Feb 2009 |
 Originally planned to be the next action figure release from the Four Horsemen, Scarabus – the evil emperor from their property ‘Gothitropolis’ will be taking a slight detour in order to let Queen Alluxundra and her royal court take center stage.
Scheduled as the next release from the Four Horsemen’s popular ‘Seventh Kingdom’ property, the often-requested Queen has been rescheduled to begin production immediately in order to meet fan demand and help out with rapidly rising production costs overseas.
The Four Horsemen had this to say on the subject: “Even though we’d originally planned to release Scarabus – the winner of the most recent FANtastic Exclusive (http://www. FANtasticExclusive.com) voting – before Queen Alluxundra, increased production costs at the overseas factories we use, combined with the financial hit we took from the problems with the production of Ramathorr (the last FANtastic Exclusive action figure release) have forced us to re-evaluate our production schedule in order to create the initial capitol needed to produce an expensive figure like Scarabus. Don’t worry. Scarabus isn’t being cancelled. He’s just taking a bit of a vacation so he can make the big entrance that he deserves.”
The much smaller Queen Alluxundra figure will require much less tooling and paint applications than Scarabus, and will also be housed in much smaller packaging making overall production and shipping costs significantly lower.
The Horsemen had this to add: “We displayed 2-up prototypes of Queen Alluxundra and most of her variants at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, and the response was so overwhelmingly positive that we knew then that it might be in our best interests to approach the production schedule in this way. We already have multiple partners onboard with us once again to carry the Queen and all of her variants, and production on the figures has already begun.”
Production of Queen Alluxundra is expected to be completed well before the summer convention season begins, and not only will the Four Horsemen announce all of their distribution partners and which exclusives they’ll be carrying between now and then, but they’ll also be revealing even more unseen variant versions of the Queen.
|
|
Wed 25 Feb 2009 |
Ken has been a long awaited statue from the classic arcade hit Street Fighter. Street Fighter revolutionized the fighting game genre nearly 20 years ago and now it is being brought to life as SOTA toys presents this 12 inch scale statue with base that comes with a beautiful clear resin flame. This is sure to make anyone feel the aura and presence of this Shotokan masterpiece. Check Sotatoys.com for future announcements on Cammy, Akuma, Bison, and Guile.
MSRP $109.99 Available second quarter 09
Individually numbered Limited run of 500 pieces
|
|
Tue 24 Feb 2009 |
 Bif Bang Pow! just unveiled the new Dexter action figure, based on the lead character in Showtime’s hit TV series. He comes with interchangeable arms and loads of cool accessories: knife, body bag, ID card, and blood slide! The gang at Bif Bang Pow! have designed him so that he’ll be blood spatter expert by day, and vigilante by night. More details to come, but over on BBP’s blog they hint that he comes with a few ‘extras’.
You can preorder now from
|
|
Tue 24 Feb 2009 |
 The third addition to the SOTA “Nightmares” line is our reimagining of one of the prominent figures of the Book of Revelation: Death. SOTA has taken the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse and replicated him as the terrifying embodiment of Death, come to harvest the remnant souls of those who survived his brothers. Death is presented as a 12-inch tall statue, a grim reminder of the inevitability of life’s end, proudly perched astride his pale green horse. Made of high quality resin, the statue and base meld theme and concept into a truly terrifying, truly beautiful spectacle of biblical storytelling. This is a limited edition collectible, with unique numbering on each statue. Death will carry an MSRP of $249.99 and will be available in the 3rd Quarter of 2009 from select retailers.
|
|
Tue 24 Feb 2009 |
Face of Female MMA Latest Star To Develop Figurine
 MARKHAM, Ontario, Canada, February 24, 2009 – Known to many as the “face of female mixed martial arts,”Gina “Conviction” Carano has parlayed great ability in the cage and a glamorous look out of it to burst onto the MMA scene and in many ways transcended the sport. Now, the unbeaten star has announced she will be working with Round 5, the leader in collectible MMA figurines, to produce a figure that reflects her stardom. Carano joins an All-Star lineup of 13 MMA standouts who currently work with Round 5.
Carano, 26, gained notice for her success in the cage and has earned additional attention with appearances as “Crush“ on the NBC television series “American Gladiators“ and by serving as a mentor/coach on the Oxygen network series “Fight Girls.“ She is also in many ways a pioneer in women’s MMA, competing in the first-ever sanctioned bout in Nevada in September 2006 and in the first female bout (boxing or MMA) on the Showtime Network in February 2007. She currently owns a 7-0 record in MMA competition.
