Category: Merchandise

Introducing “Her Universe”: Fan Goods with a Female Focus

from StarWars.com:

The voices of female Star Wars and science-fiction fans have been heard! Recognizing a need and a desire for merchandise created especially for the female fan, actress Ashley Eckstein — the voice of Ahsoka Tano in the hit animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars — has created Her Universe, a new clothing line featuring fashionable, feminine products for fangirls. Partnering with The Araca Group — a leading production and merchandise company — Eckstein will enter into a multi-year agreement with Lucas Licensing to develop and produce a line of female-focused Star Wars products, to be made available at conventions throughout the country and via the Her Universe website.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Lucas Licensing to address this dramatically expanding market of Star Wars female fans,” says Eckstein. “After four years of working on The Clone Wars, I have become a huge Star Wars fan and have noticed the rapidly increasing number of women who share my love for George Lucas’ amazing universe. Wanting to give these fans a voice and affirm that they play an important role in the world of Star Wars and science-fiction, we created the Her Universe brand especially for them. As a consumer, I believe that quality and creativity are of the utmost importance and those standards were paramount in my joining forces with The Araca Group.”

“We are thrilled to start Her Universe with Ashley and we look forward to helping bring her vision to life,” said Matthew Rego, principal of The Araca Group. “Moreover, the opportunity to work with Lucas Licensing utilizing the Star Wars catalog of images is thrilling. Our goal is to bring fashion-forward, authentic, quality products to the legion of devoted female Star Wars fans.”

“Ashley is such an enthusiastic emissary of the Star Wars brand, and we are so excited that she’s taken the lead on this exciting new initiative,” said Paul Southern, Lucas Licensing’s Sr. Director of Domestic Licensing and Marketing. “She has her finger on the pulse of what our female fans want to wear.”

Described playfully as “geek chic,” the new Star Wars line from Her Universe will premiere at San Diego Comic-Con’s Star Wars Pavilion in July, and will also be available at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, Florida in August. Fans can also learn more about Her Universe and get updates by going to heruniverse.com and by following Ashley on Twitter and visiting the Her Universe Facebook page.

Click here to read an interview with Eckstein about the product line.

Things from Another World: All In-Stock Orders Ship with Two Free Comics!

from Things from Another World:

This Saturday marks the ninth annual Free Comic Book Day, and we couldn’t be more excited to get you some free books! All in-stock orders placed this weekend will get two (2) free comics included in the shipment.

That’s not the only exciting thing starting Saturday! You’ll also save 20% off most in-stock products all month long. That’s right, we’ve doubled our normal in-stock discount this May, and that means one of two things a) more money in your pocket or b) more comics in your collection. 😉

Free Comics and 20% off most in-stock products starting 12:01 AM (PST) on Saturday, May 1. Quantities are limited for these free FCBD comics, which will be included with in-stock orders while supplies last* (we’ve likely got enough to go through early next week), so make sure you get to TFAW this weekend to get your free comics and save 20% off your in-stock order.

Find Out How to Get Free Comics This Weekend!

Save 20% Off Most In-Stock Products May 1 – May 31

*Sorry, we cannot take requests for specific FCBD titles.

Split Reason: April 2010 Newsletter

from Split Reason:

It’s been a fun month over at SPLITREASON! Between new products, partner stores, Super Street Fighter IV and Monster Hunter Tri, we’ve had our hands full! Nothing shakes the dust off your Wii mote faster than a sea monster with an appetite. Not only have we learned to slaughter an array of epic beasts, we can cook raw meat to perfection — well done! Who says video games aren’t educational? No more Kraft Dinner for us, from this day forward we feast on Epioth.

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Sarcastic Gamer Store, fresh off the presses with 5 kick-ass designs for gamers and more on the way! Get your personal pwn protection today.

No month would be complete without a new contest to keep the creative plasmids flowing. We’ve commenced our first annual Lego building contest offering up some awesome Lego prizes, free t-shirts, and store credit for each contest entry! Unleash your inner child and help us build a greater future, one block at a time.

