Crazy Color Edition Pop! Vinyl Figure Prototypes by Funko

For the past two weeks, Funko has been holding a super cool giveaway of these awesome “Crazy Color” Pop! vinyl figures on the Funko Funatic forums. Funko’s Brian Mariotti picked six of his favorite Pop! vinyl figures (Batman, The Joker, The Penguin, Franken Berry, Count Chocula and Boo Berry) and created 12 unpainted protos of each one in wacky, crazy colors. Each figure comes signed and numbered by Brian, and the only way to win one is through the giveaway contest at FunkoFunatic.com. The giveaway was thought to be over, but rumor has it there will be one more day of giveaways sometime soon. So if you’re interested in winning one of these rare, blind bagged toys head over to Funko’s official forums to find out more!

The Blot was lucky enough to actually win one of these fun figures on the first day of the giveaway. I was super pumped to open my package last week to discover I had won the Crazy Color Batman Pop! proto you see above! I was secretly hoping for a Batman, and am pretty excited to have it as the centerpiece of my DC Universe Pop! Heroes collection. Thanks so much to Brian and the entire Funko family for holding this contest and my prize!

Captain America: The First Avenger Trailer #2 & Television Spot

By the time you read this, The Blot will be on my way to Los Angeles where I will be celebrating the 4th of July. While I’m gone, check out these awesome trailers for Captain America: The First Avenger. Seriously, what’s more patriotic than Captain America! The Blot can admit it when I’m was wrong, and I was all wrong about this movie (at least based on what we’ve seen so far). These latest trailers are seriously good, especially the film's newest television commercial (above) which debuted last week.  Then watch the second official Captain America: The First Avenger trailer below which features the Red Skull and HYDRA! Marvel definitely knows what they're doing with these movies, don't they?

Of the four big comic book films being released this summer, the one I expected the least from was Captain America but so far it’s looking to be as good if not better than Thor and X-Men: First Class (Green Lantern has already taken the crown as worst comic book adaptation of summer 2011). I hope everyone has a fun filled holiday weekend filled with hot dog eating contests, fireworks and good old Steve Rogers (a.k.a. Captain America)!

Captain America: The First Avenger, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving and Tommy Lee Jones, is scheduled to debut in theaters on July 22, 2011.

General Mills Pop! Ad Icons Vinyl Figures: Count Chocula, Franken Berry & Boo Berry

Funko announced its newest line of Pop! vinyl figures last week, Pop! Ad Icons, and its first wave includes three of General Mills’ most iconic characters: Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry. If you’re in your 20s and 30s then just the mention of these animated spokesmen should transport you back to a simpler time of Saturday morning cartoons and incredibly sugary cereal! While my mom would never let me eat Count Chocula, Franken Berry or Boo Berry cereal, I loved watching these animated advertisements anytime they came on the screen. I can’t wait to see what other General Mills characters Funko has in the works. Might we see the Trix Rabbit, Yummy Mummy or the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee!?!

Each General Mills Pop! Ad Icons vinyl figure stands 3.75” tall, has a rotating head and comes in a displayable window box. While these 3 figures are not expected to ship until September 2011, you can already pre-order them from Entertainment Earth here for $9.99 each.

Psych Season Three Premieres Tonight

Those loveable fake psychics from the Psych Detective Agency return tonight, Friday July 18, at 10/9C with an all new season of quick-witted comedy high jinx mixed with a little freelance crime solving. James Roday’s Shawn Spencer and Dule Hill’s Burton “Gus” Guster might just be the best crime solving duo currently on TV, and the show fits right in with the USA Network’s catch phrase of “Character’s Welcomed.”


While many would say USA’s current run of amazing original programming started with the debut of Monk or The Dead Zone, I would respectively disagree. It’s the debut of Psych that really solidified the channel’s quirky off-centered comedy and crime/adventure line-up, bridging the gap between the two genres perfectly. If you haven’t been watching Psych on USA, you should definitely set your DVR to record it before heading out on the town tonight. With new episodes of Psych, Burn Notice and In Plain Sight airing all summer long on USA, the basic cable channel may just be solidifying itself as THE destination for original programming during the big four networks’ summer hiatus.

And, if you need a quick Psych fix before tonight’s episode (and the debut of Cybill Shepherd as Shawn's long absent mother), then I highly suggest checking out this Psych promo that’s been airing on the USA Network for the past few weeks. Roday and Hill are often seen singing and goofing around at the end of each episode of Psych in the show’s aptly named blooper real “Psych-Out.” In this television spot the duo sings the classic duet by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney “Ebony and Ivory.” You can watch the “Ebony and Ivory” Psych TV ad below, and tune in tonight at 10/9C for the Season Three premiere of Psych.

Hellboy Invades NBC - New Hellboy II Television Promo Ads

Tonight at midnight marks the official release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army and I’m already scoping out movie times to try and avoid the crazy opening weekend crowds that come with every new movie that debuts over the summer. Universal, who is producing and distributing Hellboy II, has come up with some really creative television promotional advertisements for the movie and The Blot can’t get enough of them.

A few years ago NBC and Universal merged to create the aptly named NBC/Universal, so it should come as no surprise that Universal would utilize the NBC family of networks to promote their upcoming movies. First it was a promo ad involving Hellboy on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio (which you can see here), and then on Sunday I saw a USA Network “Characters Welcomed” ad that featured Hellboy. Now the internet is abuzz with new Hellboy II promo ads featuring two of NBC’s most popular freshmen shows, Chuck and American Gladiators.

I don’t know who came up with the idea to have Hellboy interact with other properties’ characters, but it really is ingenious. The first video below features Hellboy playing video games with Chuck’s Zachary Levi (a.k.a Chuck Bartowski) and the second shows Hellboy visiting the set of American Gladiators where he runs into Gladiator Wolf (played by Hollywood Yates). There’s also a great retro “The More You Know” public service announcement starring Hellboy. I’m hoping there are a few more crossovers out there, but in the mean time check out these three new NBC Hellboy II TV promo ads below:

Hellboy on Chuck


Hellboy on American Gladiators


The More You Know PSA with Hellboy

2008 NBA Playoffs - There Can Only Be One

The 2008 NBA Playoffs are now set and the cards didn’t exactly fall where The Blot had hoped they would. The Houston Rockets clinched the number 5 Seed and home court advantage last night, while the Phoenix Suns got stuck with the 6th Seed and a trip to San Antonio. Now I can only hope the Rockets advance to the second round to play the Western Conference Champion L.A. Lakers, which I’m not really expecting to happen (especially with Rafter Alston out for at least the first two games of the playoffs). In the meantime, I’m now stuck with two Game 1 playoff tickets to see the Houston Rockets take on the Utah Jazz Saturday night at 8:30 pm. With the Rockets’ playoff series not including either Kobe or Shaq I now have zero interest in attending the game…I guess it’s time to try and sell my tickets ASAP.


Speaking of Kobe and Shaq, have you seen their newest "There Can Only Be One" 2008 NBA Playoffs television ad? It’s a pretty sweet advertisement, with the two of them talking split-screen about the fear of coming this far and not winning it all. It’s an awesome commercial and is definitely the best pairing of the NBA’s "There Can Only Be One" advertisement campaign. The other commercials feature LeBron James & Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash & Jason Kidd, Dwight Howard & Chris Paul, Paul Pierce & Mike Bibby and Antawn Jamison & Ben Wallace.

Check out the Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O’Neal “There Can Only Be One” 2008 NBA Playoffs commercial: