Thursday, January 07, 2010

TOY Shooting Game Historica Vol. 4 - Import Preorder

NCS Preorder Synopsis
Preorders are welcome for the fourth volume of Yujin's Shooting Game Historica gashapon which features another five ships from old school shooters and a brand new game which was released a few weeks ago. The toy vehicles in SGH4 are:

» X-002 - XMultiply
» Flint Lock - Xexex
» CF-345 Black Fly - Metal Black
» Twinbee & Winbee - Pop'n Twinbee
» Legend Silver Hawk Burst - Darius Burst

The X-002 ship looks complicated but we're confident in Yujin's ability to churn out quality toy ships. Preorders for the complete set are welcome to ship in late April 2010.

BLU-RAY Surrogates - New Release, Ships in 24 Hours

From the Publisher
How do you save humanity when the only thing that's real is you? From the director of TERMINATOR 3 comes a jaw-dropping psychological thriller starring the ultimate action hero, Bruce Willis. In the not-so-distant future, where people experience life through perfect surrogates controlled from the safety of their own homes, murder is a thing of the past. But when a college student linked to the creator of these replicants is killed, one FBI agent must re-enter reality and risk his life to unravel the mystery. In the battle of technology versus humanity, who can you trust? Experience every electrifying moment of this mind-blowing movie. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel and exploding with unforgettable action, SURROGATES is nonstop entertainment from start to finish!

Blu-Ray Bonus Features
Exclusive To Blu-ray: Deleted Scenes, Exclusive To Blu-ray: A More Perfect You: The Science Of Surrogates, Exclusive To Blu-ray: Breaking The Frame: A Graphic Novel Comes To Life, I Will Not Bow Music Video By Breaking Benjamin, Feature Audio Commentary By Director Jonathan Mostow

BLU-RAY Whiteout - New Release, Ships in 24 Hours

From the Publisher
The wind hammers at 100 MPH. The temperature plummets to -120 F. Nature doesn't intend for people at Amundsen-Scott Research Station to survive Antarctica. Neither does a mysterious killer who has committed the first-ever murder on that most remote of continents...and who will certainly kill again. "Underworld's" Kate Beckinsale plays a U.S. Marshal plunged into shocking mystery and racing to solve it before being stranded with six months of winter darkness - and a murderer - closing in. Dominic Sena ("Swordfish") directs a talented cast including Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt and Alex O'Loughlin in Dark Castle Entertainment's action-packed thriller. Another key player is the stunning, wind-whipped icescape. One way or another, it will take your breath away.

Blu-Ray Bonus Features
Deleted Scenes, Featurettes. "'The Coldest Thriller Ever' Story"; "Freeze Frame: From Page to Screen"; Digital Copy on Disc.

BLU-RAY Pandorum - New Release, Ships in 24 Hours

From the Publisher
In Pandorum, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue, and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly – and horrifically – realize they are not alone. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It’s pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can’t remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission? With Lt. Payton (Quaid) staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower (Foster) ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft’s shocking, deadly secrets are revealed…and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.

Blu-Ray Bonus Features
Audio Commentary, Director Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Scenes, Still Galleries, Featurettes. "The World Of The Elysium": Behind-The-Scenes Featurette; "What Happened To Nadia's Team" Featurette; Flight Team Training Video; Digital Copy of the Feature Film.

DVD Across the Hall - New Release, Ships in 24 Hours

From the Publisher
In this tense, stylish noir thriller, Terry (Danny Pino, TV's Cold Case) follows his fiancee, June (Brittany Murphy, The Ramen Girl, 8 Mile), to a seedy hotel where she's meeting another man. Drunk and distraught, Terry calls best friend Julian (Mike Vogel, Cloverfield) and reveals that he's holed up across the hall from the lovers with a stolen gun and murder on his mind. A chilling cat-and-mouse game ensues, forcing Julian to risk his own life to keep his friend from doing the unthinkable.

DVD The Boys are Back - New Release, Ships in 24 Hours

From the Publisher
Photo credit: Matt Nettheim/Courtesy of Miramax Films"> Inspired by a true story, "The Boys Are Back" is a deeply moving, wryly confessional tale of fatherhood, that intimately evokes both the fragility and wonders of family life. It follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter (Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner CLIVE OWEN) who, in the wake of his wife's tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood. With turbulent emotions swirling just below the surface, Joe Warr throws himself into the only child-rearing philosophy he thinks has a shot at bringing joy back into their lives: "just say yes." Raising two boys ? a curious six year-old (NICHOLAS MCANULTY) and a rebel teen (GEORGE MACKAY) from a previous marriage -- in a household devoid of feminine influence, and with an unabashed lack of rules, life becomes exuberant, instinctual, reckless . . . and on the constant verge of disaster.

DVD Bonus Features
Bonus Features include: THE BOYS ARE BACK: A Photographic Journey With Optional Commentary By Director Scott Hicks, A Father And Two Sons, On Set

NEWS General Updates

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep - Shipping Tonight from Japan
Japanese distributors were not allowed to release the game last night but they'll begin shipping the game and PSP bundles tonight. Due to the delay, NCS does not expect our shipments to arrive until Saturday in the U.S. Barring no transport delays, we'll be able to ship Express Mail packages on Saturday for delivery on Monday. UPS packages will ship on Monday.
Japan Holiday - Next Monday
"Coming of Age Day" or Seijin no Hi will be celebrated next Monday in Japan. It's a national holiday and all of our vendors will be on hiatus. When men and women reach 20 years of age in Japan, they "come of age" and are considered adults who are legally able to vote, drink vodka, and smoke cigarettes.
"Is the Nico Robin figure real?"
At first, we didn't understand the question captioned in the email that arrived. A One Piece Nico Robin was summoned from storage and we looked at it. Yeah, it was real since it wasn't a figment of anyone's imagination and no one had started drinking yet. Operative word: "yet." The reply to the email went something like, "Yes, Nico Robin is a real object that exists on this planet. If she ceases to exist, we'll alert you."

The emailer then clarified his intent. "Is Nico Robin authentic and not a cheap Hong Kong knockoff?" The first inclination was to be insulted but amusement took over. Didn't counterfeiters had better things to copy than toys? Why weren't they counterfeiting something simple or even better, working at the local food mart as door greeters? Fabricating a toy figure, even if it is a counterfeit, is more capital intensive than making DVD copies of the latest slasher flick. It didn't make much sense until we looked into the Asian market for counterfeit toys which happens to be a large and thriving industry. One rationale for the success of bootleg toys is that most consumers are unable to compare a real toy figure against a fake. No one buys the same figure twice (unless they're crazy.... about toys) and if someone gets a counterfeit, he'll assume it's authentic. Even if it cost $12 on Ebay compared to $80 for the real thing. In any case, our Nico is real and authentic and from Japan. With the little gold Toei sticker that counterfeiters don't seem to have the wherewithal to duplicate and paste onto their knockoff toys.