The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Toshiba ‘Officially’ Drops HD-DVD

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

Remember that format war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD? Well, you can forget about it now because the final battle is over and Blu-ray is the winner — which ComicMix Chief Mike Gold called on Sunday.

Today, Variety is reporting Toshiba has officially thrown in the towel and will no longer build or ship players and recorders using the HD-DVD format — with the final end coming March 31st.

According to the article, Toshiba President and CEO Atsutoshi Nishida made the annoiuncement today from its company headquartes in Tokyo. 

“We realized that if we were to continue in this business on such a small scale, we would only inconvenience our customers and partners,” Nishida explained. “We also saw that, from a competitive standpoint, there was no way we could win.”

In addition to the reasons Nishida outlined above, Warner Bros.’ decision to stop selling HD-DVD discs last month and support only Blu-Ray had, according to the article, "a major impact” on the situation. “After that we had to make a decision quickly," Nishida admitted.
 
Toshiba’s decision clears the way for Blu-Ray, which is championed by Sony and has been battling Toshiba and its HD-DVD allies, including Intel and Microsoft, for nearly six years, to finally dominate the market. Of course, this also comes at a time when downloading content via devices such as Microsoft’s XBox 360 or the Apple TV, instead of using physical media such as Blu-Ray disks, is becoming more and more popular. 
 
Will Blu-Ray’s victory be short-lived as consumers switch, instead, to other ways of getting their content, leaving their unwanted disks gathering dust in a closet somewhere? With the state of our current infrastructure and the country’s lack of internet bandwidth when compared to others, it seems unlikely that downloads will completely replace physical product any time soon. 
 
However, technology often advances very quickly so the switch to downloadable content may end up happening sooner rather than later, especially with the very important younger consumers who already downloading most, if not all, of their content anyway. 
 
In the end, Blu-ray’s victory may be a hollow one and its dominance fleeting. I hope they enjoy it while it lasts. Hey, anyone want to buy a slightly used XBox 360 HD-DVD drive?
 

Government Recalls Spider-Man Cups

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall of 6,600 Spider-Man water bottles sold exclusively at Sears last summer. These bottles carry a sufficient risk of choking, as the screws under the lid can come loose and fall into the cup.

Even though these items haven’t been sold for some time, the news is significant as many were purchased by and for fans old and young. Quite frankly, they look sort of cool. So if you’ve got ’em, you might want to take them out of service and put them on a shelf beyond the reach of small children who are not endowed with the powers and proportionate strength of a spider.

More info here.

Toy Fair ’08: Ledger Inspired Joker Figure Announced

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

In spite of the recent, tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, the New York Post is reporting that plans are still in effect to release a new action figure in his Dark Knight character’s likeness to coincide with the upcoming release of the film.

According to the article, the Joker action figure will come in two different versions, both of which will hit store shelves in May.

One smaller version will feature a rocket launcher that can be put in the figure’s hand. The other, designed by well-known team the Four Horsemen, will be slightly larger, more detailed and come with a toy knife. Some might question the timing, or good taste, of releasing the action figure so close to Ledger’s death — or in releasing it at all.

However, according to the article, Ledger’s family supports the decision. "Heath was very proud of his work in the film, and his family is aware and supportive of Warner Bros. and its partner’s plans for the movie," said a family spokesperson. In addition, Mattel, the company behind the figure, are sensitive to the situation but still plan to go forward.

"It’s not exactly a marketing point," said Mattel’s P.J. Lewis of Ledger’s death. "But kids are going to buy the toy if they like the movie."

The Dark Knight hits theaters in July.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: You can see pictures of both figures in our gallery of photos from the ComicMix tour of Mattel’s showroom.]

 

Reynolds, Kitsch Join Up With ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

  • Uncategorized
  • February 19, 2008

reynoldskitsch-2001908Recently, I told you about some cool pictures from the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine film that had just hit the net. Now, according to SuperheroHype, there’s quite a bit of casting news to report about the upcoming film as well.

Yesterday, they dropped a few hints that Ryan Reynolds is likely onboard to portray mercenary-for-hire Deadpool in the film. Today, they’re reporting that Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch has signed a three-picture deal to play Gambit, the card-throwing, Bo’ wielding former thief, in the film.

Reynolds and Kitsch join a pretty great lineup that already includes Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth, Danny Huston as the young William Stryker and Lynn Collins as Silver Fox. The story of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in case you haven’t been following along, takes place prior to the X-Men films and recounts the events of Wolverine’s very violent past, his relationship with Victor Creed and the nefarious Weapon X program.

In addition to his own adventures, Wolverine also encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe — just to keep things interesting. 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine comes to your local multiplex May 1st, 2009.

ComicMix at Toy Fair: Mattel’s ‘Infinite Heroes’ and ‘Dark Knight’ Showroom!

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

As promised in our earlier announcement, we have a ton of photos from the ComicMix tour of Mattel’s showroom.

