I reported on some leaked control art for Terminator 2 minimates a while back. We have some more details on them now from Minimate Headquarters.

There are two separate assortments to begin. The first is a case of single-packed minimates consisting of 5 different terminators with a rare chase figure of General John Connor. This was the control art that we had seen previously. This is more or less the same treatment the Battlestar Galactica Minimates got with the single-boxed Cylons.
The different Terminators include:
T-800 Endoskeleton
T-800 Endoskeleton Battle Damaged with Gatlin Gun
T-800 Half Human Terminator
T-1000 Cop
and our rare variant General John Connor
(see group shot after the jump)

The second assortment will be the first wave in an ongoing line of Terminator 2 themed minimates (pictured above). The wave will include:
Terminator (T800) & John Connor
Final Battle T1000 & Battle Damage Sarah Connor
Endoskeleton & Battle Damage T800
VARIANT: Endoskeleton & Kyle Reese
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What Do Lonzo Wilkinson and Laird James McCullen XXIV have in common? They’re both trapped inside the giant plastic prison that is the GI Joe Ultimate Battle Pack. I literally chop open the box to show you whats inside.

See that image? The US Federal government has run out of funds for the program to hand out these $40 coupons for the Ditigal TV switchover, which is probably why on Monday the Senate unanimously voted to extend the “analog shutoff” deadline from February 17th to June 12th.

Several other reasons for the delay were cited. For one, there’s still not enough accurate information out there about who needs to switch and what someone affected by this change will have to purchase in order to use a digital signal. That’s a vast understatement, since the media at large has only just this month caught on that digital signals will require many TV owners making the switch to buy a new antenna as well — which the current (now-bankrupt) government program doesn’t take into account.

(Read more about how badly this could screw things up after the break)

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Empire Online has the dramatic first look at the Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen toy line with the two preview figures to be released in May.
Bumblebee has been revamped from the first movie with a new head, some new paint details and the car mode has been altered to more greatly resemble the production version of the Camaro.
Soundwave is of course a brand new toy, showing his Cybertronian form, not unlike the 2007 preview toys. What other form he might take in the movie remains a mystery.

Virtua Tennis did for videogame tennis what NFL Blitz and NBA Jam did for football and basketball respectively. No, there aren’t any big head codes, you won’t be hitting the court with Bill Clinton and Will Smith, there is no loudmouth announcer, and players don’t burst into flame. What I mean is that Sega and AM3 has taken the sport of tennis and made it fun to play. At first it wouldn’t seem to be much of a big deal, as tennis is rather easy to implement in video game form. In fact, the very first video game was basically a version of table tennis. However, there is a lot of strategy involved in the sport. Speaking as a former high school tennis player, it’s important to position yourself correctly, use the proper shot for returns, and figure out how to prepare and set up the next volley. There is a lot of thinking involved, and little time to do it in. Thankfully, Sega Sports’ tennis series has always eschewed any of these complications and focused upon the bare essence of what tennis is: two (of four if playing doubles) people knocking a ball back and forth between each other and moving as fast as possible while doing so.
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Mattel has been hard at work lately trying to meet the concerns of fans of the DC Universe Classics line. One of the initiatives to try and better meet demand is to offer “open stock” to online retailers. This is basically a solid case of a single figure. So if Shazam is doing really well, but Killer Moth isn’t getting any orders, the online retailers can adjust their orders and order a few more cases of Shazam without worrying about getting Killer Moths that there is not demand for. Unfortunately the Wave 6 and 7 chases will not be offered in open stock due to an error or some sort, but it is the intention of Mattel to offer the Wave 8 variants in open stock. This is really great news for fans who order online.

In addition to this news, Mattel also announced that they were able to redirect all remaining stock of the KB Exclusive Maskless Batman Beyond and Sonic Arm Cyborg to online retailers. The status of these figures was in question since KB Toys has gone into liquidation and the exclusives were difficult to come by in the first place.

Great news all around and its good to see Mattel trying to address the concerns of fans and correct some early mistakes in the line’s life.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Academy, for your consideration of Best Actor In a Motion Picture and In a Wrestling Ring, I reccomend Mickey Rourke.

After a command performance as over-the-hill wrestler Randy The Ram in Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, he’s apparently going to keep the act up. Vince McMahon has invited Rourke to compete in Wrestlemania 25 on April 5. He announced such on the red carpet at the SAG awards Sunday night, see video here.

I really loved The Wrestler and thought Mickey was great inhabiting that character, so flawed but immediately likable. The very fact that he’ll be taking The Ram into the ring against Chris Jericho proves he deserves that Oscar more than anyone else in the category. Is Sean Penn going to keep doing speeches in character as Harvey Milk? Is Frank Langella going to keep talking like Nixon? Is Brad Pitt going to get progressively younger? NO! Mickey Rourke runs this.

Talk more in our forum about the Oscar Nominations