The weekly Raging Nerdgasm report

3D overdose, the fast track to SW VII, the Thanksgiving hangover (or as retail calls it, "black Friday")

I'm starting a new weekly collum to showcase a recap of what's going on in all things pop culture related, so let's get on with it.

OD'd on 3D

I'm not sure if I'm in the minority or majority, but I'm fatigued by the barrage of movies in 3D. Some movies it works, some it doesn't do anything. Like Avatar was amazing in 3D but it was so long I started feeling the effects taking their toll on my eyes. I got super hyped for Tron Legacy in 3D, but 4 scenes were filmed in actual 3D. At least they tell you at the beginning, but what a letdown to find out after you've buy two tickets for a midnight show and are already sitting in your seat. At that point, I became cautious about which films to see in 3D. Being selective, I went more for animated features in 3D because the clarity of the visuals and already computer rendered scenes benefited from the extra help of 3D. Legend of the Guardians: The owls of Ga'hoole was one where an already breathtaking movie was even more enjoyable in 3D. Despicable Me, Megamind and Up were also much more enjoyable in 3D that they were in 2D.

Then on the other hand you have the big budget Hollywood blockbusters where 3D does absolutely nothing for my experience. Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman, Star Wars: Episode I were semi-worthless to me in 3D. The 3D effect was shallow to say the least. Then you have movies that really don't need the 3D treatment like Dredd, Fast and the Furious, Piranha 3DD (actually, I take that back. The boobie jiggling was worth the ticket price but damn is Christopher Lloyd hideous in 3D) and the upcoming GI Joe: Retaliation. What's the point? I'm not going to pay to see these in 3D, these are movies that benefit in no way from all the time/money/effort it takes to render them in 3D. I think 3D has hit the same wall it hit back in the 60's, over saturation and shallow effects in exchange for a pricier ticket. The movie industry just needs to shift focus to going full digital projection. The new Sony 4K systems have an amazing frame-rate output that makes 3D look passe. 45-60 frames per second for a crystal clear picture that rivals home theater Blu Ray.

SW epVII gets a Disney Fast Pass?

We literally need a weatherman to come out everyday and tell us about the progress on the newest Disney venture, Star Wars: episode VII- Don't fuck it up Mickey or I'm calling Truly Nolen. It's almost been a whole month since the Mouse bought LucasFilms outright for 4.05 billion dollars, a total so staggering and a deal so sudden it sent the fattest of nerds into cardiac arrest and the rest of us contemplating the Saga's fate now that it's under new management. Everyday there's new news, new potential release dates, news on who from the original cast is down for reprising their roles (and let's face it, #1/ do any of them really have anything else better to do? #2/  see the first explanation), who's not really wanting to make an encore performance of their original role (don't you fucks pull a Bill Murray/Ghostbusters 3 on me or I'll track you down like the dogs you are and cry uncontrollably on your doorstep till you change your mind) and who might join the cast (lord be with you Disney if you mention any member of the Twilight cast or Justin Bieber because hell hath no fury like a legion of man-children scorned.). Everyday is a conflicting story and I'm not talking about internet rumblings, I'm talking about press releases directly from the Mouse House itself. Only time will tell, just hurry up the hell up Disney; Luke, Leia, Han and the rest of the group is lookin' mighty ancient.

my Thanksgiving hangover, "happy black Friday, war is over"

I didn't see any reason to leave the house the whole day. Not one thing tempted me to brave the crowds, I'm holding out for cyber Monday.

Raging Nerdgasm moment- OMFG series 3 submissions

A couple of months ago, we here at Raging Nerdgasm entered October Toys OMFG (Outlandish Mini Figure Guys) series 3 submission and voting is coming to an end. With just a couple of days left, your friends here at Raging Nerdgasm would like to implore that if you haven’t done so already to vote for your favorite series 3 submission (and hopefully it’s one of our submissions). This time around we got organized and submitted three options for this round of the very successful minifigure line created by the fine folks at the forums of Octobertoys.com and founder George Gaspar (and his wife Ayleen of the weekly show “Toy Break”). Normally they urge you not to submit more than 1 entry but here at Raging Nerdgasm we totally believe in going all in on a pair of 2’s and playing like you have all four aces’. If you will, please take a look at our submissions and vote for your favorite soon. Voting ends September 29th, 2012 (less than 2 days).

#16- Roadkill

Roadkill was slightly inspired by the no holds barred style of M.U.S.C.L.E minifigures from the 80’s. We always loved how the series had just about anything your mind could imagine as a wrestler; man/buffalo hybrid on steriods or a 7 foot tall clawed hand with a face on the middle finger and everything and anything inbetween. But yet as much as we loved the series, only a few of them were any more functional as any other rubber figure. There was the guy that could be used as a top but that was just about it. With Roadkill, we wanted a OMFG minifigure with the ability to be cool looking and functional in it’s own way. Roadkill went through several different stages of evolution till we came to a crowd favorite of a free-wheeling version with spiked shoulder cuffs and muscular arms. We thought that a OMFG character that could victimize other characters by rolling over them would make for a hilarious design and add to the overall play value of the whole line. Like I said before, they urge you to only submit one design because some people may only vote once for an artist since you are only allowed 5 votes per ballot. I felt that both Bullseye and Roadkill could definitely hold their own and so far I haven’t been wrong. What a thrill it would be to get two submissions into series 3.

