Sandy Bottom - Halloween Art

Scooter as Sandman!

He's a Mystery - Halloween Art

The Great Gonzo as Mysterio!

Wild Man - Halloween Art

Animal as Kraven the Hunter!

Bird's Eye View - Halloween Art

Sam Eagle as Vulture!

Plays with Electricity - Halloween Art

Crazy Harry as Electro!

Helping Hand - Halloween Art

 Bunsen Honeydew as Doc Ock!

Funko POP! Ant-Man & Ant-thony

The fine folks at Funko have done it again! This time for their vehicle line of POP! vinyls. I can't wait to add this one to my Ant-Man collection!

Everyone's favorite flying ant is here for your Ant-Man vinyls. He's a loyal friend and soldier. Entertainment Earth has this piece labeled for pre-order to be released in December 2015. Just in time for Christmas! Let's hope Disney Infinity releases Ant-Man soon, too!

Muppet Halloween Art

Another Halloween, another costume. But what do you go as this time? That's the very question the Muppets asked themselves this year . . .

Join us every few days as we reveal our Halloween Art surprise . . . one costume at a time!

Review: The Muppets "Bear Left Then Bear Write"

the muppets "Bear Left then Bear Write" 

In the third episode of the muppets, we are introduced to a few new things: Rowlf's Tavern, which is across the street from the studio, Gonzo is trying online dating (where's Camilla?), and Miss Piggy does not like being embarrassed on live tv (no matter how funny).

This episode felt more muppety than the first two. It showed a lot more muppet interactions and story lines. Christina Applegate makes a great guest star and has a story line that doesn't just fizzle out like the Nick Offerman story. Gonzo also gets a complete story as well. It seems that the show can handle two guest stars, but when they hit three, things start getting a little off-balance. 

It seems weird to make the conscience decision to not include chickens and penguins and talking food in this muppet universe. Those characters, especially Camilla, are integral to the Muppets. We all known Gonzo has a girlfriend named Camilla and we're okay that she's a chicken. I'm not sure it makes it any more of a funny plot line if Gonzo is online dating. Why can't he just be dating on a Chicken Website or something? Anywho, Gonzo and Camilla have been together for a long time and it's a little odd not to get an explanation of why they Camilla has just disappeared. 

I like Rowlf's Tavern a lot. It's fun to see Rowlf and the other Muppets outside the studio. Can't wait to see more of it! I also really liked seeing the pie revenge with Miss Piggy and Scooter. It's always fun to see more Scooter. The introduction of Chip was also really funny and brought a lot of simple humor to the show.

Overall, I felt this episode captured the Muppet humor more so than the first two episodes. However, there is still one thing that has not changed. Kermit is still not Kermit. Why would he lie to Fozzie? He cares about his friends. It doens't take a life-changing situation to get Kermit to care. Let me share this, "Underneath the zaniness or perhaps standing next to it, there was a sense of decency that the characters had, about the world and to each other. [. . .] But at the core, there was always a sense of social values and decency." Jerry Juhl, one of the head writers for the Muppets, said that. I think that's what is missing from the new show.

Let's get these characters back to their core values. They can be funny and zany and goofy and pop culture icons and still be caring and decent to one another.

Captain America - Civil War comes to Disney Infinity

Captain America - The First Avenger comes to Disney Infinity!

Disney announced today that Captain America - The First Avenger will be released in March 2016 for Disney Infinity. The figure is quite impressive - new detailed costume, new pose, and new powers!

It's likely that this figure is intended to tie-in Captain America: Civil War. Both the figure and the movie will be released in March 2016.

They also announced Marvel Battleground Playset details, and here they are:

Today, Disney Interactive revealed details for Marvel Battlegrounds, the upcoming Play Set for Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition, featuring a new four-player, arcade brawler style of gameplay, and an original Marvel storyline. Developed by United Front Games, in partnership with Avalanche Software, Marvel Battlegrounds is the first Disney Infinity Play Set to feature four-player gameplay. With full compatibility for all Disney Infinity Marvel characters, Marvel Battlegrounds features the widest selection of playable characters of any previous Play Set.

“With Disney Infinity 3.0, we’ve aimed to provide a wider variety of gameplay than ever before, and the Marvel Battlegrounds Play Set represents our commitment to developing something entirely new for our players,” said John Blackburn, SVP & GM of Disney Infinity. “The four-player arena style combat gameplay is a perfect way for friends and families to come together and play in head-to-head battles with some of their favorite Marvel characters.”

