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McFarlane Toys To Launch Highly Collectible and Revolutionary Building Block Sets for AMC’s The Walking Dead Franchise

July 9, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

Todd McFarlane to Innovate the Brick Building Category with Unprecedented

and Highly Detailed Collectible Product Available Exclusively at Toys “R” Us this Fall

July 8, 2014 – Tempe, AZ – Famed artist and award-winning toy designer Todd McFarlane and McFarlane Toys are unveiling a revolutionary evolution in brick building toys based on television’s most watched drama,AMC’s The Walking Dead. Known as a game-changer for its realistic action figures, including those based onThe Walking Dead, McFarlane Toys is adding a new licensed category to the company’s portfolio. The new The Walking Dead toys will extend McFarlane’s high standards of artistic vision, realistic accuracy and incredibledetail into the brick building toy aisle alongside of other leading manufacturers. McFarlane Toys’ The Walking Dead building sets and figures will be available this fall only at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online atToysrus.com

The initial McFarlane Toys’ The Walking Dead brick building line will feature realistic sculpts, light-up andshaped features, iconic environments, and dozens of your fan-favorite characters and walkers. Both collectorsand fans of the cult phenomenon can literally recreate their favorite scenes with this new highly detailed and realistic The Walking Dead product line.

“Twenty years ago I walked into the action figure aisle, saw an artistic void, and asked, can these toys lookcooler? The answer was yes, they could, and I’ve survived twenty years next to the big boys creating thoseartistic toys,” said McFarlane. “Now I’m walking into another aisle with that same question, and the answer is still yes!”

“Will these be the best building sets out there? I’ll leave it up to the consumer to decide,” said McFarlane. But, will it look cooler? Yes. Will it be more detailed? Absolutely. Will it be more realistic? I guarantee it!”

The Walking Dead series one product line will feature building sets, expansion packs, and figure blind bags for consumers to build their own The Walking Dead apocalypse:

The Building Sets: MSRP $9.99-64.99 – Daryl Dixon with Chopper, The Governor’s Room, and Prison Towerwith Gate. Expand your brick building apocalypse with additional figure and accessory packs.

Blind Bag Figures: MSRP $2.99 – Daryl Dixon, Michonne, The Governor, Carl Grimes, Riot Gear Walker, Michonne’s Pet Walker, and Herd Walkers.

ABOUT THE WALKING DEAD:

The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. The series tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors, led by sheriff Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Emily Kinney, Danai Gurira, Chad L. Coleman and Sonequa Martin-Green. The series is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, David Alpert and Tom Luse. The Walking Dead returns October 2014.

ABOUT ROBERT KIRKMAN:

Robert Kirkman’s success and passionate advocacy for creator-owned comics led him to become the first person invited to become a partner at Image Comics since the company’s inception twenty years ago. Kirkman is the creator/writer of the Eisner Award-winning The Walking Dead, long-running Invincible, all-ages Super Dinosaur, The Astounding Wolf-Man and Thief of Thieves. In 2010, Kirkman formed his own Image imprint, Skybound, which publishes his own work and Witch Doctor, Guarding the Globe and Clone. Kirkman has earned the respect of the comic, writing and television communities and topped the New York Times bestseller list for graphic novels in 2011 and 2012. In April 2012, he took the top five spots on both the hardcover and paperback lists. He’s the creator/executive producer and writer of the hit Emmy®-winning television show, AMC’s The Walking Dead, the highest-rated basic cable drama of all time in the U.S, also an international success in 122 countries and 37 languages. AMC is developing Thief of Thieves as a potential series with Kirkman serving as creator/executive producer and writer. Your destination for all news and merchandise from Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead and all Skybound titles is www.Skybound.com

ABOUT AMC:

Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade, or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC brings to its audience something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, and boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history with The Walking Dead. AMC’s original drama series includeMad Men, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, Turn, Halt and Catch Fire and the forthcoming Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul. AMC also explores authentic worlds with bold characters through its slate of unscripted original series like Comic Book Men, Small Town Security, Talking Dead, Game of Arms and Freakshow. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Something More.

ABOUT MCFARLANE TOYS:

Grammy-and Emmy-winning producer/director Todd McFarlane creator of Spawn, is the force behind McFarlane Toys, one of America’s top action figure manufacturers. McFarlane Toys has become a leader and redefined the standards within the action figure industry. For complete information on this pop-culture powerhouse, visit www.McFarlane.com; https://www.facebook.com/liketoddmcfarlane; http://twitter.com/Todd_McFarlane (Todd_McFarlane) and https://www.youtube.com/user/McFarlaneCompany

Comic book review: Big Trouble In Little China

July 8, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

Boom studios has release issue one of an on going series based on the cult hit Big Trouble In Little China. IF and I do mean IF you have never seen this film watch below.

The comic takes place after the events of the film.

Jack is in his truck and runs head deep into a giant yet lovable demon who is now bound to him. The reason why has to do with the ending events of the movie.

He heads back to Chinatown to help rid him of his new “best friend” but upon arrival he learns that the only way to get rid of the demon is for Jack to die. In typical film style bad guys crash the party causing a big battle to erupt and a new villain emerges.

being this is the first issue I will let go a lot of what I feel makes this book weak and just wait to see where it is going. It does try really hard to capture the movies fun and action but I do feel the art is a weak point in this series and could have

benefited with a better artist. If you really love the film and always wanted to see the future adventures of Jack this is your book.

FHM lingerie model-turned-comics-creator/writer/artist Jinky Coronado’s BANZAI GIRL webcomic comes alive in a full-color graphic novel!

July 8, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

A dozen years ago, around the time Jinky moved to the USA, where she created, wrote, was cover model for, and drew — with colorist Mike Kelleher and co-artist Wilson Tortosa — the series BANZAI GIRL for Sirius Comics and, later, its sequel series BANZAI GIRLS for Arcana Studio.

More recently, Jinky resurrected BANZAI GIRL on Keenspot.com as a serialized webcomic!

Now: Jinky is trying to collect my first BANZAI GIRL series into a big, beautiful, 160-page full-color graphic novel, using Kickstarter ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1395445173/banzai-girl-graphic-novel-volume-1-by-jinky-corona ) as a means and this is what she says about it herself: “Although I’m currently drawing PANDORA’s BLOGS and EXPOSURE for Red Giant Entertainment and drew Meg Cabot’s AVALON HIGH graphic novel series at HarperCollins, BANZAI GIRL is my personal project, full of Filipino culture and environments and even characters based on my own family. I’m thrilled with the idea of bringing it back into print.”

BANZAI GIRL – VOLUME 1

Format: Softcover Graphic Novel

Pages: 160 full color pages + Cover

Writer/Artist: Jinky Coronado (w/Wilson Tortosa)

What’s it all about? BANZAI GIRL’s Jinky Coronado is a girl of three worlds; she just doesn’t know it yet. Her nightmares of being both a Princess and a Future Freedom Fighter collide with her real-life as an Asian schoolgirl. Where her biggest obstacles should be homework, boys, and her Dad’s new girlfriend, she is thrust into a world of monsters and madness. An alien invasion possessing her town’s parents! Strange creatures known as the Duwende, the Kapre`, the Tikbalang, and the Manananggal! A schoolgirl-eating snake creature hidden beneath a shopping mall! Jinky becoming a model and recording star! And much more!

As you can see, Jinky tried to create a style for a series that anime` and manga fans would like, from the little schoolgirl uniforms to the oddball mascot character — but she made it very much about the myths and mysteries of her native Philippines and stocked it with people from her real life!

Jinky will be including bonus art from such superstar artists as Mike Deodato, Jr., Will Conrad, Al Rio, Cliff Richards, Adriana Melo, and Playboy’s Dean Yeagle!

What’s more, she’ll be including a whole bunch of bonus stuff, as well — including a photo album and a really cool sketchbook section of behind-the-scenes art.

ROOSTER TEETH’S LAZER TEAMZAPS INDIEGOGO RECORD FOR MOST FUNDED FILM CAMPAIGN

July 7, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

ROOSTER TEETH’S LAZER TEAMZAPS INDIEGOGO RECORD FOR MOST FUNDED FILM CAMPAIGN

Award Winning Web Series Producers Bust Through Original Goal of $650,000 in Only 10 Hours After Launch and Raised $2,480,421 Overall

SAN FRANCISCO and AUSTIN – July 7, 2014 – Indiegogo, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, and Rooster Teeth Productions, the online entertainment giant behind the longest running web series in history, Red vs. Blue, and the hit anime web series RWBY,today announce that Rooster Teeth’s campaign for Lazer Team has raised $2,480,421 in funding from 37,497 funders, surpassing Gosnell’s $2,241,043 record and becoming the most funded film campaign in the site’s history.

With an initial funding goal of $650,000 for Lazer Team, the live action science fiction movie is the biggest project that Rooster Teeth has undertaken to date. Their original goal was met within 10 hours of the launch of the campaign and quickly reached

$1 million dollars within the first three days of the campaign.

“Our audience has once again amazed us with their overwhelming, record-breaking support. We are proud to be the #1 most funded film on Indiegogo… and with a totally new property. In a world filled with sequels and reboots, Lazer Team is a brand new IP being made possible by the people who want to see it. That is what crowdfunding is all about,” said Rooster Teeth Co-Founder and Creative Director Burnie Burns.

