Funko Collection Update - a BIG box of POP!

Funko NEWS - Rocky Movie POP!s

Rest In Peace - Leroy Neiman : A Completely Original Artist

 LeRoy Neiman, whose distinctive, vibrantly colored paintings of sports figures and athletic events made him as famous as many of the athletes he drew, died on Wednesday at age 91.

Neiman, a showman known for his handlebar mustache, sometimes painted live on television during major events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, helping make him one of the world's most commercially successful contemporary artists.

Among his subjects were boxing's Muhammad Ali, former New York Jets football star Joe Namath and baseball greats Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

Neiman had just published his memoirs, "All Told," which came out days before his 91st birthday on June 8.

"He had a happy birthday. He was so happy to see his memoir published," said Gail Parenteau, his publicist.

She said he died at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan of natural causes. He had been hospitalized there in 2010 with vascular problems that required life-saving surgery to remove his right leg above the knee, she said.

By coincidence, his latest work - a multicolored golf ball 4 feet in diameter and completed in April - went on display in Chicago on Wednesday, said his archivist, Tara Zabor.

Neiman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 8, 1921, and was of Turkish and Swedish descent "as near as I can figure out," according to his official website.

A child of the Great Depression whose father abandoned his family at a young age, Neiman enlisted in the U.S. military in 1942, later taking part in the invasion of Normandy and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, according to a biography provided by Parenteau.

On returning home, he attended Chicago's School of the Art Institute on the G.I. Bill.

He became a contributing artist for Playboy magazine in the 1950s and established a friendship with its founder, Hugh Hefner, one of many famous friends including Frank Sinatra and Ali.

He painted about a dozen portraits of Ali, Zabor said, befriending the boxer when he was still known as Cassius Clay.

'TRUE ORIGINAL'

Neiman said he ignored advice that working with Playboy would ruin his career as a legitimate artist.

"But Playboy was liberating," he wrote in his memoir. "I was drawn to it and went for it full throttle. ... I lived my life as I wanted to live it and screw what happens. I always stayed in tune with my own ambitions and attitudes and I'm still my intractable old self, for better or worse."

Patty Otis Abel, a contributor and editor on his memoir, said Hefner appreciated that Neiman came from a fine arts background.

"Hugh wanted to be able to combine a fine art and more of a commercial sensibility, and he felt that's what LeRoy brought," Abel said.

Neiman was named official artist of the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid and Sarajevo in 1980 and 1984 and the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, cementing his image as a painter of athletic themes. He also painted U.S. presidents, jazz musicians, Las Vegas gamblers and the animals of Africa in addition to authoring 15 books.

Abel agreed he was a showman.

"There was always a genuine aspect to it," she said. "It was never phony. This was a genuine guy and a true original."

VInyl LOVE !!!!! These are AWESOME !!!

ROCKY & MUGGSY
thanx Jen

FunKo loves Hollywood ..

It all goes way back .. to the days of Mike and Dave ..
FunKo has that love of Hollywood !!

We all see all the STAR WARS .. and MARVEL series ..
But there have been so many others ..

Like of course the new Marilyn Monroe series ..

and the new movies like Land Of The Lost coming out ..
or recently released like .. Alvin and the Chipmunks !!

To back to retro .. with Brando from The Godfather

Forget about Frankie ..

FUNKO LOVES HOLLYWOOD

There's a Light .. over at the Frankenstein Place

Tonight .. actually every night .. is the best night to watch my FAVORITE all-time movie ..

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW


I have seen it too many times to count in movie theaters ..
from the 8th Street Playhouse .. to the Uniondale Mini Cinema.
I miss those crazy nights dressing up and singing my heart out.

I was the main course .. playing Eddie mostly ..





The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a 1975 musical comedy film that parodies science fiction and horror films. Still in limited release 30 years after its premiere, it has the longest running theatrical release in film history. It gained notoriety as a midnight movie in 1977 when audiences began participating with the film in theaters across the country."Rocky Horror" is the first movie from a major film studio, such as 20th Century Fox, to be in the midnight movie market. Widely known by mainstream audiences, it has a large international following and is one of the best known and most financially successful midnight movies of all time. In 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film, considered a cult classic, is an adaption of the British musical stage production The Rocky Horror Show. Richard O'Brien, author of the stage show, was assisted by Jim Sharman in writing the screenplay. The movie introduces Tim Curry and features Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick along with cast members from the original Kings Road production of the play.

It's Friday Night Frenzy all over again ..
When HBO was first available here on Long Island ..
they had cult films on at Midnight on Friday's !!
So .. this movie has very cool memories for me of
watching it at home as well ..
with my Mom .. and best friends.

Yes .. I had the poster on my door in my room too !!
I have the set of Head Knockers from NECA !!
Movie stills that are Autographed by the stars !!

So .. you know what I will be watching at Midnight TONIGHT !!

Say .. does anyone know how to Madison ?