TMNT X NARUTO #1 Sells Out, Second Printing Heads to Comic Shops

The coolest ninja team-up fans could have ever imagined debuted to a tremendous response, receiving more than 100k orders and glowing reviews from both fans and critics.

Now, IDW Publishing and VIZ Media are immensely proud to announce that TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES x NARUTO #1 is receiving a second printing! Written by Caleb Goellner, drawn by Hendry Prasetya, and featuring a new cover by jaw-dropping artist Jorge Corona, the second printing of the acclaimed first chapter will arrive in comic shops on March 12.

VIZ Media Anime Expo Recap

 

VIZ Media had a successful Anime Expo this year with their industry panel announcing their upcoming slate, panels for ZOM 100: Bucket List of the Dead anime and BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 2, and signings with BLEACH’s Masakazu Morita and ZOM 100’s Kotro Takata! Check out in detail what happened this weekend below!

FANHOME Launches NARUTO SHIPPUDEN Figure Collection Subscription

Fanhome, the leader in subscription-based collections and models, brings the action and excitement of one of anime’s most legendary properties home to fans and collectors across North America as it announces the Naruto Shippuden Figurine Collection. 

Charismatic heroes, dangerous enemies, and mystical ninja techniques come to life in this extraordinary collection. Each month, a new figure arrives to subscribers and faithfully reproduces the features, costumes and accessories of beloved Naruto heroes and villains. A thoroughly researched and fully illustrated monthly magazine accompanies each figure and takes fans on in-depth explorations of the action-packed world of Naruto Shippuden, its characters, story, and lore.

NYCC 2022: Playmobil Shows Naruto, A-Team & New Star Trek

Playmobil has been hitting it out of the park with their licensed toy lines re-imagined in the signature art style of the Plamobilian Peoples. For me, the two highest points have been Ghostbusters and Scooby-Doo, which lent themselves exceptionally well to the redesign. Ghostbusters in particular had so much potential that I hope the crew will go back to the license and explore the Real Ghostbusters cartoon universe and their endless legions of ghosts, demons, and unforgettable legendary nightmares. IT'S ON MY WISH LIST! While these items are not on the schedule (so far), we did get a look at what's to come in the next few months at New York Comic Con 2022.

Naruto-Inspired Capsule Collection Designed in Collaboration with Michael B. Jordan

Coach announces the launch of Coach x Michael B. Jordan, the first-of-its-kind creative collaboration with actor, producer and first global face of Coach menswear, Michael B. Jordan. Inspired by his cultural influences and community, his love of Naruto, and his passion for bringing unique voices to the forefront, this unisex ready-to-wear, footwear and bag collection is Jordan’s first foray into fashion design, guided by the expertise of Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers.

SDCC 2013: Bluefin/ Tamashii Nations Exclusives

Bluefin Distribution will have 2 booths this year for San Diego Comic-Con 2013, Booth #140 and Booth #3545.  They are divided by the different Bandai Departments with each department offering their own exclusives.

Tamashii Nations items will only be sold at Tamashii Nations booth #3545

Exclusives from Bandai Hobby and Bandai Shokugan will only be available at Bluefin booth #140

There is a limit of 1 per person only for Exclusives from Bandai Hobby.
There is an opportunity to receive an autograph from Jason David Frank after purchasing S.H. Figuarts Green Ranger and the special stand set. Details on number of attendees for autographs and autograph location are still pending.
Megaforce Power Rangers will appear at Booth #3545 throughout the 4 days of the con.  Times will be posted at booth.

VIZ at New York Comic Con

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, returns to New York City for the 2012 New York Comic Con with an array of events, special booth appearances, insightful panel discussions and promotional giveaways. New York Comic Con takes place October 11th-14th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. VIZ Media will be located in Booth 2042.

New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest and most exciting popular culture convention and plays host to the latest and greatest in comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, toys, movies, and television. More information on New York Comic Con is available at: http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com.

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 : Toynami Exclusives

Remember how I keep saying any day now a mountain of exclusives and events news is going to drop on my head? IT HASN'T HAPPENED YET!! Honestly, the suspense is braking my cranium in two...but I'm kept busy by the steady flow of what is actually coming in...which includes Toynami's exclusives today! Toynami always have a wide array of licenses to pluck exclusives from and this year, they seemed to have gone with squishy over plasticy...but there is one action figure hiding in there. Sadly, it isn't from Futurama, as we had speculated the Shogun Warrior Bender might be this year's piece. Sorry Ramafans! Here's what is on tap...

