It’s been rumored for a few months, but LEGO has officially announced a Scooby-Doo line of toys, coming this August. That will get them on shelves well in time for Halloween, and replace the Monster Fighters theme they had in 2013-2014. They based the designs on the classic “Scooby-Doo” series that goes all the way back to 1969, instead of the misbegotten, ill-designed “Be Cool, Scooby-Doo” assaulting Cartoon Network viewers this year. I mean really. If you click on that link, be warned. Ugliness happens. 

The first five sets include:

• Mummy Museum Mystery
• Mystery Plane Adventures
• The Mystery Machine
• Haunted Lighthouse
• Mystery Mansion

The sets range in price from $12.99 to $89.99, and if you want all five members of the Mystery, Inc. gang, you’d need to buy the Mystery Machine (which everyone on the planet should want anyway) and the Mystery Mansion, which is the only set that includes Velma. And is of course the most expensive set. Addicts like me will be buying them all anyway, but if you’re a more casual fan, every set has Shaggy and Scooby, and every set has some kind of ghost/monster/park ranger-dressed-as-a-villain. 

With the toys of course, there will be a LEGO “movie” broadcast on Cartoon Network and then released on DVD/Blu-Ray with an exclusive minifigure…so we’ll watch for those later. Will this turn into another video game, like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman and Marvel Superheroes? I’m guessing a lot of us are hoping for that. For now, I’ll start saving up for the toys. Because these look damn sweet.

Funko ReAction Figures, multiple series and licenses, $9.99. Limited availability.

This fall I stumbled across the first ReAction figure I had ever seen. It was Sloth from “The Goonies,” but it looked like it had been made in the early 1980’s. Stiff and poorly sculpted, with a basic paint job, it only had hip and shoulder joints. It looked for all the world like my beloved old Kenner Star Wars action figures from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yeah, I’m that old, and I had tons of those toys. I still love them. This Sloth–where had it come from? Some kind of time warp where Kenner had made “Goonies” action figures? I turned the action figure packaging over to look at the back–and there was an entire lineup! Data, Chunk, Mikey…they were all there. What. The. Frick. I didn’t buy Sloth, because when all is said and done, that wasn’t a movie I grew up with. But I had to find out what was going on. 

The line of toys was from Funko, most famous for their highly stylized vinyl figures and bobbleheads. There are hundreds of the Funko Pop! toys out there for just about every property imagineable. I did some lookin’ and found their lines of ReAction Figures…and was blown away. You can see galleries of all of them at their website: Alien, Back to the Future, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Escape from New York, Firefly, The Goonies, modern and vintage horror movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Predator, Pulp Fiction, The Rocketeer, Terminator…holy crap I love it. 

A few examples:

Okay, I’ll stop. I’ll stop there. Because I want to post every single one of these. I mean…they’ve got Wash from “Firefly,” and he has tiny dinosaur toys as accessories! They have the frigging Gimp from “Pulp Fiction!” They have Sarah Connor, they have Pinhead, they have a transparent Predator! …I could drop a lot of money on this line of toys.

Even though I saw my first ReAction figure at Target, these can be hard to find in the wild. Barnes and Noble seems to carry them in every store (they have the best selection of Funko merchandise overall), but they’re also at many local comic book shops and specialty stores. At Barnes and Noble they retail for $9.99, which is fair considering the nostalgia, the attention to Kenner-like detail. 

So far the only ReAction figure I’ve bought is the Rocketeer. Partially because I love the movie, but I love the design. The aesthetic. The art on the card, the action figure itself, the feeling it gives me of being a kid again. I want to bust it open, but I can’t yet. It’s hanging on the wall of my cubicle next to a Captain America (both directed by Joe Johnston, coincidentally) and above some LEGO and other things that remind me about how great it is to be a geek. 

Now that I’ve written this, pretty sure on my lunch break I’m going to go pick up a Mal Reynolds. And Buffy Summers. And Marty McFly. Aaaaahhh dammit. Merry Christmas to myself, I guess. 

I was just about to hit “publish” on this sucker, and decided to look up Funko’s lineup for 2015. Here’s what’s in the hopper (get ready to squee like the geek you are) …including a lot of movies/television shows that have never had action figures before.

Funko ReAction Figures 2015

• Jaws
• Star Trek
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• The Dark Crystal
• Gremlins
• Breaking Bad
• Boondock Saints

Those “Dark Crystal” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” mofos are coming home with pappy. 

