Yo!

I know what your thinking... "But isn't Jagi a brother to?" To that I say "Shut up."

We are re-introducing these sets of busts for a couple of reasons:

1) The original gallery was taken with an old camera a couple of years ago

2) The Nanto bust set is going to be in hand anytime now. We plan on taking a gallery of that also, so we wanted the old Hokuto set to be the same quality as the Nanto set.

I hope you enjoy these two Hokuto brothers galleries. The first one is the limited repaint one (limited as it wasn't released in the US via Diamond) and the second one below it is the gallery of the first set. Even though I love both I must say that the repaint set is incredible and worth every penny.

Please take a look at these galleries. We're very proud of them! Thank you and enjoy!

Photos by Tendou

Posted by Gatack at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yo!

I know what your thinking... "Where's Spider-Man?" To that I say "We'll get to it..." Yeah good enough. Anyway pay attention. We have quite a few PVC statues and one-sixth to display for you guys. Some sexy, some violent, some cool. Some guy named Bruce, a Japanese Super-Hero and a mercenary will be making their way soon. Including Ginko from Mushishi (pictured).

We're going to try our best with Ginko as his gallery will stretch out gallery skills to the limit! For the moment enjoy this teaser pick!

Posted by Gatack at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Medicom has just unveiled pics of the 2 Special Mail Away figures for the New #1 ver.2.0 coming out this September!! New #2 and Hongou Takeshi (Later Series ver.)!!! New #2 comes with additional , helmet, scarves and gloves to make Any of the 6 SHOCKER Riders!!! Looks like all the Diehards will have to buy 7 of them to make all the SHOCKER Riders and have New #2!!! Hongou is pimped out in his look for the last part of the TV series when he returns as Kamen Rider New #1!!!! Release for Shocker Rider and Hongou will be March of 2008 and Prices will be 19800yen for New #2 and 10290yen for Hongou, Tax is included for both. New #1 2.0 will be released this September for 17640yen (Tax included) you'll need his ticket to order New #2 and Hongou.

Posted by Tendou GARlock at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This Gallery is Dedicated to YUI

Didn't get Enough Ichigo the first time around??!!??! The Fans have Spoken and now I have just added 20+ NEW PICS to the gallery!!! These News pics make this Gallery Complete!! Check it out!!!!

Photos by Tendou

Posted by Tendou GARlock at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yeah, Venom wasn't in the movie for a whole lot of time but when he was there he took center stage and he takes center stage in this gallery as well. I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out due how tight he is but I'm very pleased with the result.

We really had a lot of fun working on this particular gallery and we hope you enjoy looking at it.

Photos by Tendou

Posted by Gatack at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tendou updated you guys on the Medicoms of Yusaku Matsuda. Well, here are some youtube trailers of both those movies. Educate yourselves on some Matsuda goodness and take some time to watch these trailers. Thank you and enjoy!

Yomigaeru kinrô / The Resurrection of the Golden Wolf



The Beast to Die / Yajuu shisubeshi

Posted by Gatack at 02:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Making this update was tough, Knowing that many of the readers on this site may not know the greatness of Yusaku Matsuda I was about to take it upon myself to write a whole essay on him but then I remembered that someone had already said everything that I wanted to say and gave some insight one of the Greatest Men who ever lived. Maybe after reading this update you may all know a little more about an actor named Yusaku Matsuda.

"To gauge the impact and enduring popularity of Yusaku Matsuda in Japan, one need only walk into a Tokyo bookstore. In the cinema section, at least half a shelf will be taken up by photo books, essays, tributes and biographies of the late actor. Toyshops stock action figures and dolls, both vintage and new, based on his best-loved characters. In the numerous second-hand video stores of the Jimbocho area, it's easy to pick out Matsuda's films among the thousands of brightly coloured boxes: his are the ones that are twice as expensive as everything else.

