Hot Toys DX "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" 1/6 Bespin Luke Skywalker Figure

Hot Toys is proud to present the DX 1/6th scale Luke Skywalker (Bespin Outfit) Collectible Figure from the Star Wars movie, the American epic space opera film released in 1977 created by George Lucas.

The movie-accurate collectible is specially crafted based on the image of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Bespin outfit in the movie with two collectible figures in a set, highlighting the two newly developed head sculpts with movable eyes, two figure bodies, two styles of specially made costume, highly detailed weapons, accessories and light-up Weathervane figure base.

Hot Toys Star Wars Luke Skywalker (Bespin Outfit) DX series Sixth Scale features: Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, One (1) newly developed, hand painted head sculpt with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), One (1) newly developed, hand painted battle damaged head sculpt with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), Movie-accurate facial expressions with detailed wrinkles and skin texture, Approximately 30 cm tall, Two (2) TrueType bodies with over 30 points of articulation, Ten (10) pieces of interchangeable palms including: One (1) pair for gripping unlit lightsaber, One (1) pair of fists, Three (3) pieces of relaxed palms, One (1) magnetic severed right palm stump, One (1) right palm for holding blaster pistol, One (1) left palm for force push

Two (2) full costumes including: One (1) khaki jacket, One (1) tank-top undershirt, One (1) pair of khaki pants, One (1) leather-like brown belt with blaster pistol holster and pouches, One (1) pair of fabric camel-colored boots

One (1) battle damaged khaki jacket, One (1) tank-top undershirt, One (1) pair of battle damaged khaki pants, One (1) leather-like brown belt with blaster pistol holster and pouches, One (1) pair of fabric camel-colored boots

Two (2) blaster pistols, One (1) unlit lightsaber, One (1) unlit lightsaber handle, One (1) interchangeable severed right forearm stump, One (1) auto-tourniquet

One (1) light-up Weathervane stand which can be mounted onto the wall or ceiling and allows 90 degree movement, One (1) figure base and one (1) figure stage with Luke Skywalker nameplate and the movie logo

Sideshow Exclusive: Darth Vader Head accessory

Triad Toys Splinter Cell Sam Fisher 1:4 scale Figure

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is an action-adventure stealth game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal and built on the Unreal Engine 2. It is the first Splinter Cell game in the series endorsed (but not created) by author Tom Clancy, and follows the activities of American NSA Black Operation, "Black Ops", agent Sam Fisher. The character of Sam Fisher is voiced by actor Michael Ironside. His boss, Irving Lambert, is voiced by actor Don Jordan.

Sam Fisher is the game's protagonist. He is a seasoned veteran of Covert Ops and Black Ops who is the first person recruited as a secret field operative known as a "Splinter Cell" for the NSA's super-secret sub-agency, Third Echelon.

Triad Toys is proud to partner with Ubisoft to create the ultimate Splinter Cell collectible. The elite covert ops agent Sam Fisher is fully realized in the 1/4 scale mixed media format. Clad in his Mark V Tactical Operations Suit, his all-black stealth suit is outfitted with real cloth pants and fabric BDU vest. He is armed with his modified FN Five-seveN semi-automatic pistol and SC-20K assault rifle. Fisher’s trademark ‘trifocal goggles’ and diorama base light up to cast an intimidating glow amongst his surroundings. Included is an exclusive interchangeable unmasked Sam Fisher portrait to customize the display. Each piece is cast in heavyweight polystone and carefully hand-painted to create a true quality Splinter Cell collectible.

Fisher's green, three-lensed goggles have become one of the trademarks of the Splinter Cell series. While fans of the series regularly point out that they would give Fisher's position away, it was revealed in "The Real Sam Fisher blog" (Fisher's fictional web journal stating that he's merely the man the games are based on) that the goggles did not actually glow, and were simply portrayed that way on screen to provide visual interest and the location of the character in the dark.

Fisher's glowing goggles, radio, and OPSAT merely show the current location of his head, body, and arms respectively in the darkness for the benefit of the player. The third vision mode is fluorescent which is only found in the Tom Clancy novels and not in the game. In the book this vision allows the user to see dust and if anything has been moved which aids Sam in finding hiding enemies.

Remaining unseen is a very important factor for Fisher on his missions, thus wearing the right clothing is necessary. He mostly wears the Mark V Tactical Operations Suit (codenamed RhinoPlate), a specialized-designed wetsuit made from Dragon Skin that fits tightly around his body (similar to a bodysuit), making it almost impossible to hear it move. The fabric is interwoven with Kevlar, "RhinoPlate" and Gore-Tex, allowing it to stop bullets from long range.

Sam also has a pair of black combat boots, a weapons belt, a Nomex balaclava, and a radio on his back that emits light (only visible to the player).

