Phil Lord & Chris Miller's Super-Charged Lego Movie

Legos are coming to the big screen in 2014! Just a week before Happy Feet Two hits theaters, according to a scoop on Variety, Warner Bros has finally greenlit the Lego movie that we first heard about a few years ago. Being directed by Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' Phil Lord & Chris Miller, it should hit theaters in 2014, and will be animated by the Australian company Animal Logic, behind the Happy Feet movies and Zack Snyder's Legend of the Guardians. The two directors revealed last year that it would take place in an "immersive all-Lego environment" and Variety also mentions that it'll be compromised of 80% Lego. Sweet!

The scoop is a bit early as it says there's an official announcement coming next week from Animal Logic and WB for the start of production, as it'll take a few years to animated. It also mentions that while Phil Lord & Chris Miller are in post-production on Columbia's 21 Jump Street, their follow-up to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, WB has brought on Chris McKay (of "Moral Orel", "Robot Chicken"), to serve as co-director. The film will get an incentive from the Australian government and state of New South Wales. No other plot details are known, but as they described, "it's going to take place in a universe that's made entirely out of Lego to the point where if there's water or clouds or like a big explosion, that will be made out of animated Legos. And our goal was to make it look like a super charged stop-motion." Bring on the Lego madness!

New French Trailer for Luc Besson's 'The Lady'

"You are free to choose madam: your husband and children, or your country." This looks outstanding, I'm anxious, very anxious, to see it! A brand new French trailer for Luc Besson's The Lady, starring Michelle Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi, has debuted recently, thanks to Awards Daily, and it's magnificent, one of the better trailers of this awards season. The first full official US trailer for this hit in early October, and it was quite impressive, too, but this one completely wins me over. It focuses more on the romance between Suu and her husband Michael Aris, played by David Thewlis, but the intensity and emotion is still there.

Watch the brand new French trailer for Luc Besson's The Lady, from YouTube via Awards Daily:

The Lady, a name for Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, focuses on the choice she had to make about whether to return to England and nurse her husband, who was dying of cancer, or to carry on fighting for democracy in Burma. Burma is controlled by a "military junta" paranoid about her popular support. She was first arrested in 1989 and spent part of the last 21 years as a prisoner in her own home, despite winning an election. The screenplay, written by Rebecca Frayn, was penned after 18 months of interviews with Suu Kyi's relatives and friends. The Lady was quietly directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon, Fifth Element, Angel-A, Adèle Blanc-Sec) and arrives in limited theaters December 2nd for a quick Oscar run.

Finding Nemo Pixar Figure Collection 001

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy family drama film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar. It tells the story of the overly protective clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) who, along with a regal tang called Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), searches for his abducted son Nemo (Alexander Gould). Along the way, Marlin learns to take risks and to let Nemo take care of himself.

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the 2nd highest-grossing film of 2003, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, earning a total of $868 million worldwide.

And now Pixar's Finding Nemo star Nemo himself is getting the Revoltech treatment as a fully pose-able figure. Yup, you heard it right – Fully pose-able fish! Includes different faces, and dizzy Dory as an accessory! Even his "special fin" is faithfully reproduced! Comes with two types of different facial expressions and the face can be removed so that you can easily change the look.

This looks like a really nice set and I'm looking forward to it :)

Accessories: Alternate Nemo "face" (scroll down to see), Dory, and coral reef base

And here's a comparison of size. I like that there's a reference and I hope that the hand shown doesn't belong to a small adult because I like the size comparisons.

Revoltech Pixar Figure Collection 002 – WALL-E

This is just too cute :) WALL•E, is a 2008 American computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. The story follows a robot named WALL-E, who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future. He falls in love with another robot named EVE, who also has a programmed task, and follows her into outer space on an adventure that changes the destiny of both his kind and humanity. Both robots exhibit an appearance of free will and emotions similar to humans, which develop further as the film progresses.

WALL-E has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews among critics, scoring an approval rating of 96% on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It grossed $521.3 million worldwide, won the 2008 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as well as being nominated for five other Academy Awards at the 81st Academy Awards. WALL-E ranks first in TIME's "Best Movies of the Decade"!

And now Kaiyodo Revoltech is bringing to us this exceptional WALL.E robot toy figure as part of their Pixar Figure Collection. WALL.E Revoltechs up very nicely, too! Fully pose-able, with a gaggle of accessories, he's ready to recreate scenes from the Pixar movie or follow your own script. I think this is one of the BEST WALL.E robot toy figures I've come across :)

Check out all the cool accessories - fire extinguisher, plant in shoe and scrap metal cube ;p I really like this Kaiyodo Revoltech WALL.E robot toy figure

The head is a combination of hinge joints and movable up and down, also can be rotated 360°. You can produce a wide variety of facial expressions by changing the angle of the eye.

