Taylor Lautner shirtless

Twilight hunk Taylor Lautner, who worked out nonstop to gain 30 pounds of muscle for sequel New Moon, is embarrassed by the media attention surrounding his ripped physique.

“It’s actually quite uncomfortable knowing so many people are seeing that!” Lautner, 17, tells Us. “It’s a little bit embarrassing!”

Taylor credits working out and eating around the clock for the rippling 8-pack abs he flaunts in New Moon. Gaining weight was “a lot of hard work,” says Lautner. “[It was all about] eating, working out – a lot of stuff.”

For Twilight’s next two sequels–Eclipse and Breaking Dawn–Taylor must add even more weight to his naturally lanky frame. [Editor's note: In the book, Jacob morphs from a baby-faced 6'2" teen to a monstrous 6'7" werewolf.]

“Jacob continually grows throughout the series, so I’m still going to have to put on a little bit more weight,” says Taylor.

Lautner is currently in Vancouver with co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, filming Eclipse. “We are having a lot of fun hanging out in Vancouver,” says Lautner. “It’s really good.”

Twilight has flexed some serious box-office muscles, having grossed over $384 million worldwide since its release last fall while the sequel (New Moon) has grossed over $677 million worldwide so far.

Buy New Moon Action Figures at Cmdstore.com:

LOS ANGELES — A couple who said they were assaulted by Gene Simmons sued the KISS bassist for unspecified damages Thursday, court records show.

Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo said Simmons attacked them, threatened them and took their video camera at the upscale The Grove mall on Saturday after they started filming the rocker.

The couple’s attorney, Matthew Nezhad, says a police report was filed. The couple sought a restraining order against Simmons on Wednesday, but that petition was denied.

Simmons has not been arrested and no charges have been filed.

According to the complaint and restraining order application, Marlowe asked Simmons for his view on monogamy, and Simmons responded by telling Marlowe to get his shot and leave. The filings state Simmons then lunged and attacked Marlowe, taking the video camera, then turned on Manzo when she tried to get the camera back.

A phone message seeking comment from Simmons’ entertainment attorney was not immediately returned.

The couple are seeking damages of more than $25,000 for civil claims of assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was filed as a verified complaint, meaning Marlowe and Manzo signed it under penalty of perjury.

Buy Kiss Action Figures at Cmdstore.com:

Merry Christmas from my bud over at Comicology, who have me permission to show off his amazingly awesome banner!

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Worth it just for the Wolvie and Professor X in Santa hats, amirite?

The Automatic. (Vintage 2-1B, Vintage C-3PO)

Thirty years ago the 2-1B action figure didn’t have a lot of game for me. That character in the Empire Strikes Back only had one or two spoken lines and his main gig was poking at dead Tauntauns and a near-dead Luke Skywalker. Kind of horrifying actually.

Edward wishes you a merry Christmas

Yep, I said this post is about nonsense. Cause I guess it might be considered nonsense to spend your time photoshopping Santa hats on basically every Twilight character… Whatevs, I don’t care, cause it was fun! But honestly, have you ever asked yourself how the wolfpack celebrates? Or the Cullens? Yeah, I know it is Christmas in Breaking Dawn, but they wait for the Volturi to arrive so that hardly counts as a typical Cullen Christmas… Well, Zelda and I had a little ICQ conversation yesterday evening about all our favorite / not so favorite Twi-characters. Basically because I wanted to post the pictures so bad but didn’t really know what to write about. But just like everything we do together it ended up being hilarious. And of course, because we’re awesome like that, we’re gonna share everything with you!

The wolfpack wishes you a merry Christmas

The wolfpack: All the wolf-guys (I’m not writing their names here, cause I always forget one and then can’t remember who it is and then get annoyed… sorry) and Billy and Sue Clearwater with our Ladies-man Charlie all celebrate at Emily’s. And because Emily is simply amazing she does it Mama Soul style, starts two days early and in the end manages to somehow get at least two tons of super delicious food onto the dinner table without breaking it. And you know she’ll need it cause Sam, Jacob, Paul and the rest love to eat her food! They’ll make wolf-jokes the whole evening long and that’s where Charlie starts to feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. And because he remembers that one time Jacob got naked in front of him and then phased very clearly, he bought new underwear for all of them. To prevent himself from getting a Harry Clearwater heart-attack if he should ever see a bunch of naked Indian boys running through the woods while he’s on his Chief Swan duty. Yes, Charlie’s awesome like that!