In the game, the pistol is a modified Fabrique Nationale Five-seveN Tactical model, a 20-round, semi-automatic handgun with an attached suppressor that uses proprietary 5.7mm ammunition. The Five-seveN is touted by FN to be able to penetrate NATO kevlar vests and helmets, but this is only when firing the SS190 Duty Round, a high velocity, military-grade bullet designed to punch through armor.

The SC-20K M.A.W.S. (Modular Assault Weapon System) is a 30-round, selective fire 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup assault rifle with a suppressor, a 1.5x reflex sight or a 2/4/6x scope (in the first 2 games), and an underslung grenade launcher used to launch various less-than-lethal devices. It is a variation of the F2000 Assault Rifle.

I'm not into 1/4 figures (the size is too big for my liking) and statues (they have zero articulation and are mostly cast from stone, not much to do with since statues come with one fixed stance and are usually more expensive than 1/6 figures with fabric outfits, ultra-detailed gear and accessories plus weapons AND a full range of pose-abilities) myself but if you like, you can pre-order this 1/4 scale mixed media format Polystone STATUE at Triad Toys website

Breaking Dawn Part 1Takes it From 'Blah' to 'What the Hell?'

The stance on the Twilight franchise between fans and critics is about as wide-gapped as Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. As much as the millions of "Twi-hards" love the first three films, there's very little denying among those who view them from a critical eye that the films are awfully constructed, horribly acted, and painfully dreary. In terms of the latest, Breaking Dawn - Part 1, you can rest in the comfort of knowing much of that still applies. The acting hasn't improved. The story is still shallow as a blood slide. But, Bill Condon, the fourth director of the franchise, realizes the outright insanity Stephenie Meyer injected into the final novel of her series, and he embraces it. Breaking Dawn - Part 1 might be nothing to admire in terms of structure or style, but there's still a universal understanding that anyone will turn to look at an interesting car wreck, one that leaves the cars twisted in ways you never even thought were possible.

Oh, story? Fine. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is finally marrying vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) still pines for Bella who only sees him as a good friend. With each, passing day, Jacob mentally wrestles between wanting to tear Edward to pieces and the truce the vampire Cullens and werewolf tribe created between each other. Bella and Edward venture off to their island honeymoon, but, as with anything involving a vampire-human-werewolf love triangle, nothing progresses quite like you'd expect it to.

For instance, did you know Bella and Edward play chess on their honeymoon? Chess. Interesting, no? It's just one of about a dozen moments of minutia and tedium Condon and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg felt necessary to include in the film's first half. Seriously, the first half of Breaking Dawn - Part 1 doesn't even ride the line between interesting and boring. It takes a swim in the boredom pool, showing us every, little detail of the marriage and subsequent honeymoon between Bella and Edward. Much of this could have and probably should have been stricken completely between novel and film, but they needed two movies to fill.

That's part of the problem, the idea that Summit Entertainment decided to split Breaking Dawn into two movies to keep the Twilight golden goose healthy and prolonged in its egg laying. The novels could have been cut down to one, evenly paced movie. But why do that when you can create two, meandering movies? The core audience is already built in. Who cares if they bore the rest of us to sleep with scenes of Edward and Bella holding each other in an exotic stream? I'm so glad they cut back to that chess game a couple of times, though. I wondered why that was on the book cover.

But then the unthinkable happens. Bella realizes after the two consummate their marriage that she is now carrying Edward's "possibly vampire" fetus. Thus, with the second half of Breaking Dawn - Part 1, the ocean of batshit insanity kicks in, and, thankfully, Condon and Rosenberg don't shy too far away from that, either. This is PG-13 like the previous films, but that's only thanks to creative... cutting. You still get the idea of what's happening, and how graphic things could have gotten if the camera was allowed to be aimed elsewhere. Of course, much of this is best left unrevealed, especially for those who haven't read the books or who even despised the first three films. None of these films are good, but when the story takes this many soap opera-level turns and crafts this many "what the hell?" moments, your curiosity takes over. You can't help but wonder where Meyer and her bizarre imagination is going to take her characters next.

Granted, the whole time the story plays loop de loop before your eyes, you're subject to the acting of the film's three leads. None of them seem to have improved in the three years since Twilight, especially Lautner who almost seems to have regressed back to his Sharkboy and Lava Girl days. Sure, he loses his shirt in record time, 30 seconds into the film by my count, but Taylor Lautner's abs aren't the ones with the credit here. Pattinson and Stewart still do that slow movement, stare-blankly-at-the-floor, try-not-to-throw-up form of acting that's gotten them so far. Who can blame them, really? It's not like it hasn't all been lucrative up until this point.

