James Whitbrook, Author at Gizmodo

This Star Wars #1 cover basically has all the Star Wars you’ll ever need

Han, Leia, Luke? Check. Droids? Check. Darth Vader? Check. Stormtroopers? Check, Check and Check. Lightsabers? Check. Blasters? Check. Wookiee butt? Definitely Check. Millenium Falcon? Check! Good job, Marvel, you got all the Star Wars. The new cover is a variant for the company’s first new Star Wars comic after Disney took the license away from…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Oct 1

This pudgy Pikachu plush is practically perfect

Look, I’m trying to type this with a straight face, but this life-sized Pikachu plush is so adorable I might just be desperately clawing at the screen in a bid to reach through my monitor and cuddle the crap out of it. Japanese Department store Beams will release the life-sized plush toy this November, for…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 30

A new Gerry Anderson puppet show is heading to Kickstarter

Gerry Anderson is a name forever burned into the minds of kids who grew up with sci-fi series like Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and of course, Thunderbirds – but with a little help from crowdfunding, we might get to see a new Anderson-created Puppet series hit screens called Firestorm. You might have heard about…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 30

Tuesday Game Room: Ultra Suplex Hold Edition

Man, this is a packed week! September gives way to October with a surprise hit for the week, the return of Nintendo’s all-star brawler, and yes, even more Persona fanservice. Let’s pursue our true selves and the rest of the week’s gaming talk in another edition of Tuesday Game Room! What have you been playing…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 30

Nightwing sets up an encounter with Deathstroke in this cool Fan Series

Youtuber Ismahawk (aka Danny Shep) has kicked off a pretty lavish short series based on DC hero Nightwing – and it’s basically Arrow on a tighter budget, right down to showing off the protagonist’s Abs. Hooray! The first in the five-episode series made its début yesterday, with the rest of the episodes landing on a…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Sep 30

Middle-Earth apparently has a very strict ‘No Pumpkin’ policy

There’s a lot of strange things in the land of Middle-Earth: Giant monstrous Spiders, elven-crafted rings of power, short people with big feet and a penchant for lounging around, you get the picture. What you absolutely will not find, however, are… Pumpkins? Polygon writer Alexa Ray Corriea mused on the potential presence of the Pumpkin…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 30

The Secret History between Marvel and Super Sentai Shows

We already know that Toei’s Japanese Spider-Man show gave us one of the weirdest versions of Spider-Man ever, but did you know that Marvel played an incredibly important role in the evolution of the Sentai genre as we know it? https://gizmodo.com/the-10-most-bizarre-alt-universe-versions-of-spider-man-1635890437 Youtubers ToyBountyHunters multiple-part series on the history of Sentai shows in Japan, It’s Henshin…

Books & Comics James Whitbrook Sep 29

The 8 strangest fast food movie tie-ins

It was a bit of an odd week for weird tie-in food products – what with The Walking Dead’s burger made to taste like Human Flesh, and Batman’s Bat-Burger at Hong Kong Mcdonalds. So what better time to take a look at some of the unholiest abominations born of alliances between the movie and fast…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 29

We’re getting closer and closer to the Dancing Groot toy of our dreams

Everybody still wants Groot! With Funko’s baby Groot bobblehead as the first official Licensed toy based on GOTG’s delightful ending scene, we were one step closer to the all-singing, all-dancing toy tree we never knew we wanted – and we’re about to get even closer to that with this new model from Dragon Studios. https://gizmodo.com/the-5-best-groot-toys-on-sale-and-5-fan-made-ones-that-1630095915…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 29

Jon Hamm and Oona Chaplin will be in Black Mirror‘s Christmas Special

Charlie Brooker’s fantastic dystopic anthology series Black Mirror is returning to Channel 4 later this December for a Christmas special – and it’s got one hell of a cast. The 90 minute special, which begins filming this week, will feature three interwoven stories – all connected through Jon Hamm’s character – of ‘Yuletide techno-paranoia’ according…

Television James Whitbrook Sep 29

This new Voltron vinyl toy is both gorgeous and incredibly pricey

Voltron turns 30 this year, and to celebrate Toynami are releasing this Jumbo-sized toy of the marvellous Robot – with a pretty eye-watering price tag. The new Jumbo Lion Edition Voltron – based on Voltron’s initial appearance from the show’s first run, which itself was based on a heavily edited version of the 1981 anime…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 29

Back of the Box – 09/28/2014

September’s wrapping up – it’s one month down, two to go for Toybox’s time with the Recruit program. Let’s catch up with this week’s look back at all things pop culture. It was a quieter week for the sub-site, but still an overwhelmingly good one – we hit 415k US People! I still can’t believe…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 28

