Snap, Crackle and Pop meets Rap, Hood and Hip-Hop!

Keeping with my previous post about cereal, comes another breakfast mashup, where this time cereal meets street. Kellogg's, the company behind character-driven breakfast cereal mainstays, joins street clothing company Under The Hood for a new collaborated line they're hoping will leave fans of both scenes clamoring, "They're Grrrreat!"



Kellogg's famous characters are all here, from Frosted Flake's Tony the Tiger, the jolly Rice Krispies trio Snap, Crackle and Pop, Honey Smacks' Dig'Em the Frog, Corn Flakes' Cornelius Rooster, and finally Toucan Sam of Froot Loops fame. All your favorite cereal mascots jump out of the box and land emblazoned in outlined patterns over shirts, jeans, hoodies, and track jackets. You can check out all the styles at Under The Hood's online store.

The brands definitely acknowledge that the strange combination of the two flavors is definitely a taste that'll split the masses between those that "Dig'Em" while others will feel soggy. In full compliance with that thought, check out the models' faces:

On the other hand we've seen every cartoon character from Fat Albert to Bugs Bunny on clothing, but Kellogg's/Under The Hood's line seems much more out there and therefore giving it a much bigger "WTF/Awesome" factor to the mix!

So whether you think its the most absurd thing that has happened to the urban clothing waves or perhaps the most genius, one thing is for sure:

Nothing spells out BOLD better than rocking out an outfit that says, "Follow Your Nose" while pointing to Toucan Sam's rainbow snout splattered over your ass cheeks!!


Personally, I know I NEED this Honey Smacks Track jacket IN MY LIFE to rock with my Reebok Voltron ERS Racer Green Lion 3 kicks:

NOW that would be a mashup-mashup!

Warning: be on the lookout for Cereal Killers!

Cereal Killers is an upcoming art book by Docktor Vicktor Von Kreep of Kreepsville Industries featuring some of the most prolific cartoon illustrators today that parody General Mills' spooky cereals like Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry!

Heres the description from Kreepsville Industries' Cereal Killer blog:

Kreepsville Industries presents Cereal Killers. A spooky, kooky coffin table cartoon art book that has been in the works since 2006. This creepy, crawly treat features over 70 terrorfying takes on some of your favorite breakfast cereal's, and some original ones by some of the top animation artists and illustrators from today!

Some of the artists among the many (click here for an exhaustive list with links, over 70 in all) will include Crhis Savino, Sandra Equhua, Eddie Mort, Bill Wray, Lili Chin, Gabe Swarr, Kup Kake, Steve Lambe, Miah Alcorn, Chris Reccardi, Dan Thompson, Richard Wake, Eric Tan and Rob Lily. Plus the forward will be written by Maxwell Atoms of "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" fame.

Some examples:


Martin Hsu & Jay Stephen


Lauren Faust & Chris Mitchell


Gabe Swarr & Kup Kake

Animation artists plus cereals plus spookiness equal awesome in my book. Get in the 'spirit' of things at idigcerealkillers.blogspot.com
& check out Von Kreep's Flckr photostream!

The impossible is now possible! Twice!

In the console wars of the silver age of videogames (I'm talking the '90's kiddies) Nintendo had a rivalry with Sega. In turn their mascots Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog respectively had their own beef.

You see, Sonic had been Mario's rival from the silver age of videogames when the SNES and the Sega Genesis fought to be number one in the console game, so it just made sense to the gamers out there to actually see the rivalry materialize. However, in recent years its has been more closely possible as Sega had gone the way of Atari, stopped producing consoles of their own after the Sega Dreamcast, and decided to focus on producing games. Since then we've been seeing an influx of what would've been blasphemy 10 years ago: Sega games on Nintendo systems!


Sega had acquired the rights to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and had originally thought to fill the game with Sonic characters, then some geniuses at Sega had later asked Nintendo to include their characters as well. Thus, earlier this year they had dropped a bombshell: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games!


The character selection screen you would've never thought you'd ever see 10 years ago.
So the game marks a milestone of gamer's dreams brought to life. However, rumors of Sonic appearing in a game with Mario had never been so deeply rooted since Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo Gamecube. Since the game pits video game mascots upon each other and Sega was producing games for Nintendo, gamers thought Sonic's appearance in the game would be appropriate enough to finally see if he could best Mario in a fight for #1 videogame mascot. People spread rumors of how Sonic was a secret character in the game but in reality no blue hedgehog was available in sight.