The Cullens wish you a merry Christmas

The Cullens: Alice will become the Christmas nazi (fake prize for the first one who knows where that one’s from) and force everyone to help decorating the house aka putting up lights and candles and huge Christmas trees in every free spot in the whole Cullen mansion. They’ll have a huge mountain lion for dinner at Esme’s favorite table. Rosalie will be the Christmas bitch handing everyone’s present over with the words “Alice picked it out”. And Bella will just be her whiny annoying self muttering nd complaining about the snow and the weather and the celebration… cause honestly, this girl hates parties… and sometimes (okay, most of the time) annoys the shit out of me.

Our Christmas guest Jacob aka Taylor Lautner and his abs wish you a very merry Christmas

That’s probably the reason why Edward will spend Christmas here with me at Mama Souls. And because he’s so damn polite he’ll eat everything she serves without complaining once. And then he’ll taste Zelda’s self-made mousse au chocolate. And because he’s awesome and loves us he’ll bring Jacob over a bit as well. And then it’s a real party ifyouknowwhatimean!

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Wanna see the one where Zelda and I are wearing Santa hats? Cause yes, I made that one as well… and I’ll show you tomorrow, promise! Oh, and before I forget, I know we can’t compete with Taylor’s abs but we wish you a very merry Christmas as well! And that everyone gets a Edward action figure or a lifesized Jacob cut-out plus everything else on your wish list for Christmas!

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Off to celebrate and kwop kilawtley everyone (cause yes, we love all of our readers… or whatever else it is that Jacob says… )

Saveyoursoul

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How do you think the Edward, Jacob and Co. would celebrate Christmas? Anything we forgot? Anything Twi-related on your wish list? Let us know in the comments or via e-mail! Oh, and have you seen our fantabulous Kwop Kilawtley Contest? Go and participate NOW! Thanks!

(images: google; Santa hats: me)

(Last Updated Dec 23, 2009 @ 8:10 pm EST)

Now You Can Follow The Computer Savvy Weblog Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/DCz_Dead_Rise

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On Sale: August 4, 2010

Pre-order Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

*Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern Nekron*

For full Information on this action figure please click on following link “Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern Nekron“

Till Next Time,

Remy “Se7en”

(Last Updated Dec 23, 2009 @ 8:02 pm EST)

Now You Can Follow The Computer Savvy Weblog Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/DCz_Dead_Rise

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On Sale: August 4, 2010

Pre-order Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

*Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern HawkMan*

For full Information on this action figure please click on following link “Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern HawkMan“

Till Next Time,

Remy “Se7en”

(Last Updated Dec 23, 2009 @ 8:02 pm EST)

Now You Can Follow The Computer Savvy Weblog Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/DCz_Dead_Rise

——————————————

On Sale: August 4, 2010

Pre-order Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

*Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern DeadMan*

For full Information on this action figure please click on following link “Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern DeadMan“

Till Next Time,

Remy “Se7en”

(Last Updated Oct 26, 2009 @ 4:45 pm EST)

Now You Can Follow The Computer Savvy Weblog Via Twitter: http://twitter.com/DCz_Dead_Rise

——————————————

On Sale: August 4, 2010

Pre-order Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

Retail Price: No Information available (Prices Provided by TFAW.com)

*Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern Batman*

For full Information on this action figure please click on following link “Blackest Night: Series 5 – Black Lantern Batman“

Till Next Time,

Remy “Se7en”

DC Universe fans will be pleased to know that the latest series of figures has now arrived! Series 11 brings together ten amazingly sculpted and painted figures from DC Direct, capturing the likenesses of characters both famous and infamous. John Stewart’s Green Lantern, Deadman, The Question, Cyborg Superman and a bunch of others have never looked better than they do in this awesome collection!

And even better, each figure in the set comes with a piece of this series’ Build-a-Figure Kilowog,  the tough but kind trainer of new Green Lantern recruits.

Be sure to check ‘em out, along with the previously-released figures in the DCU collection

World of Warcraft Series 5 is now available and in-stock. A DC Direct line, the figures are incredibly loyal to the richness and detail of the game itself and look great raiding any toyshelf.

This latest 3-figure series (available as individual pieces or in a set) includes Lo’Gosh, Alathena Moonbreeze with Sorna and Scourge Ghoul Rottingham. They join an ever-expanding collection of toys from the ever-expanding game. Check ‘em out!

We’ve already talked about the sheer scale of the mondo-hit movie Avatar, and naturally mentioned the line ot action figures that accompanies any fantasy film with this kind of success. But like every movie these days, it sounds like might be in for a second installment–and definitely not in the decades it took Cameron to conceive of and create the first one!

