Marble Demon Mask

Cold cast marble Carnivean mask by Jason Soles on sale for $200 at Etsy.

*Previously: Lego mask.

*Buy M.A.S.K. at eBay.

Donkey Kong/Return of the Jedi mashup (and more)

Three video game-themed entries at Threadless. If you'd like the chance to buy them, vote by clicking on the voting widgets below.


Donkey Hutt by Carlos Escarrega:





Baby Sonic by Aaron Jay:





Old School Bowser by Alex Solis:


*Previously: Julia Roberts as Jabba's slave.

*Buy Jabba toys at eBay.

Self-slicing cake (link roundup)

Self-slicing cake by Kristin Tercek, who has prints on sale here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Win a caricature art contest.

2. Come up with a board game concept, win a toy store credit.

3. You'd have to be a true diehard to be intrigued by the exclusive G.I. Joe Collector's Club figures.

*Previously: G.I. Joe version of Norton antivirus.

*Buy G.I. Joe toys at eBay.

Baba Yaga and baby chicken legged shacks

Baba Yaga and baby chicken-legged shacks by Melissa Sue Stanley for the Stuff This show at Rivet. Here's Melissa's Etsy shop.

Speaking of Baba Yaga, Fables #86 was possibly my favorite single issue of the last year.

*Previously: Baba Yaga illustration.

*Buy Baba Yaga toys at eBay.

Steel blindfold (link roundup)

Steel blindfold via these sites.

And a few more links:

1. Fark headline: Woman attempts to cross the Mexico-US border hidden in suitcase. Agents still trying to get a handle on the situation.

2. The Los Angeles Times looks at the huge amount of free stuff mommy bloggers receive from marketers. (Which really isn't a big deal - - if a blogger posts in a sleazy manner, or recommends lousy products, then the blogger will lose readership.)

3. For fellow Sherman Oaks readers, a positive review of congressman Matt Sherman.

*Buy US President bobbleheads at eBay.

November Nose Art Contest Winners

Well, picking a winner was a lousy task, because all of the entries were so good. I actually asked several artists and pop culture enthusiasts for their favorites and everyone chose something different. First, let me again show off the nose art:



Royce Lee submitted nose art from his webcomic Manmachine. Aside from the stylish art, the comic has a cool interface that makes you wonder why magazine websites are so annoying to read.





Asajj Ventress and Browncoats by Shane Parker. Look closely and you'll see that Ventress' fighter includes kill markings that specify the manner in which the victim was killed.





Hellcats and horse cavalry by Jacob Green. Jacob also recently posted his design for Topless Robot's logo contest.





And finally, Dean Reeves' Slave Leia.

All of the entries were great, but I gave Dean's nose art the nod as the very best. Shane was randomly chosen as the $25 credit winner. And both Shane and Dean have already been sent their prizes. Thanks to everyone who participated. I'll announce the December art theme tomorrow.

Ninja pirate on his zombie unicorn steed

T-shirts are $12 with free shipping at Threadless, including this ninja pirate on a zombie unicorn steed.

Leerone's Haunted Mansion

A haunted mansion stars in the video for Leerone's Empty Houses. It's directed by Hank Friedmann

Some of the fun items in Leerone's webstore include love songs and love letters. Via.

*Previously: A Haunted mansion stars in the video for Dreamland.

*Buy Haunted Mansion collectibles at eBay.

Retro futuristic items (link roundup)

Hi-tech phonograph and armband radio from this Worth 1000 contest.

And a few more links:

1. Dead bees were quarantined in Australia and under examination, began to move. They contained real-life chestbursters.

2. British soldier Denis Avey smuggled himself into Auschwitz so that he could report on what was going on inside. Via.

3. Klingon Bird of Prey cake by Celebration Generation. See also: Wedding cake based on the movie Tremors. Via.

*Previously: Star Trek recruitment poster.

*Buy Alien toys at eBay.

threeA Toy's affordable Bertie

Tenacious Toys is accepting preorders for the $45 6.5" Berties. I just got one of the same-sized Brambles. The articulation, paintjob, and accessories are outstanding, but I feel bad for anyone who paid $300 for the full-sized robots.

Also, any purchase of $20 or more today at Tenacious Toys will earn a free ScaryGirl Swamp Folk figure.

*At Toycutter: Customized threeA toys.

*Buy threeA toys at eBay.

November Art Theme: Nose Art Roundup

Here's the roundup of submissions for the November Nose Art Contest. Sorry, I just woke up, so I haven't yet chosen a winner from these terrific designs:



Panels from Royce Lee's webcomic Manmachine.





Asajj Ventress and Browncoats by Shane Parker.





Hellcats and horse cavalry by Jacob Green.





Slave Leia by Dean Reeves.

I'll announce the winners later today.

*The Star Wars McQuarrie Concept Action Figures Set is 30% off at Entertainment Earth.

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy hard cover (review roundup)

It's hard to believe, but once upon a time, Star Wars was essentially dead intellectual property. There had only been three movies (and various forgettable comics, novels, and radio plays), and we'd only seen three people who knew how to use a lightsaber. Along came Timothy Zahn and his Thrawn Trilogy, which reignited the franchise, adding Thrawn, Mara Jade, and Joruus C'baoth to the Star Wars universe. The trilogy was turned into a 18-issue series by Dark Horse, and has been recently collected for rerelease in hard cover. Aside from faithfully following the plot of the novels, each six-issue arc is drawn by a different, very capable artist. Olivier Vatine's version of Luke was the first time I ever thought Luke was cool. And the last third of the series features art by one of my favorites - - Eric Shanower. If you've never read the series, then I highly recommend this version. My only criticism is that there are no extras at all. 33% off at Amazon.

And a few more reviews:

1. Defenders by Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire: Not remotely as funny as their Justice League work. 22% off at Amazon.

2. Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil by Jeff Smith: It has a couple of very cute panels, but overall disappointing. I'd like to see Jeff Smith paired with a talented writer. His writing since the first three Bone trade paperbacks has been pretty lackluster. 34% off at Amazon.

3. Ghost Box by Warren Ellis and Simon Bianchi: Wow what a disappointment. Every character simply talks like they're reading lines from Ellis' emails or Tweets, and I don't care for Bianchi's art. On the other hand, the two-part Ghost Boxes is great. Those alternate reality tales are illustrated by Alan Davis, Adi Granov (steampunk X-Men), Clayton Crain, and Kaare Andrews (X-Men meets The Road). 34% off at Amazon.

4. Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves, with a cover by James Jean: Not Gaiman's best, but an entertaining sci-fi tale that could easily become a series. $7 at Amazon.

5. The Wild Things by Dave Eggers: Like too many McSweeney's products, the best thing about it was the cover. I read it through to the end mostly out of a sense of obligation. 34% off at Amazon.

*Previously: 2009 Gift Guide.