Yesterday a German LEGO catalog was released that showcased the six “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” sets that will be coming this spring. With the movie coming in May, expect these to be hitting store shelves in April. 2012’s wave of LEGO sets included all of the major characters and some key vehicles; there were also some noticeable absences, like Nick Fury (or Agent Coulson)(or Maria Hill) and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, but overall it was a solid wave. This one seems to be more of the same. Without knowing exactly what’s going to be going down in “Age of Ultron,” I’m not sure if these include spoilers or not, but they don’t seem to give away anything that wasn’t already seen in the trailer.  Either way, you’ve been warned.

Here’s what we’ve got–the translations might be rough considering they’re from the German catalog, but you get the idea. 

Iron Man vs Ultron: Iron Man Mark 45, Ultron Drone Officer, Ultron Drone

Duel with Hydra: Thor, Hawkeye, Hydra Henchman

Hulkbuster Rescue Mission: Hulk, Ultron Prime, Iron Man Mark 43, Scarlet Witch

The Avengers Quinjet Chase: Captain America, Vision, Black Widow, Ultimate Ultron, Iron Man Mark 43

Attack on Avengers Tower: Iron Man Mark 45, Thor, Iron Legion Drones (2x), Ultron

Burglary at the Hydra Fortress: Quicksilver, Hydra Henchman, Baron Von Strucker, Hulk, Captain America

So that’s that. The prices in the catalog are in euros, but those usually are converted 1:1 into dollars, screwing the Europeans (and the Australians even worse, poor bastards). To buy all six sets you’d be laying out about $280. Let’s say you just wanted to get all of the Avengers — Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Vision, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Welp, you’ll have to buy every set except for the smallest (Iron Man vs. Ultron) and Attack on Avengers Tower. Which would drop your total to around $200. More reasonable, but still. LEGO loves spreading out a team across several expensive sets, which is why I still don’t have all five Guardians of the Galaxy. They also ensured Black Widow would be the rarest Avenger, only including her in the most expensive set…just like they did in 2012. 

All that whining aside, this looks like a great way to represent the action, the characters, vehicles and set pieces in the movie. That Avengers Tower is especially sexy, and the Hulkbuster suit is just begging to come home with me. I won’t buy all of these sets, but those two are sure bets. And that Quinjet is damn sexy…and I love Baron Von Strucker…and…

Time to sell more plasma. 

This morning The LEGO Group announced the next sets that their LEGO Ideas division will be producing. LEGO Ideas (formerly LEGO CUUSOO) is a crowdsourcing platform that has LEGO fans pitch ideas via their website. If a proposal gets 10,000 votes, it goes into a lengthy review process to see if LEGO actually wants to make it. Things have gotten the boot over licensing issues, over safety concerns, over pricing estimates–things like that.

Previous LEGO Ideas proposals are where we’ve gotten some of the geek-favorite LEGO sets of the last few years, including the first LEGO Minecraft sets, Ghostbusters’ ECTO-1, The DeLorean Time Machine from “Back to the Future,” the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover, Exo Suit, and Research Institute. These are insanely beautiful sets for the discriminating LEGO fan. I can’t believe I just typed that. 

The latest review period just ended, and instead of just choosing one LEGO set to be produced, they chose two. The one that will get all the buzz (hell, I’m putting it into the title of this article) is “The Big Bang Theory.” Details like exactly how the model will be designed, the characters included and the pricing are all still to be determined, but they’re moving forward with it. These are the images that the designers submitted to LEGO Ideas to get the votes…so you can expect something along these lines to be released in 2015.

Personally, I’m lukewarm on it. I like the show okay, although I don’t watch it on a regular basis. It’s the number one sitcom in the country right now, and has been for a few years, so economically it makes sense to be made. It just doesn’t seem to have much value or play value as a LEGO set. Not a whole lot to swoosh. Still, having minifigure versions of favorite characters and their apartment is kinda cool. Would they have made this for “Seinfeld” or “Friends”? Probably not. There’s enough crossover in the “Big Bang Theory” and LEGO and geek demographics, this should sell well. 

The other project is the one that I think is more interesting–LEGO Birds. These are beautifully designed lifelike birds. The designer has over twenty birds built in different series — British Birds, Tropical Birds and North American Birds. I’m not ordinarily into birds (I mean, who is?), but as a LEGO fan these are really extraordinary. I kind of like that they’re more like sculptures than Minifigure-scaled sets, and although we don’t know yet how many birds will be produced in a set or what the price point will be, I can see them including three birds in a set for $20.00, and if that sells, producing more down the road. They’ve done that with Minecraft, they may do it with others.