Toy Fair 2011: Anime Explosion

At Toy Fair 2011, I was continually asked if I thought the world of Anime is getting smaller or bigger. This year I'm voting bigger, as it seems a large percentage of kids are now the ones watching these shows and the companies have developed new ways to deliver their products right to the source. In the past you'd have to hit specialty shops for fan subs and order toys from importers at inflated rates. Now, your favorite Etailer can get their hands on all that you desire and it doesn't cost much more that retail. As for watching the actual shows, sites like HULU provide YEARS of content for the cost of your time watching a commercial here and there. A couple of companies have taken notice of this and will be dishing out some quality action figures for your favorite titles.

SHOCKER TOYS

Just as their Indie Spotlight action figure line brings together great heroes from several different comic companies into one powerful series, Anime Spotlight will unite the legendary characters of VIZ, Toei and Funimation for the first time anywhere. Figures will be 6 inch scaled (according to their proper heights) and packed with articulation allowing your favorite characters to pull off the signature poses they are known for. We also wanted the Anime Spotlight action figures to be as unique as their animated counterparts, so we chose key facial expressions for standard and alternate heads that capture the attitude of each character perfectly. Anime Spotlight Series 1 will include…

- Naruto’s Kakashi Hatake (VIZ) with a variant swapping his head and hands to become Iruka Umino
- Bleach’s Ichigo Kurosaki (VIZ) with a variant allowing for season 1 and 2 looks as well as battle damage
- Death Note’s L (VIZ)
- Doctor Slump’s The Monster (Toei)
- One Piece’s Nico Robin (Funimation)
- 2 pack with Naruto’s Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka (VIZ)

To clarify, Kakashi, the teacher from Naruto, will be his own figure. Shocker wanted to do some variants for their line and saw that Kakashi and Iruka have nearly identical outfits, so with a swap of his hands and head, they'll deliver the second teacher in the same wave. Each character will have their own accessories and be packaged individually, so if you're a MOC (min on card) collector, you'll be able to have both displayed next to each other. For Bleach's Ichigo, Shocker noted that everyone seems to like to do the Hollow variant for this character, so they took the opportunity to tweak his look so you can get a season 1 and two design in the same series. The only thing changing will be Ichigo's Zanpakuto (sword), sheath and the strap holding it all. Not to skimp out on those fans wanting to own both, Shocker will include different heads for the variant and touched on the fact we'll be able to make him look battle damaged! We asked about other possible accessories and were told we can expect L to have something to snack on, the Doctor Slump monster will come packed with a little ghost friend, Nico Robin will contain parts to display her powers and the Naruto crew will have an array of weapons straight from the show. Shocker also noted that the Naruto kids got their own 2 pack because they are scaled to be smaller and they thought putting just one in a package would be skimpy, so going forward they are looking to have all the kids packed like this. No hints at series 2 yet, but as always, if you love series 1, be sure to spread the word and buy as soon as you see them and there will be plenty more from these licenses and others to come.

Shocker Toys also has a stylized figure line called MALLOWS and Anime will be dropped on their extra round heads as well. These suckers must be selling like mad because their lineup is extensive...

- Naruto’s Naruto Uzumaki(VIZ)
- Bleach’s Kon (VIZ)
- Death Note’s Rem (VIZ)
- Vampire Knight’s Kaname Kuran (VIZ)
- One Piece’s Roronoa Zoro (Funimation)
- Doctor Slump’s Arele-Chan (Toei)
- Galaxy Express 999’s Conductor (Toei)
- Saint Seiya the Hades’ Andromeda Shun (Toei)
- Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo’s Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo (say that 5 times fast) (Toei)
- Fist of the North Star’s Raoh (Toei)
- Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s Alphonse Elric (Funimation)
- Dragon Ball Z’s Goku (Funimation)
- Soul Eater’s Soul Evans (Funimation)

Shocker also mentioned they'll be making some American Greetings Mallows including Madballs’ Slobulous, Sushi Pack’s Wasabi and My Pet Monster. Eagle eyed readers will note some of the licenses above include Soul Eater, Dragonball Z, Galaxy Express 999, Vampire Knight and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. This MIGHT be a glimpse into what Shocker has planned for the 6 inch line, but keep in mind companies give out specific licenses for scale and format, so what they do for Mallows may not necessarily be approved for 6 inch action figures. One can hope though. Bandai didn't show any Dragonball Z toys this year and I'd still love to see someone do 6 inch super posable figures!

Over to SQUARE ENIX who have always expressed their love for Final Fantasy and now brings their excellent skills to Bleach. Available now are Rukiya Kuchiki and Tochiro Hitsugaya, with Ichigo Kurosaki packed with Kon to follow soon after (May). There's no doubt that Square Enix makes amazing figures, but a $42 price tag makes my pockets hurt. This is comparable to prices we've seen directly from Japanese companies, though, so nothing new for Anime fans. I'll be curious to see what Shocker Toys charges for their figures, and, as a recent article suggested, if die hard Anime fans will turn their noses up at American Anime action figures at a lower cost. Looking at the secondary market for Mattel's Naruto line, I'd say its not the case. This same article also suggested that American toy buyers wouldn't be interested in scoring an Anime Frankenstein figure. To that I say HA! Who loves Frankenstein more than we do...and when is the last time you saw an Anime version of him??!! Never..that's when. Square Enix will also be releasing a killer Sculpture Arts statue this May with Ichigo surrounded by a flaming phoenix.