Launching in March 2016, Marvel Battlegrounds will feature Hulkbuster, Ultron and Captain America – The First Avenger, a new version of Captain America with a new pose, costume and enhanced abilities.  Additional Marvel Battlegrounds figures will be announced in the coming months. All Disney Infinity (2.0 Edition) Marvel figures will be playable in the Play Set and will feature adapted abilities and skills to complement the new style of gameplay of Marvel Battlegrounds.

“We worked closely with the Disney Infinity development team to come up with new gameplay and storyline for Marvel Battlegrounds that is unique to the platform,” said Jay Ong, VP of Games, Marvel Entertainment. “We’ve created an authentic Marvel story that will give players the freedom to choose any Marvel figure in Disney Infinity and have them face off against each other in an arena style combat.”

In the original storyline, Ultron teams up with Loki in an effort to steal Asgard’s immensely powerful Infinity Stone. To accomplish this, Ultron and Loki create robotic replicas of the famed Marvel Super Heroes and turn them against each other in an effort to distract them while they commit their crime. The Marvel Super Heroes duplicates battle each other in iconic environments such as a wrecked Brooklyn train yard, Wakanda and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Lunar Base, culminating in a universe-shaking battle against Ultron.

 
Fans can get a more in-depth look at the Play Set during the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition: Facing Off in Marvel’s Battlegrounds panel at New York Comic-Con, featuring participants from Disney Interactive, Avalanche Software, United Front Games and Marvel Games. New York Comic-Con attendees can attend the panel on Saturday, October 10 from 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. at Empire Stage 1-E and will receive an exclusive pre-release figure giveaway. Fans at home can watch a live stream of the panel here:http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/NYCCLIV

 

 

The Good Dinosaur Trailer #2

Disney and Pixar has released the 2nd US trailer for The Good Dinosaur and it looks incredible! The first trailer for any Pixar movie generally just shows of the concept. The second actually dives into story and we get to see that in this second trailer. Arlo and Spot are also coming to Disney Infinity 3.0, with Spot as a playable character and Arlo and the rest of the cast as mounts. We cannot wait to see and play The Good Dinosaur this fall!

Review: The Muppets "Hostile Makeover"

The second episode of the muppets, entitled "Hostile Makeover," aired this past week. This time we found the gang setting up Miss Piggy with Josh Groban to try and calm the set down, as code reds are the norm around the stage. Fozzie is invited to Jay Leno's house and steals something of his. And Bobo and the Newsman are selling cookies.

What was nice about this episode is that Piggy was happy! She was having a great time being with Josh Groban, and all the Muppets seemed to appreciate it . . . until she starts changing the show. There are some great jokes, especiall the Electric Mayhem going acoustic. The Up Late with Miss Piggy segment was fantastic and I hope we get to see more of those. It was funny and muppety. We also got to see more of Deadly and Scooter.

The Jay Leno and Fozzie plot line didn't really do much for me. We got some funny moments, but overall it didn't really seem to fit with the rest of the show. It was sort of wedged in there between Piggy and the backstage antics.

Same goes for the cookie selling rivalry between Bobo and the Newsman. I feel like there was potential here, but it didn't really go anywhere. There were some funny moments, but overall it didn't quite work.

I think we had some formatting issues with this episode. If you want to see three interconnected plot lines that work together, watch Phineas and Ferb. They mastered the three-plot story for an 11 minute program. I also found it odd that everyone, including the guests stars, were mean to the Muppets again. Why does everyone hate on them in this new format? I liked seeing Laurence Fishburne interact with Kermit, but not in that way. I get it was meant to motivated Kermit to get the show back to its normal state and get rid of Josh Groban, but it came off way too harsh. Kermit also called Groban a dork. Since when does Kermit call people names?

Here's the thing, we know how this characters behave behind the scenes. It was a regular part of The Muppet Show. Yes, Kermit gets mad once in a while, but he seems to be stuck in a stupor, permanently.

Anywho, besides the above comments, I think its most important that I laughed throughout the episode. I tuned in and will tune in next week as well. Let's hope we're getting closer to a more balanced format and some niceness from the characters.