There are some other LEGO Ideas sets from this same review period still under consideration–there are two competing Doctor Who sets that have been under review for nearly a year now. I’m really hoping they get approved. There are some terrible Doctor Who minifigure-style toys out there, but having legit LEGO Doctors and companions and Daleks and Cybermen and Weeping Angels and Ood and…well, it’d be nice. 

There are two times of year it’s most exciting to be a fan of the DC Super Heroes line of LEGO sets. One is June, when a new wave of LEGO sets is released; the other is January. When a new wave of LEGO sets is released. This coming January I’m more excited than usual, because LEGO is finally breaking away from its Batmania that started in 2006. At this point we’ve seen over a dozen different Batman villains (each of whom I love in their own special way), and at least that many different Batman minifigures (who I also love, but think there should be more Robins, Nightwings, Batgirls, Commissioner Gordon…you get the idea). LEGO has had a broader DC Comics license for a few years now, and this winter they’re finally expanding their ranks with a proper Justice League line of LEGO sets. This is a preview of four of the five sets we’ll be getting at the beginning of January. The price has been made public for the Green Lantern set–all of the others are my estimates based on the number of LEGO pieces and minifigures included. 

Green Lantern vs Sinestro 174 pieces, $19.99

Minfigures: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Sinestro, Space Batman

I’ll probably say this about every set, but this is one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. LEGO released their only Green Lantern minifigure as an exclusive at San Diego Comic Con a few years back, and it’s bugged me ever since. They made him a character in last spring’s “The LEGO Movie,” but still no minifig. So he’s long overdue, and as a key member of the Justice League, it’s about frigging time. The set is a “Green Lantern spaceship” built using mostly green and transparent green pieces to look like one of his ring constructs. There’s also a Green Lantern power battery inside a protective forcefield of some kind. The minifigures are a Hal Jordan Green Lantern and a Sinestro Corps-uniformed Sinestro. There’s also Batman in a spacesuit, which is a new variant of Batman we haven’t had before. A great set at a fair enough price point that Certain Obsessed Fans will probably buy multiples of to grow their Green Lantern Corps and Sinestro Corps. Really, I wish they had added one alien Green Lantern, like Tomar Re or Kilowog instead of Batman, but hey. Batman sells. 

Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas 347 pieces, approx $39.99

Minifigures: Flash, Batman, Wonder Woman, Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Truck Driver

This set has more minifigures than any of the others in this series, including the sets with twice the number of LEGO pieces and twice the price. So if you’re in it for the little dudes, this might be one to look at. The Flash-themed set has Flash, Wonder Woman and Batman teaming up to fight two of the Flash supervillains, Gorilla Grodd and Captain Cold. There’s also a hapless truck driver who was driving a banana truck before Grodd lost his shit. See, he’s an ape, and…never mind. Grodd himself is what LEGO nerds have started calling “bigfigs” — characters like the Hulk who are still supposed to be humanoid-shaped, but are too large to be adequately realized as a traditional minifigure. I like them, even though sometimes they end up looking grossly out of scale to the other characters. Grodd looks like a generic huge gorilla, without his sometimes-traditional mind control cap or purple cape. I like him that way. Flash and Batman are both pretty much what you’d expect, as is Captain Cold. Batman does come with a big-ass Bat-mech, which I believe is the first time we’ve seen one of those. Kinda digging it. Wonder Woman comes with her invisible jet, which is something I’ve been looking forward to forever…and then I saw it, and was underwhelmed. And a little pissed off. I mean, this is finally the invisible jet we’re going to have, and the only one we’ll ever get…and it’s this?? I mean…that’s not even shaped like a jet! It took my ten year old son pointing out to me that they made it a “W” shape like the Wonder Woman logo for me to get behind it. I’ve almost accepted it. Almost. It’s also the “New 52” version of Wonder Woman, with a slightly different costume than the classic WW; if you’re looking for that, you can pick her up right now at Amazon in a $15 set that also includes Superman and Lex Luthor in an awesome armored mech. You should do that. Before it goes away forever.