#17- Bullseye

Bullseye was one of first doodles that gained our Raging Nerdgasm forum and the October Toys forum’s seal of general approval. Taking what  elements we love of Garbage Pail Kids, Monster in my Pocket and other equally fun figurine lines; Bullseye is a mutant eyeball with hooves, horns and a tail. Luckily through both amazing coincidence and absolute luck, we teamed with board member EMBoyd who in the end helped us bring tangible life to our 2D drawing and hopefully give it the necessary edge to make Bullseye a part of OMFG series 3.

#18- Bottom Feeder

One thing we’ve noticed over the two previous series, nautical themed characters seem to fare well in the voting stage. For those with a fetish for fish and other things that swim in the briney deep we designed Bottom Feeder, deep sea desinen feeding off of the greed of the surface dwellers with his retractable pearl attached to his tongue. In the end, after several drafts, we went with a full clam/oyster body covered in barnacles with lobster pinscher arms and stubby legs. Bottom Feeder may be recycled for series 4 submissions but only the next few day can tell what may happen.

One of our main objectives here at Raging Nerdgasm is to leave a mark on the toy industry, to eventually become a leading source for toys, games and pop culture nonsense that you’ve grown to love and maybe even get into the independant toy game. Getting into OMFG series 3 would be a dream come true for us and a stepping stone in the right direction for us. Not that not getting one of our submissions made into a minifigure would hinder us any, we would  just have to explore another venture to get the Raging Nerdgasm name out there. Like we said before, if you haven’t yet, please vote for your favorite OMFG series 3 submissions. You get to vote for your 5 favorite submissions once and details of the winners should be released sometime in the following weeks. Voting ends September 29th and if you like what you’ve seen, please vote for our 3 designs when you cast your vote for your five favorite choices.

To see all the submissions CLICK HERE!

To register and vote CLICK HERE!

The new Robocop design- A Raging Nerdgasm moment

(OMNICORP, a brand you can trust)

I, for one, welcome the new Robocop design. Nothing is ever going to compare to the original suit in our collective nostalgic memory. It was “futuristic” for it’s time, but in today’s preconceived vision of the future of body armor and robotics this new design fits in nicely. To be honest, if fanboys saw the steel blue clunky Robocop being thrust into a reboot, they yell even louder. It’s a reboot. The design looks great; it’s slick, it’s streamlined and it looks functional as an urban assault law enforcement cyborg. The only question I have is about the bare right hand (like is that part of the new design or is it going to be worked with in post-production) and does he have the gun concealed in his thigh? I’m still digging the new design even with my two questions floating out there in uncertainty land.

Many have compared it to the new Batman suit, the hyper suit from GI Joe, Iron Man and other comic book/pop culture movie costumes. That’s the point, that’s exactly what Hollywood is shooting for with this remake and it works in the scheme of current movie designs. It looks like it could seamlessly be integrated into any number of crossover media or even be snuck into the background shots of another movie as a visual Easter egg. The new design also shows that the new Robocop could potentially be more agile than his predecessor, which had the maneuverability of a Galapagos tortoise (I’m just sayin’ and you know it’s true.)

(the two pictures above are care of neogaf.com )

While it may not be the design you fell in love with 30 years ago, just give it some time to develop and wait till the story comes to fruition before you get on the hate bandwagon. Remember;  yellow spandex X-Men, baby blue Captain America and grey tights Batman costumes would have looked ridiculous on film and possibly even been laughed off screen by the most dedicated fans.

(Even Peter Weller is getting in the spirit)

(That and surely we won't see this happen again)

(Or this.....)

EMPOWERED!!!

by: Ana Bruja-Khayos

From the great mind of Adam Warren who brought you Dirty Pair comes Empowered.  The graphic novel series began in 2004 as a superhero comedy inspired by large commissions request for images of damsels in distress.  This created a world that is inhabited by super heroes, villains and minions that have very down to earth personalities and imperfections.  This makes this story ten times more likeable than your standard graphic novel.  Simply said “ A superhero story that doesn’t take itself too seriously”.

As of 2012 the series has produced seven graphics novels, and is very well love by many of Adam Warren’s fans.  When you see the books it will remind you of an american type manga.  It has some of the anime traits but with Adam Warren’s touch.  The pages are very bold black and white pencil drawings that literally gives it a very unique look with great panel flow.  As you are reading through the pages, at times you will have to stop and take a moment to enjoy all of the little details he hides in the environments, background props, and costumes.  If you love color on your graphics, I guarantee that you will not notices since the story is very unique.

