Naturally Pixellized | Pixellated Nature

Using wooden blocks, Texan artist Shawn Smith pays homage to nature and the 8-bit videogames of our childhood.

Since X-Men First Class Opens On June 2...

The Uncanny X-Men will always be the the animated TV series with the best opening soundtrack of all.




The X-Men is, of course, a team of young mutants led by Professor X who has taken it upon himself to shelter, train, and harness their power for the benefit of all. That includes the humans who persecute them and see them as threats.

That, basically, is the premise of the story of the X-Men: a dystopian world where humans and mutants struggle to co-exist peacefully, where one hunts down the other, while the other tries to explain himself.

One way or another, we all feel misunderstood, isolated, and discriminated (even persecuted) by society for our weirdness and freakiness, just like the mutant superheroes of the X-Men who just happened to have the X-gene in them. That's why we love the X-Men; we long to be them, to use our freakiness and weirdness to our advantage, and in effect have their superpowers and make a difference. (Which is saying there is a superhero in all of us.)

As such, more than just featuring smashing fight sequences between humans and the mutants, or between the X-Men and Magneto, the X-Men series have delved into pressing issues such as anti-semitism, religion, racism, even gay and lesbian rights.  (When Nightcrawler asks Mystique why she's never used her shape-shifting powers to just blend in with everyone, she says "Because we shouldn't have to").

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, the Uncanny X-Men has successfully transcended multiple platforms, from comic books to animated cartoon to video games and the big screen.  

June 2 is when X-Men First Class opens in theaters worldwide.

A Bit of Trivia

• The X-Men was originally intended to be called the Merry Mutants--clearly not a promising title for movies. 
  
• Northstar (who first appeared in 1979) was one of the first openly-gay superheroes in American comic books.
  
• In the Age of Apocalypse timeline when Professor X is accidentally killed, Magneto took up leadership of the X-Men.
  
• In issue #114, Storm marries Wolverine and bears his daughter named Kendall Logan.
  
• Wolverine's real name is James Howlett, though he is more commonly referred to as Logan.
  
• In the Dark Phoenix saga--where Jean Grey assumes the evil and infinitely-powered role of Dark Phoenix and destroys an entire star and billions of its inhabitants--many possible endings were proposed, including having Lilandra depower Jean Grey or Jean Grey being banished into a radioactive asteroid to burn there forever, before finally agreeing on a plot where Jean Grey sacrifices herself and takes her own life.
  
• Galactus was created by Stan Lee as a departure from the usual run of villains in comic books. Says Lee, "I wondered, 'How could we get something bigger than a villain? Let's do a guy who's like a demigod - I like the name 'Galactus'". Thus Galactus possesses the Power Cosmic.
  

I wish Mr. Breathed would draw again.

I got my first Bloom County collection by Berke Breathed for just PhP20 back in 2008, or maybe even less than that since I recall that fly-by-night bookstore had a dart game and if you hit good you get a free book.  

Just a turn of the first few pages and I knew I was at the hands of a genius.

Fast forward to now, this month of May, three years later.  My 10-day vacation in the province of Cabiao has fortuitously rewarded me with another Bloom County collection (actually at Booksale in Cabanatuan).  No dart boards this time, not even sold for 20 Pesos, but a whopping PhP115, but heck, this thing is priceless.  

Actually, I chanced upon the Bloom County 2 years prior to that but I was in a pinch in those days and so had to heart-rendingly leave the bookstore.

from the Oregonlive.com

"...There's Bill the Cat's relentless pillorying of Garfield, and the inspiration for "Mars Needs Moms" (a tantrum by his son, Milo) and the day Breathed took a long, reflective look at the animation for "A Wish for Wings that Worked" and realized Steven Spielberg was about to produce a film with hilariously pornographic snow scenes.

And there's the letter he received from Bill Watterson -- the creator of "Calvin and Hobbes" -- in which Watterson sketched a cartoon that paid tribute to Breathed's Nancy Reagan story.

The president was speaking on the phone in the Oval Office, naked save for his pair of boots, saying, "That's quite a coincidence, Berke."