Black Manta Deep Sea Strike 387 pieces, approx $49.99

Minifigures: Aquaman, Black Manta, Batman, Scuba Robin

This is a set I never thought I’d see. Aquaman’s a personal favorite superhero of mine (I’ve dressed up like him at least three times)(recently)(like last week), and anything that gets an Aquaman minifigure out there is great. But I never thought I’d see Black Manta. Manta is Aquaman’s nemesis, and I dig his freaky helmet, his submarine, his robotic voice, his murdering of Aquababy…love that guy. Anyway. This gets us the Manta submarine, classic versions of Aquaman and Black Manta, and a new Batsub, Batman, and Scuba Robin. There’s a small “Penguin vs Batman” set that has Batman in scuba gear, so if you want your dynamic duo to match, pick that up now. Plus it has a kickass Rubber Duckie vehicle for the Penguin. You can’t go wrong. 

Darkseid Invasion 545 pieces, approx $69.99

Minifigures: Superman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, Hawkman, Darkseid

The largest set revealed so far features a Justice League Javelin — a spaceship introduced in the “Justice League” cartoons that’s had some staying power. It gives us another bigfig in Darkseid, with Justice Leaguers Superman, Green Arrow, Cyborg and Hawkman teaming up to stop him. Darkseid’s on a hover sled of some kind, but going it solo; in my opinion he should have a pair of parademons helping him out. And Kalibak. And Desaad. And Steppenwolf. And Granny Goodness. And the Furies. And…you get the idea. But hey, it’s one of Superman’s archenemies, and since we’ve been fighting the inmates of Arkham Asylum for a decade, it’s about frigging time that Kryptonian got his. Cyborg and Hawkman came out of left field for me, because they both require newly sculpted headpieces, which is something LEGO doesn’t do lightly. They’re here, and I’m happy. Would I have liked to add Hawkgirl to that mix? Heck yes. Will I cry into my pillow about it at night? Maybe. 

Brainiac Attack (number of pieces, price unknown)

Minifigures: Superman, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Brainiac

The final set we don’t know much about. It will be a LEGO Store exclusive, which can be bought at the brick and mortar LEGO Stores, or online at LEGO.com. We know it has at least the characters listed above, but possibly others as well. My hope is that it has a version of Brainac’s Skull Ship. Because if not, it’s a wasted opportunity to introduce an iconic vehicle from the DC Universe. Bring it. 

In summary, if you bought every one of these sets, your teams would look like this:

Justice League

• Superman
• Batman (x3)
• Wonder Woman
• Green Lantern
• Flash
• Aquaman
• Green Arrow
• Cyborg
• Hawkman
• Martian Manhunter
• Supergirl
• Robin

Legion of Doom

• Darkseid
• Brainiac
• Black Manta
• Captain Cold
• Gorilla Grodd
• Sinestro

…not too shabby. I could list characters for hours that should or could be included; I’d really like Wonder Woman’s archenemy Cheetah to be included, I’d like more female superheroes like Hawkgirl, Black Canary and Zatanna, they need more of this or that–but this is a damn good start. They’ve gone from having an all-Batman lineup to a more comprehensive roster…with three new Batman variants thrown in. Because the reality is, Batman is Batman, and kids will bug Mom and Dad to buy him before they will the fishy guy in orange and green tights. But those kids will play with the fishy guy, and the bird guy, and the guy who runs fast, and the lady in the transparent, but not quite invisible, plane. And they’ll love them. 

The Simpsons LEGO Minifigures $2.99 – $3.99 Available at www.lego.com, LEGO Stores, Target, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, other major retailers. Blind packaging, limited release.

It caught LEGO fans by surprise. The rumors about a “Simpsons” line of LEGO sets popped up about a month before it suddenly appeared last winter, as a LEGO Store exclusive. The Simpsons House playset cost about $200, and raised the question: Would LEGO put that much expense into making new sculpts for the six minifigures in the set if they weren’t going to do something else with them? Until very recently LEGO has been reluctant to make non-standard minifigures. Including six new sculpts in one set may be unprecedented. But with no other playsets on the horizon, what was the future of the Simpsons line?

For now, the future is the line of sixteen minifigures, currently in stores. They come blind-packaged in plastic pouches, so you don’t know which character you’re buying until you open it up. Unless you’re really good at fondling packages (yeah, I went there), in which case you can usually suss out which character you’ve picked up, with few repeat purchases.  LEGO has been releasing minifigures as collectibles since 2010, but “The LEGO Movie” and “The Simpsons” are the first licensed properties they’ve done. It’s a perfect way to populate your LEGO Springfield. 

a perfect way to populate your LEGO springfield

The sixteen characters included in the lineup: 

• Homer Simpson
• Marge Simpson
• Bart Simpson
• Lisa Simpson
• Maggie Simpson
• Grampa Simpson
• Ned Flanders
• Krusty the Clown
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Ralph Wiggum
• Chief Wiggum
• Apu NassfhefIdontwantolookthisup
• Nelson Muntz
• Mr. Burns
• Itchy
• Scratchy