Much of Condon's in-frame direction is adequate. There's nothing visually magical put on display with Breaking Dawn - Part 1, nor is it Catherine Hardwicke levels of terrible. It's just fine, save for the few vampires-on-werewolf action moments we get where the CG creations at night blur into one another. I swear I saw a werewolf take a bite out of a tree at one point. Also, the way Condon captures the werewolves conversing while in their transformed state is flabbergasting to put it mildly. Let's just say I'll never look at a pack of giant werewolves in the middle of a quarry the same way again. Because that happens all the time.

But the acting and direction are style outside of the substance, especially when that substance is what we get in Breaking Dawn - Part 1, an appalling experiment in awe-inducing story telling. Is it good? Absolutely not. None of the Twilight movies have been good. But the banality seen up until now has been removed like rust being kicked from a sheet of metal. Breaking Dawn is craziness beyond words, a visual realization of the sheer insanity Stephenie Meyer put forth in her novel, one of which those who felt the Twilight series was as bland as egg whites up until now might actually take notice. Maybe using eggs as an analogy was a poor choice here. Breaking Dawn - Part 1 isn't going to win over any new fans for when Breaking Dawn - Part 2 hits November 2012, but even those who dislike all four Twilight movies, myself included, can't deny this film doesn't show them something they've never seen before. Or thought would ever see. Or even ever cared to see. Or thought was even possible.

Matthew McConaughey as Mud in Jeff Nichols' Film 'Mud'

Anyone else think he looks a little too obvious for a character named Mud in a film titled Mud? That said, Jeff Nichols, who directed staff favorite Take Shelter this year as well, is a very talented filmmaker on the rise and I trust he knows what he's doing. Once set to star Chris Pine, the project is a drama centered on two teenage boys who encounter a fugitive (Mud, played by Matthew McConaughey) and pact to help him escape from an island in the Mississippi. Empire has a first look photo from set, as it's currently shooting, and it's a worth a quick glance. "Mud's a dreamer," McConaughey explains. "He's an aristocrat of the heart."

To give you a clearer idea of what this is about, here's how McConaughey described it to Empire: "I guess it's a fairytale about love, in terms of what this boy finds out about love through Mud. And you don't see that many scripts that are good, sorta Stand By Me, summer-of-love fairytales like that." Mud is an escaped convict who befriends a young boy named Ellis, played by The Tree of Life's Tye Sheridan, and encourages him to dodge bounty hunters and reconnected with his on-off girlfriend, played by Reese Witherspoon. Michael Shannon (seen in Jeff Nichols' last film Take Shelter) and Sam Shepard also co-star in this. Shooting is underway, and we expect to see this hit some festivals sometime next year. Stay tuned for more!

DiCaprio, Mulligan & Maguire in 'The Great Gatsby'

We're taking a moment to feature these first look photos because, while they are indeed just some set photos from Sydney, Australia, they're perfect first look shots from Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. They don't reveal anything and are simply good first looks at the costume and facial expressions of the primary cast of this adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. Tobey Maguire stars as Nick Carraway, meeting Daisy Buchanan, played by Carey Mulligan, and Jay Gatsby, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. All three of them can be seen strolling through Sydney Centennial Park thanks to Celebuzz, tip via SlashFilm. See below!
If you wish to see more, click any. Here's a quick selection for a first look at Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby:

Warner Bros' new take on The Great Gatsby is being directed by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, Australia), from a script by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald's beloved novel set on Long Island that centers on Midwesterner Nick Carraway who is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway sees through the cracks of Gatsby’s nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await. In addition to Maguire as Carraway, Mulligan as Daisy and DiCaprio, this also stars Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton, Gemma Ward, Callan McAuliffe, Amitabh Bachchan and Jason Clarke. It's scheduled to hit theaters in 3D on Christmas Day in 2012.

Amazing Innovator 1967 Chevrolet Nova

We've said it once and we'll say it again (…and again and again): not all tuning jobs are made equal. There are tuners that hastily upgrade certain parts of cars and there are artsy customizers like Roadster Shop that design unique vehicles like no other.

Roadster Shop, which is based in Mundelein, Illinois, specializes on classic American cars - and we're not talking about a simple paint job or even a full blown restoration, but a complete transformation of the entire vehicle.

One of their latest and more publicized designs is a 1967 Chevrolet Nova coupe named Innovator. As you can see from the comprehensive photo gallery, every single component and panel of the original Nova was either replaced or upgraded to create a high-tech street racer.

At the heart of the build beats a GM-sourced 454 cubic-inch LSX V8 pushing out some 700-horsepower to the rear wheels through a Tremec T56 six-speed manual gearbox.

We'll agree that it may not be to everyone's taste as the futuristic and classic aspects of the car don't always blend perfectly –at least on the outside, because the interior is spot on in our books- but no one can’t deny the work that went into transforming a plain Jane 1967 Chevrolet Nova coupe into something that's bound to draw attention wherever it goes.

ROADSTER SHOP INNOVATOR BUILD