In the evening benefit at the Cartoon Art Museum, one long wall was arrayed with original "Bloom County" art that memorialized Michael Jackson, the birth of Bill the Cat and the classic response of the main characters when a woman asked them to focus, however briefly, on the one thing that provided a semblance of meaning in their utterly meaningless lives..."

I wish Mr. Breathed would draw again.

Did Not Know God of War II Was This Good

1. Did not know God of War II was this good. Me and Edge practically were tearing each other's arms just to snatch the controller and take a stab at being Kratos.

2. Apparently, it's never too late to play God of War II, no matter if four years have already passed since it was first released. The first time I saw the game was in video game store. I forgot if someone had been playing or if the game was playing by itself. All I remember is that giant statue on which Kratos had to jump aboard and kill, and I was thinking to myself, the enemy is also the terrain. Noice.

3. For some unknown reason, Edge's bro's PS2 plays the game in black and white, no matter how we tinker with the RGB cables. We actually thought God of War II was deliberately rendered in black and white and we were quite content with it.

Then we popped Fight Night and everything was still B&W.

4. Barring that sex mini-game at the early part of the game in the Rhodes bathhouse, God of War should be recommended to high school students. What better way to learn about Greek mythology than through an slash 'em all PS2 title of epic proportions? As for me, I practically learned the names of the Greek gods and goddesses and other characters from the our big dictionary. Kids of today have it easy.

Time and again I've lamented the fact that Greek mythology is not included in gradeschool curricula. The tale of Prometheus sneaking in fire to mankind behind the gods' back is infinitely more interesting than tales about the monkey and the turtle and the banana they fought over.

5. The God of War series undoubtedly has got the best boss battles in all of gaming history. Remember during the Super Mario Bros. days, the boss fights with King Koopa (and his sub-bosses Koopalings) were already as good as you're gonna get.

6. I read the box a little too late. It says there, for every hour of game play, a 15-minute break is recommended to avoid eye strain. The box also warned about the dangers of epileptic shocks. While me and Edge are relatively epileptic-shock proof, five hours of nonstop play has nevertheless rewarded me with a headache the size of Olympus.

Chapter 11, The Bichin Beach

--Hi, my name is Stallone and I'll be your tour guide today.  We're standing at Cabiao's famous beach with its majestic brown waters and not-so-far horizon.

--Where are the bikinied girls?

--Excuse me, but this is just flooded waters!  This isn't a river as promised!

--Well it aint much but it ought to get you boys wet enough.  Go on, don't be shy.  Your friend, Mr. Paper Elephant, just might love it.

--Uhm, the last time Woolly went for a swim we had to dry him under the sun for days.

--I think I see a babe far ahead...  Oh, it's a candy wrapper.

Thor Action Figures, Anyone?

I've never understood why Thor has a hammer.  If I were a superhero, I'd choose something less cumbersome than a hammer.  I'd like to wield an indestructible samurai or maybe even a whip, but not a hammer, no matter if said hammer faithfully boomerangs back to me anyway.

Maybe, that's why I always cringe when I read crime news where the murder weapon is a hammer and the victim was practically pounded to death like a nail.  It's like carpentry gone wrong.  It's very brutal, I begin to wish it had been a different, less technical weapon. 

* * *

But let's shift to something light.  Below, product description for Hasbro's Thor Action Figure, very much resembling Chris Hemsworth (because kids seeing the movie have to be pacified and not confused about transitions from film adaptations to superhero action figures):"

 

Thor is the sworn protector of both Earth and Asgard. With his hammer Mjolnir in his hand there is nothing that can stand in his way. To battle against villains he calls upon the full strength of his mighty arms and the full power of lightning.

Even the very toughest opponents are no match for you and your Thor figure! When enemies approach, press his belt to unleash flashing lights and electronic phrases, like “I am Thor!” and “Feel the might of my hammer!” If the villains aren’t yet quaking in fear, use his snap-on “lightning” launcher to send “bolts” flying in their direction. With that kind of firepower and your figure’s mighty muscles, you’re sure to win the fight!

Sure.

I still like his classic getup better.  Though I still can't get the hammer.

