JAFO's NEWS - the FUN in FunKo: 2012-05-13

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Vinyl NEWS - Futurama's Wooden Bender by Kidrobot

AWESOME is this piece indeed, standing 6 inches tall ! Kidrobot prepares to launch the WOODEN BENDER from the Futurama-series with a drop scheduled on June 7th and a decent price-point of US$50 per. And tis a vinyl toy made to look like wood - although an actual wooden sculpt would really make it special. McLovin' the woodpecker too !!

'Futurama’s Wooden Bender 6-inch vinyl figure is here and officially downgraded! Complete with removable red woodpecker and “technology-free” stumpy head and body, Wooden Bender is 6 inches tall and designed with the Kidrobot aesthetic twist, making this primitive vinyl ‘bot feisty and termite-free.'

* this article stolen from the ToysREveil blog !

Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Figure is Toasted

Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Figure Refunds Offered by Mattel

Mattel has eluded to the fact they were putting together a program to offer refunds to people who’s Ghostbusters Stay Puft Marshmellow Men have yellowed due to an unforseen chemical reaction in the material. Now they have offered up the details of that program. You can fin the info below or on MattyCollector.com.

AFI (Action Figure Insider) Reports -
http://networkedblogs.com/xPuWC

Ghostbusters™ Customers,Hopefully, the vast majority of you have been enjoying the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man figures we offered here at MattyCollector.com and San Diego Comic-Con last year. After an exhaustive investigation into the issue of why some of the figures are yellowing, here’s what we’ve discovered:The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man figure was fully tested and approved prior to being offered for sale. The figure passed all standard product tests, as well as a specialized test specific to the new foam material used. The yellowing some figures have experienced didn’t appear until a number of months after the product’s release. The yellowing is due to an unforeseen chemical reaction between the paint and material used in its construction.Because we stand 100% behind the products we sell, we’re offering full refunds to any customer who would like to return their defective figure. We’re sorry but we won’t be able to offer exchanges. We will, however, gladly refund the original price for figures purchased either at MattyCollector.com or our booth at San Diego Comic-Con, as well as refund the original cost of shipping for figures shipped from MattyCollector.com. And in both cases, the cost to return the product to our warehouse will be covered by us.If you would like a refund, here’s what to do:
If You Purchased at MattyCollector.com for Pickup at SDCC
For orders that were placed during the voucher pre-sale and picked up at the MattyCollector.com booth at SDCC, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will look up your original order and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a credit for the original purchase price will be issued on the card you used to place the order. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us.

If You Purchased at the MattyCollector.com SDCC Booth
For those customers who purchased the figure directly at the MattyCollector.com booth at SDCC, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will create a ticket and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a check for the original purchase price will be issued and mailed to you at the address you provided to the agent. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us.

If You Purchased at MattyCollector.com During Our Post-SDCC Sale
For orders that were placed during the post-SDCC sale at MattyCollector.com and shipped directly to you, please call 1-877-GO-MATTYor email MattyCollector.CS@digitalriver.com. Our agent will look up your original order and arrange for the product to be picked up at our expense and returned to our warehouse. When the product is received at our warehouse, a credit for the original purchase price and shipping will be issued on the original card you used to place the order. No refunds will be issued without the defective product being returned to us.

Finally, we know how much you like the giant diorama package that came with the figure and we’re happy to leave it with you as a “thank you” for your business. If you choose to return your Stay Puft figure, you won’t need to return the diorama package to receive the refund.

To learn more about what we’re doing to continually improve, please read this article. Delivering the most fan-demanded designs in the highest possible quality is truly our top priority and we appreciate your business!

–Matty

Friday, May 18, 2012

Vinyl NEWS - Squid Kids Ink – Mini 10-Doh!

Continuing their celebration of 8-bit nirvana, Squid Kids Ink has announced their upcoming Mini 10-Doh! blind-boxed series which is set to debut at SDCC. At 3” the Mini 10-Doh! appears to be exactly what you would expect, a smaller version of the original 7” game cartridge figure. Series 1 features designs from Andrew Wilson,Doktor A, Jerome Lu, Jesse Hernandez, Frank Kozik, Kwestone, Luke Chueh, Matt Jones, Nakanari, Nate Mitchell, Scott Tolleson and Tracy Tubera. Hit the jump for a look at the new Mini 10-Doh!s from Jesse Hernandez and Luke Chueh.

* this article stole from the Vinyl Pulse blog !

Vinyl NEWS - MAD x Pobber – Dr. Morkenstein Pajamas Retail Edition

Now those are some snazzy sleeping duds. Pobber has just unleased MAD’s Dr. Morkenstein Pajamas Retail edition giving a glimpse of the evil Mork twin’s childhood complete with maroon + silver pajamas and a customized helmet fronted by flames and emblazoned with a scrawled ‘beware’ warning on the back side. Limited to 150 pieces, this one will be available at select toy spots for $65.

* this article stolen from the Vinyl Pulse blog !

Vinyl Showcase - Circus POSTERUS x Tomenosuke Sofubi Editions

Check out this image of the logo-tag of the collaboration between Tomenosuke and Circus Posterous for the production of upcoming sofubi figurines! We've seen the bagged-n-tagged Stingy Jack before, and here's a look at the WIP-Caliope Jackelope from Kathie Olivas!

* this article stolen from the ToysREvil blog !!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Rest In Peace - Donna Summer : Your Voice Won't Be Forgotten

Into her 60s, the girl still worked hard for the money.

In fact, in 2008, just before turning 60, Donna Summer had a No. 1 dance hit with “I’m a Fire.” That meant she, along with Cher, had scored a No. 1 song in each of the last four decades. Only Madonna has charted more dance hits than Summer.

