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Left 4 Dead movie posters available from Valve
Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer this holiday season? Valve is offering Left 4 Dead posters based on each of the "movies" in the popular co-op shooter. For those unfamiliar, Left 4 Dead's four levels are based on zombie movie plots each with a different name and setting. Posters for the in-game movies Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest and No Mercy are all available for $6.99 each or as a set of four for $14.99. Not a bad idea to dress up those walls this holiday season.[via BBPS]
Breakfast Topic: BlizzCon swag
A bubble-hearth ball? Inflatable Frostmourne? Now that we know what they're giving away at BlizzCon '08, it looks like it's turning into a kiddie party. Don't get me wrong, though, I think I would have a lot of fun poking people with a poofy little sword of unadulterated, soul-sucking evil. I think I'll even good-humoredly kick around a bubble-hearth ball, one of the game's long-running gags on my favorite class. There are other cool stuff, like Diablo health and mana stress balls and Pandaren brewmaster bottle openers.A while back, I asked what kind of WoW-related merchandise and spin-offs you had or liked. Let's turn the tables this time around and pretend you could make swag for BlizzCon, or any Blizzard event like the Worldwide Invitational (where they gave away keychains and door hangers). What if they gave away Halaa Battle Token soaps? What wacky stuff will you make or like to see? Surely it can't be any zanier than an inflatable cursed runeblade.
Breakfast Topic: WoW-related merchandise and spin-offs
I bought my daughter's 'Future Horde' onesie from J!nx long before she was even conceived. I knew when I got my 'For the Horde' shirt that I wanted myself to have a matching outfit with my baby. I love World of Warcraft merchandise... I guess I'm just a real fanboy that way. I have some of the action figures, and I'm looking at getting Vindicator Marrad as soon as I set aside some RL Gold.My brother-in-law gave my wife and I the World of Warcraft board game a couple of years back, and I got more than a few packs of the Trading Card Game (although I was probably just hoping for some cool loot). I love the comic books -- both the ones from Wildstorm and the ones from Tokyopop -- and I enjoy a lot of the Warcraft-based comics online. I gobble up pretty much most anything World of Warcraft.So here's something to chew on this morning: what World of Warcraft merchandise or spin-offs do you like so far? There's the Frostmourne replica, of course. And we've given away cool stuff from Manaprincess, too. The Bronze Kettle / WoW Insider's Shelbi Roach makes those awesome, awesome, awesome chibi items like stickers and keychains. What World of Warcraft-related stuff do you have? Do you make any of your own?
DS Daily: Gaming merchandise
Because we're all massive, shameless nerds here at Fanboy Towers, we like to bang on about gaming merchandise, be it plushes, gashapon, game soundtracks, figurines, or inflatable Slimes. We're not feigning enthusiasm for much of this, either -- our cluttered shelves are a testament to our love for non-game gaming items. We accept that so much of it is pointless, yet we find the desire to own a plush in the shape of a cartoon lawyer is not one that can be resisted by most mortal men.Are you similarly hooked on gaming merchandise? Tell us about your collections, and make us feel better about ourselves.
Jinx puts WoW shirts on sale
This may not qualify as big news on a day when we learned more about Wrath of the Lich King than we have since Blizzcon, but in case you're in need of a new t-shirt or two, Jinx is having a sale on four WoW-themed designs. Each design, in men's, is available for $5, and they are: Horde crest Alliance crest WoW Burning Crusade Note that all sizes in each of the four designs are out of stock except large and extra-large, so I hope your size is one of those. The sale continues until May 14th -- go get your shop on!
Most unique Hello Kitty fan items
The marketing and merchandising machine can be quite a thing to behold, especially when it comes to Hello Kitty. The possibilities for themed merchandise seem to be endless. Here is a list of some of my favorites: The Hello Kitty scooter. Hello Kitty credit card, checking account, and free (exclusive) Hello Kitty business card holder upon qualifying. Some Hello Kitty baked goods. A Barbie doll. Not just any, either; this one comes decked from head to toe in Hello Kitty merchandise. Booze. Yes folks, even Hello Kitty supports booze, this time in the form of wine. What's the coolest, or most unique Hello Kitty item that you own? Do you make your own items, buy them from official shops, or try to score limited edition merchandise?
Behind the Curtain: How far is too far?
How far do you go to show how much you love your favourite MMO?Would you have a tattoo done? Our sister site WoW Insider has, in the past, posted about people having tattoos of various World of Warcraft symbols done. I sport a tattoo myself, and I've certainly considered getting a WoW tattoo done. Tattooing is certainly an extreme, and fairly permanent, way of professing your love for a game, so I suppose that might be 'too far' right there. You could go for a simpler option, and pick up some of the nifty official merchandise available for various games instead.I doubt you'll be surprised to hear that there is a veritable plehtora of merchandise available for WoW. There's the pen and paper RPG, (which I have but can't find anyone willing to indulge me an take part in my campaign) the TCG with its many tasty loot cards, and there's the wearable merchandise. Why not grab yourself a T-shirt or two – my personal favourite is the Camp Taurajo one. Wear one of these around town during downtime and see how many "For the Horde!" or "Grab your sword and fight the Horde!" cries you can hear being thrown your way. I wouldn't bet much on the latter though, to be honest. Sorry Mike. If your place of work has a 'dress down' day in effect, declaring your allegiance for the entire cafeteria to see may unearth a fellow WoW player you never knew was there.
