Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me Remixes by Richard Swift

The Blot has been impatiently waiting for the release of the Cold War Kids’ second album, Loyalty to Loyalty, for months now. While I refuse to listen to the album before I have it in hands, I made an exception for these two new remixes of the albums first single, “Something Is Not Right With Me.”


Richard Swift was given the task of remixing the single and pulled off two interesting variations of the song, an Onasis remix and an Instruments of Science and Technology remix. I haven’t heard the original track yet so it’s impossible to give a comparison, but it is good to finally hear some new Cold War Kids music after such a long time.


What’s best of all is that the California indie band decided to release these two new “Something Is Not Right With Me” remixes on their MySpace page and is allowing fans to download the songs for free! So head over to the Cold War Kids MySpace page and get to downloading.


Loyalty to Loyalty is scheduled to be released in stores and online on September 23, 2008 and comes in both a standard and deluxe edition. You can also pre-order the standard and deluxe editions of the album at Newbury Comics where every pre-order comes with an Autographed CD, or at the iTunes store where the album comes with an exclusive track entitled “Bullies Always Win.”

Amanda Visell - Kidrobot Exclusive Moonshine Print

One of The Blot’s newest art addictions is work by Los Angeles based artist Amanda Visell. I just can’t get enough of her amazing work! I first learned Visell earlier this year when she released the ridiculously awesome Pink Elephant featuring Drunky McSkunky. Since then Amanda has been on fire with new production pieces, prints and original custom figures.

Sadly, the only Visell piece I own is her Series 5 Dunny. But it’s pretty great in its own right. I am sharing all of this because last week Ms. Visell released a very cool Kidrobot exclusive new glicee. The Moonshine Print is limited to just 50 pieces and is currently still available at Kidrobot’s online store. This print is a great example of Visell’s cartoony, abstract style that The Blot loves so much.


So here is your chance to add a wonderful piece of Amanda Visell artwork to your collection, but act quickly. Because at $70.00 each, this limited edition Kidrobot exclusive Moonshine print is sure to be selling out any day now.

Hurricane Ike Can't Stop The Blot

While the city of Houston is reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Ike, The Blot has found refuge at my buddy Eric's apartment. Somehow, someway his apartment building is one of only three in our huge complex that still has power. Plus, Eric was smart enough to get his internet through AT&T instead of our local worthless cable company (you know who you are!), so not only does he have power but he also has internet access!


Thankfully, Aly and I are doing fine and all of our friends and family around southeast Texas seem to be ok after Ike blew in early this morning. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for residents all along Texas' Gulf Coast. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone currently dealing with the flooding and wind damage caused by this weekend's hurricane.

Have no fear, The Blot Says… will return on Monday!

Shaquille O’Neal Announces Retirement…In 2010

Yesterday the Big Aristotle dropped the big bomb we all knew was coming. On Thursday O’Neal told News 13 television in Orlando, FL, “My basketball career will be over in 735 days.” (link) That is exactly two seasons from now, the exact time left on O’Neal’s current contract with the Phoenix Suns.


As many fans of the Diesel already know, Shaq is contemplating a career in law enforcement after the end of his Hall of Fame NBA career. That might be one ticket The Blot wouldn’t mind getting, as long as O’Neal signs it of course. While on one hand this is sad news, at least it gives us enough notice to give the big guy a proper send off. Obviously the Diesel is running on fumes at this point, but he still forces teams to adjust their defenses to account for the big man in the middle.

Shaquille O’Neal, the 2000 NBA MVP, is a four time NBA World Champion, the ’92-’93 NBA Rookie of the Year, three time NBA Finals MVP, fourteen time NBA All-Star, two time NBA All-Star MVP, and an Olympic Gold Medalist.

Entertainment Earth Exclusive Sallah and Short Round Indiana Jones Mighty Muggs

The Blot’s been waiting for this release for a while now. After the Previews Exclusive Star Wars and Marvel Legends Mighty Muggs releases, as well as the scheduled Toys R Us Marvel Legends Mighty Muggs release, we now have news of an all new exclusive Indiana Jones Mighty Muggs set. Coming in November 2008, exclusively from Entertainment Earth, are the Sallah and Short Round Mighty Muggs.


These are two of my all time favorite Indiana Jones characters and essential additions to anyone’s collection of Mighty Muggs from the original Indiana Jones trilogy. The best part of these Mighty Muggs are their hat accessories, a fez for Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Sallah and a baseball cap for The Temple of Doom’s Short Round. Both of these accessories will great for future Mighty Muggs customs.

The Entertainment Earth Exclusive Sallah and Short Round Indiana Jones Mighty Muggs set can be pre-ordered here.

Warning: This City Is Protected By The Spirit Movie Poster

While The Blot scrambles to prepare for Hurricane Ike’s impending arrival onto the shores of Texas, enjoy this latest The Spirit movie poster which was originally unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2008.