Rooster Teeth made a special campaign wrap up report on the final day of RTX, Rooster Teeth’s annual gaming and Internet convention held July 4 – 6 at the Austin Convention Center with over 30,000 attendees. During the presentation, Rooster Teeth’s Burnie Burns received the “Most Funded Film” belt from Indiegogo in commemoration of their record.

Filming on Lazer Team is scheduled to begin in Austin, TX and New Mexico in August, with a Spring 2015 release date.

Lazer Team Synopsis

Lazer Team takes place in the late 1970s when the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence project received a onetime signal from outer space. It looked exactly as theorists thought, a communication from an alien civilization would-unfortunately it was never decoded. Or so we were told. Unbeknownst to the general public the signal was translated and said two things: One, we are not alone, and two, the galaxy is a dangerous place. Working in total secrecy for nearly four decades, the US government has been training a warrior of incredible skill to don a suit of un-imaginable power designed by the new alien allies. Unfortunately, the suit never made it all the way to its final destination and instead of a single Champion of Earth, we now have the “incredible” Lazer Team.

###

For more information on Rooster Teeth:

Website: Roosterteeth.com

Twitter: Twitter.com/RoosterTeeth

Facebook: Facebook.com/RoosterTeeth

YouTube: YouTube.com/RoosterTeeth

Snap Creative: summer movie blockbuster

July 3, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

Snapcreative has sent us images from all their up and coming summer movie items

Snap Creative and their in- theatre division Snapco are telling a new type of Toy Story this summer with the release of five major collectible promotional toy programs at movie theaters worldwide for the top summer blockbusters. Their expansive licensed portfolio for kids and ultra-fans are rolling out all summer long for the hottest summer releases that have an estimated box office of over $3B, including Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2, Paramount and Hasbro’s Transformers: Age of Extinction, Disney’s Planes: Fire & Rescue, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Paramount and Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“These programs are an innovative way for studios to extend brands and reach fans of toy collectibles, especially in the wake of shrinking shelf space for action figures at many retailers,” states Bill Howard, CEO of Snap Creative. “These in-theater collectibles are an extremely effective sales and marketing tool for studios and exhibitors alike. On average, there’s a 20% lift in sales for the branded collectibles and popcorn “speed-packs” compared to the non-branded popcorn packages. We also had a hugely successful program for the Disney hit Frozen earlier this year. These packs help audiences connect with brands on a whole new level.”

Snap Creative’s summer releases started with toys and speed packs based on the highly anticipated How to Train Your Dragon 2 that opened in theaters on June 13th, followed by Transformers which opened this past weekend. For those and Planes July 18th, Guardians August 1st and Turtles August 8th, movie-going fans can collect 2 or 3 different highly detailed figures and/or keychains for each phenomenal feature, along with reusable cups and popcorn packs. Millions of collectible packages will be available in some of the largest theatre chains worldwide in the United States, China, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Spain, Vietnam, Thailand, and more.

Top studio players are taking advantage of reaching customers in a whole new way via these promotions. And with collectible play patterns included in these promotional packs, in essence, a new toy aisle is being created in theatres right before our eyes.
With an estimated $50 Million in collectible pack concession sales, in over a dozen countries worldwide, Snap collaborates on 15 theatrical promotional packages with studios and exhibitors each year. Already this year, Snap created several highly sought-after promotional concessions programs for The Amazing Spider Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Frozen and more.

If you haven’t seen my review of Snaps how to train your Dragon two movie theater items check out review below.

We hope you guys jump on these items asap.

About Snap Creative
With offices in Los Angeles and Hong Kong, Snap Creative is a full-service provider of unique licensed promotional and collectible consumer products. From concept development to finished goods, Snap Creative has been integrating innovative design and engineering to craft high quality and clever premium products for almost 20 years. They are leaders in capturing the distinct personalities of each program and are a go-to partner for many of the world’s largest entertainment companies, including Disney, Marvel, Pixar Studios, Sony, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Universal, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox, and more.

Freedom in art while playing a 3ds game

June 27, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

I was just checking out a great article from Kotaku about the 3ds game Pokemon art academy. The concept of the game is pretty simple, we teach you to draw those pesky and adorable pocket monsters.

What I find amazing is the level of freedom and quality of art coming from a simple 3ds game. I honestly don’t believe that the 3ds is anywhere near this intuitive, I believe the level of talent is.

Check out some of these pieces

Just amazing

Cute

Funny

And a little disturbing (makes me think of sonic the hedgehog) or the ending to Mother

I always love when talented people create art out of something so simple

Its like watching people take an etch a sketch and make masterpieces

What do you guys think?

Also check out Kotaku.

http://kotaku.com/the-best-pokemon-3ds-drawings-arent-the-mostaccurate-1596324228?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Thunder shorts

June 26, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

By Shawn Morales

American Viral.