Yusaku Matsuda is a phenomenon. His early death in 1989 at the age of forty has given him the kind of idolised immortality that the rest of the world bestows upon the likes of James Dean, Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee. The comparison with these giants is valid in more ways than one. Matsuda had a bit of all three: looks, acting range, cool machismo and a flair for action. "

-Excerpted from Editorial By Tom Mes from Midnight Eye

About 5 yrs ago Medicom released one of the most stylish Medicom figures of our decade. The figure was one of Yusaku Matsuda most pivotal roles Shunsaku Kudo from Legendary TV series Tantei Monagatari (Detective Story) 2 versions were released, One default and ther the Final Episode version. There was also a Rolex shop exclusive version of the default. This November Medicom plans to release 2 new 1/6 figures of 2 of Yusaku Matsuda's other most memorable roles. The first one is Matsuda as Cool Antihero Tetsuya Asakura from the 1979 Hard Boiled film noir Yomigaeru Kinrou (Ressurrection of the Golden Wolf) This Matsuda 1/6 is decked out in his Biker suit from the climax of the film and includes his sunglasses, Knife, Slingshot and Handgun. Asakura is ready to kill his way to the top! The second Figure is based on another of Matsuda's memorable Film Noir roles as the War Torn Journalist Kunihiko Date from the 1980 film Yaju Shisubeshi (The Beast Must Die). Date comes with his handgun and hat from the film.

Both figures feature Authentic Likeness to Matsuda and are dressed and fitted to exact details of how he portrayed the characters in the films. Both figures will be available in November for the price of 20,790yen each (Tax Included) Can a 2.0 of Matsuda as Shunsaku Kudo be far off?? As a HUGE fan of Matsuda these are a Must for me. I can't wait to display them next to my old Shunsaku Kudo!!

Yomigaeru Kinrou- Tetsuya Asakura AKA Yusaku Matsuda

Please click for bigger picture~



Yaju Shisubeshi- Kunihiko Date AKA Yusaku Matsuda

Please click for bigger picture~

Posted by Tendou GARlock at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Make it cheaper and I'll buy it.”

I hate that mentality. I hate it with a passion. SOTA recently stated that they would make the Darkstalkers figures cheaper at the expense of certain accessories. Originally their figures were going to retail for $24.99 but now are set to retail at $17.99. So instead of getting the very best representation of the Darkstalkers characters I’m getting a compromise. No thanks.

Now SOTA is a good company. I like SOTA’s sculpts and their newfound approach to character specific joints. I think they will make great figures. I think they could do incredible stuff potentially. However I don’t like settling for a figure that could have been something great just to save a few bucks. What I don’t get is that fans will complain anyway for not getting enough accessories (while SOTA stated that they will only add the most important and necessary accessories, we’ll see how they define “important and necessary” in time). That’s just how fans are. Fans are fickle honestly don’t know what they want. The latest Street Fighter figures from them look great. Even better than before, but I noticed that Ryu, Gouki and Ken don't have extra heads. I wonder if the accessory/price compromise was used on those figures—just a thought.

This is why toys in the US will never reach the level of its rising sun counterpart. I only shudder at the thought of what could have been had KAIYODO in the 90's had the philosophy of holding back a figures potential (I’m sure the Kenshiro DX would be just as great if he came with only his jacket). I don’t see money being saved, I don't see a bargain. I see me getting gypped for the sake of a couple of bucks due to fan whining. Saving a couple of bucks is important to some (and with good reason, this hobby can suck you dry if you don’t control yourself), but I can't help but be bothered by the fact that these figures were supposed to better. Now each time I see Morgan in her box I’ll have to wonder to myself “What was she supposed to come with? What's she missing?”

While the U.S. has made huge strides over the years in actually making toys that people would collect (and NO, it wasn't always like this) this decision has reminded me that the U.S. collector and Market still have a ways to go.

Posted by Gatack at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello All! Got some Hokuto No Ken News for you. Images of the Nanto Bust Repaint have popped-up courtesy of Nodaya. This repainted set is done in the same style as the Hokuto Brothers repaint.

These look great and I can't wait to get my hands on them!



The yen on this set is 31,500 which is about 261USD. Place your order for these at your trusted import store because I get the feeling Diamond won't be getting these (Hey, not saying it's definitely not going to happen but I'm doubtful).

Japanese Release Date: August

Oh and here is an image of the original colored Nanto bust set.

Posted by Gatack at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The Power... Feels Good"

I was in line for six hours-SIX HOURS-to be there at the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3. For me and many other people on the planet, it's the most anticipated movie of the summer (which, as of this writing, has raked in 391 million worldwide). That's saying a lot considering you have big name sequels like "Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At Worlds End", "Transformers", "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", and even the unnecessary and unasked-for pop culture throat-jammer that is "Shrek 3: The Quickening."

All are back and all have various levels of merchandise to sell. Of course there was one bit of merchandise that obviously caught my interest.