The GK Men blog has the story…

The popcorn has yet to be swept from the theatre isles for James Cameron’s winter blockbuster Avatar and already the director is announcing plans for sequels.

Cameron, known for his big budget franchises which include Alien and The Terminator, has told MTV he has plans for not one but two sequels for his new blue heroes.

The director, who was also responsible for the epic Titanic movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett, told the broadcaster that sequels were always part of the plan when he set about creating his hi-tech masterpiece.

“I have a trilogy-scaled arc of story right now, but I haven’t really put any serious work into writing a script,” he said.

However, the subsequent on screen adventures will hit screens sooner than the first part of the franchise as the technology is now already in place, Cameron explained.

“My next goal is to refine the technique, make it easier so it doesn’t take as long,” he added

“We were doing a lot of pioneering work on ‘Avatar.’ It wouldn’t have taken as long if we already knew exactly how to do it.”

The Joker might corner the market on Evil Clowns, but it isn’t a monopoly. From Stephen King’s Pennywise to Are You Afraid of the Dark’s Zeebo, the painted, grinning faces have been scaring (and thrilling) audiences for years. But if you were a gamer in the 90s, then you might add another to that list: Twisted Metal’s most popular character, Sweet Tooth.

His flaming clown head burning on the cover of every entry to the Twisted Metal franchise, he was one of the emblems that would come to represent the rise of Sony’s Playstation.

And now, finally, he is brought to life in the real world by the folks at DC Direct–and with their expertise both in figured and the evil clown subject matter, it’s sure to be a stunning piece. You can already pre-order the 6-inch figure now, though it ships in August 2010! ‘Til then, book mark this page for updates!

Here’s Time Magazine’s look at the Top 10 video games of 2010, plus links to where you can snag these titles or the toys based on the hits!

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Some mornings you wake up in bed. Some mornings you wake up trapped in a wrecked train car that’s hanging off a cliff. That’s life when you’re Nathan Drake, artifact hunter. The charming, roguish Drake is after the secret of Marco Polo’s lost fleet, and it’s going to take a lot of fisticuffs and gunplay and problem-solving to find it. The hunt takes you through an unbelievable sequence of epic settings, one after another, each one topping the one before it: jungle ruins, mountaintops, Tibetan cities. As if that weren’t enough, the writing and voice acting are way above par for a video game. Seriously. Anybody who was disappointed by the last Indiana Jones movie — meaning everybody — should try Uncharted 2 instead.

Assassin’s Creed II for XBox
Assassin’s Creed II for PS3
Most sequels are creative flops, just cheap makeovers of the originals. Not Assassin’s Creed 2, a follow-up to the 2007 smash hit. This is a smarter, more polished version, with a visually stunning backdrop — Renaissance Italy. While the game looks beautiful, game play has been refined and tweaked for the ultimate open-world RPG experience. There’s even more assassinating, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and history lessons, with an emphasis on Renaissance art. Leonardo would be proud — except for those cheesy Italian voice-overs.

Halo 3: ODST
Just when it was starting to look like the Halo franchise was played out, Bungie took it for a sharp turn, down an alleyway and directly into the shadows. You no longer play the superpowered Master Chief; instead, you play, serially, the members of a squad of comparatively vulnerable Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The squad is lost and scattered through the ruins of New Mombasa, on a secret mission the point of which its members are only gradually figuring out. It’s a dark, slow, jazzy, hard-boiled take on the Halo world — think Master Chief as Philip Marlowe.

Scribblenauts
Maybe the developers of Scribblenauts were bored with existing puzzle games, but something inspired them to think outside the box. In fact, that’s also what they want players to do. You’re presented with one objective at every level of play, with different parameters and limitations. Your quest is to capture the Starite, and you’re allowed to bring in help. Think a stapler or a dinosaur or a wizard can assist you in your quest? Simply type in the name of your chosen ally, and, poof!, it appears. As your vocabulary grows, so does your potential army of allies

Geo-Defense Swarm (available on iTunes)
I never thought I’d be sitting around singing the praises of the iPhone on this list. The hardware was just too limited — no buttons, no sticks, no tactile feedback. But hordes of developers have proved me totally wrong: this thing can game. Exhibit A out of dozens of quality iPhone games this year: Geo-Defense Swarm, a rich, fast-paced, visually stunning take on the tower-defense genre. Tricked out with neon-glowing candy colors that show off the iPhone’s ridiculously overpowered display, Swarm is a little masterpiece of interface design, balanced game play and clever level design.