American Viral is a series that follows an American Family that is “YouTube famous”.In episode one aptly called “Epic Balls” The Busk family tries to keep there viewer count and the laughs rolling. I hope you like awkward family dynamics and ball jokes. Watch American Viral on thundershorts.com/

Teachers Lounge.

Take a step into the Teachers Lounge for a funny comedy about the interactions between school faculty you can imagine your own teachers in these awkward and hilarious conversations. Don’t mix the Chicken with the Whites. Check out the Show on thundershorts.com/

Don’t Walk.

First day of work in New York City? Good luck that is of your new boss or the crosswalk for that matter don’t get you first. Look both ways and cross over to thundershorts.com/

Gabe and Max Need Help.

Even best friends don’t get along sometimes but how to fix the issues? Relationship counseling of course! Come check out the probs-gay couple on thundershorts.com/

Augie Alone.

Augie got a text from the girl at the bar too bad he can’t decipher emoji don’t bikini phone her! Check out more Awkward Augie on thundershorts.com/

Go hit up http://www.thundershorts.com/

Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman

June 26, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

By Shawn Morales

Welcome to another issue of Noob Reviews. Today we get an early look at tomorrow’s new episode of the groundbreaking “Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman.”

This episode discusses the possibility of a Zombie Apocalypse! The topic of zombies has been a big fad as of late, but is it possible? What is the science behind it? Freeman brings up viruses that can affect more than one species of animal, the similarities between rabies and a zombie virus, virus and bacterial adaption, neuron stimulation and our survival rates as an economy, a civilization and a race. Don’t miss this great episode of THROUGH THE WORMHOLE WITH MORGAN FREEMAN.

William Shatner’s Brown Bag Wine Tasting

June 23, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

By Shawn Morales

Hello and welcome to Noob Reviews. I’m your Noob, Shawn, and today I will be reviewing a clip from William Shatner’s new upcoming web series “Brown Bag Wine Tasting.” The show seems to have a refreshingly original concept as Shatner and his guest sample an anonymous wine concealed by a brown bag.

He then asks his guest to describe the taste of the wine…using terminology based on their field of work (i.e. Describe this wine using the terminology of a chef, a bartender, a clown, a physical trainer.) The premise of the show looks to be a solid foundation for witty, clever and humorous banter between Shatner and his interesting variety of guest. The first episode is set to feature Alton Brown of “Good Eats” and “Iron Chef America” fame. Catch the show on as it premieres tomorrow on www.ora.tv/.

comic review: codebreakers 1-4

June 18, 2014Rob Leave a Comment

by Shawn Morales

Codebreakers #1

Ciphers. Codes. Encryption. Passwords. Meet the best of the best elite Cryptanalysis Unit of the F.B.I. as they puzzle out the truth and protect all of us from those that would steal information in ways that can shatter the global community. But what happens to the Cryptanalysis Unit when one of their own goes missing? Is this a puzzle the puzzle-solvers can’t solve? And will this cipher reveal things about themselves?

Welcome to Noob Reviews today I am reviewing Codebreakers #1 . This series is about a squad of so called “codebreakers” in this issue we get a brief intro to the team, a bunch of seemingly genius level analyst and there “handler” who im guessing becomes the muscle they will no doubt need because one of the codebreakers is captured and the government secrets are in danger oh no! Yeah this ao far sounds like a recycled plot line with nothing special to make me want to read the next issue (even though I will).

Rating 2/5

Lets hope this old dry plot has a big twist in issue #2

Codebreakers #2

Another Codebreakers review and let me tell you it hasn’t gotten any better than the first issue, more recylced plot with motive-less characters and nothing to keep me reading (except that I said I would) Ill tell you one code that needs to be broken how did this series get sent to print?

Rating 2/5

If you like cheesy hollow stories oh boy is Codebreakers the series for you!

Codebreakers #3

Here we go again the 3rd issue in this dull but thankfully short series. Ok so the problem with having such short series is that you have to cram all the backstory and plot into 20 or so pages and its hard to pull off for anyone. Codebreakers does a poor job of making you care for the characters I can barley remember any of there names! but in this issue I will say they did a good job of melding the flashbacks with the ongoing story all though the “big twist” was easy to call the balance between action and the flashback made this bad series somewhat bearable even if only for a moment.

Rating 3/5

Good story telling, bad story.

Codebreakers #4

Its over its finally over thank the heavens! Let me not waste time here I’ll make this short (like all my other post really) it all ends in a convenient happy ending for a bunch of characters we don’t care about anyway. I can see no reason to pick up this series unless you enjoy a series filled with spy troupes executed at the skill level of a 13 year old.

Rating 1/5

Way to end an already disappointing series with disappoint .

Series Verdict

Analyze-Read-Skim-Pass