Tag: Hasbro

Toys

AAPI Women are Awesome Action Figures

Originally published at NBC Asian America

I am an avid toy collector, and every few years I like to take stock of the number of action figures that feature Asian American and Pacific Islander characters. When I started doing this in 2009, it was difficult coming up with enough figures to fill out a Top Five list. Fortunately, it has become much easier to populate these lists since AAPI visibility in pop culture has dramatically increased in the intervening years. In fact, I actually had a difficult time winnowing down this year’s list since there are so many AAPI action figures from which to choose! Moreover, nearly every slot on the list is populated by female characters, which hopefully puts to rest the fallacy that girls don’t buy action figures.

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Movies

The Jem and the Holograms Movie was a Bomb

And not, in fact, the bomb.

In fact, Jem and the Holograms’ $1.3 million box office was so low that it was actually a flop of historic proportions. Of course, the lesson Hollywood will take from Jem’s failure isn’t to be more faithful to the source material. Instead, Jem will be used as another example of why a female-led superhero franchise will never succeed; coincidentally on the same day Supergirl on CBS is poised to prove the opposite is true. And no, you did not read that wrong. Jem was — and is — a superhero property.

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Hard N.O.C. Life, Star Wars, Toys

May the Force Friday Toys Be With You

One week after retailers unleashed the power of #ForceFriday on Star Wars fans across the stars, Keith assesses the aftermath with fellow action figure and Star Wars enthusiast David Yeh (@coheteboy) of the Disney/Lucasfilm fansite Endor Express.

We also announce the winner of the Finn action figure from last week’s Force Friday giveaway.

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Star Wars, Toys

Celebrate #ForceFriday with a Finn Action Figure

Have you felt it? There’s been an awakening…

You’ve watched all of the unboxing videos. You camped in line outside Toys R Us, waiting for a special midnight opening. Now, #ForceFriday is finally here. Even though Star Wars: The Force Awakens is still three months away, you would be unwise to underestimate the power of Star Wars merchandising. Hell, you can’t spell swag with out SW, right?

Speaking of swag, we’re giving away some of it. Keep reading if you want to know how.

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Movies

Half the Battle: A Throwback Review of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

With Magic Mike XXL about to hit theaters in a couple weeks, Channing Tatum has been making the media rounds to promote the film. Recently, the star was on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show and expressed his displeasure with one of the key movies in his filmography. Talking to Stern, this week Tatum said in reference to the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra:

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Movies, Toys

Tanuj Chopra’s Chee and T Told with G.I. Joe Figures

Chee and T is the newest film by my homie Tanuj Chopra (Punching at the Sun, Nice Girls Crew) and is currently being funded on Indiegogo. With a little less than two weeks left in the campaign, his crew has pulled out all the stops to reach their $75,000 goal. Right now, the project is about 65% of the way there, but they need one last push to get it over the top.

So what better way to raise awareness for their movie than getting a bunch of classic G.I. Joe action figures and reenacting the movie?

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Movies

Why Did I Watch the New Transformers Movie?

I’m out of town, and there’s a movie theater a block from my hotel. As a father, I don’t get to the moviehouse often unless it’s a kid’s movie.  So over the weekend, I figured I’d treat myself to a movie. What’s the worst that can happen? The answer to that question: the theater is only showing Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Even seeing Optimus Prime in his G1 truck mode can’t make up for the three hours this movie steals from your life.

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Guest Post, Movies

The Only Way to Enjoy a Michael Bay Transformers

by Jamie Noguchi | Originally posted at Angry Zen Master

So there’s a new Transformers movie coming out today.

There are two ways to react to these things: IRATE FANRAGE or blissful ignorance.

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Animation, Movies, Toys

What’s Truly Outrageous about the Jem Movie

The glamour of being an adult female rocker. The glitter of Synergy’s earrings. The fashion era that embraced shoulder pads. The fame associated with traveling around the world. From what has been revealed by director Jon M. Chu and his recently announced cast, none of this will be a focus of the live-action Jem and the Holograms film.

Now that is truly outrageous, at least to me, who watched it during the 1980s and wrote an entire article about why you should love the cartoon classic.

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