Adam introduces the reader to this crazy world through a new heroine with the superhero name of Empowered, also known as “Emp” short for Elissa Megan Powers.  She just graduated school with a degree in “Metahuman Studies” for an unmentioned college and has just moves to city to pursue a career as a superhero.  Here she teams up with the Superhomies Superhero Group were she’s constantly bullied by the other top notch heroes.  The main reason is because of how her powers work. When she has the super suite on she has super strength, can cling on to walls,  and at times new abilities will appear that she’s not aware about it. However the super suite has a major weakness, it tears very very easily.  At time is described as a tissue paper thin.  The second the suite tears, she reverts to her regular human strength and she is very powerless.  From this scenario she has gain a reputation for constantly being caught, tied up, gagged, and even becoming shoulder candy for bad guys.

Most of us are used to hearing crazy stories on how traditional superheroes get the power from the a horrible accident, horrible experiment, or an alien from another world type scenarios.  In this world here the heroes get their power in the crazies ways like getting STD from screwing an alien chick, mail away powers, or a messed up contract with Satan in exchange for beauty.  The heroes are also emotionally flawed and traumatized by personal experiences, self-esteem issues, egos, and yes even the work office cooler chatter and gossip news on TV.

 

About Emp

Just like any of the other super heroes, EMP has her own hangups.  Her major one is that she thinks she has a “chubby booty” even though she is very sexy.  She’s constantly making remarks on how the suite really doesn’t do much to help her cover up her giant tuckus.  This  self esteem issue combined with her constant bondage and booty smacking issue with the super villains and at times coworkers and acquaintances really makes this young heroine a very unique character to follow along.  To most of her friends and coworkers she seem as kind of a ditzy girl that really should be doing this kind of work, but as the story goes one she actually retains her sweet humility even though her powers continue right under her fingers.

Her Friends

Along the way she has made some great friends, and not so great friends.   The S Superhomies Superhero Group is literally in the not so great friends.  The group is composed of several dozen super heroes, and raging at different ranks.  


but she has made 2 other great friends Thugboy and Ninjette.  The

Thug Boy was originally a minion for hire. He used to belong to a gang with now desist friends who use to robbed super villains blind and resold the stuff for profit.  During one of EMP’s super hero attempts they met and shortly after became  more than just superhero vs generic thug.  While Thug boy is very kind to EMP, he has a very dark past, and couple of misdeeds that are pledging him on the back of his mind and at times fears for his life.  

Nijet (AKA Kozue Kaburagi) is the princes of an an Assassin Kaburagi Ninja Clan.  The funny part is that even though she comes from asian asian type clan complete with asian names, she’s just a white girl from Jersey with a drinking problem.  As you read the story you come to find out that the she’s ran away from her clan because she was supposed to be sold or traded to another clan to be baby making machine for the rest of her life.  Not the future she wants.

There is one more character who comes into play in Emp’s crazy life later on in the story named “The Caged Demonwolf”.  It’s a very powerful immortal demon living on her coffee table.  You have to read the books to find the specs on this one. Bwahahahaha...

All in all, all that I will have to say is that THIS IS AN ADULT STORY and is NOT FOR CHILDREN due to some sexual content.  However this is a very fun, engaging, and at times surprisingly emotional story. I give this story three thumbs up. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have.

Hare Krishna Zombie by NECA Toys

Recently, I went a little crazy. While on vacation in Orlando, FL I walked into an independently run toy store with an abundance of NECA figures I hadn't picked up and regretted it. Face it, toys sometimes become a luxury when figuring out the monthly bills. Bi-annual insurance payments suck up my toy related spending cash for a month among other related living expenses. Well, without further fiscal bellyaching, let's get on with the blog.

One of the many NECA figures I picked up was the zombie Hare Krishna from George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. Zombie movies were a big part of my early years, I was an adolescent raised on late night cable TV and monster movie marathons. George A. Romero's films were among my favorite, the action was fun and you got to a point in the movie where you actually started cheering on the zombies and hoped that no one survived the movie. One of those awesome scenes was from Dawn of the Dead where one of the human's in the cast almost became a snack for this particular zombie, in the mall stockroom. I actually remember booing when the Hare Krishna zombie missed Francine.

The NECA Hare Krishna figure didn't disappoint in the least. The paint applications are what you've come to expect of NECA's products, very clean and true to the movie character's designs. The orange robe is made out of a softer, rubbery plastic that allows some movement but the figure looks better on it's base than any other pose I could give him. I do like the paper box accessories the zombie comes with as well as the removable eye glasses and tambourine (there's a definite lack of tambourine accessories in the action figure world) . All in all an excellent figure and one you should consider adding to your collection if you get a chance.