Those are some solid choices; those are characters that are central to the series, but that you’d also want to include in any Springfield scenes that you’d be building out of LEGO, or sliding into your Star Wars or Batman or Christmas Village scenarios. There are some variations on the six characters that came with the house–the five members of the Simpson family and Ned Flanders. The minifigures from the house have lowered eyelids, making them all look either sneaky or (in my opinion) a little bit high. Homer has the necktie that he wears to work; Marge and Flanders are both wearing aprons. In contrast, the individually packaged minifigures are the “classic” version of the characters. Eyes wide open, no necktie, no aprons. 

A problem some people have with the Simpsons as minifigures is the same that people had with the Simpsons action figures from Playmates a few years back–they don’t look “right” in three dimensions. “The Simpsons” is one of the most two-dimensional cartoons currently on the air, and seeing characters who are usually flat as fully-sculpted figurines…they don’t necessarily look like you’re used to seeing them. That said, these are some amazing minifigures. The colors are perfect, they’re surprisingly proportional as LEGO people; and personally I love having Mr. Burns with Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish, and Maggie with her beat-up teddy bear (once shared with Monty). 

My favorite characters in the lineup are also my favorite characters on the show–the kids. Milhouse, Ralph Wiggum, Lisa and Bart, even the bully Nelson. Before the series shifted to become more and more Homer-centric, a lot of the show happened at the elementary school, and the kids made me laugh more than the adults did. Ralph’s sad-but-cute-but-hopeful Valentine to Lisa? “I choo-choo-choose you!” Amazing. I love the details that they worked into the accessories as much as the characters themselves.

Will these sixteen characters be the beginning and end of the population of Springfield? Personally, I’d love to see a Simpsons Series 2, with an additional sixteen minifigures. I assume a few of them would be variants on characters we’ve already got, but there are still dozens of other characters who seem like they’d fit the bill. If I were in charge of the lineup, here’s who I’d pick:

• Radiation Suit Homer
• Daredevil Bart
• Waylon Smithers
• Sideshow Bob
• Principal Skinner
• Edna Krabapple
• Groundskeeper Willie
• Moe
• Barney
• Mayor Quimby
• Comic Book Guy

…that’s eleven. Who would fill the remaining five slots? Variants of Lisa and Marge? Rod and Tod Flanders? Rich kid Martin Prince? Sherri and Terri (really only one minifigure, just buy two of them)? Bus Driver Otto? Patty and Selma? Lenny and Carl? Reverend Lovejoy? Troy McClure? Bumblebee Man? Dr. Hibbert? Dr. Nick? Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy? …whoever has to make those decisions will run into some problems when they get to the C-listers. I also wonder if LEGO would run afoul of uptight Protect the Children groups with a bartender and drunk, but they got Itchy and Scratchy made, so maybe they can do it. 

Some problems with the C-listers

I’m not the biggest fan of “The Simpsons.” I like it fine, I have fond memories of it, I think it’s a great show. But I don’t watch it much. What I’d really hope to come from this–and what will never happen–is a line of “Futurama” LEGO. The characters, a Planet Express spaceship…I won’t go on. Because it’s too sad to contemplate a world that can’t come about.

If you’re looking at picking up the Simpsons minifigures, you’ll need to act soon. They’re still available at Target, Wal-Mart, the LEGO Stores, and online at LEGO.com. But not for long. They’ve been out for a while now, and each of these waves of minifigures is only on the shelves for three months. The twelfth series of the “regular” LEGO minifigures is starting to come in and push the Simpsons out. So get them while the getting’s good. 

It’s birthday time for SuperHeroStuff.com. I know, I know… you totally forgot and didn’t get them anything. It happens to the best of us. Luckily for you, SHS takes the mantra, it is better to give than to receive, to heart. By way of celebrating finally being old enough to get that learner’s permit, they’ve got gifts for all of you. 

Through September 24, you can get 15% off everything in their online store. In addition to that, there are daily deals going on with additional savings. Need a cool new t-shirt or hoody? Maybe you need a poster for your room, or a coffee mug for the office. Or maybe you’ve got your eye on that sweet new action figure of that one guy from that one thing. Snikt! Bam! Pow! They’ve got it all. 

We at Big Shiny Robot love SuperHeroStuff, so help us celebrate their Quinceañera and buy a gift for yourself. 

