News/Updates 

One of the Biggest Movies of 2007 Gets Digitally Enhanced into The IMAX Experience®

LOS ANGELES, CA, August 21, 2007 -- IMAX Corporation, DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures announced today that “TRANSFORMERS,” one of the highest grossing movies of the year, will be digitally re-mastered into IMAX’s immersive format and released to IMAX® theatres on September 21. The Michael Bay-directed movie, which has already generated $310 million in gross box office receipts domestically since its premiere in conventional theaters on July 3, will be enhanced into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience® through IMAX’s DMR® (Digital Re-Mastering) technology.

“IMAX’s all-encompassing format takes ‘TRANSFORMERS’ to a whole new level of detail and intensity,” said Michael Bay, the film’s director. “I am very excited to work with the team at IMAX to create this turbo-charged version.”

“As fans of ‘TRANSFORMERS’ await the release of the DVD in the fall, they will have a brand new way to experience the adventure -- as if they are actually part of the movie,” said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. “The images and sound in ‘TRANSFORMERS’ are perfectly suited to The IMAX Experience and we are very excited to share the IMAX version with the film’s present and future fans.”

“When you combine Michael Bay’s action packed brand of filmmaking with The IMAX Experience, you get a movie that plays to the elusive and extremely valuable tech-savvy demographic,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We are very excited to offer moviegoers a chance to experience one of the highest grossing and most popular films of the year in a premium way that cannot be replicated anywhere else, and we are delighted to once again work with the talented team at Paramount Pictures to make this happen.”

DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Present, in Association with Hasbro, a di Bonaventura Pictures Production, a Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production of a Michael Bay Film, “TRANSFORMERS” starring Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, Rachael Taylor with John Turturro and Jon Voight. Directed by Michael Bay from a story by John Rogers and Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and a screenplay by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, the film is based on Hasbro’s Transformers™ Action Figures. The producers are Don Murphy, Tom DeSanto, Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Ian Bryce and the executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, Brian Goldner and Mark Vahradian. The director of photography is Mitchell Amundsen. The production designer is Jeff Mann. The film is edited by Paul Rubell, A.C.E. and Glen Scantlebury. The costume designer is Deborah L. Scott. The music is by Steve Jablonsky. The music supervisor is Dave Jordan. The special visual effects are by Industrial Light & Magic. This film has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor and language.

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Check out more photos and a build journal of this amazing scratchbuild here!

Posted at HobbyTalk:

"Here are some very ‘cool value priced’ Accessory Sets that should be of interest to diecast collectors coming out soon. I’ve been collecting higher end accessory sets from GMP for a couple of years now and they have added a new dimension in displaying and photographing my collection. My only issue with the GMP sets is that they are rather expensive and very delicate. These new 1/24 scale sets from Phoenix Toys are priced at less than $10 and should be available at most Hobby Shops and Online Dealers soon and are perfect complements to any Jada, Maisto or 1Badd Ride 1/24 car display...or even 1/24 Hot Wheels for that matter."

Woodland Scenics is a manufacturer of highly detailed model railroad items. One of their series is a line of products called "AutoScenes," which usually include a car and some figures to create a mini diorama (such as changing a tire, or furniture movers with a truck).

One of those AutoScenes is called "Hitchin' A Ride," described by Woodland Scenics as "This cutie is hitchin’ more than a ride, and the guy is all-too-happy to help her out!" The mini-scene happens to be in HO scale (1/87), a scandard scale for model railroading.

Unfortunately, Horizon Hobby put all of those elements together to produce an unfortunate (if humorous) result:

From Yahoo! News:

WASHINGTON - Toy-making giant Mattel Inc. issued recalls Tuesday for about 9 million Chinese-made toys that contain magnets children can swallow or which could have lead paint.

The recall includes 7.3 million play sets, including Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, and 253,000 die cast cars that contain lead paint.

Nancy A. Nord, acting Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman, told a news conference no injuries had been reported with any of the products involved in the new recall.

"The scope of these recalls is intentionally large to prevent any injuries from occurring," she told the news conference.

At least one U.S. child has died and 19 others have needed surgery since 2003 after swallowing magnets used in toys, the government said. Several injuries had been reported in an earlier Polly Pocket recall last November.

Mattel, in a full-page ad Tuesday in some U.S. newspapers, said the company was "one of the most trusted names with parents" and was "working extremely hard to address your concerns and continue creating safe, entertaining toys for you and your children."

Tuesday's recall was the latest blow to the toy industry, which has had a string of recalled products from China. With about 80 percent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are worried shoppers will shy away from their products.

It was also the second recall involving lead paint for Mattel in two weeks. Earlier this month, consumers were warned about 1.5 million Chinese-made toys that contain lead paint.