Win Wednesday season 2.0 hit the blog a few weeks back. We’re giving away an iPOD touch for the season finale, so keep your laser sights locked on Twitter for a chance to win.

If you’re looking to save a few bucks this month, the active promo of the moment is: NERDALERT — Go get yourself 10% off! (promo expires on May 15th, 2010.)

We’d also love to send a big “Oh Hai Guys” to our friends over at Thrillist for featuring some of our products and offering a great service to serve your laziness. Cut down hours of web surfing and blog trolling by allowing Thrillist to discover the hidden gems of teh interwebs, and deliver all things awesome directly to your inbox.

Now, step into the light, and see what’s new at SplitReason.com… (Don’t forget to hook up with us on our Facebook page for future perks and promotions).

ThinkGeek <3s your mom (and $10 off)

from ThinkGeek:

Dear overgrown zygotes,

Years and years ago, two people who loved each other very much made you. Our musical friends Paul & Storm remind us that our Moms gave us life, love, a home, food, and clothing and in return, we gave her stretch marks and extra weight that never quite went away. It’s time to rectify this imbalance, and we’re here to help.

No matter what your Mom likes, we have the perfect Mother’s Day gift — even if your Mom isn’t a geek, which is darn near impossible considering how geeky YOU are, friend.

We love Geek Moms!
Get the maximum amount of ThinkGeek to your geek mom this Mother’s Day. Use code GEEKMOM for $10 off your order of $40 or more, now through 4/30/10 11:59pm EDT.

Geek Tested, Mom Approved — Mother’s Day is May 9th!
Assuming you’re not awfully glad to be a Beta, you probably have a mother who deserves an awesome gift for Mother’s Day. We’re stocked full of all sorts of gizmos, gadgets, and doo-dads that your maternal figure will love. We have shirts Mom can wear, umbrellas to keep her dry, brownie pans so she can love you with food, and tons of gifts for new Moms and their geek babies. You can even get Mom a pair of Onion Goggles so she doesn’t cry in the kitchen; unless, of course, she’s crying because you’re such a disappointment.

Find more What’s New items at ThinkGeek!

Giant Monsters Invade San Francisco

from VIZ Pictures:

NEW PEOPLE and VIZ Cinema welcome the 3rd and latest installment of TokyoScope Talk — War of the Giant Monsters — on Friday, May 7th at 7:00pm. Join Otaku USA Editor-in-Chief Patrick Macias, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters author August Ragone, and Japanese film critic Tomohiro Machiyama at the Bay Area’s hottest film venue for a fun and lively discussion on the “kaiju” (monster) movies featuring rare images and clips of Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera and other iconic creatures from classic Japanese sci-fi cinema. General admission tickets are $10.00.

VIZ Cinema invites Bay Area monster fans to a 5-day Kaiju Shakedown: Godzillathon!, running Saturday, May 8th thru Thursday, May 13th. Featured will be rare screenings of the Big G’s 4 most-loved films including Godzilla vs. Hedora (1971), Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). Details and screening times at: vizcinema.com.

Don’t miss a rare chance to see the beauty and enormity of Godzilla in stunning 35mm prints with English subtitles and a premium THX-certified sound system! These events may sell-out. Ticket prices: General Admission: $10.00; Senior & Child: $8.00. Advance tickets on sale at: newpeopleworld.com/films/films-5-2010/#godzillathon.

TokyoScope Talk — War of the Giant Monsters will feature a special raffle giveaway of premium monster collectables including the brand new DVD release from Shout! Factory of Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965). The revered classic features the original Japanese version of the film presented with fresh English subtitles and anamorphic widescreen produced from an all-new HD master created from original vault elements.

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX-certified sound system.

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass facade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: NewPeopleWorld.com.