Here's the basic figure without the limbs and tracks. These are attached to complete the robot toy figure.

And here's a picture to show the size of this Kaiyodo Revoltech WALL.E robot toy figure. Not too shabby for the price they're asking for.

Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale Holiday Yoda Preview

From Lucasfilm's 1981 greeting card design by Ralph McQuarrie, Holiday Yoda is a must-have for Yoda fans during this year's holiday season!

The Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars 1/6 scale Holiday Yoda Figure features: Fully Articulated Body, Highly Detailed and Hand Painted Portrait, Sculpted Hat, Fabric Jacket, Fabric Pants, Belt, Cane, Ball, Sculpted Alphabet Block, Detailed Stack of Toys with Fabric Drawstring Sack

The last description for the items included: Detailed Stack of Toys with Fabric Drawstring Sack means that the toys you see inside the sack are just one molded piece and not individual miniature pieces that you can take apart.

The sculpted hat looks to be stuck to Yoda's head as it is always seen on Yoda's head and is never removed. What I would have liked to see would have been a 1/6 scale Santa Claus outfit set (including removable hat) which includes the sack of toys. In this way, those of us who already have the Sideshow 1/6 scale Yoda which was released earlier only need to purchase the outfit without having to pay for another Yoda figure. Those who didn't get the Yoda originally might be tempted to purchase one just because now there's an additional option of posing Yoda as Santa Claus, besides having Yoda as Jedi Master.

I already have a 1/6 scale Santa Claus outfit and my version of Santa has been dishing out his version of Christmas Greetings every year ;p

Of course Sideshow also tries to make their Holiday Yoda look more appealing by posing him with his hut but that residence alone will set you back by a few hundred bucks :( Not my cup of tea.

Sideshow Collectibles Star Wars Utapau Shadow Trooper Preview

The brainchild of Armand Isard, Director of Republic Intelligence and Director-General of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, the shadow trooper division was created mainly as a reconnaissance tool. Designed to augment the dwindling number of ARC troopers, shadow troopers operate singly or in pairs. They operate covertly, yet still in armor, posing as mercenaries of bounty hunters to slip quietly in and out of locations while quietly gathering intelligence.

Shadow trooper armor is based on standard Phase II clone armor. Strategically placed magseals allow the attachment of deceptive plating that alters the appearance of a shadow trooper. Different styles allow the shadow trooper to appear to be Hutt-hired mercenaries, Black Sun operatives, or independent bounty hunters. The plating is primarily cosmetic; it does disguise a clone trooper's sensor signature against detection devices. The plating also alters regular movement, preventing observers from recognizing the characteristic "clone gait."

When the Confederacy of Independent Systems stronghold was discovered on Utapau as General Grievous' hideout, a platoon of shadow troopers was assigned to infiltrate six sinkhole cities and place jammers that would allow the Republic army to invade without notice. Success of the shadow trooper division led to the creation of the Storm Commandos, as well as Blackhole's elite stormtrooper forces.

The Utapau Shadow Trooper 12 inch Figure features: Articulated Armored Body with over 30 points of articulation, Detailed Fabric Bodysuit, Highly Detailed Full Body Clone Shadow Trooper Armor Set, Phase II Helmet Portrait, One (1) pair flat palm hands, One (1) pair thumbs up hands, One (1) pair closed fists, One (1) pair trigger grip hands, One (1) pair C-grip hands, One (1) right hand with one finger point, One (1) left hand with two finger point, One (1) left hand with two finger spread, One (1) pair standing boot, One (1) pair action boot, BlasTech DC-15A Long Range Blaster Rifle, BlasTech DC-15S Blaster Carbine, Lower support extendable figure stand with Star Wars logo

Basically another clone trooper figure repainted. Sideshow should charge less for these since they already have the basic mold and they only have to paint each figure differently. They can mass produce these by the tens of thousands and then paint each batch differently. There isn't any new innovation in design, no research and development costs, no new product or accessory (every Sideshow Star Wars 1/6 scale clone trooper 12-inch figure comes with the two rifles - one short & one long - and a lot of hands since there really isn't anything else they can include) so the only cost is paint!

If Sideshow Collectibles had given a different base i.e. a dynamic diorama-type display base with each figure, then at least there's something to look forward to with each new release. Otherwise, it's going to be orange, red, grey, blue, black and camouflage colors. Let's get creative, Sideshow! Make us excited!!