Even more pictures at
Raging Nerdgasm on Flickr

A Raging Nerdgasm moment on the Matty Collector/ MOTUC debacle

(Raging Nerdgasm: A logo you can trust)

So, the time has come to decide whether you want to support this year's Matty Collector's MOTUC line. We've all read the warnings and "threats" that if they don't reach the "magic" number for subscriptions this year. A good portion of die hard He-Man fans have taken these warning to heart and ordered multiple subscriptions to show their loyalty to the line, Scott "Toy Guru" Neitlich has gone online numerous times since SDCC explaining how serious this event is and the consequences of not reaching the "magic" number and they've even had the acting talents of Pons Maar and Anthony De Longis (Saurod and Blade respectfully from the late 80's sci-fi epic Masters of the Universe, I use epic loosely but I'm sure you got the idea) as well as the sculpting talent behind the MOTUC (the 4 Horsemen) pleaded for you to buy a subscription. I know all of He-Man.org, the Pop Culture Network, The Great Rebellion and talents such as the folks from BKBN and Pixel Dan have begged the fans to take a moment of their time and buy into the $505 membership (and that's before taxes and shipping charges). I have been asked my opinion over the last 20 days, give or take, about my stance on the MOTUC in Crisis. I've been supportive on a person to person basis, explaining the pros and cons of it all and encouraging those who could afford it to subscribe and those who couldn't to just be willing to pay the applicable finders fees to be a cherry picker when the website runs out of stock.

(extra points if you hummed the NBC bars)

I consider myself a fan's fan, I try to answer every email in my inbox and do the best that I can to promote the companies I buy from. I enter forum discussions and take any questions and give an honest answer. If you can afford to and you want to, buy a subscription. If the last year's subscription was too much for you to handle, weigh your options and check your finances before buying into this year's subscription. At least this year's initial offerings from the line are much better than last year's Star Sisters announcement. I'm excited about MOTUC in 2013 but I'm not without my complaints.

(thanks to Poe Ghostal's site for this graphic, I think it still conveys the same feeling of frustration that it always has)

I enjoy the fan interaction and try to give them something that the larger toy companies cannot, one on one interaction and encouragement instead of "scary talk" and "threats" that some personalities do. All selflessly might I add, I buy everything I review out of pocket and receive absolutely no concessions from any retailer or company. My gripe is not with Mattel at large, they've done everything they can to round out people's short wishlist but they ballooned far too fast.

(remember the good old days when you couldn't wait for this site to open?)

They started out strong with the He-Man characters those of us in our late 20s to early 30s grew up with, they branched out to 200X Masters figures which were nice additions to the shelf but that's when it all started to get off course. Next came the introduction of Princess of Power figures and don't get me wrong, this is more on the money and on target than 200X figures any day. We get a Hordak, Bo and She-Ra and the fans get their first taste of POP sprinkled into their collection. Then we started getting New Adventures of He-Man figures, which is where you start to lose the purists. I personally loved the original NA line, I was always a space alien nut as a little kid and the idea of magic and sorcery was just bullshit I never really grasped. As a kid, I went through two Optikks and three or more Slush Heads because they went with me just about everywhere. Lastly, Mattel started getting into prototype figures like Demo-Man and Vikor or the newly released Vykron. I mean it's the middle of 2012 and not until a few weeks ago we hadn't even had a mention of Ram Man or other core characters that have yet to be made.

(the screen that prompted me to begin a regiment of nerve pills and lots of trips to the therapist) 

The line grew into this monster of a toy line, 16 basic figures and 4 quarterly "large" scale figures or army builders! That's a lot of frickin' toys even for me and I buy something pretty much everyday. That's not including your Ghostbusters subscription, Voltron subscription, DC Universe subscription and all the convention exclusives and surprise must haves such as the BTTF hoverboard, JLU 3 and 6 packs and other things. That's a whole hell of a lot of monthly charges, I hope you don't collect anything else or have aspirations to go on vacation or buy video games because your ass is spoken for; for the next 12 months.

(and you are forced to buy this piece of shit too)

Mattel does have it's faults, namely not holding Digital River accountable for their flubs (how many of you got that less than heartfelt apology from them this week?) and not being more hands on during production (i.e.- sloppy paint applications, backwards shoulders, wrong legs on Swiftwind, etc.). The He-Man branch off series slowly infiltrated the line and fans were stuck having to purchase Hurricane Hordak, Star Sister 3 pack, Bubble Power She-Ra and Thunder Punch He-Man which most fans felt kind of screwed when they got their monthly packages. Granted, they kind of whittled out the 200X figures but replaced them with equally confusing Battleground "variants" of Teela and Evilynn. A blonde Teela is slightly interesting but I still don't have a Meckaneck, poor move on making this a fan driven line. Also the mind boggling notion of making core characters like Orko and Queen Marlena convention exclusives not included in your base subscription.