J!NX: Curse of the Techno Mummy

from J!NX:

New J!NX Classic Tee: Techno Mummy
Thousands of years from now, archaeologists will discover a tomb… well, maybe not so much a tomb but a hole where somebody died. A lone gamer, shut away and forgotten, with nothing but his consoles and peripherals to keep him company in the afterlife. Nobody will have warned those excavators, nobody will have told them about the Techno Mummy’s Curse. Woe be to those who disturb the Gamer’s eternal sleep…

Talesworth Adventure
If you haven’t had a chance to play Talesworth Adventure, you need to make some time. In addition to last week’s mention on Kotaku, it was reviewed on DIYGamer and JayIsGames. Before you know it, you’ll be putting off those TPS reports in your attempts to get Questy past the 30 rooms of peril before him.

“RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!” DVD

RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!

It may seem seasonally inappropriate to be watching a Christmas DVD at this time of year, but RiffTrax has just released RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!, the follow-up to their first live DVD, RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space.

The RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza! show was recorded in San Diego, California, on December 16, 2009, and included “Weird Al” Yankovic as its guest riffer. On the DVD case, “Weird Al” and Rifftrax regulars Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy invite you to join them “for a festive night of hilarious holiday comedy that is destined to become traditional Christmas viewing”.

What do ice-skating reindeer, pipe-smoking santas and a parade of aquatic champions have in common? You’ll see them all in the RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza! The stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 have a sackfull of delightful and demented shorts to riff live onstage. Some of the forgotten gems of Christmases past prove to be the perfect targets for the rapid-fire riffs of Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. And if that wasn’t enough, they’re even joined by comedy legend “Weird Al” Yankovic for a musical short about the wonders of pork! It’s funnier than Ernest Saves Christmas and far less creepy than The Polar Express!

Skipping the host segments, non-RiffTrax-created videos, and musical performances that supplemented RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space‘s movie and pre-feature short film, Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza! opens with a brief introduction by Mike, Bill, and Kevin, then jumps directly into its line-up of riffable short films and commercials:

  • Christmas Toyshop (B&W) — On Christmas Eve, a boy and girl are visited by Santa, who tells them a bizarre story about a toyshop where the merchandise comes to life after the store closes for the night. The toys mindlessly sing and dance until a giant, villainously-dressed “spider-dog” kidnaps one of the dolls, in stereotypical Snidely Whiplash fashion, forcing her friends to take up arms (in the true spirit of holiday peace) to save her. The short begins as live action, switches to animation to tell Santa’s story, then reverts back to live action when the story is revealed to be a dream (or eggnog-fueled nightmare, depending on how you view it).
  • A Visit to Santa (Colour) — Two children express a desire, in badly dubbed, unintelligible dialogue, to visit Santa on Christmas Eve. The equally garbled Santa has one of his elves whisk the children to his castle, the interior of which looks more like a washed-out, 1970s basement rec room. A narrator then abruptly takes over Santa’s storytelling duties, describing Santa’s travels and activities around the world. After the tedious story, Santa unceremoniously dismisses the children and wishes the viewers a “Merry Christmas”.
  • Christmas Rhapsody (B&W) — Shot in the style of a nature documentary, this live action short follows the life cycle of a little tree that, after reciting a depressing litany of reasons why it’s so “small and of no account” in comparison to the surrounding trees, is predictably chosen by an undiscerning family as its Charlie Brown-esque Christmas tree. Despite waxing rhapsodic about the honour, the melancholy-voiced tree fails to ever achieve the “rhapsody” of the short’s title.
  • Three Magic Words (B&W) — Weird Al, a vegetarian, teams up with the RiffTrax guys to riff on an ode to the quality, freshness and flavour of pork. The short stars a trio of musical butchers who praise the virtues of pork in endless song as they attempt to help Mrs. Newlywed, possibly the dumbest housewife who ever lived, prepare a special meal. It’s not clear how this short qualifies as a holiday selection, unless Mrs. Newlywed’s dinner party is supposed to be a Christmas season get-together, but it’s still one of the funniest entries on the DVD.
  • Gaylord (B&W) — An old TV commercial for a walking toy dog is presented to Kevin as a Christmas gift from Mike and Bill, supposedly because it made them think of Kevin, much to Kevin’s indignation.
  • The Night Before Christmas (B&W) — The classic poem is retold, in a combination of live action and animation, by Santa, who foists his lame toys and cheesy acting on a pair of children whose father evidently inherited some DNA from the Three Stooges, minus the comedic talent.
  • Jimmy Jet! (B&W) — Bill receives his gift from Mike and Kevin, an overenthusiastic TV ad for a toy flight simulator.
  • A Christmas Dream (B&W) — A girl opens her gifts on Christmas morning, then, inexplicably, goes straight back to bed. Santa appears in spirit form to give her a moral-laden dream in which the old ragdoll she discarded comes to creepy life, via stop motion animation, to battle the girl’s new toys for her affection.
  • Sports (Colour) — It’s a “Parade of Aquatic Champions”, though the swim stars don’t seem to be very champion calibre, and many don’t actually swim on-screen. There’s no Christmas theme, either, other than Bill saying that the short is a holiday viewing tradition in his family. (Bill begins to sing a modified Christmas carol, another family tradition, but is quickly cut off by his co-riffers.)
  • Ding-A-Lings (Colour) — Mike’s gift from Bill and Kevin, an ad for a line of toy robots, is targeted to children but rife with unintentional innuendo.
  • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Colour) — Rudolph’s screen debut, a poorly animated precursor to the beloved Christmas special that airs on TV every year, gets the biggest laughs of the DVD, particularly a scene between Santa and Rudolph that’s undermined by a naughty double meaning in what Santa says to the young male reindeer.