To read this review in its entirety please click the image below...

Review by Gatack and Photo's by Tendou

Posted by Gatack at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! WELL WELL WELL! Organic Hobby is trying to do the U.S. a great service by releasing some HNK stuff here. These figures have been released before (which you can see here) but these are repaints of those figures (damn nice repaints to be honest). The release breakdown are as follows:

Wave One-

Posted by Gatack at 03:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw this thing over a decade ago and really haven't seen it since. It was a fun ok movie. Over the years I've had to explain to some people in this hobby who he is, blah blah blah. The Phantom MEdicom 2.0 is due out soon and thanks to the power of youtube (because I ain't buying the DVD. I like it but not that much) you can see the phantom in action. Enjoy (or not... it may not be your kind of thing). And yes it was directed by DePalma (I think I got the Scarface fanboys attention).

Rock On...

Posted by Gatack at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been awhile everyone, Your Tendou has been busy Walking The Path of Heaven this past month but today I'm back with one of those Galleries you all Love so much. Today's subject is another one of those fine BERSERK Statues by AOW. This one depicts Guts during a silent moment, love the mood this piece gives off, hope you all agree!! Enjoy!!!

Photos by Tendou

Posted by Tendou GARlock at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yo!

I've posted this image on the medi-forum over at Mediworld. It's a pic of the black suited Spider-Man. Yeah, well hopefully I'll put up the review and gallery within the next couple of days.

Anyway, take a gander and enjoy. :)

Posted by Gatack at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To no one's shock and or awe, Spider-Man 3 is doing well in Asia. While this post has a bit of a "well duh" factor to it, this does continue to show Spidey's continuing dominance in at the Asian Box office. Super Hero movies don't tend to do that well in Asian markets except for Spider-Man (although Superman Returns did have some success in Asia as it did very well in China while competing with the China’s own comic adaptation in the Donnie Yen/Wilson Yip collaboration, Dragon Tiger Gate).

As for how well Spider-Man 3 is doing just read the article below courtesy of VarietyAsiaOnline.com

"Spider Man" claims records in eight Asian territories

Written by Ian Mohr

Sony's "Spider-Man 3" set records Tuesday in every one of the eight Asian territories in which it bowed. Pic opens in dozens of other territories in the next few days, culminating Friday in its domestic launch on 4,253 theaters, the widest North American opening of all time.

Pic launched Tuesday in more than a dozen key territories, including Japan, France, Germany, Italy and South Korea. Another eight go today, with 30 more on Thursday (including China, Australia and Russia) and an additional 30 on Friday (including the U.K. and India).

Euro markets should report their initial tallies Wednesday. In its opening day Tuesday, Sony estimated that the pic hit ¥415 million ($3.47 million) in Japan, beating "Spider-Man 2's" ¥410 million. The first "Spider" took in ¥347 million in its first day in Japan in 2004.

In Korea, latest pic also beat out one-day marks for its predecessors, taking in 3.2 billion won ($3.44 million), Sony honcho Jeff Blake said.

In Hong Kong, Spidey saw the biggest opening day of all time, with $HK7.5 million ($958,984), besting previous record holder "Kung Fu Hustle."

Pic also drew the biggest ever opening day of any film in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. In Taiwan, it saw the biggest weekday opening ever.

The list of domestic engagements could be tweaked by a few screens more or less but should comfortably beat the 4,163 locations in which DreamWorks bowed "Shrek 2" two years ago.

Sony launched "Spider-Man 2" at 4,152 in 2004.

The only other pics to have debuted in more than 4,000 locations are "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," "Madagascar," "Superman Returns," "Over the Hedge," "Mission: Impossible III" and "Shark Tale." All of those have been released since 2004, as Hollywood's race to put up massive opening numbers escalates.

After eight splashy premieres worldwide, Sony unspooled its final preem Stateside on Monday night, showing "Spider-Man 3" on 14 screens simultaneously at the Tribeca Film Festival.

At the preem party in Gotham, Sony Corp. chairman-CEO Howard Stringer wondered whether the studio should have rolled out "Spider-Man" in North America last weekend, when overall biz was way down, giving Peter Parker even more of a chance to make his money grab.

But either way, the exec was confident, saying that this installment in the series is "more of a date movie" than the first two in the franchise and thus has the potential to draw even wider demographics.

Posted by Gatack at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)