The Justin Bieber Dolls Need a Haircut Now

Now that Justin Bieber has decided to heart-rendingly let go of his quiff hairdo he's been sporting since Day 1, you'd think the 12-inch Justin Bieber dolls out December last year ought to have a makeover as well just to keep things updated.

Actually, these faithfully-costumed Bieber dolls are not just dolls.  JustinBieberToys.com proudly claims they're Music Video Collection Singing Figures.  And sure enough they sing (rather play) 30 second clips of "Baby" and "One Less Lonely Girl," in case you've forgotten how he sounds like.

Then again, without the signature quiff, it's just not the same Bieber, no matter if he auctioned off that shorn hair for charity.  Oh well, there's still his signature pink shirt and green hoodie to fall back on.

_________

Other singers who've had their very own doll treatment: Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, and Joe Jonas 

P.S.  Just filed this post under Action Figures, in the absence of a Dolls tag.  Must merge the two categories later.

Uncle Wiggily | Retro Toy

Designed by: Howard R. Garis, based on his children's book of the same title

First manufactured: 1916

Publisher: Milton Bradley

Number of players: 2-4

Playing time: approx. 30 minutes

Strategies required: none, just pure luck

Monster High: Dolls with Character Bios

1. If you're not familiar with Monster High, they're fashion dolls created by Garrett Sander for Mattel as if in the tradition of the Twilight Saga.  So there's a vampire's daughter named Draculaura and a werewolve's daughter named Clawdeen Wolf.

Cleo De Nile, the Mummy's daughter

2. But of course, because it's Monster High, they're joined by a host of other monster staples: respective progenies of the Frankenstein monster, the mummy, a ghost, the Sea monster, the Phantom of the Opera, the Yeti, even Medusa.  Together, these quirky characters are out to cater a new generation of discriminating kids fed up with the lackluster life of Barbie.

3. So monsters (at least their trendy offsprings) have been rendered harmless, less scary, and manageably brought down to the level of wide-eyed curious youngsters.  It's all about reappropriating, trying a different and interesting angle, just as with microbes rendered as plush toys.

4. Thank God, Stephenie Meyer (of Twilight fame) didn't beat Garret Sander to the monster-themed dolls first.  A Bella Swan doll would already be overkill.

5. The Monster High dolls even have character bios on the Monster High website.  Nothing wrong with it.  We're suckers for character bios. 

It's as if someone must do the imagining for us about the characters' eating habits or favorite nail color.  If every little kid in the whole wide world faithfully adopted the character bio for their Monster High doll, that would really even out things, make everything consistent; your doll can only groan ala zombie, just like my doll and the other Ghoulia Yelps dolls.  Somehow I don't like the idea of dolls pre-imagined for kids, no matter if there are webisodes detailing their high school life on the Web each week.

6. And yet our grandfolks fared well back in the old days with their character-bioless dolls.  You gotta miss the old days.

 

Where are the League of Super Evil Toys?

Maybe I'm just not Googling it right, but I can't seem to find any pictures of action figures of the League of Super Evil (L.O.S.E.).

Because hey, even Manny Pacquiao has his own cartoonized action figure courtesy of MINDstyle (makers of Disney action figures).  Thankfully, his toy doppelganger sports badass spiky bangs, not the mop of hair he used to wear during the first few months of 2011 in the manner of Justin Bieber. 

Back to the League of Super Evil.  Where are the action figures?  Where?  Even Amazon doesn't have it.  Shouldn't they be churning out toys based on the cartoon by now.  Or are Voltar and his team not so marketable at all?

Okay, I've watched only three maybe four episodes, but I like the animation style, I like the characters, I like the diminutive Voltar, that hellhound who eats practically anything, including his favorite teammate cum dogchow Doktor Frogg, and the whole coolized concept of evil villains as losers, especially in a world so obsessed with winning, just as Glee celebrates losers and geeks. 

League of Super Evil, by the way, is the creation of a Canadian-based animation studio.  Which is probably why sometimes the antics and humor, though universal, are somewhat off.  But that's exactly why I like it.

