Chop Sabers - Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks

This has got to be one of the coolest Star Wars products ever and The Blot will definitely be trying to score some Chop Sabers next week at San Diego Comic Con. Produced by Kotobukiya, these SW lightsaber chopsticks will be making their worldwide debut at SDCC 09 next week.


“Suitable for eating sushi or defending the galaxy, the Luke Skywalker blue and Darth Vader red lightsaber chopsticks measure 9" long and its blades are cast in translucent material. The smaller 'children's sized' Yoda green lightsaber chopsticks measure approximately 7" long.” (link) Each set of Chop Sabers also include a translucent Star Wars logo chopstick rest.


The Chop Sabers will be available for purchase at SDCC next week, but after that there is no word on when these Chop Sabers will go on sale to the general public or their actual price. Hopefully they aren’t too expensive as they would make a great gift for that special sushi eating Star Wars fan in your life.

Boba-Def - Hi-Def Vinyl Figure Star Wars Colorway by kaNO

Star Wars + kaNO has The Blot very, very excited for this upcoming Hi-Def colorway. Officially being release next week at San Diego Comic Con 2009, this Hi-Def Star Wars colorway, also known as Boba-Def, looks sick! (link) As you all know, I love tribute colorways, so of course I’m all over this one. Boba Fett has always been one of favorite Star Wars characters (second only to Lando Calrissian naturally), and his easily identifiable green, red and grey color scheme is perfect for any vinyl figure’s alternative colorway.


kaNO’s Hi-Def Star Wars colorway has a limited run of just 150 figures and will retail for somewhere around $75-100. While being released at Comic-Con, Boba-Def is not a SDCC 09 exclusive. Only a limited supply of Hi-Def’s third colorway will be available at the Con. The remaining figures will go on sale to the general public soon after the convention. For those attending SDCC, you can pick up one of these very cool figures at the ToyQube booth #4837

Green Lantern: Blackest Night Begins Today

DC Comics’ Blackest Night, the most anticipated comic book event of the summer starts today and The Blot is pretty excited. Some would say it actually began last week when the official prologue to Blackest Night, Green Lantern #43, hit newsstands, but if you take that stance there’s an even better argument to be made it started a few months ago when the prelude to The Blackest Night first started. Either way the internet is abuzz about writer Geoff Johns’ upcoming space odyssey and with good reason.


The rest of this blog post will be quasi-spoilerish, so if you haven't read Green Lantern #43 and/or want to go into Blackest Night not knowing anything about the Black Lanterns, stop reading now!



One of the main reasons I’m so excited for Blackest Night is that the mini-series promises to bring back some previously deceased characters to the DC Universe. Unfortunately, unlike most rebirths in comics these characters are staying dead. It looks like the zombie craze, which DC Comics had managed to elude until now, is finally rearing hitting the DCU.



And we’re not just talking second and third stringers here either. Heroes like the Martian Manhunter, Earth-2 Superman, Aquaman and even the original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond will be returning to the DC Universe this summer in zombie form. From the few teaser pictures DC has released, it sounds like every major DC character that is currently dead will soon be drafted into Black Hand’s Black Lanterns. I'm really looking forward to seeing how these characters returning from the grave will affect the rest of the DC Universe.



The Official Blackest Night Preview: Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis raise the dead in the most anticipated comics story of the year! Throughout the decades, death has plagued the DC Universe and taken the lives of heroes and villains alike. But to what end? As the War of Light rages on, the prophecy of the Blackest Night descends upon us, with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps at the center of it all.Don't miss this 8-issue epic taking the DCU beyond the grave! (link)


DC Comics’ Blackest Night #1 is 48 pages long and goes on sale today, Wednesday, July 15th for $3.99.

Johnny Cupcakes x The Goonies T-Shirt

The Blot doesn’t know too much about this latest movie themed t-shirt from Johnny Cupcakes, but who cares. It’s the freaking Goonies! The black, yellow and red Johnny Cupcakes x The Goonies t-shirt seen below features two pretty memorable quotes from the film and the trademark Goonies skull logo.


JC’s The Goonies screening takes place Saturday, July 18th at The Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA. (link) The Johnny Cupcakes x The Goonies t-shirt will go on sale at the Johnny Cupcakes online store shortly thereafter. Most likely, the Johnny Cupcakes x The Goonies tribute shirt will retail for $35.99.

Marvel Comics 70th Anniversary Frame Variant Covers

In November 1986 Marvel Comics celebrated its 25th Anniversary by giving every comic book released that month (29 books in all) a special 25th Anniversary cover. This “special” cover included a head shot featuring a Marvel character from that title surrounded by a frame/border made up of the company’s most prominent characters from that time period. As a kid I really liked these 25th Anniversary covers and I know a lot of collectors enjoyed them as well. If you’ve never seen one before check out these covers from 1986: The West Coast Avengers #14 featuring Hawkeye and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #53 featuring Snake Eyes.


Now it’s 2009, and while the math doesn’t exactly work out right, Marvel is celebrating its 70th Anniversary this year. To celebrate this historic milestone Marvel is bringing back its Anniversary covers! (link) According to Marvel.com, “this August all ongoing Marvel Comics series will have a 70th Anniversary Variant featuring a frame by superstar artist Jim Cheung. These 70th Anniversary Frame Variants will also feature an iconic shot of a Marvel character from that title by another of Marvel's talented superstar artists.” (link)



While I am a little disappointed these new 70th Anniversary frame covers are only variant covers, it is cool Marvel is honoring its past by bringing back these frame/border covers from 1986. Who doesn’t love a little retro cool mixed in with their monthly books? The only difference this time around seems to be that each cover will feature the character’s entire body instead of just a head shot.