(and then there's this asshole)

My main gripe is with the man in charge, the self proclaimed "toy guru" Scott Neitlich. For a guy who claims to have the fan's best interest in mind when going over things in motion for MOTUC, he has dropped the ball on more occasions than I care to mention. He's not very personable when it comes to the fans directly, his videos have all the pizzazz of a late night infomercial and he's been less than encouraging within the last few weeks of this membership drive. You are the face of a fan driven toy line, act like it for fuck sake. Answer direct questions when they are posed to you instead of skirting the issues at hand. Stop blaming cherry pickers when your line has given the fans a less than stellar 2012, own up to the mistakes made and push on. Cherry pickers or not, those assholes are buying your product so be nice to them.

(I just like this photo)

In the end my solution is make the MOTUC line a little more conservative considering the tough times most of your fans are experiencing. 1 figure a month is more than enough, maybe make the deluxe packs 3 times a year instead of 4 times and maybe skip the monthly figure that month (or some combination of that) and keep non essential figures like "battleground variants" or "prototype concept" figures limited to the conventions or special "website only" exclusives that people who don't want it can opt out. Keep Digital River accountable for their actions, they are selling your product with your name plastered all over it. Their flubs look just as bad on you as they do on them. And lastly, get rid of Scott "toy guru" Neitlich. He serves no real purpose anymore except as a joke to the collecting world.

"CHEW" On This

By: Ana Bruja-Khayos


“Here’s Tony Chu. Tony Chu is a Cibopathic.  That means he can take a bite of an orange, and get a feeling in his head about what tree it grew from, what pesticides were used on the crop, and when it was harvested.  Or he could eat a piece of a bacon, and flash onto something else entirely.” -- Chew Graphic Novel #1, Chapter 2, Page 02

I’m not sure about you but this tagline was all that I needed to read the rest of this series.  You see for quite some time I’ve become very bored of the mainstream rehashed multi line and alternative universe superhero stories. Simply said, I lost interest in comics.  Until one day I was sucked back into a comic book store on free comic book day and there it was... a re-print issue of CHEW #1 for only $1. The cover was simple, but the art style was unique and it didn’t feature your standard over steroid character with over bling photoshop ink/coloring.  I believe my favorite part was that unlike other books, the cover art actually matches the art inside of the book.  I mean how often you see that these day. LOL  

For many die hard comic fans I’m just a casual reader and I’m ok with that. I’m willing to give a good story a chance even if the artwork looks ok, but if the story is great and has unique art style then is a winner in my book.  That’s what the Chew series delivers.  The series is written by John Layman and art by Rob Guillory.   It has won several industry awards including Will Eisner Award, and recently a Glyph Award for best cover Chew #27.  I like how raw and stylized the artwork looks. The characters that you see in the book are not glammed out, and they simply look like caricatures of everyday people working average jobs. It keeps an even more stylized look by usually keeping a low saturated and at times monochromatic cool or warm color palettes that really gives it a gritty look that sets the scenes mood of their deteriorating world.

Now let’s get down to the story itself without spoiling the story for you. The story opens up inside a restaurant's kitchen where the cook accidentally sliced his finger open and some of the blood falls in the food, this situation will introduce you to Agent Chu’s abilities.  Shortly after you are introduced to his partner Agent John Colby who also works for the FDA (The Food and Drug Administration).  You read it right the FDA.  In this universe they are the most powerful group in the world.  Apparently there was an epidemic of avian flu that killed millions of people worldwide a few years back and now chicken is forbidden.  The two partners simply start their story with solving standar crimes like murders and busting chicken smuglin but further down the line you will be introduced to a great range of secondary/supporting cast members, fun incidentals with a wide range of personalities and a much much more interesting and complicated storyline that has several twist and turns. Is truly fun.

As of now (7/20/2012) the book is up to series #27, and the graphic novels are up to book #5.  They are also currently doing a side series for one of their interesting characters called CHEW: Secret Agent POLLO #1. I’m a great fan of series but I will have to tell you it might be difficult for you to find the first back issues of the series at a reasonable price.  Depending when you shop you can find the books for a few bucks if you’re lucky or it will cost you a crazy amount of mula.  I personally love the graphic novels over the individual comic books. I’m not hoping to make a fortune bundle out my books.  These have been purchased for me to enjoy the story, the artwork for inspiration, and simply re read them over and over again.  This is truly a great series to have on your bookshelf.