"There is no excuse for lead to be found in toys entering this country," Nord said. "It's totally unacceptable and it needs to stop."

Toys recalled Tuesday include 253,000 "Sarge" cars from the movie "Cars," because the surface paint could contain lead levels in excess of federal standard. The 2 1/2-inch, 1-inch high car looks like a military jeep.

Lead is toxic if ingested by young children, and under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

Also recalled Tuesday were 345,000 Batman and "One Piece" action figures, 683,000 Barbie and Tanner play sets and 1 million Doggie Day Care play sets.

In the newspaper ads, presented as a letter to "fellow parents" from Mattel chief executive Bob Eckert, the company said "nothing is more important than the safety of our children."

"We have already taken steps to further ensure the safety of our toys," Eckert said.

Nord said the company has stopped selling the recalled products, instructed retailers to pull them from the shelves and made a production change. Mattel is also offering replacement products.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which negotiated details of Mattel's recalls, reported that in the previous recall of Polly Pockets play sets in Nov. 11, three children had been injured by swallowing more than one magnet. All three suffered intestinal perforations that required surgery.

When more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage, which can be fatal.

In March 2006, another toy company, Mega Brands Inc., recalled 3.8 million Magnetix magnetic building sets after one child died and four others were seriously injured after swallowing tiny magnets in them.

Two weeks ago, Mattel's Fisher-Price division announced the worldwide recall of 1.5 million Chinese-made preschool toys featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo. About 967,000 of those toys were sold in the United States between May and August.

Mattel discovered the latest problem while they were investigating the earlier recall, Nord said.

Mattel officials maintained that a European retailer discovered the lead in some of the lead-covered Fisher-Price products in early July. On July 6, the company halted operations at the factory in China that produced the toys and launched an investigation.

Days after the Fisher-Price recall, Chinese officials temporarily banned the toys' manufacturer, Lee Der Industrial Co., from exporting products. A Lee Der co-owner, Cheung Shu-hung, committed suicide at a warehouse over the weekend, apparently by hanging himself, a state-run newspaper reported Monday.

Lee Der was under pressure in the global controversy over the safety of Chinese-made products, and it is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China.

After Mattel announced the recall of its Fisher-Price toys, it launched a full-scale investigation into all of its factories in China.

Before this month, Fisher-Price and parent company Mattel had never recalled toys because of lead paint.

Consumers should call Mattel at 888-597-6597 for information about the recalled toys with magnets, or 800-916-4997 for information about the recalled cars.

Mattel Recall Information: http://service.mattel.com/us/recall.asp
US Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov/

Just a quick note for those who are on the lookout for custom kit fodder: Wal-Mart's seasonal changeover has started, and the older models are being clearanced. With AMT in its final stretch, now is the time to pick up those kits you've been eyeing.

DREDDBATFAN has sent in a few more photos, this time of the Trans Am supercar KITT. You can check out the photos here!

This month's tip is a couple of days late because I was still working on the video for it. So, to make up for the delay, I've posted a second new video as well. Enjoy!

How To Straighten Lead Solder

Superglue & Baking Soda

I've just added three new sites to the Links Page for you to check out:

First up is DPT Fast Rapid Prototyping, a rapid prototyping company concerning stereolithography( SLA ), selective laser sintering(SLS), injection molding, urethane casting and fused deposition modeling(FDM). These are the guys you go to when you need a prototype plastic component for your business project. This process is also likely going to be a big part of the future of scale modeling, as the price of tooling up a kit becomes more & more expensive for a niche hobby like ours.

Next is Calabozo del Androide, a Chilean weblog that features some cool categories like Batman news and custom LEGO projects.

The last link of this update is Icon Models. The owners of Icon Models started commercially in the model car industry over 15 years ago after being avid model collectors. Icon Models is a 100% Australian owned and operated business. Be sure to check out the gallery to see in-progress photos of their project!

Birds of Prey remains one of the greatest lost opportunities of modern television: take a popular & well-established comic series, hire an attractive and talented cast, give it a reasonable budget, and put it in a decent time slot with little competition after a solid advertising campaign. As long as the writers aren't forced to write stories that alienate the core audience by changing every character and therefore have to scramble for a cohesive storyline, it should be golden.

Unfortunately, the pall that fell over the show wasn't limited to its time on the air: a DVD is unlikely for the forseeable future, Aimee Allen's CD I'd Start a Revolution If I Could Get Up in the Morning (containing the title track from the series) was never released, tATu dropped off the radar for over a year (their song All the Things She Said was featured in the show's climactic battle scene), and two of the actors (Rachel Skarsten/Dinah and Mia Sara/Harley) disappeared completely for a year or more.

Fortunately, it's not all bad news: Ashley Scott (Helena) is now on Jericho, Shemar Moore (Jesse) is on Criminal Minds, and Dina Meyer (Barbara) was in all three Saw movies.

