SUG's best friend.

I loved UNKL's SUG when it was released in 2005. I didn't really care much for some of the re-paints, but when I visited the newly-reconstructed Kidrobot store in Soho, I saw the orange Search and Rescue SUG and Ulligus. There is also a super limited Urban Recovery version in yellow, however I am a bit more partial to the orange version. I actually saw the Ulligus by itself first and I immediately recognized the UNKL design style and thought it matched the SUG. I immediately purchased the Ulligus, but I thought it would look out of place without the Search and Rescue version of the SUG to match. (My SUG is black and grey.) So, I caved and purchased the hulking figure. I thought it was worth it, however. Better than spending $700 dollars on an Iron Man bust from Side Show.

Update: Looks like I'm a year off! A friend of mine just told me and I also read on various sites that this was released at last year's SDCC. Oh well. My Ulligus has a broken and missing tail. I didn't even KNOW there was a tail- most of the UNKL pics don't show the tail. If it wasn't for the illustrations on the box and some sites, I wouldn't have known. Ah well... Worst case scenario I make a new tail from scratch. Easy.

俺鉄人だ。

I saw IRON MAN today with a few friends. Gizmodo called it a 120 minutes of gadget porn and there's nothing wrong with that- frankly, I agree. I was very happy with the movie and was rather impressed with the fact that famed Japanese custom motorcycle company, ZERO ENGINEERING had several bikes that appeared in Tony Stark's garage. Along with the Zero Engineering bikes were two cars I recently fell in love with, the Audi R8 and the all-electric Tesla Roadster. I need a studio like that- supercomputers with holographic displays, awesome cars, robots, wide screen TVs, A.I. systems and a fabrication line... yeah I could live in a place like that, you'd never see me. I liked how the movie dropped little hints and clues towards a future Avengers movie and nods to the film's comic origins.

I thought Robert Downey Jr. was great as Tony Stark as well as Gwyneth Paltrow's (I thought she looked pretty dammed hot.) portrayal of Pepper Potts, Tony's assistant. I was so taken by the cast that I've decided to not shave for a week to see if I can pull off the whole Tony Stark, rebel-genius-look.

I LOVED the SUIT. I briefly toyed with the idea of buying Side Show's Life-Sized bust of the super hero, but at $700 dollars, I decided that it wasn't worth it. The back gets cut off abruptly and that kind of turned me off and it didn't show the whole chest. If it was the shoulders, full chest (with glowing arc-reactor) and back, THEN I'd buy it, but modify it so that it would look like it was being worked on in the lab, with various cables and wires connected to it for diagnostics and adjustments. CRAP. Now I want to buy it again and MAKE the full chest and back. Ah, I can dream, can't I? Speaking of dreams, the stewardess scenes were some of my favorite. A guy can dream, can't he? ONE DAY!

I missed the scene after the credits, but a friend told me what happened. I can't wait for the sequels!

© MURAKAMI

Famed Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami's psychedelic pop anime-inspired works are on display at the Brooklyn Museum. I've seen his works for many years in various Japanese magazines, but I am very happy to have finally seen them in person, especially Second Mission Project Ko2 (SMP Ko2), a three-part sculptural installation that depicts a life-sized adolescent android girl running at full speed, transforming, and taking off as an futuristic jet fighter.

I was rather disappointed that the museum said NO PHOTOGRAPHY, but fuck the museum police, I still fired off a few shots. (see Miss Ko2) 

I bought the catalogue book and my friend purchased the SUPER FLAT (スーパーフラット）book for me as a late birthday present. They're both pretty awesome and they'll add to my Murakami collection.

I had a good time. I wish there was more to see.

New York ComicCon 2008.

I usually don't go to comic conventions, but this time I had a few friends there so I decided to check out the New York ComicCon. It's a little different from STAR TREK conventions, but either way, it's NERD CENTRAL- and I'm glad to be there. I saw a lot of great stuff. I was very excited to see large scale versions (about 12" or so) of NECA's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Many of you may remember the toys are based on their comic book incarnations. I really hope they put these out soon. Speaking of TMNT, I saw famed co-creator and now sole owner of the franchise, Peter Laird. Fifteen years ago, I'd probably freak out and ask him to sign this and that, but now that I'm much older, I was perfectly content to watch him draw and sign autographs, knowing I got to see a creator of my childhood icons. However, I'm fucking stupid for not asking him to sign some toys or a print. Goddammit! At the time, I was ok but I regretted it on the train ride home. 

Another highlight was seeing DCTO creator, Dacosta Bayley, a good friend and mentor of mine. He was releasing a new print as well as displaying the upcoming mini-DCTOs over at the ToyQube booth. Exciting! I tend to not favor American Cosplayers, but there were a few good ones. Emma Frost, you stole my heart! (at least, I thought you were emma frost...) You too, girl-green-lantern-in-spandex... Anyway, I spent way too much money on prints, especially the two I bought from Bill Tucci, (who signed them) but they were well worth it. I WISH I could've seen Adam Hughes there and signed up for some original sketch art or whatever, but he's like crazy busy. He'll be at San Diego ComicCon, but I doubt I'll go to that one.

It was crowded, even for 4pm on a Saturday and I got lost very easily on the dealer floor, but eventually I figured out what was where. It could've been worse. 

Oh, by the way...

NEEERRRDDDDSSSSSSSSssss!

That's so 80's!

Who DIDN'T like Elvira back in the 80's?!?!?! Ok, so I was a kid back then, but I never forgot her. I saw a mention of this new polystone statue/figure of the sexy horror icon from Side Show Collectibles and when I checked it out, I realized that I had to have it. I missed out on the Side Show Exclusive version- it includes a skull-candle stand. I'm not too sad because it looks pretty bland and I can pretty much make it from scratch. So, whatever. I normally don't like polystone- it reminds me too much of the badly mass-produced comic figures of the 90's I saw in comic book shops, but for the Mistress of the Dark, I'll do anything.

By the way... it's my birthday. (hint, hint...)

WTF?

Not sure what's going on here... missing a few images all of a sudden. Hang on.

>:/

Update: OK. Came back. Damm straight. >:O

I WANT THIS.

Sure it looks blocky and clunky in a time when most bluetooth headsets are the size of a paperclip. But if it looks like this? I'm sooo there! It's designed to be used with the Playstation 3 for voice chat in games such as Metal Gear Solid 4, but it can still be used with a standard mobile phone. I want this on my ear. I want two.