Don’t forget to give them some love and check out their webpage and try to purchase not download their books if you want more CHEW in the future. I got my copies. :D
http://chewcomic.blogspot.com/

Matty Collector SDCC 2012 panel

Announcements from Mattel brought a rollercoaster of emotions from the crowd. Excitement over prospects of Ram Man, Mosquitor, Castle Greyskull Gollum, DCIE subs for 2013 and the latest Club Black Frieghter for all of your Watchmen needs. Then came the sticker shock of $25 a throw for Watchmen figures and Masters of the Universe chilled the reception of all this great news. I, for one, was thrilled to find out I can complete the GB2 Scolari brothers ghosts by the end of the year. Granted, no mention of the highly anticipated Back to the Future line but these things are expected when you read the internet rumor mill. Am I excited for 2013, yes I am. My general outlook on subscriptions is I'll go for DCIE and the Watchmen (even though I'm still sore hearing about the $25 price tag.) and cherry pick my way through MOTUC for 2013. Ram Man is a must have and well worth the $30 price tag. I wish they'd show the packaging for the Watchmen figures, the packaging they used for this year's DCIE figures made them well worth the $18 price tag and maybe that's the case with the Watchmen but only time will tell. At least there's only 6 of them. Metron looks amazing and I haven't been disappointed with any of their offerings yet. Not too thrilled to see Wally West making his way into the line. Kind of the reason we all bought into the concept was for non headliners and fan favorites.

(totally random, but this figure was made by custom figure artist BOSKOES years ago and shares the same premise of the winner's concept of the Greyskull Stone Gollum.)

Club exclusives for the rest of the year bringing us the Ecto Goggles with a sweet animation of Slimer that will sync with your PKE meter (which is available here), the final dozen or so JLU figures (been waiting a lifetime it seems for Dr Midnight!) and the last 2 6 inch Young Justice ( $50 is steep but the crowd reception seemed optimistic and eager to buy them).


Get on top of this year's subscriptions here

Get ready for this month's sale


Matty's Coverage of the SDCC show

Really good pictures of the panel from the fine folks at Toy News International

RAGING NERDGASM NO QUARTER ARCADE - Lee-Lee's Quest and Lee-Lee's Quest 2 from Adult Swim games

FLASH GAME FUN- RAGING NERDGASM NO QUARTER ARCADE!

Lee-Lee's quest is a jump back to the classic side scrolling 2D platformer us 20 to 30 something year old folks grew up on. You play as the title character Lee-Lee; a blue, ball shaped and surprisingly male voiced "adventurer" with what looks like a hood ornament stuck to your forehead. Your goal, journey through several stages full of foul-mouthed, insult slinging geometrical people (cylinders, upside down pyramids, cubes and other shapes) and other pitfalls to save your girlfriend Luu-Luu (a baritone voiced "female") ! All while listening to repetitive music, trading insults with a surly folk of shape world, picking up what amounts to "power ups" and watching very similar backdrops.

In the end; your girlfriend isn't your girlfriend and not even a girl in the first place (and I'm fairly sure she's/ he's not even your friend and the protagonist may actually be a sociopath), you senselessly murder every living thing in your path and collect, of all things, shovels along the way. It's a great, nonsensical game that entertains the player with hilarious banter and the constant belly-aching of the main character during his misguided quest. Achievements are unlocked along the way and unless you look at an online guide, you don't know what they are unless you aimlessly achieve them in the first place. The game designer delights the player with all the crazy side scrolling 2D platformer quirks you loved and questioned as a kid.

Part Two picks up where the last one left off. Actually, it pretty much starts the same way the first one did except Luu-Luu is pregnant (confusing drama bomb) with the boss character's child! And now, you are off again, chasing after the he/she you love though some fun and colorful levels that take the same formula as the previous game and multiply the awesome factor. You get all the same fun character banter along with a couple of random appearances of the game's creator, Marcus Richert, that get cut short by the main character's sense of being upstaged. More "power ups" show up this time and if you neglect to pick them up repeatedly, they will chase you down and force you to use them. Also, some throwbacks to classic gaming show up in game play so look out for them.

Main point I want to make about these games is while they may seem incredibly easy to beat, take your time. The most entertaining thing about both games is the banter between characters. Also, all the characters from both games are voiced by Joshua Tomar.

Storm Hawk Toys by Irwin Toys

About the Storm Hawks
In 2007 to 2009, the world was introduced to a set of six inexperienced young sky riders preparing to follow the footsteps of the original “Storm Hawks” in the world of Atmos. Their world is based on floating sections of land that are known as “Terras” wish are each protected by a leading Sky Night and Squadron against the cruelty of Master Cyclonis and the Cyclonians. They are a re-emerging evil trying to pull their entire world under a dark rule under the Cyclonian Empire.  Our heros are faced with many challenges due to their young age and new social experiences, all while learning their new abilities and capabilities through their experiences as team.  Their adventures leads them to a path of grave danger, and an introduction to a wide array of new and interesting characters that will battle them and aid them in the quest to defeat Cyclonis. 

Storm Hawks Team (Radar, Stork, Aerrow, Piper, Finn, and
Junko).