“Gina Carano has emerged as a star, not just in MMA but in the mainstream,” said Damon Lau, Round 5 President. “As the first female in the Round 5 line, we expect her figurine to be popular among the sport’s enthusiasts as well as those who have seen her on TV or in magazines.”
“I’m incredibly blessed to be a part of so many wonderful opportunities and to now be included in Round 5′s line up of gifted fighters is another exciting privilege,” said Carano. “When I was a little girl my dad always joked about making a ‘Gina doll’ and I smile when I think it has become a reality. It is both humbling and invigorating to consider this is just the beginning with so many other gifted women whose figurines are yet to be made.”
The Carano figurine is tentatively scheduled to be released as part of Series 4, which is planned for a summer 2009 release. As in the earlier Series, Carano will maintain creative control of her likeness, including the pose, facial design and shorts. She will have a major hand in creating the final design and will benefit from a royalty agreement that gives her a considerable portion of the proceeds from the sale of her unit.
Round 5 has announced partnerships with 13 mixed martial arts stars to date, with eight figurines already available: Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Tito Ortiz (Series 1);and Rich Franklin, Sean Sherk, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva (Series 2). Series 3 figurines are scheduled to be available in April, featuring Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski, “Big John” McCarthy, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. International superstar Fedor Emelianenko has also signed on and will be in a future Series in 2009.
(more…)
|
|
Tue 24 Feb 2009 |
 Or, when is green not the right green?
We all know Mattel has had some issues in the manufacturing of our favorite DC Comics characters. But the one that really puzzles me is how often the colors of the final product do not match the paint masters supplied by the Four Horsemen, or even the designs as seen in the comics.
Sure, they are the right color, per se. But they are not the right value of that color. And this should be a very simple process: your get a paint master, you match each base color to a Pantone guide, you figure out which parts are molded plastic and which are painted, you send these numbers off to the factory in China, and eventually you should get back some color chips that show the actual plastic that will be used, and what the base plastic looks like painted. At this point you double check the samples against your original Pantone numbers AND the paint master. If they deviant, tweak them and send for new chips. This seems like a pain, but the manufacturing window is long enough that you should be able to handle at least 20-3 rounds of tweaks if necessary.But for some reason, what we see in the prototypes IS NOT what we get.
Case in point is the new Superman/Brainiac 2-pack shown at NYCC. The sculpts are great, but the green on the classic Brainiac (seen on the left) is waaaaaay too blue, and waaaay too dark. In all the original comics he was more of an olive shade of green. Who makes the decision on what PMS was used? And is it too late to adjust it? See the original comic cover at right, and my quick photoshop mockup below left of what I think it should be. I just don’t understand going to the trouble of making these characters and not going all the way.
And speaking of color, check out the Superman on the right in the pic below, too. If we’re going to get yet another Superman (albeit one with short hair with the new body) why not adjust the color on him, too, and give us a classic Superman in the shade of blue that the old comics used? The shade of blue that Christopher Reeve wore in the Superman movies? The shade of blue that was used for the Super Powers Superman figure? You get the picture. Fans don’t want to feel screwed with rebuying the same character, so why not do everything you can to make it feel different?
How about it, Mattel? And if you need someone to double check your colors on any other upcoming figure, give me a call. Better to head these things off up front than let a substandard product go to market.
11 comments
Share:
|
Posted by Jason Geyer • Comments Off |
|
|
Mon 23 Feb 2009 |
Torrance, Ca. — In continuing their aggressive push in the United States as one of the most innovative and premiere toy companies, Jun Planning is very proud to debut it’s new toy line for Disney’s new Pixar film property, UP.
UP is an incredible action/adventure film that follows Carl Fredricksen, who as a kid, always dreamed of a huge adventure…he just never expected it would take him 78 years to find it! On a wild ride by air and on foot, our crusty hero and a young explorer named Russell, battle beasts and villains, and prove that age is nothing but a number. UP takes everyone on a hilarious, life changing journey where the sky is no longer the limit.
An array of UP merchandise will be produced, including the Mini-Action Figures, PVC Mascot Set, and Char-Cororin Remote Control assortments.
“ We at Jun Planning are very excited and honored to showcase the UP movie toy line for 2009.” Said Yosuke Oba of Jun Planning. “The buzz for theUP movie has been huge. We’re very proud that we can offer this full line of product to the world and we look forward to presenting this detailed product to retailers, distributors and the public.”
   
|
|
Mon 23 Feb 2009 |
Dark Horse, Toy2R, and Big Tent Entertainment Unveil New Line of Blind-Box Figures Featuring Japanese Internet Sensation Domo
 NEW YORK, NEW YORK (February 20, 2009)–At Toy Fair 2009, Dark Horse unveiled plans to produce a set of blind-box figures scheduled to release this July. The 2.5” figures will be created in conjunction with Toy2R as part of their Qee program, and will feature the likeness of Domo, the iconic viral superstar who was first introduced to the world in 1998 by Japanese Broadcaster, NHK and is represented world-wide (ex- Asia) by Big Tent Entertainment.