Halo 3 MacFarlane figures packaged, pretty, coming soon
Gird your loins, because the McFarlane Toys line of Halo 3 action figures is on its way. Still due to drop in March, the snazzy-looking collectibles have already gone through packaging design, and X3F has collected some photos of what to look out for on retail shelves.With war-torn backdrops, and minimalistic packaging (except for the bizarre "Cortana LIGHTS UP!" sticker), these designs were clearly made to show off the figures, and for good reason. We might just pick up a few Spartan soldiers for ourselves, to re-enact our favorite Halo 3 multiplayer moments.
The Daily Grind: Do you dig MMO merchandise?
With the success of Blizzard's World of Warcraft, we've seen MMO merchandise not only on the web, but actually making it to malls. (For example, the J!nx WoW gear at Hot Topic.) Of course, one could argue that this is really a blessing in disguise as many parents and grandparents may not be willing to buy items online, but will spend time in a mall without fuss -- thus ensuring you actually get some gifts you're going to enjoy. (Or at least making it slightly more likely, anyway.)As an MMOer, do you like the concept of people running around in their MMO gear (like t-shirts, ball-caps and the like) or is that a shade too geeky to you? Did you ever spot someone sporting MMO gear and compliment them on their choice? Alternately, have you ever purchased any kind of MMO tie-in merchandise, like comics, figurines, or coffee-table art books instead of wearables because wearing game stuff was too much? If you haven't picked up any game goodies, what kinds of things would make you more inclined to pick something up?
Insane collection of Nintendo memorabilia can be yours
Spring cleaning must be a real hoot at Brett Martin's house. The Nintendo fan describes the picture above as "just a portion" of what is the most comprehensive collection of Nintendo merchandise we've ever clapped eyes on. Perhaps even more impressively, this vast pile of swag has been meticulously documented over at Martin's site, where you can cherry-pick the items you'd like to buy. Yep, that's right: you can actually drown your own house in Kirby plushes, should you so desire.The occasional South Park, Mega Man and Square Enix item aside, it's pretty much a Nintendo enthusiast's nirvana, so we advise you check out this gallery if you want to see the best of it.[Via Geekstir]
WoW gifts? I has em!
WoW is a big part of the time my husband and I spend together. If we're not actually playing, we're usually talking about strategies or our in-game goals. Likewise, I spend a ton of time with my guildmates, either raiding or just joking around. These are people I consider good friends. So with one of the major gift giving holidays just around the corner, I've been working on ideas for WoW-themed presents for the lot of them. And I'm certainly not the only one. The folks over at Warcraft Chicks have been compiling a list of inexpensive to legendary items you can buy or make for your loved ones. There are also a lot of posts over on WoW Ladies about gift ideas. Likewise, Grumble N' Autumnn has compiled a list of in-game toys. At this point, though, there's less than a week before Christmas. Yikes! So in the interest of time, I'm going to put together one giant list of WoW-related holiday gift ideas and where you can get them.
Petopia releases a 2008 calendar
Speaking of great WoW-related gifts for the holidays, Petopia's creator has broken out a Cafepress site, complete with official Petopia goods for the Hunter on your gift list. There are the standard items-- t-shirts, cups, and a Mazzaranche tote bag.But the kicker is this: a 2008 Petopia wall calendar. Featuring fun screenshots (and even some original art) of the best and most favorite pets in the game. I love it. Echeyakee, Humar, Takk the Leaper-- all the greats are here to count down 2008 with you. At $25 it's a little pricey, but on the other hand, any Hunter would love to have that as a gift this holiday season. Very cool idea to put that together, and totally fun to see your favorite virtual pets show up in a setting like that.
Mario Kart + slot car racing = awesome
File this under "amazing gamer gift ideas." Sure, we haven't really touched slot car racers since we were ten, and all we can really recall is flying off the damn track every twenty seconds, but this still makes our hearts flutter. German slot car manufacturer Carrera has created a high-quality Mario Kart slot racing set, complete with star-laden track, and Mario and Wario racers in their own unique karts.The Mario Kart Go! set is officially licensed by Nintendo, and features about 20 feet of track (we're not slot car racers, so we don't know if that's good or bad). The set is apparently popular, because it's already sold out, with a new shipment due in this Tuesday, December 12th. We'd prefer to see Yoshi, Luigi, or even Bowser as Mario's slot car rival, rather than Wario, but who can complain? Mario Kart and slot car racing is truly a match made in heaven.