Chapter 10, In Which They Meet the Black Horse

-Wow.  That yours, Colonel?

-Er, nope, Stop, thank you very much.  Obviously, that's not my Matilda.  And obviously, with my size there's no way I can mount that horse.

-See, it's not just a horse.  It's a stallion.  All beefy and ebony.  I bet he goes to the gym three times a day and uses dedicated hair products all the time and has 1000+ friends in Facebook.

-Dinkey, you must be feeling inadequate right now.

- No, just unevolved.

Thor: Mondo Poster

Thor Mondo Poster.  Nice. 

Limited editions already on sale since May 5 at MondoTees.com.  Useless delayed heads-up, I know.  Sorry.

How Authentic and Safe is Your Gashapon Toy?

To be honest I have never tried buying anything from gashapon machine.  

 

They're too random for me.  All the possible toys you can get are displayed on top, and 9 out of 10, I only like one, in which case I dread the moment the gashapon drops something on my lap which I do not like at all.  

Which is to say I don't like leaving things to chance (which ironically enough can't be said of my life in general).   Anyway.  This same randomness of gashapons just might be the very appeal of gashapons to toy collectors everywhere, kinda like the fortune in a cookie.  (Do gashapon toys really drop randomly?  Maybe I'm getting it all wrong.)

Anyway.  A Guide to Fake Anime Goods warns about fake low-quality gashapon toys.  

"Fake toys are by and large poorer in quality and even in rare cases poisonous materials are used in paints or plastics.  Official products are higher in quality and are put through rigorous health and safety checks.

The painting and moulding on fakes is usually poor and the low quality materials used often begin to degrade or warp shortly after manufacture.  Simply put, faked Japanese toys and goods are not quality products; they often look noticeably bad and are likely to fall apart within weeks of buying them. "

 

I once saw an army of gashapon Ultraman action figures in a thrift store, all lying in a row, smelling funny and sticky too on the fingers like they were all going to melt in the next five seconds.  It's the tropical climate, maybe, not good for plastic figures.  

I started being paranoid thinking the paint might leach onto my skin, toxic paint fumes diffusing and released slowly even if it's just miniscule amounts.  I had to ask myself what's so collectible about them.  Considering the amount of gashapon toys manufactured and bought each day by eager young hands, shouldn't health officials be issuing a health safety seal on the toys they've actually deemed safe?

Anyway.  More excerpts from A Guide to Fake Anime Goods in general, not just gashapon toys.

"Spotting pirated or unlicensed goods is not always easy, and even experienced collectors can be fooled on occasion - especially if buying online.  However, there are often some tell-tale signs that indicate when an item is not official, we will go into more depth in the following sections, but here are some general tips.


Quality - A lot of official anime merchandise is aimed at collectors, and quality is therefore paramount.  Although some items are not as well made or impressive as others it is very rare to find badly made anime merchandise, so give items a close look.  If the painting or printing is shoddy, parts don't connect well or the materials look cheap, steer clear.

Price - Japanese merchandise is generally expensive to buy in the UK.  This is due to a combination of high wholesale prices, limited stock and import duties.  Fake/unlicensed merchandise is often cheaper due to poor manufacturing and mass distribution.  If a price seems too good to be true, it often is.

Packaging - Official boxes are well printed and with the correct colours and Japanese spelling.  If the colours are pale and muted, the printing blurry or low quality or the logo is different to the one you have seen before then it is probably a fake.  Always look for the holographic or coloured stickers that denote official merchandise, these are always present on real items and often feature the anime studio logo. Also based on the agreement between toy companies and the JTA (Japan Toy Association), some Japanese toys that have been approved by the designated testing bodies of the ST standard are allowed to put an ST Mark on their products or packages. "ST Marks" on the toys show that the Association ensures that the toys were carefully manufactured in the safety aspect. If a product has this mark on it is a genuine product.

Oldness - Some series have revivals on anniversary years, and some never go out of fashion, but many series are of a particular time.  Once an anime or manga series finishes in Japan, the merchandise generally dries up.  If you find merchandise for an older series, particularly ones that were relatively short, you should take more care before buying unless you are willing to pay very high prices for those rare goods.