KOTOBUKIYA has always shown their love for the sexy ladies of Anime and this year was no different. This year's statue releases include Phantom Queen Ex-Xecty (available now) and Maxima (May) from Shining Hearts, Black Magician Girl (March) and a series of One Coin figures from Yu-Gi-Oh!, Tamaki Red Armor Samurai Version from Manaka De Ikuno!! (available now), Kasumi from Dead or Alive 4 (April) & Rei Ayanami and Shikinami Asuka Ballerina Style from Neon Genesis Evangelion (available now). Koto adds MEGAMAN articulated model kits to their lineup this year with Roll (available now), Proto Man and Megaman (available this summer). They've also got D-Style Model Kits including Aim for the Top!! Gunbuster (Feb), Griffon (Dec), AV-XA Zero (available now), AV-98 Ingram 2 Patrol Labor (available now), AV-98 Ingram 1 (July) from Patlabor the Mobile Police and Dancouga from God Bless the Machine (March).

Kotobukiya is also known for sexitizing the iconic female heroes of comic books in an Anime format. Their BISHOUJO statue series will deepen its ranks this year with releases of Supergirl (July), Catwoman (March) and Wonder Woman (May) for DC Comics and Black Cat (April), Invisible Woman (July) and Jean Grey (August) for Marvel Comics.

DC DIRECT also have a anime babe line of their own called Ame-Comi, also starring the ladies of DC Comics. This year's offerings include , mini figures series 2 Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Cheetah in April, Power Girl, Supergirl, Hawkgirl mini figs series 3 TBA, full sized figures of Donna Troy as Wonder Girl Variant (March), Supergirl Black Suit Variant (March), Duela Dent as The Joker (March), Jesse Quick as The Flash (March), Raven (May), Mera (May), Batgirl Black Suit Variant (June), Catwoman v.2 Blue Suit Variant (June), Big Barda (August), Wonder Woman v.3 (August), Zatanna v.2 Halloween Show Variant (October) and Cheetah v.2 Leopard Variant (October).

VIZ Anime Coming Soon to a Computer Screen Near You

In a significant news announcement, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has detailed the launch of VIZ Anime – a brand new, free-to-use interactive web destination that will become a permanent home to some of the company’s best-loved animated series as well as new content which will be added on a weekly basis. VIZ Anime is accessible at: www.VIZAnime.com.

VIZ Anime kicks off with more than 400 episodes from hit series such as BLEACH, BUSO RENKIN, DEATH NOTE (complete series), HIKARU NO GO, HONEY & CLOVER, INUYASHA (complete series) and INUYASHA: THE FINAL ACT, NANA, NARUTO (complete series) and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN as well as THE PRINCE OF TENNIS. The site will also be the future web home for many other eagerly anticipated anime series set to launch later this year!

Episodes can be streamed for free with new ones being added weekly. A variety of interactive social networking tools and features also help foster an official online home and community for VIZ Media anime fans allowing them to connect on and discuss favorite shows, and offer ratings and opinions of various episodes. New functionalities will be added regularly.

• Users can “follow” as many series as they like and choose to be notified each time a new episode is released, as well as keep track of the last episode they’ve watched. This makes it easy to stay current on series like INUYASHA or NARUTO, which feature more than 100 episodes.
• Users can comment on individual episodes and also meet and interact with other fans, invite friends to join, ask questions and debate plot twists and characters, voice their opinion on what’s happening in a particular series, and also find out what else is going on across the anime and manga spectrums.

• Users can rate their favorite episodes by using a “Like” button on each episode page. They can quickly access a list of all the episodes they’ve similarly liked to compare how other users have liked an episode.

• Users can make a personalized profile page to keep track of the episodes they’ve watched and enjoyed, the series they’re currently following, and comments they’ve made. Mail tools can also be used to send private messages between individual users. Privacy controls let users decide what information is shared publicly and who is able to send them messages.

“We’re committed to developing VIZ Anime as a premiere online destination, and hope to offer a real community for VIZ Media fans to interact with each other and share their love of anime,” says Ken Sasaki, Senior Vice President & General Manager of VIZ Media. “We will also utilize the site as a means of two-way communication to better understand what our fans enjoy most and want, and how they engage with anime and manga online. With a lot of content to select from, VIZ Anime will become a favorite site to visit again and again!”

For more information on VIZ Media or VIZ Anime, please visit www.VIZAnime.com.