But the record stops there: She died Thursday morning at age 63 after a battle with cancer.

Her family released a statement, saying that they “are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.” Ms. Summer had been living in Englewood, Fla., with her husband, Bruce Sudano.

The five-time Grammy winner sold more than 130 million albums and contributed, as much as the success of the Bee Gees, to making disco wildly popular in the 1970s with hits such as “Could It Be Magic,” “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Bad Girls,” “Last Dance” and the No. 1 hit “Hot Stuff.”

She has a place in Chicago radio history. When the radio station then known as WDAI-FM (94.7) ended its all-disco format in the wake of the late 1970s anti-disco backlash, it did so by playing her “Last Dance” over and over and over — nonstop, without commercials or any announcers to interrupt it through an all-”Last Dance” on the air weekend.

Her title as “Queen of Disco” wasn’t mere marketing. Her success continued well past disco and into the ’80s, with more Top 10 hits — “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger),” “She Works Hard for the Money,” “This Time I Know It’s for Real” — that expanded on her cooing, sultry sexiness.

But the singer wasn’t always comfortable with her sexy image, cemented by the hit “Love to Love You Baby,” which she cooed orgasmically.

Ms. Summer came up with the idea of the song and first recorded it as a demo in 1975, on the condition that another singer perform it commercially. But Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart liked the track so much that he suggested to producer Giorgio Morodor they re-record it, and make it longer — what would come to be known as a “disco disc.”

She had reservations about the lyrics — “do it to me again and again” — but imagined herself as a movie star playing a part. So she agreed to sing, lying down on the studio floor, in darkness, and letting her imagination take over. Solo and multitracked, she whispered, she groaned, she crooned. Drums, bass, strings and keyboards answered her cries. She simulated climax so many times that the BBC kept count: 23, in 17 minutes.

In 2009, she told the Sun-Times she relished the more ballad-focused music she was making because “there’s no longer such an emphasis on the sex part.”
“It wasn’t ever really me,” she said. “I was led down that path because that’s what was working in the recording industry at the time. If I had to do it all again, I would probably insist ‘Last Dance’ should be my first song. Instead, I have ‘Love to Love You Baby.’ While that song has been very good to me, the way people approached my career initially, the image people had of me, it was all a bit of a challenge to overcome. It’s almost like I had to prove I was a singer all over again.”

She had released her last album, “Crayons,” in 2008, her first full studio album in 17 years. She also performed on “American Idol” that year with its top female contestants.

The new music managed to regain some of her former glitter — but without going the standards-and-songbook route of peers.

“When my record company Burgundy/Sony BMG came to me about two years ago, they wanted me to do oldies, what Rod Stewart was doing,” Ms. Summer said in 2008. “They said, ‘Well, we don’t know what market you’d be in at this point, and we don’t know if we could get you into the mainstream market anymore.’ That was a valid point, but I didn’t feel it was necessarily the truth.”

Still, her disco tracks from the ‘70s, particularly under the guidance of famed producer Moroder, gave electronic music its first significant foothold on the pop charts. After years of disco hits full of slashing string sections, her “I Feel Love” was the first major hit song featuring a backing track that was entirely synthesized. In its swirling drone, one can hear the fountainhead of a lot of contemporary dance music. Likewise, the fluid hum of “Love to Love You Baby” was later sampled by Beyonce (“Naughty Girls”) and others.

In a sign of her continued relevance, the Broadway musical “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the Musical,” features two versions of Summer songs with “Hot Stuff” and “MacArthur Park.” “It’s a tragedy to lose an icon at such a young age,” said actor and singer Nick Adams, who plays Adam in the show.

Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, Ms. Summer was raised in Boston by devout parents, she returned to those roots later in the ‘80s, announcing she had become a born-again Christian and winning a gospel Grammy for “Forgive Me.”
She is survived by her husband and their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda, as well as her daughter Mimi from her first marriage. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Funko NEWS - Mini Wobblers 5 Pack : Big Bang Theory

AVAILABLE IN JULY !!

Funko NEWS - Astro Zombies Comic Shop : Sheldon POP! Exclusive

An Astro-Zombies Exclusive

Limited edition figure comes in his Flash T-shirt.

Dont miss this amazing figure of one of the funniest men on TV.

He's one lab accident away from becoming a super-villian.

Just one month away from being yours.

This pre-order will ship in late June/Early July

ASTRO-ZOMBIES

3100 Central Avenue SE

Albuquerque, NM 87106

505-232-7800

SHELDON EXCLUSIVE

SHELDON EXCLUSIVE DOUBLE DEAL

Funko NEWS - Zapp! Comics : POP! Wolverine Exclusive

Zapp Comics is PROUD to announce that we are getting our very own EXCLUSIVE Funko Pop Heroes BROWN COSTUME WOLVERINE!!!! These will available ONLY at Zapp Comics in Late June / Early July!!!

ZAPP COMICS

MAIN EMAIL:

zappcomics@aol.com

LOOKING TO SELL?

Please contact Ben: 973-628-4500 or

e-mail ben@zappcomics.com

to make an appointment.

SNAIL MAIL please address to our Wayne location:

Zapp! Comics

574 Valley Road

Wayne, NJ 07470

Around the World in 80 Plates - Episode 2 : Lyon

The 11 remaining chefs are off to Lyon where the Course will take them through the Beaujolais countryside. For the Takeover, the teams run bistros and serve traditional Lyonnais dishes, but one chef outsmarts their fellow competitors by getting a traditional recipe from a local. Will the clever move pay off or will the chef go down in flames?

First team through the Course
wins the Takeover advantage ..

the Essential Ingredient.

the Course