In the last several months we’ve been teased by a blurry table shot and a couple of posters, oh yeah, and there were some trailers. Let’s face it, there isn’t much mystery left surrounding the appearance of the “TMNT” or their world, but we never did get a clear shot at what those toys looked like. Until now.

Thanks to Action Figure Fury and Ninja Pizza we’ve got a pretty good look at the toys.

We’ve gotten a decent look at most of the characters in the trailer so these toys shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, and they all look pretty sweet if you ask me. Except for Splinter. 

He looks kind of derpy, not gonna’ lie. 

Local residents of the Wasatch front who have been hankering for some traditional gaming rejoice because the end of this month is SaltCON. We bots are like the human species in that we love to game. The traditional game night has been largely replaced by video gaming but not when it comes to socializing. Sure there have been some great party games for game consoles in recent years, but for conversation and gritty competitiveness, nothing beats traditional gaming. That being said, traditional gaming is boring if the only games you’ve been exposed to are Chess, Checkers, Uno, Go Fish, Scrabble and Monotony (AKA Monopoloy). What’s more is that those interesting games you’ve seen on display at a comic shop, game shop or a Barnes and Noble can be quite expensive.

No one wants to get home with a complex game no one is going to enjoy that costs well over fifty dollars. SaltCON attendees are exposed to all kinds of games for social scenarios of all varieties. There are games for fantasy fans, card game fans, fans of traditional board games or table-top and even some you can play while drinking. The vendors and fellow attendees bring out the big guns and demo them for the interested. Playing a game, especially with someone that can teach you the rules, is a great way to find out if the cash you’re thinking of ponying up will be worth it. You can also find a game or set of games that you know your group of friends and family will enjoy for years to come.

For those that are competitive SalCON will be hosting events like tournaments and casual throw downs. If you’re the kind of person that has their own set of dice or decks of <insert trading card game here>, then those events are for you. If you are certain you want to play in a tournament though, you’ll want to head over to their event sign up now to beat the rush. For those that know they’re on the lookout for a great game, go check out the list of exhibitors here.

SaltCON 2014 will be held in the same place the recent Anime Banzai conventions have been at the Davis Conference Center in Layton. The event area is warm and welcoming with plenty of parking and nearby restaurants. Expect to find local deals at the area Roosters, Corbins, Holy Smokes, Panda Express, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble and more, all within a very short walking distance of the convention center. Anyone who thinks the trip from the South end of the Wasatch front is too far will be happy to know that the Davis Convention Center is connected to a Hilton Garden Inn Hotel with reasonable rates for conference attendees. There’s a great bar connected to the convention center and the hotel that is a fun time for anyone that likes to dance, regardless of if you drink or not. The bar is of course for adults only and you must be 21 years of age or older.

Early registration is still open and will save you $5 bucks off of the day of admission price. If you’ve got a young tike who is 7 years old or younger, you can bring them for free with the purchase of an Adult ticket. There are child tickets for kids between 8-12 and everyone else is counted as an Adult. For more information or to keep up to date on the latest happenings for SaltCON, visit their Facebook Page here or the home page of the con here. Big Shiny Robot will be at the Con and we’ll be more than happy to throw down if you’re the type that likes to challenge. Let us know in the comments below so we’ll bring the appropriate “weapon”. *

Zendobot will have some old school Magic The Gathering decks on him and some Cthulu Dice. Other bots may or may not have games but feel free to visit and let us know how your con experience is going. See you at the Con!

We’re getting closer to the theatrical release of the upcoming TMNT movie, currently set for August 8, of this year.

We don’t know much outside of casting, the plot of the movie is still something of a mystery, but images are beginning to surface. Earlier this week we showed you a poster that came out of a toy expo showing what the turtles will look like. In the photograph you could see some of the toys in the lower right corner, but the image was too small to get a really good look at it. You can find that image here.

Today we’re getting a closer look. Here are three of the turtles, not mockups, not concept images, but real live toys, in the flesh, so to speak. Unfortunately there’s no Leo but these seem pretty close to what the poster looked like so we have a good idea of his toy’s appearance.

It’s a pretty serious departure from what we’re used to, they aren’t cute at all. They’re actually kind of ugly, sort of how I imagine mutated turtles might actually look. That may mean that this movie will actually take the subject material somewhat seriously. I think that’s a good thing.

I also like that they are differentiated by their style choices, it’s not simply a matter of color coding anymore. They have personalities that come across in what they wear.

It may just be the angle but Raph sort of looks a little tubby, he needs to lay off the pizza. You can’t eat your anger Raph.