Packaging is "blind box," in which individual figures are packed in small boxes; the only way to know which particular figure is inside a particular box is to purchase and open the box. In the Domo blind box assortment, figures are sold in counter displays of 15, and each display box of 15 figures is further packed into a master carton of four cases.
In addition, each individual figure contains a component of a special “Build-A-Domo” transparent figure. By assembling six of these components, a new variant figure is created by the consumer. Each counter display contains enough pieces for two of these; each master carton yields ten of this special item when all the pieces are assembled.
Chase figures are being produced in addition to the common figures in the Domo assortment; with a total of 15 different versions with various levels of scarcity. See the graphic for exact details
Blind box packaging with the addition of chase figures creates an element of chance in purchasing the Domo Qee toys, and prompts some collectors to trade figures among themselves to complete their collections.
Starting from a very unusual place as an advertising icon, Domo’s unique look and personality has catapulted the character from 400 television spots in Japan into one of the Internet’s biggest sensations, sparking worldwide recognition. As the poster child for personalized, user-generated content, Domo has been able to transition from popularity within Japan to a worldwide following, spawning countless fan-made images, websites and videos, along with a first-ever licensed product line including plush, toys, fashion and collectibles selling at major trend retailers nationwide. Most recently, Domo has taken America by storm, beingfeatured prominently at major retailers all over the U.S. and even starring in his first worldwide manga.
(more…)
|
|
Mon 23 Feb 2009 |
I’ve been lucky so far. I’ve keep toys at my workplace for the past 13+ years, and not just a few here and there. A LOT! I’ve been fortunate to work at places where a toy collection fits into the culture so it’s really become and extension of my displaying area. Here is a picture of me in my office from last year. As you can see I have quite a bit of stuff on display.
I’ve worked in bull pen areas, I’ve shared work space with a coworker and, for the past 7 years, I’ve had my own office. Currently I have my own office, with a door, that locks, in an out of the way area that you need a key card to get into. It’s not a commonly traveled common area, you have to want to go to where my team sits. When I go home at night I lock my door. I’m also the guy that controls who get what keys on this campus, and security reports into one of my team. I should be the most secure guy at work. At least that’s what I thought….
I have all of my Mattel JLU figures at work on a shelf..or 2 as the line has expanded. Here was my JLU shelf back in 2007
Some time in November 08 a few of my JLU figures went missing. Even though I have a lot of stuff in my office I notice that sort of thing right away. It was weird because the first batch that went missing was all from the villains shelf: Joker, Red Hood (original black version), Bizaro and Lex Luthor… but the FIRST one, the one in the suit. Yeah, the rare one that Mattel will never re-release.
That was frustrating to say the least. But, I thought maybe it was just a coworker having some fun and they would be returned to me. It wasn’t and they weren’t. Then I thought maybe it was a desperate janitor that needed Christmas presents for their kids, but it was such a weird selection. Why not take Superman and Batman? They are so iconic, and right in the front. I noticed a little later that Waverider had also gone "missing."
With the help of Jim Able, my girlfriend and Ebay I was able to replace those over the holidays and all was well.
As time went on the JLU line expanded and so did my shelves. Here’s what they look line now (YES there are some customs in there)
 
When I got back this week from Toy Fair I noticed the thief had struck again while I was gone, and this time he/she hit me even harder.
This time the list was: Superman, Blue & gray Batman, Green Lantern (bald with goatee), Steel, Robin (Teen Titans), Batgirl and Nightwing for the heroes and Star Sapphire, Reverse Flash, Penguin, Catwoman for the villains. Now clearly whoever is doing this doesn’t know what they are grabbing. By that I mean they don’t know who is valuable in the line. They seem to be just grabbing characters they recognize.
It’s disappointing and it’s maddening. Some of these figures I might have replacements for somewhere in storage, some I won’t. Some I’ll have to rebuy on the secondary market. I just feel violated. I always hoped I’d never find myself here. I’ve changed security procedures for my office. No one gets in while I’m not there. I’ve set up a web cam for after hours.
But if it happens again, I’ll have to pack it all up any bring it all home. In this day and I can can’t afford to keep rebuying my collection.
Has that ever happened to you guys? What have you done to prevent it from happening? Ever catch who was doing it?
28 comments
|
Share:
|
Posted by Julius Marx • Comments Off |
|
|
|
|