Fast forward to the upcoming and anticipated Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii. With this game, we've seen the impossible before: Konami's Solid Snake appears as a secret character.


With that in mind check out what was JUST announced today:


It's official: Sonic in Smash Bros. Brawl!

That's right, now I'll never get sleep until January February 10, 2008!

KAMI-ROBO INVADES SAN DIEGO

I'm sure many of you, like myself have had times when you were younger thought that playing by yourself was a lot more fun than playing with others. I know I did... sometimes at least. There were times when I would spend hours playing with my G.I Joes, Ronin Warriors, or some newly built expensive Gundam model that I didn't want to play with, but wanted to anyway cause it looked soooo cool (until the leg snaps off.) Sitting in my room, I would create stories and plots in my mind, choose the heroes and villains, and decided who won, lost, and who got to see life in my next play time session.

At the age of 10, Tomohiro Yasui of Kyoto, Japan was doing the exact same thing - creating a fictional world within his head amongst his toys. Over 20 years, Yasui has created 200+ of these kami-robo fighters ("kami" - paper.) It all began when Yasui grew tired of his Gundams, Macross valkyries, and other robot toys breaking when played with. Initially, Yasui made figures that resembled his favorite animated robots out of wire and moved on to create his own using those paper-thin pieces of cardboard you find in between your newly bought dress shirt.

Unlike model toys, kami-robo are more flexible and allow Yasui to maneuver them into various wrestling moves. Also, since they are made of paper they can be easily repaired if they so happen to fall apart.

Each one of Yasui's creations has their own name and personality. They even fall under different wrestling teams as they do in real professional wrestling.

When I first saw this video run at the Kami-Robo booth at Comic-Con, I just thought it was some guy playing with toys. However, as I kept watching, it reminded me of when I was a kid and did the same. This kind of nostalgia of playing with my toys and making them wrestle quickly made me a new fan. I mean, if you saw a robot pull off a hurracanrana, wouldn't you?!


The wrestling matches last for approximately 15 minutes and come complete with a made wrestling ring, a bell to start and end a match, and even an announcer who calls the moves play-by-play... just like the real thing. The lives of the kami-robo are just like those of real professional wrestlers which may be a reason why some people are fans. Yasui turned a childhood past time and brought it to a whole new level of entertainment.

[image from butterfly-stroke]

Speaking with Enna of MYSWEETLORD Entertainment, the group who presented Kami-Robo at Comic-Con, gave me the low down of this new cult phenomenon.

Apparently, Kami-Robo has only a small following in Japan. Not too many people know of it and are left wondering what it is. With showcases in Japan, London, and most recently at the San Diego Comic-Con, Kami-Robo has created a humble group of fans (including myself) and that's how they want to keep it to prevent any bastardization of Kami-Robo. Why ruin a good thing, right?

Kami-Robo figures will hopefully be sold at very select shops in the U.S starting around next year and the price will range between $8-9. A very nice price I must say. Also in the works are streaming matches on the Kami-Robo website live from Japan. If you're as interested in this as I am, you best be on the look out for it.

Anyway, a post is useless without pictures. Here we go...

The wrestling ring at the Kami-Robo booth. This area kept people wondering... until 3'oclock came by.


The ring INSIDE the ring where Yasui-san worked his magic.


I REALLY wanna see this one in the ring. Maybe see it bite some heads off or something. THAT would be rad.


Yasui-san getting in his element before a match.


Action-shots of one of the 3pm matches. Notice how one of the kami-robo goes no-holds-barred and uses a chain.

>

A kami-robo reigning in glory after another victory.



The Kami-Robo crew.


Yasui-san, Enna, and ? (SO SORRY! I didn't catch a name. Help?)


Enna was so sweet that she hooked up some friends and I with an exclusive Thunder Tiger figure and some tees. THANKS ENNA! YOU'RE AWESOME! After a match, I was lucky enough to get Yasui to sign my figure. ヤスイさん、ありがとうございます!!






YA-SU-I.



This was by far the most interesting booth throughout my years at Comic-Con. I really hope these folks come back again next year as they were all really cool peeps and the whole idea of this really intrigues me.

I have more Comic-Con 2007 pics and reviews coming so keep your mouse on that reload button!

