Month: October 2015 (Page 3 of 4)

The PopCult Toybox

LEGO previewed a new property, NEXO KNIGHTS, at New York ComicCon last weekend, and we have the details as NYCC attendees got the first-look at story, products and a gaming app.

LEGO NEXO KNIGHTS bridges physical and digital play with building sets, episodic content and digital gaming. This is a new, original LEGO property depicting a medieval kingdom set in a futuristic world where five young, brave knights “download” special powers to their shields in order to battle the royal court’s evil Jestro and a cast of monsters to restore peace.

The story comes to life through LEGO building sets, an episodic television and a digital gaming app that fuels story-driven gameplay. The property launches later this year, with products available starting January 1, 2016.

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The PopCult Bookshelf Extra

Greg Theakston is one of the world’s foremost authorities on iconic pin-up queen, Bettie Page. Aside from tht, he’s had a very successful career as an illustrator and painter who’s worked with Jack Kirby, Bob Kane and Neal Adams, among many others.  Beginning in the late 1980s Theakston made a name for himself as the publisher and editor of The Betty Pages, a magazine devoted to Bettie Page.

Now, twenty years after he last wrote about her, Theakston is preparing Bettie Page: Lost and Found, which should be the definitive word on one of the most beautiful women of the twentieth century. An IndieGogo campaign is underway to raise the funds for Theakston to finish and publish this book.

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See The Irreplaceables at The Empty Glass October 30 (click to enlarge)

This week the RFC MINI SHOW goes back to the ShockaCon well to bring you The Irreplaceables-Nathan Shrewsbury, Derek Thompson and Bryan Flowers. This new band of area veterans has united to drive their sharp songwriting into powerful new places. All three members were previously in The Big Bad, and this actually marks the fifth band we’ve had on Radio Free Charleston that Bryan Flowers has played with.

You can catch The Irreplaceables live as part of the 17th Annual Halloween Hootenanny at The Empty Glass on Friday, October 30, playing alongside Qiet and Super Heavy Duty. Don’t be surprised if we have these guys back on the show again real soon.

Week kick off this week with a simple digitally-assaulted photograph that shows you what you’ll find if you ever walk to the endpoint of a set of railroad tracks. I haven’t been posting much of my maniplated photography lately, so enjoy this throwback to a style I used a lot in the early days of this blog. As always, click to enlarge.

Check PopCult later Monday Morning for The RFC MINI SHOW starring The Irreplaceables.

The highest-rated show on television returns tonight, and to get you folks ready for that, we are bringing you two short clips that we produced for PopCult earlier this year featuring Rick and his band of plucky survivors. Above you see our tour of Senoia, Georgia, where much of the show is filmed, and where the offiical Walking Dead store is located.

Below is our look at The Walking Dead toys and merchandise that was shown at the International Toy Fair in New York last February. A lot of the stuff we previewed back then will just start showing up in stores over the next few weeks.

The Walking Dead returns tonight on AMC at 9 PM, EDT.

For the next couple of weeks, instead of remastering some of our “missing” episodes of Radio Free Charleston, we’re going to get into the spirit of the season and re-present our classic Halloween shows. If this all seems familiar, it’s probably because we find some way to do this every year.

This week we’ll look at the Halloween specials from our first seven years. You will see classic RFC performances by Clownhole, Whistlepunk, half the Pistol Whippers, Lil’ Guy from South Park Enteprises, Big Money, Go Van Gogh, Under The Radar, and more, plus all sorts of scary animation and guest appearances. Next week we’ll bring you even more RFC Halloween Madness, including what many people consider our finest show.

2006

Our first two-parter, now combined into one show. See Rudy Panucci get killed and resurrected as a ghost.

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We just got graphics for this cool edition of Songwriter Stage. Go check it out, it’s free and the musicians are top-notch!

The PopCult Toybox

If you’ve been reading PopCult over the last few months, then you know that this year has seen quite the revival of Johnny West and The Best of The West action figure line originally made by Marx.  The Best of The West toy line was a mainstay of toy retailers from 1965 to 1975 and the line encompassed well over a dozen figures of Cowboys and Indians.

But another component that added a great deal of play value to the line was the horses.  Starting with Johnny West’s faithful steed, Thunderbolt, and including several different 1/6 scale horses of varying sizes and articulations, the horses were a huge part of the success of The Best of The West line.

Now, some of the original molds for Thunderbolt have been acquired by Stevo’s Toys, and the owner, Steve Corn (AKA “Stevo”), has put Thunderbolt back into production with the trusty steed and his saddle and gear once again made in the USA, sporting details painted by Stevo, himself. .

The first batch of horses were produced in white, a color that Marx never used in the United States back in the day and Stevo has created a few different painted color schemes which he now has for sale.  Finally, customizers who wanted a white horse for The Lone Ranger or (the original) Ghost Rider have the equine of their dreams!

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The Riveting Roses (that’s them in the video above performing the PG-rated version of their show at ShockaCon) bring their R-rated Halloween extravaganza to The V Club in Huntington Thursday night. Doors open at 8 PM, the show starts at 10 PM, it’s an 18 + show and admission is a mere five bucks. There will also be drink specials all night long.

As they promise on their event page, “Riveting Roses Burlesque has an astounding vintage sideshow-inspired burlesque show, just in time for the Halloween season! It’s a little kooky, a little spooky, very sexy and fun for everyone!”  We caught this show at The Empty Glass, and it’s a night of impressive burlesque fun.