You might have already heard about "Infinite Heroes", Mattel’s new line of 3.75-inch figures based on a wide assortment of characters from the DC Universe, but have you actually heard about it? Check out today’s installment of ComicMix Radio for an interview with Mattel’s "Infinite Heroes" guru, P.J. Lewis.

We’ve also included photos of Mattel’s upcoming line of toys based on The Dark Knight, including figures based on Heath Ledger’s character, Joker, as well as Christian Bale’s Batman. Oh, and for those of you who’ve always wanted a Bat-suit of your own, we’ve got something for you, too.

Finally, we have some photos of Mattel’s line of superhero-incpired toys for their youngest demographic — but we won’t make funof you if you buy a couple for yourself.

So enough with the introduction, check out the full gallery of photos after the jump…

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ComicMix Radio Exclusive: Doctor Who Mini-Mates and Mattel’s Infinite Heroes!

 
Coverage of Toy Fair 2008 continues as ComicMix Radio becomes your ears to the event,  and unveils our exclusive report on a new line of Doctor Who Mini-Mates, as well as big news on Mattel’s new DC "Infinite Heroes" and classic action figure lines… plus…
 
• Our Tuesday rundown of new comics and DVDs
• A brand-new trivia question and another chance to grab an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant comic AND our very first winner revealed. 
 
First you Press The Button, and right after that e-mail us (podcast@comicmix.com) and you might be the next winner!
 

 

First Look: ‘Doctor Who’ Minimates and Mattel’s ‘Infinite Heroes’ DC Lineup!

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

There were a number of big announcements this past week at Toy Fair, but two that really caught our attention should make fans of Doctor Who and the DC Universe very happy.

First up is the announcement that a line of Doctor Who Minimates have finally been approved for production by Underground Toys! Minimates fans will soon be able to add figures to their collection based on David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and, by the looks of the figure designs, an army of Cybermen, too.

We have a trio of larger images of the Doctor Who designs posted after the jump, but be sure to check out today’s edition of ComicMix Radio (Live at 2:00 PM EST) for an interview with Underground Toys about the details of the line — specifically, when you can expect to see the Doctor Who Minimates on shelves, which characters you can expect to find and how they’re getting distributed.

The second half of today’s ComicMix Radio podcast features an interview with Mattel about their recently announced "Infinite Heroes" line of 3.75-inch figures based on the DC Universe. This is the one that has comics fans and toy collectors talking all over the ‘Net, and we’ll have pictures of the roster of "Infinite Heroes" figures on display in Mattel’s showroom — as well as more more details about the line — available here on ComicMix at 2 PM EST today.

So be sure to check out today’s edition of ComicMix Radio, our thrice-weekly podcast, for more on both announcements!

Now for more  images of the Doctor Who Minimates designs…

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Conan on Conan Action on TV!

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

Jim Lauderdale and The Dream Players were on Conan O’Brien’s show last night, promoting and playing from their new CD, Honey Songs, which hits the stores today. The jacket art was drawn by GrimJack artist Timothy Truman; Timothy also writes Conan for Dark Horse. He’s also been known to draw everybody’s favorite barbarian from time to time as well.

Yep. That means that Conan was holding up Conan’s art, but not Conan art. Nor GrimJack art, sadly, but we were thrilled to see Tim’s stuff on network teevee! Nice goin’, bro!

 

 

 

ComicMix at Toy Fair: Mezco’s Hellboy II, Heroes and Warriors

  • News
  • February 19, 2008

I was already looking forward to Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but after seeing Mezco Toyz’ lineup of figures based on the film, it looks like I’ll be buying a ticket and making a little more room on the "geek shelf" (as my friends call it).

New, old and in-production films and television series inspired the bulk of Mezco’s lineup for Toy Fair ’08, with products based on Hellboy II and Heroes occupying the lion’s share of the booth. And while it’s not exactly comics-related, I wanted to let go with a big ol’ fist pump when I saw the 9-inch figures based on the film The Warriors lined up on one of the booth’s display shelves.

Several of the figures Mezco had on display weren’t available for photography, as they were either still awaiting approval by the licensors. Here are some of the highlights of those that were camera-ready, though:

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ComicMix TV: Toy Fair ’08 Preview

ComicMix comes to you from Toy Fair this week, in the heart of New York City… and we have video!

Okay, so it’s not exactly the "heart" of the city. It’s more like the "elbow-region," way over on the Western side of the island where the subways don’t dare to travel. But the point here is that there are toys — lots of them.

We’ve already shown you the comics-inspired dolls of Tonner, a heap of Incredible Hulk and Iron Man branded toys, and Dark Horse Comics’ Will Eisner-designed Spirit statues. Now we have a short video preview of what’s to come from our Toy Fair coverage, hosted by our intrepid ComicMix host, Matt Raub.

Be sure to check back throughout the week for a look at highlights from our tours of the DC Direct and Mattel showrooms!

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