MattyCollector has announced that Castle Grayskull has met the minimum order number needed to go ahead with sculpting a real model to eventually go into production next year. With little more than some basic design sheet images and a foam mock-up, fans put their money where their mouths were by pre-ordering the colossal playset at the steep cost of US$250. Had the minimum quantity not been met, the project would not have gone forward much like the Young Justice figures planned for next year that could not muster the pre-order minimum. Had Castle Grayskull not gone forward, it likely would have stifled the waning enthusiasm for the line further.

Now that sculpting can begin, Mattel is hoping to have something preliminary to show off at NYTF in February of next year. Pre-orders have opened back up for Grayskull and will remain open until January 4, 2013 at 9AM PT. Fans can now look forward to voting in the Spring for what characters will appear on the box art, which will be done by the same artist who painted the box art on the original Castle Grayskull, Rudy Obrero.

If you have not yet pre-ordered Castle Grayskull, you can do so here.

The date has been set. The second installment of Starcraft 2, Heart of the Swarm will be released on March 12, 2013. All you Terrans have until that time to complete Wings of Liberty before spoilers surround you like an oncoming zerg rush.

Speaking of spoilers, here is the introductory synopsis for the game from the Blizzard website:

You are Sarah Kerrigan, former Queen of Blades. Once the most feared entity in the galaxy, you now wait in a cell in the depths of a high-security research laboratory. Before the murderous forces of the Terran Dominion close in, you must plot your escape to the dark reaches of space… and reclaim your living empire at the Heart of the Swarm

And to further sweeten the sauce, here is a gorgeous trailer to salivate over!

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I had seen a trailer for Cloud Atlas not very long ago. I didn’t really understand it, but it piqued my curiosity. There appeared to be some elements of science fiction and adventure involved that appealed to me. From what I had heard it was based on a novel that was supposed to be unfilmable. Several days after experiencing the movie, I am still thinking about it. And I say ‘experience’ because one does not simply watch this movie, you become involved in it. If you like Cloud Atlas, despite its 172 minute run-time, it is unlikely that you will be satisfied with a single viewing.

Cloud Atlas is, in fact, six separate stories set in different eras, but all told in parallel. Initially, the jumping back and forth between six different plots is confusing and disorienting, but as things progress, it becomes increasingly easy to follow since we are not bogged down by any unnecessary elements in the plots. These are fairly terse short stories weaved together with physical and thematic ties. While it is tempting to try and keep track of everything from the outset, don’t. Just sit back and enjoy the film, the pieces will come together as they are meant.

Read on for more details of the plots and my reactions.
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News is starting to break that a blockbuster deal has taken place with Disney purchasing Lucasfilm. It seems George Lucas was ready to retire. Lucasfilm was entirely owned by Lucas. In the deal worth US$4.05 Billion, half was in cash, while the other half was in the form of about 40 million shares.

The first I heard about it was here.

Further articles revealed that Star Wars Episode 7 is coming with a target release year of 2015. Lucas will serve as a creative consultant for the film, while current co-chair of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy will serve as executive producer in addition to her new role as President of Lucasfilm and brand manager of Star Wars.

This is a developing story. We will have more as we hear it.

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Here it is. The first trailer for Iron Man 3 is up as the hype train continues to countdown to May 3rd, 2013.

We can see in the trailer that the events in the movie happen after The Avengers. We see a new armor enter the fray that looks like the Iron Patriot armor we saw Norman Osborn sporting in The Dark Avengers, though I have read that it is being called the ‘Detroit Steel’ armor. And finally The Mandarin steps forward. In the first movie, when Tony was kidnapped, it was by a terrorist organization called the ‘Ten Rings’. It was long believed that this was a reference to the Mandarin and given how he is represented in this trailer, that seems consistent.