Artists go cult-film crazy at G1988!

The Crazy 4 Cult art show will begin this Tuesday July 17th at Gallery 1988 Los Angeles where over 50 different artists will be presenting over 100 art pieces inspired by classic cult films! Some of the artists include Shepard Fairey , Greg "Craola" Simkins, Joe Ledbetter, Kathie Olivas, Kurt Halsey Frederiksen, Plasticgod, Luke Chueh, Matt Dangler, Christopher Lee, Roland Tamayo, and many, many more!

Who better to host an opening reception for an cult classic-inspired art show than Silent Bob himself, cult film director extraordinaire Kevin Smith?! He will be joined by Scott Mosier (producer and film editor for most of Smith's films) along with many cult classic film personalities and Hollywood guests including Donnie Darko's Richard Kelly and Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright for the opening of the show. Here is a video of Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier speaking with Leo Quinones on the Film Freak Show on 97.1 Free FM talking about Crazy 4 Cult:


Here's a small preview of the kind of works to expect from the show:

Jeff Mcmillan unleashes a cavalry of cult film characters on canvas


A stylized version of Edward Scissorhands by Craola (Greg Simkins)


Kathie Olivas contributes a very cute rendition of the very spoiled Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

A great poster by Christopher Lee is going to be available at the show!

Check here to see Gallery 1988's ongoing contest where you could win the poster signed by the artist and maybe even some of the individuals represented in the poster plus artist proofs of prints by Greg "Craola" Simkins and Matt Dangler!

Artist Reuben Rude has created limited run of 25 CRAZY 4 CULT commemorative Big Lebowski/The Dude Circus Punks, available first for those who attend the opening!

According to the Gallery 1988 blog, G1988 will be opening a new website at Crazy4Cult.com in July 20 offering a new place to order prints and new releases from the show.

Keep your eyes open and your ears peeled for upcoming coverage on this very awesome gallery!

KAPOW! Don't under estimate this Pony's Power!

Hey 80s babies,

Hasbro will be introducing an exclusive Super Hero-styled My Little Pony which can only be found at this year's San Diego Comic Con.

She's got the traits of a fab super hero: the mask, the brightly colored obnoxious super hero suit, the gorgeous hair -- or mane in this case, and even has the comic style sound effects on her legs -- ZOOM for her swift movement and KAPOW for her killer kick! I love her "cutie mark!" (you know, that 'branding' on her rump)

Hey you Guys!

ha, did anyone get my Goonies reference from tuesday's post???? Remember, Data, mister know it all, who was really mister hardly knows...after he says something and someone corrects him, he screams, "That's what i Said!" haha, i LOVE that movie...

Anyhoo, Mezco Toyz and Warner Brothers Consumer Products will be releasing a 1:1 Scale Replica of the key to One Eyed Willy's treasure..the Key found around the neck of Chester Copperpot. Remember, Mikey rips it off him and Chester's Skull rolls..haha. This EXACT replica has some weight to it...to mimic real copper...oOoOOo...
oh, and yes, that's a leather strap.

This dandy key is not sold in stores but will be available for purchase at San Diego Comic Con only! (but can be preordered from mezco toyz)

Oh, and remember what happens when they placed it on those three stones and turned the key??? BOOBY TRAP central. don't say i didn't warn you...

With that said...Mezco Toyz stresses: "This authentic replica is non-functional and not a toy."

Captron Champ. "thats what i said! -- Data"

(Captron Champions! Seen in the Captron Mag ---dad made the blue arrow just in case he forgot which one i was, hard to distinguish since i am the only girl in the pic, right??? haha...)

So okay, I was a bit off...
it was a Captron Competition.
Sorry, but note, it was seventeen years ago. (gollie i'm old...)
As I said before and without further ado, I finally was able to find these pix.
Ruffles Rock ;)


( ok, so why did i just notice that my outfit is a tad like michael's? black and white and ruffle accents??? omg...)

Ha, anyhoo...since I'm a tad rusty on my gamer skills,
All you champions (past, present, and future) should check out:


Their next stops are SAN DIEGO and Las Vegas.
Online registrations just started for these two cities and are FREE.

Games played will be: Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Super Smash Brothers Melee, Guilty Gear XX Slash, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, and Capcom vs. SNK 2.

Anyone planning on participating???