All this rambling leads up to the fact that, after years of trying to get enough information about the car used in the series to build a replica of it, Oracle's Hummer H2 is finally finished. Thanks, YouTube!

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.
Name of Product: Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, and other children’s toys

Units: About 967,000

Importer: Fisher-Price Inc., of East Aurora, N.Y.

Hazard: Surface paints on the toys could contain excessive levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The recalled involves various figures and toys that were manufactured between April 19, 2007 and July 6, 2007 and were sold alone or as part of sets. The model names and product numbers for the recalled toys, which are all marked with “Fisher-Price,” are listed below. The toys may have a date code between 109-7LF and 187-7LF marked on the product or packaging.

Sold at: Retail stores nationwide from May 2007 through August 2007 for between $5 and $40.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children and contact Fisher-Price. Consumers will need to return the product and will receive a voucher for a replacement toy of the consumer’s choice (up to the value of the returned product).

Consumer Contact: For additional information contact Fisher-Price at (800) 916-4498 anytime or visit the firm’s Web site at www.service.mattel.com

Product List:
33662 Elmo Light Up Musical Pal
33663 Ernie Light Up Musical Pal
33664 Big Bird Light Up Musical Pal
34658 Elmo Stacking Rings
39038 Elmo Tub Sub
39054 Sesame Street Shape Sorter
87946 Elmo Keyboard
90267 Ernie Splashin' Fun Trike
90609 Elmo Collectible
90611 Cookie Collectible
90612 Zoe Collectible
90613 Ernie Collectible
90614 Big Bird Collectible
90745 Construction Playset
93068 Elmo Boom Box
93107 Action Fire Engine
93307 Press N Go Elmo
93308 Rev & Go Cookie Monster
93492 Cookie Saxophone
93493 Elmo's Guitar
93615 Splash Tub Puzzle
93780 Music And Lights Phone
B7554 Count To Beat Elmo
B7888 Shake, Giggle & Roll
B7987 Elmo In The Giggle Box
B7989 Silly Parts Talking Elmo
B9620 Dora's Talking House
C6908 Dora, Backpack, Perrito Figure Pack
C6909 Diego Figure Pack
C6910 Swiper Figure Pack
C6911 Boots, Tico Figure Pack
G3825 Dora Talking Vamonos Van
G5112 Sing With Elmo's Greatest Hits
G9717 Giggle Doodler
H2943 Grow With Me Elmo Sprinkler
H3343 Cousin Daisy
H3344 Birthday Dora
H4187 Dora Figures In Tube
H4628 Water Fun Tote
H5569 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Cookie, Ernie)
H5570 Elmo & Pals (Elmo, Zoe, Bigbird)
H8236 Dora 3 Pack Figures In Tube
H8237 Blue 3 Pack Figures In Tube
H8238 Sponge Bob 3 Pack Figures In Tube
H9124 Chef Dora
H9125 Bedtime Dora
H9186 Giggle Grabber Ernie
H9188 Giggle Grabber Oscar The Grouch
J0338 Diego Talking Field Journal
J0343 Go Diego Go Antarctic Rescue
J0344 Go Diego Go Deep Sea Rescue
J0345 Go Diego Go Mountain Rescue
J0346 Go Diego Go Talking Rescue 4 X 4
J5935 Giggle Grabber Soccer Elmo
J5936 Giggle Grabber Chef Cookie Monster
J6537 Sesame Street Giggle Toolbelt
J6762 Queen Mami
J6763 Royal Boots And Tico
J6765 Prince Diego
J7983 Sesame Street Tub Pots & Pans
J9518 Sesame Street Giggle Drill
J9692 Dora's Talking Pony Place
K0617 Twins Nursery
K3414 Diego - Talking Gadget Belt
K3571 Go Diego Go Mobile Rescue Unit
K3580 Fairytale Adventure Dora
K4139 Go Diego Go Dinosaur Rescue
K4140 Toucan Motorcycle Rescue
L0305 Dora Figure
L3194 Surprise Inside Diego Eggs
L3215 Sesame Street Elmo Jack-In-The-Box
L3488 Sesame Street Birthday Figure Pack
L3507 Sesame Street - Super Boom Box
L5202 Birthday Dora
L5813 Diego Tub Trike
L8905 Pablo & Pals
M0351 Dora Figures Dora & Kitty
M0352 Dora Figures Diego & Bear
M0524 Go Diego Go Talking Gadget
M0527 Sesame Street Giggle Doodler
M0732 Dora's Talking House
M2051 Lets Go Rescue Center
M2052 Fairytale Castle

DREDDBATFAN has sent in some photos of his latest work, the 1966 TV series Batmobile! You can check out the photos here!