Bring your character home with FigurePrints
Sure, there are already licensed World of Warcraft figurines by way of DC. But those are just so generic, you know? Now, what if I told you you could get a figure that looks exactly like your in-game character, outfitted in any gear you own? That's exactly what FigurePrints, a new venture that is set to go live on December 11th, promises to do for you. They are apparently official -- check out the "Licensed Blizzard Product" badge in the bottom-right -- and I find the idea quite intriguing. From one perspective it's the next logical step in merchandising, but really, look at the future we're living in: create a character in an online fantasy game, and have a third party step in, take a model of the character, make a custom 3D print of it, and mail it to your doorstep. This type of stuff has been done before, yes, but the quality on the sample FigurePrints is quite impressive.Here's some information from the site's FAQ: The data is pulled from the Armory, which makes me wonder: how do they get your appearance right? The Armory, unless I'm mistaken, doesn't include things like hairstyle and the other various customization options. The actual statuettes are built using rapid prototyping (AKA 3D printing) using vertically-stacked slices of "plaster-like powder" and then hand-finished. The scale is 1:18, which means a male human comes out about 4 inches tall, not counting the base. And the price? $99.95, plus $14.95 shipping and handling. They warn that availability is limited, and that the best way to guarantee you get one is to make an account at their site, although I wasn't able to get past the "Open December 11th" banner to actually click on anything. So how about it? Will you be lining up to pay $100 plus shipping to bring your toon out of Azeroth?
Guild Wars merch now at Penny Arcade store
Do you like Guild Wars? Do you like merchandise? What would say if I told you could combine these two loves into one unique shopping experience? We're not really sure to what we can attribute this piece of news, but the word has gone out on the wire, and apparently there is now a selection of Guild Wars merchandise available at the Penny Arcade store. The selection is fairly limited, mind you, restricted to a handful of t-shirts and limited edition 13"x19" prints, but it's probably safe to say that they'll be expanding the line of merch they have available. That is, if they like money anyway.The real question this raises is whether this is a sign that things are a-changing over at the Penny Arcade store. After hiring people to make "real" business decisions for them a couple years ago, the PA duo have branched out from being merely a web comic monolith and have spread out to take the reins of the biggest gaming trade show since the E3 of yore and have grown the biggest gamer-based charity on the planet from the ground floor. Is the next step making their online store the one stop shop for MMO (or games in general) merch? Time (and maybe today's news post) will tell.
A little Mario spirit
Ah, Christmas -- the holiday that seems to start earlier and earlier every year. By the time we're all old enough to start talking about how much better games were in "our day," the Christmas season will be starting around July. But this time, it's hard for us to complain about early holiday merchandise, since it's all covered with Mario! A GoNintendo reader spotted these -- as well as a sweet Christmas tree ornament -- at GameStop, and we just couldn't resist the idea of Mario stockings hung by the chimney with care.[Via GoNintendo]
Square Enix opening US merchandise store midnight tonight
If you've got any marrow or plasma to spare, you'd better go get it sucked out now because at midnight tonight, Square Enix opens the online merchandise store to the United States. The online store has been available to Japanese consumers for quite some time now, offering everything from Dragon Quest stationary to replica Gunblades from Final Fantasy VIII.The US store will have a modest opening, sticking mostly to figurines. A full list and descriptions of featured items are available after the break.
Doki Doki Majo Shinpan marketing continues to be out of control
Phone cards and manga were only the beginning -- soon, gamers will be able to touch witches in their beds. SNK Playmore is said to be planning on marketing Doki Doki Majo Shinpan pillow covers at this year's Tokyo Game Show. Considering the game did so well in preorders, we can't say we're too suprised at all the tie-ins ... and we can't help but wonder if there's going to be an entire witch-hunting franchise in the future. After all, witches are insidious. They could be anywhere -- even on your pillow -- so you gotta touch 'em all. There are also keychains, for those who like the character art, but maybe want something a little less gratuitous.
WoW comic confirmed
It's official: there's going to be a WoW comic (a few days ago we reported on intriguing hints to that effect). Here is DC's own page on it; it looks like it's going to be published under their Wildstorm line, which does a lot of fantasy-type stuff of (in my opinion) uneven quality. The release date for #1 is November 14th, and here are the credits: Written by Walter Simonson; Art by Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope; Cover by Jim Lee; Variant cover by [Blizzard's own art superstar] Samwise Didier.You can also subscribe directly from DC for $23.99 for 12 issues, over at their page. There's some interesting concept art and some more cover images over there as well. And for the curious, the story summary of the first issue is after the jump.
Fox will handle Halo licensing (yeah, just licensing)
And now for something completely different. Though the corpse of the Halo film project once co-produced by Fox and Universal is still warm, that hasn't stopped Fox from looting the grave -- just six months after its untimely demise -- for Master Chief's lucrative MJOLNIR exoskeleton and all sorts of other tchotchkes they know we'll want. You see, they haven't decided to go back to making the movie, but they have signed a deal to become the primary licensor for Halo merchandise, and what timing!With action figures, and branded controllers arriving just in time for the September 25th launch, Fox is poised to capitalize on all that hype with "a broad array of products, from books to apparel to collectible merchandise." But don't expect it to stop there! Elie Dekel, exec VP of domestic licensing for Fox, "said he's confident his division can continue to sell licensed products in the next few years until a fourth Halo game comes out." Or maybe, if they sell enough Master Chief underwear, they'll just keep going until the movie comes out. Eventually.[Via X3F]