If you’re interested in checking out all 21 of Marvel’s 70th Anniversary frame variant covers click here.

Threadless - “A Very Naughty Bear” Winnie the Pooh Themed T-Shirt

This is definitely not your parents Pooh bear! Threadless has released a new Winnie the Pooh inspired t-shirt that features all of your favorite characters from the Hundred Acre Wood entitled “A Very Naughty Bear.” While this tee is probably not for children, it is a pretty cool reimagining of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit and Eeyore as vicious, rabid animals. Who would win in a fight between a real life Winnie the Pooh and Tigger is anyone’s guess, but I think we can all agree Eeyore would last longer than Piglet!

A Very Naughty Bear T-Shirt by Roni Lagin & Mo Moussa

The Winnie the Pooh themed t-shirt “A Very Naughty Bear” is currently for sale on Threadless.com for $18 each and comes in both guys and girls sizes.

Muttpop - SDCC 09 Exclusive Puro Edition TCHO! Figures

French Artist Ohm will be flying across the Atlantic this week to attend San Diego Comic Con and The Blot is pretty excited. To mark the special occasion, Muttpop will be releasing in very limited quantities a SDCC 2009 exclusive set of Puro Edition Tcho! figures. Ohm did the redesigns for the popular Tcho! mini figure series Muttpop released earlier this year and will be on hand throughout the weekend to autograph this new Tcho! colorway.


DKE will be selling a very small amount of complete sets (5 figures plus a bonus figure) of the Tcho! Puro colorway figures at its SDCC 09 booth #4732 for $60. Individual figures will be available for $15 each, with each character sold at a different signing throughout the convention. Best of all, collectors will have five opportunities to get Ohm to customize and doodle on your Puro Edition Tcho! figures. Each character is limited to 50 figures each, so if there is a particular character you want to add to your collection make sure to get to each signing early.


The Ohm/Muttpop San Diego Comic Con 2009 Signing Schedule:
Friday, July 24th
Toy Qube Booth #4837 at 1pm (Tcho! character Moko)
DKE Booth #4732 at 4pm (Tcho! character Malika)

Saturday, July 25th
Munky King Booth #4539 at 11am (Tcho! character Jubbei)
Rotofugi Booth #4930 at 2pm (Tcho! character Captain Biceps)
DKE Booth #4732 at 4pm (Tcho! character Lou)

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Season 5, Part II Premiere - Chile

I could have sworn No Reservations wasn’t returning until August, but much to The Blot’s surprise I just found out Tony comes back tonight with an all new episode! How great is that? Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Season 5, Part 2 premieres tonight, Monday, July 13 on the Travel Channel at 10/9c. This season finds Tony visiting a slew of all new locations including multiple cities throughout the United States, as well as Australia, Sardinia and Thailand. To kick the season off though, Tony travels to Chile.


During Bourdain’s trip to Chile, Tony visits Fuente Alemana, a restaurant serving German pints and Lomidos, a monstrous sandwich of pork, avocado, and mayonnaise. Tony then indulges his obsession with pork by dining at El Hoyo, a restaurant specializing in all forms of pork, pork skin, and extraneous pig bits. If you’re not hungry already, check out this clip from tonight’s episode. In the video Tony stops by Sibaritico's to try a local favorite: a foot-long hot dog drenched in tomatoes, sauerkraut and guacamole in a mega bun.



The episode continues as Tony enjoys a rodeo, some shopping at a bustling market in the Estacion Central and enjoys local specialties such as caldopata (hoof soup), chunchules (fried intestines), and pastel de choco (corn pie).

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations airs every Monday night at 10/9c on the Travel Channel.

Threadless - “Beat It” Michael Jackson Inspired T-Shirt

A few readers of The Blot Says… wrote in earlier this week asking why I hadn’t commented on the untimely death of the King of Pop. While I did post some of my thoughts on MJ’s passing on my Twitter page, I ultimately decided not to write about Michael Jackson’s death here on The Blot Says… because I felt (and still do) like the media coverage of this sad event has gone completely overboard and I didn’t want to add to that.

Beat It by Adam Benjamin White

With that being said, I thought it was a nice tribute by (and also a bit opportunistic of) Threadless to reprint its Michael Jackson inspired t-shirt Beat It. “Beat It” the song has always been The Blot’s favorite Michael Jackson songs and what child of the 80’s didn’t want to own one of MJ’s classic red leather zipper jackets? Well now you can in t-shirt form. Threadless has already sold out of a few sizes, but at $18 per shirt I have a feeling they will keep reprinting this tee for as long as demand is high. R.I.P. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

Kidrobot - SDCC 09 Exclusive Wood Labbit by Amanda Visell & Frank Kozik

Kidrobot’s third and final exclusive of San Diego Comic Con 2009, the Wood Labbit, is a sick collaboration of two killer artists with very different styles. Amanda Visell takes the iconic Labbit into wild territory with this SDCC 09 Exclusive. This 5 inch woodland creature, the first Labbit designed by an artist other than creator Frank Kozik, roams the forest with an axe in place of his missing ear. After losing his ear to Kozeek, a deranged lumberjack, the Wood Labbit devises a quite appetizing plan for revenge.


The Amanda Visell x Kidrobot x Frank Kozik Wood Labbit will be released on July 25th exclusively at San Diego Comic Con at KR’s SDCC Booth #4529. The 5” vinyl figure has a limited edition production run of only 300 figures and will retail for $50 each.


Kidrobot will be hosting a very special signing at their SDCC Booth (#4529) in honor of this figure’s release on Saturday, July 25th from 1pm-3pm with both Amanda Visell and Frank Kozik in attendance.