The performers are presented in small, individual boxes on the right side of the screen while they’re riffing, the same set-up used in the first RiffTrax Live DVD, except that on that DVD they appeared to the left of the screen. As noted in a review of RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space, the boxes only show up intermittently, and it would be preferable if the riffers were always in view. The primary attraction of a live performance is getting to see the entertainers do their thing, and the riffers’ physical reactions to what’s happening in the films really enhance their lines. (As a side note, fans of Doctor Who‘s Fourth Doctor may be distracted by the long, multicoloured striped scarf that Bill wears throughout the show.) A contest winner is announced during Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza!, but less intrusively than in the previous DVD. The winner’s two appearances are fairly brief and, rather than simply dropping the contest announcement into the middle of proceedings, it’s fully integrated into the show’s flow, with Kevin teasing the contest winner and making him a part of the act.

Red and green theatre curtains add festive flair to the menus, with Christmas music playing pleasantly on the main screen and part of the Scene Selections sub-menu. The single bonus on this DVD is a behind-the-scenes slideshow of photos set to an instrumental version of the Christmas carol “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”. The images aren’t captioned, like in the other RiffTrax Live slideshow, but text isn’t really necessary for such self-explanatory pictures.

For anyone who enjoys MST3K and Cinematic Titanic‘s riffings of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza! is a merry addition to your holiday DVD collection.

Order directly through the RiffTrax website.

RiffTrax Live: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza! and RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space are distributed by RiffTrax and Legend Films.

Mimoco: Celebrate Earth Day with GURP + check out our 40th Anniversary Earth Day Spectacular!

from Mimoco:

GURP
Recycle. Enjoy. MIMOBOT.
Send in your old, sad flash drives & earn MIMOBOT credit!

mimoZine’s 40th Anniversary Earth Day Spectacular!
In celebration of all things good and green, mimoZine is happy to share all the enviro-memories that we gathered at ROTHBURY Music Festival — a 4-day music event featuring the best in Music, art and environmental awareness.

Earth Friendly Tee-Shirt
Show your love for the world with an Earth Friendly 100% organic cotton and ink tee-shirt!

Adopt an Earth Friendly MIMOBOT!
They’ve been transported to Earth from their Mother Planet blõôh to safe-guard & protect your files!

What is GURP?
Learn more about what you can do with your old, sad USB flash drive with our Greenbot USB flash drive Recycling Program, aka GURP!