New Super Mario Bros Wii
Welcome back, Mario. We missed you. The classic side-scrolling platformer is back with updated graphics and a multiplayer mode that’s so much fun it might supplant DJ Hero as the go-to party game. The story isn’t much different from what we’re used to and involves rescuing the princess because, yet again, she’s stuck in a castle somewhere at the other end of the map. But you get some nice 3-D effects and better use of lighting, which gives the screen more depth. What’s more, the little kids watching you play can join in the game as novices. Of course, that means there will be no one left to get you popcorn.

Borderlands for XBox
Borderlands for PS3
Borderlands for PC
Pandora is a down-and-dirty mining planet that resembles a trashed, irradiated version of the American Wild West. Your job is to scour that landscape in search of the Vault, a semi-legendary cache of technology and wealth. This mostly involves collecting an astounding variety of bad-ass guns and tooling around in funky dune-buggy-type vehicles with really bouncy suspensions while blowing away deranged and mutated bad guys. Borderlands is a marvel of hybrid game design: you add levels and skills as in a role-playing game, but you’re doing it in a sandbox-style open world while engaging in run-and-gun first-person-shooter combat. Add in astounding graphics and wickedly clever writing, and you have something that’s about as close as you can get to a perfect game.

DJ Hero WII Bundle with Turntable
DJ Hero Bundle for XBox with Turntable
DJ Hero for PS3 Bundle with Turntable
In a world of wannabe rock bands — enough already with the rehashed songs from yesteryear — DJ Hero offers a welcome change. With an incredible sound track of exclusive mixes and some lush nightclub graphics, DJ Hero is the new contender for best party game. True, it feels a bit awkward at first to be hunched over a plastic faux turntable, but once you start scratching and mixing, you’ll quickly fall into the groove. And where else could you blend Blondie with a mix of the Gorillaz or Daft Punk with Queen?

Batman: Arkham Asylum for PS3
Batman: Arkham Asylum for XBox
Batman: Arkham Asylum for PC
The ghoulish Joker may never scare movie audiences again, but the struggle between good and evil rages on with Batman: Arkham Asylum, which picks up right where Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight left off. Gotham’s savior finds himself trapped in Arkham Asylum, surrounded by every deviant he’s ever put away — with the Joker at the helm. Unlike earlier video-game adaptations of the DC Comics hero, Arkham Asylum is the total package, with compelling story lines and a kick-butt combat system. Of course, you’ll have to supply your own cape.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for XBox
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for PS3
This is a game that sends a message: Video games have something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you hop around the globe, chasing the front lines of globalized, asymmetrical combat, where not everybody wears uniforms, war isn’t always declared, and the battlefield isn’t clearly marked — battles rage through suburbs, airports and people’s living rooms. There’s tons of raw, riveting military action in Modern Warfare 2, but it’s very much about how the game has changed: limiting civilian casualties and figuring out whom to fight and why are just as important as staying alive.

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And for those of you who want to take gaming into the real world, we’ve got a huge selection of video game toys over in CmdStore’s Video Game Section! Check ‘em out!

Hammerhead. (Vintage Hammerhead)

Most of the time with these pics I like finding the right selection of figures, typically in groups of 2 or 3. The interplay creates either agitation or harmony in the frame, and a new narrative starts to spill out. That’s exciting. And then other times its just one expressive character that refuses to share the light.

Dropped by Mikatan’s blog and the figma blog to see if there was anything new from their end and boy was I happy with what I saw.

Mark (Coffeebugg) and I had ordered the Queen’s Blade PSP game that had a figma exclusive included with the game. All this time, all that was shown were images of the master model and no image of box contents and stuff. The figma blog showed a couple of actual merchandise shots of the box containing the game and the exclusive figma.

The box reminds me of the Saber Lily PSP game box with the exclusive figma that came with it.

I was trying to figure out how Max Factory was going to pull off the torn outfit look for this figma and with this, it looks like the decided to toss in an extra torso to do that. But a closer inspection of the extra torso shows that it seems to be fixed in a certain position. I’m actually not too fond of that discovery. Aside from the melee weapons that we’ve seen in the earlier master model shots, this figma comes with two extra faces. And that’s it.

But I still wanted this because it’s a nice figma design. The detail is awesome.

And torn panties. Yes.

In other news, Mikatan had an interesting feature in her blog today: another Touhou Nendoroid.