About the Characters:

Storm Hawks:

Aerrow :  Is the leader and Sky Night of the Storm Hawks group.  Always with a positive attitude in the worst situations and willing to take large risk in order to beat Master Cyclonis. His spirit maintains the group together through good and bad times.  (Race: Human)

Piper:  Second in Command.  She deals with Navigation, Battle Tactics and an self taught Crystal Master. She is the brains of the group. She maintains her girly traits yet she's tough and down to earth. ( Race: Human)

Junko:  He deals with  Flight Engineering and Heavy Ballistics (Muscle of the Team).  He is very proud of his race and culture.  Sub Conscious about his height and strength, he still manages to really put in some heavy muscles when the team needs it all while keeping a very sweet and caring personality.(Race:Wallop)

Stork: While he’s very paranoid he is an expert at navigating, and maintaining their main carrier ship the Condor.  He is their Carrier Pilot and an expert with Atmos mythology. His one weakness is to have his Love the Condor being dented, altered or destroyed. (Race: Merb)

Finn : He is the Wingman and Sharp Shooter for the team.  Having an incredibly cocky and ignorant personality he can be a charming part of the team. (Race:Human)

Radar : Is the Mission Specialist and Mechanic for the team.  The first time you see him he just look like your standard group pet, but shortly after you learn he is as efficient as the other members of the team except that he doesn't talk.  The show they never specifies his race, but for what ever reason chickens are always falling in love with him.  Strange!!! (Race Unknown).

Cyclonian Top Soldiers (Ravus, Dark Ace, and Snipe).

Cyclonians:

Master Cyclonis:  Grand Leader of Cyclonia and Crystal Master Sorcerers. She might look like your standard emo teen girl, but she has a very ruthless personality that is feared by even the strongest members of the Atmos.

Dark Ace:  Lead warrior for the Cyclonian empire, also known as the Master Cyclonis right hand man.  Has an incredibly over bloated ego like your standard bad guy.  Once thought to be unbeatable, now is facing a constant streak of failure that is making his world turned upside down.

Ravus & Snipe:  Both of the siblings are top warriors of Cyclonis, but each one has their own specialty.  Ravus uses her deadly violin music to accomplish neat but dirty task that Master Cyclonis may have in motion.  Snipe is not very bright but he does compensate in brutal strength.

The Raptors:  Is a team of mercenaries for hire that mainly work for the Cyclonian empire.  They mainly roam in groups of 4 to 5 members, and tend to like missions in warmer weather.

Cyclonians Soldiers (Talens): They are suppose to be elite Cyclonian soldiers but the Storm Hawks tend to kick their butts very easily.

Merck Raiders:  Is their version of notorious pirates but in the sky.  These guys are so bad, even the Cyclonian army fears them.




About the Show and Production:

The show itself has two full season totaling fifty-two episodes.  The first ten to fifteen episodes seem like your standard introduction episodes, but they really start putting things together to an amazing storyline in the later part of the season by linking the stories of the past with the present, and building allies along the way that will help the new Storm Hawks in an epic battle at the end of the series.  For a 3D animated television series, they truly have great camera work that gives a sense that they are in the sky flying.  They are also doing these shots while at times having air battles with a large amount of characters per shot which makes it more fun and exciting to watch than your standard “1 on 1” battle.  Now... a word of caution, this is a show you can’t simply skip to the end because it will make no sense if you do.  The show at the end tops with an amazing climax that can easily produce another season or two.  I hope someday hey decided to revive the series.  It was truly amazing.  Sadly here in the US, only about thirty out of the fifty-three episodes aired before they pulled it off the air on Cartoon Network, but it’s ok that’s what DVD, Streaming Services, and online resources are for. LOL

A lot of people might not know this, but the Storm Hawks show was very popular and  it won four awards and was nominated five times at the Canadian “Gemini Awards” and the “Leo Awards” (2008-2009) for titles such as Best animated Program or Series, Original Score, Screenwriting, Best Director and Storyboards.  

The show had several companies involved in its production. For Storm Hawks Productions, this was their only project.  Nerd Corp Entertainment Ca. worked on the production of the Storm Hawks show and also on the production of Hot Wheel “Battle Force 5”, Dragon Boosters, The League of Super Evil, Rated A for Awesome, and recently Monster High “Escape from Skull Shores”. Finally, YTV who has an ungodly long list of production expirience and video properties they have distributed world wide (http://www.imdb.com/company/co0058689/).























Books and Comics:

The series also produced one book called Storm Hawks “Best Friends Forever” through scholastic Readers that was mainly aimed at the tween and teen demographic.


As far as I know only one comic book issues was ever release for the Storm Hawks, and there isn’t a lot known about it.  It was a Special Edition comic book done by the Canadian publishing company called DMF Comics Inc.  It feature three stories including the origins of the Dark Ace which are partially shown in the intro of the show, and Pin Up Art section drawn by some of the great talents of animation and comics.  I seen a couple of pages out of the book on-line and I personally wasn’t impressed by the book or the pin ups. So this is something I probably would not recommend to anybody. 

