Dalal Elsheikh on Judging NBC’s ‘Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge’ and the Changing Auto Industry

Vehicle designer Dala Elsheikh grew up playing with Hot Wheels. She never expected she would be working with them as an ambassador to the brand, let alone judging a Hot Wheels Competition on national television.

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Get Ready, ‘Barbie’ is Out of Her Box and in the Real World

Whether you love or hate Barbie, this movie is for you! Greta Gerwig is breaking the iconic character out of her box with the help of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling bringing the duo of Barbie and Ken to life on the big screen.

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‘AAPI Toy Heroes’ with Kuya P

Shelf Conscious is back! This time, Keith is joined by fellow NOC and creator of The NRW, Kuya P a.k.a Patrick Michael Strange, as he launches his own action figure podcast called AAPI Toy Heroes.

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‘Action Figure Show & Tell’ with Dan Wu

On the latest episode of Shelf Conscious, Keith is once again joined by multi-hyphenate extraordinaire (activist, restaurateur, podcaster, celebrity chef, and candidate for Lexington, KY council at large), Dan Wu!

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‘Art of the Toy Hunt’ with Art G

Celebrate the Holidays with Shelf Conscious! In this brand new episode, Keith is joined by YouTuber and diorama artist, Art G!

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‘Merchandise Spotlight’ with Griffin Newman

Shelf Conscious returns just in time for the second half of Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix! This time, Keith is joined by Orko himself, Griffin Newman!

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‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ to Return in November

After a revelatory debut over the summer, Netflix has revealed the date for the return of Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Kevin Smith’s groundbreaking reinvention of the He-Man mythos! When we last left the show, the balance of power on Eternia was forever transformed. Spoilers after the jump.

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Netflix Doubles Down on ‘He-Man and Masters of the Universe’

Netflix is single-handedly reviving the Masters of the Universe brand for a new generation! After debuting Kevin Smith’s revelatory continuation of the classic series from the 1980s, Netflix is giving another creative team carte blanche to completely reinterpret Eternia for 21st century kids.

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Kevin Smith’s Take on ‘Masters of the Universe’ is a ‘Revelation’

I will never understand why so many fanboys are dead set against change. Sure, “nostalgia is a hell of a drug,” and all that, but Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix is proof that change is the best thing that can happen to the stories we loved as children.

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‘By the Power of Fandom’ with Tiffany Smith

Shelf Conscious returns with a special episode! With Masters of the Universe: Revelation just around the corner, Keith is joined by an Eternian Royal Guard — and literal fandom princessTiffany Smith!

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Full Trailer for ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ Brings the Magic Back

With only a few more weeks until it finally debuts, Netflix has released the full trailer for Masters of the Universe: Revelation on YouTube.

Building on what we first saw in the teaser last month, the full trailer provides some more backstory and puts Teela — voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar — at the center of much of the action!

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The Power of Grayskull Returns in Heroic ‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ Teaser

If you’ve been holding out for a hero since He-Man and the Masters of the Universe went off the air in 1985, Kevin Smith has got you covered! After giving fans a sneak peek at the new character designs last month, we now get to see those designs in action now that Netflix has released a teaser on YouTube.

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‘Schrödinger’s Tigerzord’ with William Bruce West

On the inaugural episode of Shelf Conscious, Keith welcomes fellow collector — and OG NOCWilliam Bruce West!

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‘Masters of the Universe: Revelation’ Has the Power

In 1982, Mattel revolutionized the toy industry when it unleashed its line of 5.5-inch action figures, Masters of the Universe. The following year, Filmation released an accompanying animated series, like all toy lines in the ’80s, and a generation of kids would never be the same. Now, nearly forty years later, a new generation will get to witness the ongoing battle between He-Man and Skeletor in Masters of the Universe: Revelation when it comes to Netflix on July 23!

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Batman R.I.P.: Mattel’s Last Line of DC Multiverse Figures

When it was announced late last year that Mattel would be losing the master license to make DC Comics-related action figures, I wasn’t sure how to react. On the one hand, I had pretty much stopped buying Mattel’s offerings when they ended their DC Universe Classics line around 2012. On the other, I’ve been an avid collector of these figures ever since popular action figure sculptors the Four Horsemen gave us Zipline Batman in 2003. Of course, in the years since, I moved on — preferring more premium toymakers like SH Figuarts for my DC fix. But I couldn’t help coming back to Mattel one last time for an all-Batman wave to close out their 16-year run on the character.

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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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If You Perceive “Girly” Superheroes as Lesser, isn’t the Problem You?

Last night, CBS and Warner Brothers television released a six-and-a-half minute sizzle reel for Supergirl, this fall’s hotly anticipated entry into Greg Berlanti’s DC television dominance universe. Starring Glee alum Melissa Benoist as the eponymous hero, the preview exuded a sense of fun, joy, and lightness often missing from DC’s live action comic adaptations — not including CW’s The Flash, of course, coincidentally a show also starring another Glee alum.

But how did the internet respond?

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Most of My Heroes Don’t Appear on No Stamps, Except Batman

In honor of Batman’s 75th anniversary, DC Comics and the United States Postal Service have announced that the Caped Crusader would be the latest superhero to get his own sheet of limited edition stamps. The stamps will be unveiled for the first time at next week’s New York Comic-Con.

This isn’t the first time Batman’s mug was used to transport the mail across the country, but it is the first time Bats didn’t have to share with the rest of the Justice League and got a whole sheet all to himself, depicting four distinct eras of the Bat mythos. And I know how tough it is to distill Batman’s iconography to just four artists, but it’s hard to argue against featuring Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Neal Adams, and Jim Lee. Though cases could be made for the likes of Carmine Infantino, Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Norm Breyfogle, Bruce Timm, Kelley Jones, Alex Ross

Besides, those legendary artists, though, what other versions of Batman failed to make the cut? Here are four that will probably never be available at your local post office.

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Ghostbusters is Back and Ready to Believe You

It’s no secret that we’re huge Ghostbusters fans here at the N.O.C. It’s hard to believe that it’s been three decades since the movie first hit theaters. And to celebrate the occasion — and allow the kids who never got the chance to experience ghostbusting on the big screen, Sony Pictures is re-releasing the film in over 700 theaters across the country.

So before you fire up the Ecto-1 and head to your closest multiplex, here are some places to visit online to get you pumped for the flick.

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