Newness - If a series has just come out in Japan there will not be a great deal of merchandise for it.  You may get the odd piece early on, but the Japanese merchandising machine usually kicks into gear once a series becomes more popular.  If a series is new and you see lots of merchandise for it - particularly if it is mostly posters, bags and clothing - then there is a very high probability that the merchandise is fake or unlicensed. Be aware that in most cases Japanese series are generally released well in advance of screenings in the west so some legitimate merchandisers may have certain figure goods in their store before a western release.

Colouring/Design - The Japanese know what the characters look like, and so do Japanese fans.  They will not buy something that doesn't look like the series, and neither should we.  Always look at the characters or the designs on the merchandise - do they look like they do in the anime or manga?  Are the colours the same?  Official manufacturers will not get things like this wrong, even if the colours are only slightly off then you could be looking at a fake....

HOW TO LOOK FOR FAKES

Quality

So what are the main differences?  Fake toys are by and large poorer in quality and even in rare cases poisonous materials are used in paints or plastics.  There are different levels of fakes, the higher the price the better the quality of the fake.  Telltale signs of fakes are poor painting, bad moulding, warped or ill-fitting parts and incorrect details or painting colours.  Basically, the official companies know what the characters look like, and they won't get something like the colour of a character's clothing or the number of markings on Totoro's chest wrong.  Suffice to say, official products are higher in quality than fakes and are put through rigorous health and safety checks.

Price

Genuine goods are expensive to buy and import from Japan due to shipping and tax.  Here is a rough price guide pertaining to anime figures.

Gashapon figures are between £1 and £3 in Japan, so for a set of 5 figures in Japan you can pay between £5 and £15.  In the UK and US they range from £10 to £20 due to import customs costs, exporting tax costs and shipping.  From China you pay £5 no matter what they cost in Japan.  Boxed Candy Toys range from £2 to £4 per figure in Japan and for a set of 5 figures you expect to pay between £10 and £20.  In the UK and US they range from £20 to £30 due to the costs mentioned above.  From China you pay £5 to £10 no matter what the originals cost in Japan.  Sad to say it, but if you see a price that looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Unfortunately fake retailers are wising up to this and have started selling their goods at a much higher price to confuse buyers in to thinking that their goods are genuine..."

* * *

To sum it up,

a. If it smells funny, it's a fake and probably not safe for your health

b. Ditto if it's sticky on your fingers.

c. If the paint job is sloppy and not faithful to the original, Son Goku's hair rendered bright blue for instance.

d. If the sculpting likewise is sloppy (plastic remnants still sticking out of the action figure's armpits, calves, nose, etc), it's a fake.

Toy Tinkers

After almost a week of silence, this is what I finally come up with?  A vintage cartoon of Donald Duck featuring a snowy landscape when it's frigging summer already. 

Oh well, I had a good laugh (more than one good laugh, of course) watching this episode.

Chapter 9, In Which They Are Carted Off to the Beach. Somehow.

--Yey, the human is taking us to Boracay!

--I thought it's Pagudpod?  Or is it El Nido?

--Not so fast.  I hear there'll be just a river in his province.

--Oh.

--Where's Woolly, anyway?

--He's in business class.

Who's The Red-Shoed Robot?

Or if not, a robot, a man with a jetpack, and still the red shoes.  

Readers of this blog might know that in the Little Colonel Saga, I've named him Go, from his eternal pose of looking like he's about to go.  He has this haste about him, a sense of urgency, albeit frozen.  Frozen haste, mmmm. 

Or maybe because if you have a jetpack, you always look like you're about to go at a moment's notice.

Other than that I have no idea what his real name is, and what cartoon/anime, manga/comic book, toy line he comes from.  All I know is that I picked him up at a garage sale, one of those Japan surplus store that sells overpriced furniture and stuff.  So Go hails from Japan, one more thing I'm sure of.  

Did he come from a gashapon?  Was he a freebie from a cereal box?  We'll never know--unless you happen to know, and in which case, you'll do me a huge favor.