Veryhot 1/6 USMC M40A3 Sniper uniform set

Very Hot might as well be called a company of snipers, i.e. 1/6 scale snipers ;p Very Hot really seems to be on a Sniper frenzy. Last month, they announced the early Iraqi War era USMC Scout Sniper uniform set, and the Tactical Concealment inspired Army Sniper uniform set, complete with CheyTac Intervention 200 Sniper Rifle. 

Not having enough of snipers, they are now back to showing some love for the United States Marine Corps, with their USMC Scout Sniper Uniform and Kit Set in Woodland MARPAT utility uniform, complete with bergen and M40A3.

The US Army have their ACU and MultiCam while the USMC have their MARPAT (MARine PATtern) MCCUU (Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform). In fact, the Marines were the ones who were already putting on digital camouflage in 2002. When the uniforms were first introduced, Dragon Models Limited wasted no time in producing 1/6 scaled MARPAT MCCUU and the first of these was the USMC LRRP "John" in 2002. He came fully decked with his USMC MOLLE (MOdular Lightweight Load-bearing Equipment) which consisted of his FLC (Fighting Load Carrier) along with his main rucksack secured to a lightweight frame together with his sleeping mat and additional pouches.

The M40 is a bolt-action sniper rifle used by the United States Marine Corps. It has had four variants—the M40, M40A1, M40A3, and M40A5. The M40 was introduced in 1966. The changeover to the A1 model was completed in the 1970s, the A3 in the 2000s, and the A5 in 2009.

Each M40 is built from a Remington 700 bolt-action rifle, and is modified by USMC armorers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, using components from a number of suppliers. The M40 has always been based on the proven Remington 700 Short Action with .308 bolt face and this is no different in the M40A3.

All service M40A3s are based upon the A4 Tactical Riflestock, a high-quality benchrest-style fiberglass riflestock made by McMillan Fiberglass Stocks and cast molded in an OD Green color.

One bipod stud is located on the underside of the forearm. The M40A3s use a 6–9" Harris notched swivel type bipod with a KMW podlock.

Almost all snipers carry sidearms for when things get bad and Marine snipers are no different. The Beretta M9 Pistol is a standard USMC sidearm while the MEU(SOC) .45 pistol is issued to MEU (SOC) forces.

Veryhot 1/6 USMC Barrett M82 Sniper uniform set

This upcoming Very Hot USMC Sniper uniform set is of a USMC Marine sniper wearing the Desert MARPAT utility uniform (MCCUU) and will come with a camouflaged .50 cal Barrett Sniper Rifle, and is outfitted in coyote brown gear.

As with all of VeryHot uniform sets, NO 1/6 head sculpt or 12-inch figure body will accompany this uniform set. The pictures released with figure are just to show off the uniform and sniper kit and how the outfit looks on the figure so don't expect any BODY when you purchase this VeryHot USMC Barrett M82 Sniper uniform set.

Unlike MultiCam which is a single camouflage pattern designed to help the wearer hide in varied environments, seasons, elevations, and light conditions – It is a 7-color, multi-environment camouflage pattern developed by Crye Associates in conjunction with U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (also known as U.S Army Natick labs) – the Marine's MARPAT camouflage has to be switched when operating in different environments, hence the need for desert MARPAT as well as Woodland MARPAT.

The M82 is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. A heavy SASR (Special Application Scoped Rifle), it is used by many units and armies around the world. It is also called the "Light Fifty" for its .50 caliber BMG (12.7 mm) chambering.

Ronnie Barrett began his work in the early 1980s and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. The first conventional military success was the sale of about 100 M82A1 rifles to the Swedish Army in 1989. Major success followed in 1990, when the United States armed forces purchased significant numbers of the M82A1 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq.

About 125 rifles were initially bought by the United States Marine Corps, and orders from Army and Air Force soon followed. The M82A1 is known by the US military as the SASR—"Special Applications Scoped Rifle", and it was and still is used as an anti-materiel rifle and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tool.

The long effective range, over 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) (1.1 miles), along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such as API and Raufoss Mk 211, allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins, trucks, parked aircraft and the like. The M82 can also be used to defeat human targets from standoff range or against targets behind cover.

The latest derivative of the M82 family is the M82A1M rifle, adopted by U.S. Marine Corps as the M82A3 SASR and bought in large numbers. This rifle differs from M82A1 in that it has a full length Picatinny rail that allows a wide variety of scopes and sighting devices to be mounted on the rifle. Other changes are the addition of a rear monopod, slightly lightened mechanism, and detachable bipod and muzzle brake.

This has to be one of the oddest "modern" holsters I've ever come across in 1/6 scale (see picture below). The holster looks like it's from a time long forgotten i.e. World War I to World War II era. Not even sure if they still carry these type of holsters out in the field ;p