Toy Guru shows you how our 2013 SDCC Rokkon and Stonedar figures go from character to boulder form, plus check out New 52 Shazam without his hood. But the BEST news is that it looks like they finally sprung for an HD camera so we can SEE what he’s doing and what’s on the table!
HASBRO’S KRE-O STAR TREK BEAMS INTO THE TOY AISLE WITH NEW BUILDING SETS AND A STOP MOTION DIGITAL SHORT PRODUCED BY BAD ROBOT
The Digital Short, Utilizing KRE-O STAR TREK Building Sets Now On Shelves, Will Make its TV Broadcast Premiere May 13 on Cartoon Network
PAWTUCKET, R.I. (May 7, 2013) — Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), announced the availability of the new KRE-O STAR TREK line at retail locations beginning today. Also releasing today is a stop motion animated short featuring KRE-O building sets and KREON figures based on the iconic STAR TREK film franchise. Fans can watch the video, with a new stand-alone STAR TREK storyline, now on the official KRE-O YouTube channel at youtube.com/KREO. The digital short will make its television broadcast premiere May 13at 7:30 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network.
The KRE-O STAR TREK stop motion digital short animation was produced through film director J.J. Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, with special effects for the piece created by Kelvin Optical, one of the visual effects teams also working on the soon-to-be released STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS from Paramount Pictures.
“KRE-O STAR TREK marks the first time the STAR TREK universe has been available as building sets, and we are thrilled to show off the universe of KRE-O STAR TREK building sets and KREON figures with this exciting stop motion digital short from the Bad Robot team,” says Kim Boyd, KRE-O senior brand director for Hasbro. “We’re especially excited that kids will be inspired to express their own creativity, with the full line of KRE-O STAR TREK sets and KREON figures available in stores now.”
The KRE-O STAR TREK line, under license from CBS Consumer Products, is based on the upcoming film STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, directed by Abrams and in theaters on May 17, and features a variety of intergalactic space vehicles from the movie. Also featured in the line are 18 collectible KREON figures based on iconic STAR TREK characters, to be released throughout 2013. The new KRE-O STAR TREK line marks the unveiling of LIGHTTECH, a light-up feature within every KRE-O STAR TREK building set that allows kids and fans to bring the fantasy world of STAR TREK to the next level.
The flagship item of the line, the KRE-O STAR TREK U.S.S. ENTERPRISE building set allows kids and fans the chance to build an 18-inch long star ship toy with light-up warp engines, a bridge play area and five KREON STAR TREK characters, including favorites such as CAPTAIN KIRK and SPOCK. A total of 11 individual KRE-O STAR TREK building sets will be available in 2013 ranging in size from 32 to 432 pieces, including four micro-build ships and one set available exclusively at Toys ‘R’ Us.
More information on the KRE-O STAR TREK line can be found at KRE-O.com.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today is releasing Lobo, the first playable downloadable content (DLC) character for the blockbuster DC Comics fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us. A ruthless intergalactic bounty hunter known for his brutal tactics and rogue attitude, Lobo is available now on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points and will be available on the PlayStation®Network at a price of $5 shortly.
Also available today is the Teen Titans skin pack including Cyborg, Deathstroke and Raven skins; and the Bad Girls skin pack consisting of Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Harley skins. Each pack is available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 240 Microsoft Points and the PlayStation®Network for $3.
A new trailer showcasing the history of Lobo’s storied career is available now!
Developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, Injustice: Gods Among Usintroduces a new franchise in the fighting game genre and a brand new story created in collaboration between NetherRealm Studios, DC Entertainment and comic book writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. As the story unfolds, players will experience the power, gadgetry and unparalleled strength of some the most popular DC Comics heroes and villains, such as Batman, Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, The Joker and others, as they engage in epic battles in a world where the line between good and evil is blurred.
The Star Trek Select line is almost upon us! The new series will feature the first new 7″ Star Trek figures to come out of Diamond Select Toys in quite some time, and we’re pretty excited about it. With detailed sculpting by Patrick Piggott, each figure comes with multiple interchangeable parts and a deluxe diorama base, as well as a second, non-poseable figure to interact with! And now we have packaging pics!
Mr. Spock is captured as he appears in the classic episode “Devil in the Dark,” with a cave diorama and a Horta alien — the first Horta toy ever made! Spock himself will have interchangeable legs for standing or crouching poses, and interchangeable hands to hold a phaser or tricorder or establish a mental link with the Horta. He even comes with an alternate grimacing head!
The second Star Trek Select figure, Captain Kirk, comes with an engineering room diorama base, a second set of hands, a broken phaser and a control rod, as well as a second set of legs so he can deliver a flying kick to the reeling figure of Khan himself! That’s right, this figure is based on the episode “Space Seed,” and re-creates the first battle between the longtime foes.
Both figures come in packed-to-the-gills Select packaging, and will be available at comic shops and specialty stores in early June. Pre-order today with your local shop or favorite online retailer!
We here at AFi are saddened by the passing of special effects legend Ray Harryhausen. I personally had the opportunity to meet the man twice, hear him lecture once and see some of his legendary models in person. His work continues to be an inspiration to countless artist and film fans. He perfected an art form and captivated audiences for generations. He will be greatly missed.