Batman is getting his own, surprisingly not-black Burger in Hong Kong

It’s been a weird week for Asian hamburgers that have been dyed black – but now Batman’s joining in on the fun in Hong Kong. But wait, what!? His burger’s not black! I feel disappointed, Batman. https://kotaku.com/in-japan-burger-king-has-a-black-cheese-burger-1632883542 https://kotaku.com/this-is-mcdonalds-japans-take-on-the-black-burger-1639439091 The burger is part of an new promotion in Hong Kong McDonalds that features Justice League-inspired meals,…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 28

When the Twelfth Doctor meets Jo Grant, adorableness happens

Former companion Katy Manning visited filming for Doctor Who’s upcoming Christmas Special recently, and shared her encounter with Peter Capaldi on Twitter – and it might just be the most adorable thing to happen this weekend. D’aaw! Manning played the ditzy UNIT operative Jo Grant from 1971 to 1973 alongside Pertwee’s Third Doctor, before reappearing…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 28

Meet Warcraft‘s Lords of War in this animated webseries

World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion pack, Warlords of Draenor, is out in a couple of months – and Blizzard have been counting down the weeks to release with a lavish, gorgeously drawn web series looking at some of the big characters players will fight alongside and against. Come meet the Warlords of Draenor! The five…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 26

Star Wars needs to get over the Jedi

Star Wars Rebels kicks off next week (or technically today, if you use Disney XD’s app), and whilst it’s exciting to see a new series from the makers of Clone Wars, there’s one thing that’s starting to bother me: I’m sick of seeing the Jedi pop up in everything Star Wars. When Rebels was first…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 26

Crowdfund a Space Elevator documentary, Robot adventure comics and more

This week’s look at the latest in crowdfunding fun features a comic about two bickering robots on an adventure, but that’s not all – there’s a crazy fantasy video game that blends elements of Cooking Mama with Avatar: The Last Airbender, documentaries about Space Elevators, and sand. Lots and lots of sand. Header Image Credit:…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 26

Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor figure is… not really Peter Capaldi?

Finally, the first figure of the 12th Doctor’s action figure is out – and when we first saw pictures of the prototype, it looked pretty decent. New press pictures of the final figure however, reveal something that looks a little less Peter Capaldi, a little more… pallid Rowan Atkinson? Huh. https://gizmodo.com/behold-the-first-figure-of-peter-capaldi-in-his-12th-d-1632363837 The new figure, hitting…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 26

Turns out that Interstellar looks just as amazing made out of Lego

Interstellar’s first big story trailer blew our minds with its grand, intense look at space exploration – and it seems that, thanks to CBL Animation, it’s just as awesome crafted out of tiny little Lego bricks. https://gizmodo.com/holy-crap-trailer-for-christopher-nolans-interstellar-1577480224 Blending a mix of practical setbuilding and animation using Lego and Lego Minifigures with CG for the space…

Trailers James Whitbrook Sep 26

Why killing Destiny‘s Loot Cave is the worst thing Bungie can do

If you’ve been playing Destiny recently, you might have heard of the mystical ‘Loot Cave’, an ‘exploit’ that allowed players to farm loot for hours – it’s now gone. And I think that’s quite possibly the worse thing Bungie could do to try and engender faith in its fledgling new community. https://kotaku.com/bungie-kills-destiny-loot-cave-1639154905 For those unfamiliar,…

Tech News James Whitbrook Sep 25

James Whitbrook

This Star Wars #1 cover basically has all the Star Wars you’ll ever need

This pudgy Pikachu plush is practically perfect

A new Gerry Anderson puppet show is heading to Kickstarter

Tuesday Game Room: Ultra Suplex Hold Edition

Nightwing sets up an encounter with Deathstroke in this cool Fan Series

Middle-Earth apparently has a very strict ‘No Pumpkin’ policy

The Secret History between Marvel and Super Sentai Shows

The 8 strangest fast food movie tie-ins

We’re getting closer and closer to the Dancing Groot toy of our dreams

Jon Hamm and Oona Chaplin will be in Black Mirror‘s Christmas Special

This new Voltron vinyl toy is both gorgeous and incredibly pricey

Back of the Box – 09/28/2014

Batman is getting his own, surprisingly not-black Burger in Hong Kong

When the Twelfth Doctor meets Jo Grant, adorableness happens

Meet Warcraft‘s Lords of War in this animated webseries

Star Wars needs to get over the Jedi

Crowdfund a Space Elevator documentary, Robot adventure comics and more

Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor figure is… not really Peter Capaldi?

Turns out that Interstellar looks just as amazing made out of Lego

Why killing Destiny‘s Loot Cave is the worst thing Bungie can do

Two Songs We Really Wish Were the Anime Outros for ‘Steel Ball Run’

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

Artemis 2: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Researchers Discover How to Add Psilocybin, DMT, and Other Psychedelics to Tobacco

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life