FREE Shipping on orders over $75*!

Time to Get Your Read On!

from Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to get your read on!

Once again, Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls will be invading the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Being held this weekend (April 24th – 25th) on the beautiful UCLA campus, this festival is one of the largest literary events in the world.

A few events being held at the festival are special lectures by authors, book signings and reviews, poetry readings, as well as story-telling and live performances on the children’s area stage.

So come on by and check us out. We are in the children’s book section — Booth 854.

And, as a special bonus, those at the festival who buy a Galaxy Girl Doll online at our booth will get an original MWGG illustration by creator Lauren Faust!

For more details, please visit the Festival of Books website.

Hope to see you there!

Over and Out!

Mother Earth

Introducing Weta Legs — a costuming revolution!

from Weta:

Introducing:
Weta Legs — a costuming revolution!

Weta is today hugely excited to bring to the world Weta Legs, a digitigrades leg extension for performers, costumers and anyone who’s ever wanted to walk like an animal.

Since they were displayed a year ago on the Internet for the first time, there has been tremendous interest from performers across the world.

Weta Legs are a unique, low profile, professional grade, reverse leg stilt for creature and costume performances in movies, television, theatre, circus, street performances and other creative contexts. Something previously reserved for commercial film and television projects, they are the first of their kind available commercially to the public.

Check out the Product Video on wetaNZ.com.

“It’s a real thrill to be able to present these stilts to performers across the world,” says Richard Taylor, Weta’s Creative Director and five time Academy Award winner. “Kim Graham has really nailed this and we’re very proud to be working with her to bring these legs to the market.”

Kim Graham — the inventor of the Weta Legs:

“The greatest challenge was to build something all my friends could wear and build cool costumes over the top of. And this was a tremendous challenge. I wanted to incorporate everything, low profile, ease of use, light weight, comfort and adaptibility. All of these are extremely important to a performer who will be wearing these for long periods of time”.

Weta Legs are sold online at wetaNZ.com and shipped world wide.

What is “digitigrades”?

In essence, it means “walks on its toes”. Us humans put our heels flat on the ground, but what we call the foot on an animal such as a dog, is really its toes. Its “heel” is therefore the next joint off the ground and it points backwards. By using the Weta Legs, you can imitate this way of walking.

Other words for digitigrades leg extensions are “digilegs”, “reverse leg stilts” or “dogleg stilts”.

Who is Kim Graham?

Kim Graham, from Seattle, Washington, has been sculpting since the 80s in a wide variety of media and sizes ranging from 22′ wide fiberglass dragons to fired clay figuratives to architectural ceramic pieces. Primarily self-taught, Kim has in recent years moved away from her special effects/fantasy based mold-making work to focus intensely on one-of-a-kind fine art sculptures.

Kim started the development of the Weta Legs three years ago and has continually refined and developed the design. She has worked for the last year in Wellington with the Weta Workshop technicians.

Follow Weta Online! Twitter | Facebook

J!NX: 20% off to Celebrate “Talesworth Adventure”

from J!NX:

New J!NX Classic Tee: Release the Kraken Boxer Briefs
There are many beasts among the depths. Yet they should not be feared. Rather, they should be allowed to roam free, and not be caged in some stuffy dungeon. Sure, titans may clash and there will be casualties. That’s no reason to hold back the creatures that lurk below. All entendre aside, these boxer briefs will support your unmentionables better than a Harry Hamlin loincloth.

Talesworth Adventure
Sean “Jinx” Gailey has spent his free-time starting games since he was 7, and lately, he’s been getting into the habit of finishing them. His third game, Talesworth Adventure, is a puzzle game that challenges you to guide the fearless (and not very bright) Questy through 30 rooms of peril. It has already been mentioned on Kotaku, and is currently the featured game on Newgrounds. To celebrate, we’re offering 20% off all products from now until Sunday night. Just use code “QUESTY” during checkout. Not valid with any other offer or sale item.

-Team J!NX