About The Toys:

Storm Hawks 4 inch and 6 inch figures with vehicles. 

It’s been awhile since a toy company has tried to stay true to the spirit of a show  and I believe Spin Masters really did a great job on this one.  I will warn you the packaging on these are big. While the sculpts on the characters could use a little work, they still hold the charm of the show that any fan would love to have and to own.  Sadly just like many other toy series, you will not find any of the female characters since they were never produce.  So have fun making your own. :D

4 “ inch figures

The four inch figures are very fun to handle. They all come with different weapons, and they are very posable. Some of the weapons have secondary functions like items that go over swords, arrows that shoot, and some of them connect together to make a larger weapon.  A word of caution, these are toys that are meant to be lightly played with. These toys are being held together by small thin plastic peg.  So is easy to break off.

Aerrow:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figures of Aerrow, 2 small wing swords, 2 small transparent blue sleeves that fit over the sword, and 1 small two inch Radar figure.

Finn:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Finn, 1 bow, and 1arrow.

Junko:
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Junko with knuckle busters attached to the body, and 2 small clear green orb sleeves that go over his fist.

Stork: (kind of rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch figure of Stork with a giant steampunk gun.  The gun in made of one gray gun, a small black net, and 3 small missiles that attach to the end of the gun.

Dark Ace: (kind of rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces:  4 inch Dark Ace, 1 long sword, and 1 long clear red sleeve that sheves over the word.

Snipe: (extremely rare)
Package: Around 7” inch width, 7” height, and around 1 ½’ inches.
Pieces: 4 inch Snipe, comes with 2 red and silver axes.  


Vehicles:


Condor Battle Cruiser by Spin Master
Packaging Size: Roughly 18 inches by 12 inches and a 4.5 inches width.
Pieces: Main ship, and three launching light weight type skimmer planes of Aarrow with Radar, Junko and Finn. Instructor manual.
Color: Orange, Brown, and Blue.  
Accompany Figures: All 4 inch figures.
Toy Features: Regular playing options that allow you to place 4 inch figures in secret compartments and created fighting adventures on top of the Condors Deck.  Second feature of the condor is that it allows you to launch lightweight skimmer planes from the deck with quick reload options. The Condor comes with a back handle that allows the user to enjoy this feature.



Storm Hawk Sky Riders by Spin Master

Aerrow's Skimmer III Ultra
Packaging Size: Roughly one 11 inches by 11.5 inches with a width of almost 3 inches.
Pieces: 1 motorcycle, 6 wings, and a miniature figure of radar that sits on the side card of the bike.
Color: Light blue, mid blue, red, and silver.
Accompany Figure: 4 Inch Aerrow Figure.
Toy Features:  The skimmer gives the user a great chance to play with is as both a motorcycle and as a plane. Wings pop off with a snap of a button.  


Dark Ace's Talon Switchblade Elite
Packaging Size: Roughly one 11 inches by 11.5 inches with a width of almost 3 inches.
Pieces: 1 motorcycle, and 6 wings.
Color: Maroon Color with dimed golden details.
Accompany Figure: 4 Inch Dark Ace Figure.
Toy Features:  The skimmer gives the user a great chance to play with is as both a motorcycle and as a plane. Wings pop off with a snap of a button.  



6” Deluxe Figures

Aerrow
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Only Arrow. Swords are attached to his hands.
Color: Browns, blue, silver and blue.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figures with Twist and Whirl Sword Action.  Action figure has a button on its back that lights up both the swords at the base when it’s pushed.  The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown). Batteries are included in the figure.

Dark Ace
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces:  Only Dark Ace. Swords are attached to his hands.
Color: Brownish grey, black, and red.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figures with Swirling Battle Action from the sword.  Action figure has a button on its back that lights up on the base of the red sword. The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown). Batteries are included in the figure.

Junko
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Junko figures, with a small ball in the shape of a bird.  Variant 1 - has a neon green ball. Variant 2 has a the ball painted like a white and blue bird.
Color: Browns, blue, silver, blue with neon green glove.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figure with Knuckle-Busters Punch and Blast.  If you are facing the figure, its right arm is a light transparent neon green color that glows if you press on his hand.    Left hand allows you to launch the small bird ball from his hand.  The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown).

Finn
Packaging Size: 7.5 inches by 12 inches and around 3 inches width.
Pieces: Finn figures comes with his crossbow, and one light blue arrow.
Color: Browns, blue, and silver.
Toy Features: Fairly posable figure with Trigger Action.  That’s pretty much it. LOL The package also comes with a DVD (content unknown).

More pictures of the toys on our Flicker Account. Chekc them out :D
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157630577403322/
Custom Piper 6 inch toy pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ragingnerdgasm/sets/72157630577415134/

Article By: Ana Bruja-Khayos