Above is Nendoroid Sanae Kochiya, a character from the Touhou Project. I admit I’ve never played any Touhou Project games but damn, do I love the detail on her hair. Plus that third face is sooooo cute it’s so hard to resist! I showed this picture to my girlfriend and she immediately said we MUST GET THIS NENDOROID!

I couldn’t be bothered with the first two Touhou Nendoroids, but I’m not passing up on this one.

So yes, Mark (Coffeebugg) and I have started contacting suppliers and asked them to get us one each. If anything I want her for her hair and that third face. I’m definitely looking forward to her arrival!

It’s Christmas season and in a couple of days, my Christmas vacation starts. No work till the 4th of January for me. I have a project in mind but at the same time, I don’t really have any major plans for this Christmas vacation. I’ll probably just play it safe, kick back and stay home. I’ll still be browsing the net for toy releases and the like. Most of my toys, I’m keeping at the office under lock and key and will just bring home the ones that I’d like to take pictures of during the holidays.

Last year, I had posted a Christmas wishlist but this year, I’m not doing that since I’ve already received most of what I might have included in the list. What I do hope is that next year, I’d have enough cash to buy a macro lens and will also start saving for a car (which is something I’ve postponed for like the longest time).

I’m looking forward to January since I am expecting a lot of Nendoroids to arrive in that month as well as SIC Kamen Rider Kabuto which I’ve been wishing SIC to release ever since they aired the series. So expect an awesome start for 2010 at my office desk.

I’m not signing off this year just yet. I’m just sayin’…

Been quite some time since I last updated. Been busy with some RL stuff. Anyways, on to the release update.

From Toy-World.com via Ngee Khiong

• Bandai MG Astray Red Frame Kai, February 2010, 5,250円
• Bandai MG Exia Trans-Am Mode, Release Date and Price TBA

From Amiami.com

• Revoltech Yamaguchi Date Masamune White Costume ver., January 2010, 2,286円
• Revoltech Yamaguchi Sanada Yukimura White Costume ver., January 2010, 2,286円
• Kerberos Saga Kai Tetsuro GENX CORE, December 2009, 7,240円

From Gunpla.jp via Ngee Khiong

• Bandai MG Sinanju Titanium ver., February 2010, 12,600円
• Bandai MG Unicorn Gundam OVA ver. SP Pack, March 2010, 7,350円
• Bandai MG Unicorn Gundam OVA ver. , March 2010, 5,250円

Several years ago, I had this idea that I wanted to shoot cool pictures of vintage Star Wars figures. But while I do okay with snapshots and basic scenery and things, when it comes to setting up detailed photos and working with light and angles and all that, y’know, fo-to-graffy stuff, I kinda suck. I can never quite get what I have in my head to come out that way in photo form.

A couple days ago, I got an email about Collect All 21! from a guy who, it turns out, is succeeding magnificently where I would utterly fail. It’s not that there are loads of detailed backgrounds or anything – in fact, most of the shots are pretty minimalist, with just figures and shadows – but I can’t get over the composition and the contrast in focus and colors.

I like this one a lot, and this one, and this one, too (some, like that last one of R2, have sort of abstract backdrops that really fit well with the figures and remind me of Kenner’s back-of-the-package photos from early in the original line).

My favorite, though, is this one:

Red.

It absolutely takes me back to the release of Kenner’s “second wave” of Star Wars figures, when suddenly we had all these weird aliens and robots in bright colors to go along with the original 12.

Go check all of them out, and prepare to wonder where the time went.

MEGA Brands Inc announced today that it has released their 10 Best Christmas Toys of 2009, which includes the popular Battle Strikers Tournament Set – one of the most acclaimed toys of 2009.

“With Christmas fast approaching we wanted to help shoppers by identifying the top toys available for children for 2009.” – Etienne Laurent, Web Manager at MEGA Brands.

MEGA Brands Top 10 Toy List for 2009 includes toys that span across all age groups and have a plethora of child benefits.  This list is bolstered by a number of popular franchises such as the Halo Franchise and it`s Halo Wars line of construction toys.

OP 10 CHRISTMAS TOYS 2009 from MEGA:

10. Yo Gabba Gabba Boombox ages 3+

9. In the Night Garden Musical Gazebo ages 2-4

8. Fill N’Dump Wagon ages 3+

7. MagNext 360 Case ages 6+

6. Probuilder Carbon Series – Battleship ages 7+

5. Ni-Hao Kai-Lan Buildable Room ages 3-6

4. Play N’Go Table ages 1-3

3. Streetz City Pursuit ages 6+

2. Halo Wars Aerial Ambush play set ages 8+

1. Battle Strikers Tournament Set ages 6+