This is the statement issued today by his family:
The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray’s influence on today’s film makers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK’s own Nick Park have cited Harryhausen as being the man whose work inspired their own creations.
Harryhausen’s fascination with animated models began when he first saw Willis O’Brien’s creations in KING KONG with his boyhood friend, the author Ray Bradbury in 1933, and he made his first foray into filmmaking in 1935 with home-movies that featured his youthful attempts at model animation. Over the period of the next 46 years, he made some of the genres best known movies – MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955), 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957), MYSTERIUOUS ISLAND (1961), ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966), THER VALLEY OF GWANGI (1969), three films based on the adventures of SINBAD and CLASH OF THE TITANS (1981). He is perhaps best remembered for his extraordinary animation of seven skeletons in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) which took him three months to film.
Harryhausen’s genius was in being able to bring his models alive. Whether they were prehistoric dinosaurs or mythological creatures, in Ray’s hands they were no longer puppets but became instead characters in their own right, just as important as the actors they played against and in most cases even more so.
Today The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation, a charitable Trust set up by Ray on the 10th April 1986, is devoted to the protection of Ray’s name and body of work as well as archiving, preserving and restoring Ray’s extensive Collection.
Tributes have been heaped upon Harryhausen for his work by his peers in recent years.
“Ray has been a great inspiration to us all in special visual industry. The art of his earlier films, which most of us grew up on, inspired us so much.” “Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no STAR WARS”
George Lucas.
“THE LORD OF THE RINGS is my ‘Ray Harryhausen movie’. Without his life-long love of his wondrous images and storytelling it would never have been made – not by me at least”
Peter Jackson
“In my mind he will always be the king of stop-motion animation”
Nick Park
“His legacy of course is in good hands
Because it’s carried in the DNA of so many film fans.”
Randy Cook
“You know I’m always saying to the guys that I work with now on computer graphics “do it like Ray Harryhausen”
Phil Tippett
“What we do now digitally with computers, Ray did digitally long before but without computers. Only with his digits.”
Terry Gilliam.
“His patience, his endurance have inspired so many of us.”
Peter Jackson
“Ray, your inspiration goes with us forever.”
Steven Spielberg
“I think all of us who are practioners in the arts of science fiction and fantasy movies now all feel that we’re standing on the shoulders of a giant.
If not for Ray’s contribution to the collective dreamscape, we wouldn’t be who we are.”
James Cameron
Ever since the announcement that 3A Toys would be doing Marvel figures in a 1/6th scale format many fans of both Marvel AND 3A Toys have wondered what these figures might look like. Today, posted on the official 3A blog, we get our first look at the Invincible Iron Man from series one:
Today it was announced that Lucasfilm Ltd. and Disney Interactive are entering into a multi-year, multi-title exclusive licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) for the creation of new high quality Star Wars games spanning multiple genres for console, PC, mobile, and tablets.
Industry leaders and creators of best-in-class blockbuster games, the development and publishing teams at EA will collaborate with the creative teams at Lucasfilm to provide audiences with all-new gaming experiences set in the ever-expanding Star Wars galaxy. As part of the agreement, EA studio teams DICE (Battlefield series) and Visceral (Dead Space series) will join BioWare (Mass Effect series, Star Wars: The Old Republic) in the development of new Star Wars games.
“Our number one objective was to find a developer who could consistently deliver our fans great Star Wars games for years to come,” said Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm. “When we looked at the talent of the teams that EA was committing to our games and the quality of their vision for Star Wars, the choice was clear.”
While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.
“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” said John Pleasants, co-president of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to fans around the world.”
“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”
More information, including titles in development, will be announced in the coming months. Continue to check StarWars.com for updates on the future of Star Wars gaming.
We were not able to shoot any of the ‘Man of Steel‘ sets at the Lego both back in February at Toy Fair. Now the product is shipping to stores, specifically Toys R Us so I was able to snap a few shots of the new offerings. The first three sets I found were: Superman’s Black Zero Escape, Superman’s Metropolis Showdown and Superman’s Battle of Smallville. All three sets have a Superman and General Zod Minifigure as well as additional characters in two of the three sets.
Toys R Us also has an entire endcap of their new Disney’s ‘The Lone Ranger” product.
Earlier today I attended a screening of Return of the Jedi to celebrate not just May the 4th (Star Wars Day) BUT the 30th Anniversary of the film. It was screened at the theater where it premiered in 1983, the Egyptian theater. This is the first time in 30 years that the movie has been screened there so it was quite the triumphant return as Return of the Jedi will be screening there all day!(…) Read the rest of Return of the Jedi – 30th Anniversary Screening EW CapeTown Festival
For the past several years, after they make their inital Comic Con exclusive announcements they put them on display at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach, Ca for Free Comic Book Day. Since that comic shop is a few blocks away from my house I was able to swing by and get some more detailed shots of the newly announced exclusives. These will be on display through the weekend at the Comic Bug for Free Comic Book Day 2013.
Please do not repost these picture without permission.