The first time I saw him I couldn't help but admire the color.  He's not really off-white, more like a silvery ecru, if there's such a thing.  And then the more I looked at him, he reminded me of Rockwell Kent's long-limbered figures in Voltaire's Candide.

* * *

The day I found Go, I was attending a cousin's confirmation ceremony.  She had chosen me as as her sponsor.  I had momentarily put the robot/man with the jetpack inside my shirt pocket and walked to the altar, not knowing the pocket had a hole, and that gravity was still at work.  Minutes later as I got back to my seat I realized with a dreadful pat on my chest that he was gone.  Hopelessly gone because there were about two hundred kids inside the church, and one of them was sure to pick up my toy and pocket it, with me none the wiser.

But still I went back to the front row where I'm sure it fell, and stared at the hands of the little boys who must be naturally tinkering their new-found friend right now.  No little boy had busy hands though.  Damn, the nuns must have found it. 

After about five minutes of squinting to the very best ability of my near-sighted eyes, I finally recognize his prostrate figure on the marble floor, slightly hidden from my view by the electric fan.  Oh good Lord, thank God for kids with short attention span.

And thus I still have Go, the robot/man with the jetpack, and yeah the red shoes.

Bring Back the Old Ovaltine, Please

One of my most-prized toys when I was a kid was a set of thumb-sized plastic construction vehicles that came with every can of Ovaltine.  There was a bulldozer, an excavator, a compactor, even a cement-grinder possibly.  They were given by my uncle Ariel who had patiently collected them while he worked in a friend's grocery in Vigan.  The man specifically made sure I had all the vehicles in the set, and I will forever be grateful.

Later, Ovaltine came out with another line--spacecrafts.  Still thumbsized, still colorful plastic, and this time around, there's even a game board which you cut from selected magazines.

I don't know where those toys are now--both the construction vehicles and the spacecrafts.  Me and my sister Neah and cousins had a good time playing with them.  In those days, I had my favorite which was the compactor, and when you're a kid, you don't ask yourself why that particular vehicle or spaceship is your favorite; you just know it.  For the life of me, I can't find a single picture of those Ovaltine toys in Google.  Maybe nobody had thought of taking pictures of them.

Ovaltine doesn't bury freebies in the chocolate powder anymore, for happy, giddy kids to unearth.  Sad, I know.  Those were the carefree 90's when BFAD regulations regarding plastic stuff embedded in food were still lax.  I remember the triumphant joy every time I'd pull out a toy which I still don't have yet, because, of course, it'd be a bummer if I got the same darn thing each time. 

* * *

Needless to say, I'm an Ovaltine child, not a Milo kid.  Ovaltine had toy freebies  Milo, on the other hand, appealed to your sports-minded senses.  The choice was clear-cut for me.

In those days, the commercials for Milo's Sports Clinic featured perfectly good-natured kids who can competently spin a basketball on the tip of their thumb.  Ovaltine didn't have a Sports Clinic at all, but then again, when you've got spaceships and construction vehicles to occupy your hands and mind, who needs to know how to dribble scientifically or shoot a ball like a pro? 

So simplistically you might say Milo fueled the body while Ovaltine, the imagination.  Milo was for athletes, Ovaltine was for geeks.
    
Of course, looking back now, I wish there was a part of me which could have gotten interested in sports even just a little, because, dang, I sink in pools and can't properly return a gently bouncing ping-pong ball.  (Lesson: never ever underestimate ping-pong again.) 
Now that the Azkals are suddenly getting everyone to kick and chase after balls, I wish I could do that too without looking like I'm going to asphyxiate every five minutes.  Suddenly, that ball spinning feat on the tip of the thumb looks very appealing.  I wonder, if kids drank Ovaltine and Milo alternately, would they grow up to be a geeky athlete? 

* * *

The last time I checked at the supermarkets, Ovaltine has a new look.  There are no more Ovaltine cans; now they come in tall glass jars, with a nice gold Swiss cross.  And because there are no commercials touting toy freebies inside Ovaltine jars, you can bet there'd be nada no matter how deep you dig.  Which sucks, if you ask me.

The Time-Honored Art of Tongue Paper Folding

and all that in little over a minute.