This “Warning: This City Is Protected By The Spirit” one sheet movie, while not necessarily original, is pretty cool. I like the retro, worn feel of the poster and think they did an especially good job with the Picasso-esque Cubist version of the Spirit in the center. Here’s hoping Director Frank Miller has time to get his act together and edits this movie into a cohesive story worthy of the late, great Will Eisner.

The Spirit will be unleashed on theaters this Christmas 2008.

WTF!?! - Paramount Announces Movie Deal With Kidrobot

In what has to win the worst news of 2008, “Paramount Pictures has made a deal with Wildbrain to turn its Kidrobot branded collectible character creations into a series of feature films that will be a mix of animation and live action.” (link) The Blot is stunned to say the least. In less than 24 hours Kidrobot has gone from edgy and designer to complete sell out.

Worst of all, while we still don’t know which of Kidrobot’s “branded collectible character creations” Paramount has its eyes on, we do know that unfortunately the films will be a part of Paramount’s Nickelodeon Movies label. (link) It seems like Kidrobot’s days of producing collectibles is now officially over. From here on out their vinyl figures are strictly kiddie toys.

It seems weird that Paramount would want to make a series of children’s films about a line of limited edition vinyl figures “painted by a group of graffiti and graphic artists and musicians.” (link) According to Variety, because the figures “come with no linear storyline…the plan is to draft…a story about ordinary kids who are transported into the edgy world populated by the Kidrobot creatures.” (link) This sounds like one of the worst movie ideas I have ever heard and, in all honesty, I hope it fails.


Having its properties turned into a kids movie make zero sense for Kidrobot when you consider their current business plan is to sell their vinyl figures and apparel line in high-end stores nationwide. Isn’t this just going to spurn their current primary fan base? That seems like a pretty big risk considering they don’t even know if they can pull in the younger demographic these movies would be aimed at.


There was one interesting tidbit that came out of yesterday’s Variety article and it explains how all this came about. It turns out that Kidrobot founder Paul Budnitz no longer owns Kidrobot. He sold the company to Wildbrain, the producer of the Nick Jr. series Yo Gabba Gabba! and Higglytown Heroes for the Disney Channel. Now that Wildbrain is the company’s primary owner, it appears they want to broaden Kidrobot’s appeal and have the brand skew younger to a demographic they know more about. What a sad, sad day in The Blot’s world.

Mitchell & Ness NBA Hall of Fame Fitted Hat Collection

This past Friday night in Springfield, Massachusetts was the 2008 Basketball Hall of Fame induction, which saw seven new members enshrined into the Hall. The 2008 class was headlined by NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley, along with ESPN college basketball commentator Dick Vitale. (link)

To commemorate this amazing achievement, Mitchell & Ness is releasing a new line of fitted caps entitled the NBA Hall of Fame Collection. The Hall of Fame Collection's first two hats honor the induction of two of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players of all time, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.



These hats are extremely limited edition and can be found at the NBA Store in New York and other select Mitchell & Ness retailers. The hats are really detailed and include career stats, pictures of the players and team logos. If you’re a New York Knicks or Houston Rockets fan then I high recommend getting your hands on one of these sweet fitted hats before they’re gone forever.



Also inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year were former NBA player Adrian Dantley, Detroit Pistons and Shock owner Bill Davidson and former Immaculata University coach Cathy Rush.

Kidrobot - Hugh Hefner Peecol by eBoy

Another sweet toy coming out this October from Kidrobot is eBoy’s Hugh Hefner Peecol. While I don’t really care for Kidrobot’s line of Peecol figures, how can I pass up on a Hugh Hefner designer vinyl toy!?! Even Aly loves Playboy’s main man, so much so that she never misses an episode of E!’s The Girls Next Door.


The Hugh Hefner Peecol leaves the mansion on October 9th pimped out in his requisite red robe, ascot and bunny emblazoned sailor hat on the prowl for his next mate. This figure is sick, and might just force The Blot to purchase his very first Peecol figure. The Playboy Hef Peecol retails for $9.95 and includes an eBoy designed poster.

Kidrobot - Hello I’m Insane 8 Inch Dunny by Huck Gee

Surprisingly, after the release last week of its Dunny Series 5 set the rest of Kidrobot’s September is pretty tame. I couldn’t figure out why that was, but today everything became a whole lot clearer. October is going to be huge!


I don’t usually like to talk about figures this far in advance of their release, but I have to talk about Huck Gee’s newest production 8 inch Dunny, Hello I’m Insane. Originally a custom figure limited to 10 hand painted Dunnys, the Hello I’m Insane figure was based on Huck’s popular Hello My Name Is 8” and 3” vinyl figures. Now, Huck and Kidrobot have decided to share the love and allow more collectors to add one of these incredible figures to their collection.

The Hello I’m Insane 8 Inch Dunny is psychopathic and armless, and comes bound in a bronze clasped, hard-to-remove cotton straightjacket with bloody traces from his pre-asylum days. This deranged Dunny will be released just in time for Halloween on October 30th, 2008, and is limited to just 500 figures! The figure retails for $50 each, and with such a small production run this figure should sell out upon release.