Digesting And Spewing Pop Culture Into Your Face

This is another piece I’ve picked up recently. My love for Metroid and the sexy heroine Samus Aran started when I was very young. I read about her exploits in the first Nintendo Power

and never actually got my hands on the game until I was much older. Looking back, Nintendo Power was a revolutionary marketing gimmick and my impressionable young self fell for it hook, line and sinker. I mean where else could you get the latest and best info on all of the games you knew you should’ve had but more often than not you would have to resign yourself to renting at best. Nintendo Power offered that hope and the tangible feeling of still being involved in their community. It also fostered the love of Nintendo fanboys that eventually resulted in a passionate and vocal majority today throughout the internet. I can still remember putting the NES Lightgun right up to the screen while playing Duck Hunt and resetting the score number on the bottom of the screen. I then sent a picture of me posing with my triumphantly cheated score into Nintendo power hoping that someone would realize my gaming genius and post my picture in the letters section at the beginning of the magazine. That never happened (the score counter being at zero instead of 1 million probably didn’t help)

Back to the topic at hand though. I really first learned to love the Metroid series when I played the Gameboy Advance games Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid: Fusion, with Zero Mission being a remake of the original NES Metroid. Through those games I realized the joy and fun of exploring these worlds and opening up new areas by upgrading Samus the heroine. Now to also understand the cultural impact of Metroid we have to look at the fact that in the 80′s videogame protagonists were often dominated by action hero types and were mostly male. I mean take a look at these manly NES carts:

Double the manliness…

The amazing thing about Metroid was the fact that upon beating the game the hero was revealed to be a heroine and the whole time you spent blowing the shit out of aliens a woman was the hard ass in the awesome suit. Here is that amazing reveal:

Needless to say that these games are amazing. Now more recently I discovered the awesome model Garage Kits and the beauty posted above. The problem with Garage Kits is that they are usually limited runs due to the indie nature of them and they are also fairly expensive because of the limited run. Additionally the ones I seem to like (videogame related) are mostly made in Japan. This can make getting them difficult. Upon finding the Dimension Diver Samus Aran I wanted to get it but the normal second hand sellers were out and to get one would have cost upwards of $500. Way too much for my tastes. Like most things I waited for a bit and eventually stumbled upon Tatsu Hobby. This awesome independent seller had recast and manufactured there own versions of the model and were also selling them at a reasonable price.  I got it and put it together and it is as awesome as it looks in pictures. The thing I really love about this model is that it has ball joints and therefore articulates at all the major joints. I’ll eventually get around to painting it but for now I’m just happy that I put it together. The only thing that could be better would be if they would come out with all of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl characters on the roster:

Here’s some more pics:

In pieces before assembly:

Action Pose!!!

Up Close…

This is a great idea and also a great cause. It never ceases to amaze me the community of indie game developers who often make sacrifices both personal and financial to get good games to people. Follow this link to The Humble Indie Bundle and you can donate whatever amount you want and get these 6 indie developed games. The money can be split evenly between the developers and charities involved, Child’s Play being the Penny Arcade duo’s great charity. These are great games and your donation can go to a great cause. Thanks and keep gaming…

This concept art by deviantART user Kalapusa is a prelude to a practical sculpture he will build. This guy has done some amazing sculptural art before with a Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros.

and a Goomba Trooper:

(nice ass cheeks…)

I can’t wait for the sculpture of this Metroid and I’ll keep you updated when it hits.

Of course anything conceptualized from Nintendo is better than this abortion:

I’ll just post some quick praise to Mr. Frazetta as his works speaks for him. His art inspired the concept of fantasy worlds and hardened muscular heroes saving buxom beautiful women. I recommend an amazing documentary called Frazetta: Painting with Fire that gives great insight into the talented artist. The iconic image of Conan and how he looks only exists because of him. Rest In Peace.

There have been various posts on this already throughout the internets but I figured I have a singular point of view on this as I actually purchased this amazing plush. When I first saw a picture of the Lion-O a few months ago I immediately did a Google Search on it and a multitude of Blog Posts popped up. There was mention of it being in an art show and some brief descriptions of it and the artist, Chelsea Bloxsom. After seeing a myriad of amazing pictures and then seeing a picture of someone holding it and the immense size of it I wanted it. I’d attempted to buy pop culture art pieces before at shows like I Am 8 Bit but came to the realization that art show pieces are inevitably expensive and often get picked up pretty fast. I’d resigned myself to the fact that this piece was probably long gone into someone’s collection and I’d missed out on owning it. With my interests piqued in regards to the amazing Thundercats cartoon, I decided to do some investigating on ebay and other sites where I could get me some 80′s cartoon nostalgia fix. My last stop was a longshot but I’d found some cool pop culture stuff at Etsy, most notably my Plush Companion Cube

and Nightcrawler Circus poster print.

As I typed in “Thundercats” to the search bar I was blissfully unaware that I was going to stumble on the prized possession itself. Lo and behold a single page of items popped up, mostly T-Shirts and trinkets but there it was. The exact Lion-O plush that had originally piqued my interest. I immediately and furiously clicked on it and then the shock of the price hit me…. $195 plus $8 shipping…. I was a little disappointed but I decided to favorite the seller and the item and then the classic push and pull of buying an expensive item took hold of me. Now many people would think a plush Thundercat doll would not constitute such agony of an emotional whirlwind but I have a peculiar syndrome where I want to buy shit that most people would consider, A.) Childish and B.) Childish. I waited a few days and checked on the Lion-O occasionally just looking at the pictures of it (longingly and sort of  creepily obsessively). After a few days  the price had dropped to a (reasonable?) $150. Somehow this new price struck me as a deal so I immediately put it into my cart and away we go. Upon receiving it, I was as giddy as a schoolgirl.

The Sword of Omens is separate from the plush and sticks into his right hand by velcro.

“Sight Beyond Sight and some such shit….”

The stitching and detail is amazing….. and the arms are articulated so they move up and down.

It now resides on my shelf with some of my other toys and stuff and it is most definitely as cool as it looks

.

On a side note I commissioned the artist, Chelsea of Love & A Sandwich to make a companion Mumm-Ra piece that should look just as awesome next to Lion-O. Here’s some preview pics to whet your appetite.

And a final tidbit of Thundercat knowledge, the great James Lipton of Inside the Actors Studio wrote the theme song to the Thundercats cartoon which is perhaps the best cartoon theme song ever!!!!! Thanks you lovable Bastard!!!

So….. I’ve delved into the world of blogging… I’m sorta nervous and really excited and kind of drained from just having to figure out how to get WordPress going. I can say that I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure to bring you the insight and love that I have for everything to do with Pop Culture. I’ve been raised on TV, Movies, Videogames, Music, Art and everything else in between and I live, eat and breath these things so hopefully the fresh perspective will hit you just right. So here’s to a new beginning and something fresh…. STAY TUNED!!!