Some insight into why the Deadpool video was such a failure.  Via.

Guardians of the Galaxy.  (Gif with some movement.)

*Buy Guardians of the Galaxy toys at Amazon.

George Kambadais.

Commission by Michel Fiffe for this collection of Witch King of Angmar illustrations.

Morgan Jeske.

Creepy--snowy owls kill lemmings and store their carcasses around their nests.  Via.

20% off all items at Last Exit to Nowhere with the code NEWYEAR20. (If you haven't looked lately, they unveiled a bunch of great new designs in the last few months.)

Wired looks at Home Depot's efforts to reimagine stale products like buckets.

Doing business in France:

In November, France banned Amazon.com from delivering books for free, saying the company risked driving the country’s independent bookstores out of business.
...
When Uber, the taxi app, was launched in Paris (where taxi service is a perennial gripe), the government imposed a 15-minute minimum wait time on its orders in an effort to protect the medallion cab companies.

Link roundup

1. BB:

The publicly funded, $35B cleanup of radioactive soil around Fukishima is staffed by homeless men recruited from Sendai subway stations. They are preferentially sent to the most radioactive zones, and work for less than minimum wage. Mobbed-up subcontractors confiscate as much as two thirds of their pay in "fees."

2. BBC:

One in five Irish homes is unoccupied.
If the country immediately used them to house every person on the social housing list, there would still be hundreds of thousands left over.

3. How did last night's ridiculous college basketball 104-point blowout happen?

The NCAA's rules for what constitutes a legal opponent are shockingly brief: If a school offers a four-year degree and plays the majority of its games against U.S.-based college varsity teams, it counts as a legal opponent for a Division I basketball team.

4. Playing Fable 2 with the goal of marrying as many towncriers as possible.

These seem like Robot Chicken props, but no, they're mass-produced--Lost dolls are 50% off today at Entertainment Earth.

Nightmare fuel.

Stickers designed by Hydro74 on sale here.

Seems like blue and pink are the hot combination right now (or at least my favorite combination, so I seem to be noticing it everywhere).  Check out the design of Wildstyle from the upcoming Lego movie:




This wonderful set is $20 at Amazon.  (All the sets based on the movie are great. There's a giant mecha pirate with a shark fist.)

The tobacco hornworm is a caterpillar that eats tobacco leaves, and exhales nicotine through pores in its skin, creating "a toxic miasma that deters hungry spiders."

The terrific survival horror game Outlast is currently $6.70 (66% off) at Amazon (Steam download).  (Alternatively, this is a good playthrough.)

Helpful review of the Nexus Silent Wired Mouse SM-8500.

The most interesting thing about the new Star Wars Inquisitor action figure is how limited the articulation is.

Lego Arwing by Bruce Lowell.

I've always been suspicious of the mysterious people who "solved" absurdly arcane promotional ARGs. I suspect Cards Against Humanity is finding out what happens when a plant isn't being fed the answers:

On the first day of Holiday Bullshit, we announced that there was a puzzle hidden across the 12 Days. So far no one has solved it.
...
The puzzle requires multiple steps, one leading to the next.
As far as we know, no one has figured out the first step.

NFL Week 17 Picture/GIF/Video highlights thread.

Fanmade case cover for the PS3 The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins Bundle.

$60 Ninja blender as good as the $450 Vitamix

It was hard to take seriously Businessweek's lengthy advertorial on the recent success of Vitamix when it includes paragraphs like this:

If a demonstrator does well, the store will book him for a repeat visit. Some demonstrators share their cell phone number and develop loyal followers who show up each time they come to town, as if they were the Eagles.

But I did learn that Consumer Reports rated the $60 Ninja Master Prep Professional as highly as the $450 Vitamix.

Novels by Joe Hill, Jo Nesbo, and Guillermo Del Toro are featured today as $2 downloads at Amazon.

Gifs showing the end of the Weidman vs. Silva (ghastly) and Rousey vs. Tate fights.

Charming post at Reddit about a big dog, until you dig deep into the comments and it becomes something different.

Ricky Rubio is on pace to be the worst shooter of the modern era.

I knew Cards Against Humanity donated $100,000 from the Holiday Bullshit earnings to public school classrooms, but I wasn't expecting to receive a child's thank you letter.

Best news bloopers 2013

Let's retire the Wilhelm scream and replace it with the one at 3:59.

Enterbay T-1000

Enterbay T-1000 available for preorder (super expensive).

*Buy cheaper T-1000 toys at Amazon.

(Giveaway over) First commenter wins Cubecraft, the book of paper toys

Paper toy expert Christopher Beaumont has a brand new book Amazing Cubeecraft Paper Models: 16 Never-Before-Seen Paper Models:

Young model-makers can assemble a fabulous new cast of personalities dreamed up by the creator of the popular website Cubeecraft.com. These previously unavailable models include Princess Pummel, the little pink punching machine; Dead-Sea Diver, the lethal reincarnation of Davey Jones; space explorer Red Eye Robot; and others. Printed on sturdy stock, the easy-to-make models require no tape or glue and come with simple instructions plus directions to a YouTube video demonstration.

You can buy it right now at Amazon..

I also have one copy to give away.  First commenter to leave their email wins.  USA residents only, and please let someone else win if you've won a recent giveaway.

(Giveaway over) First two commenters win a pack of 24 plastic surfers

The latest addition to the Toy Boarders line of plastic figures is surfers:



You can buy them here.  I also have two packs of surfers to give away.  First two commenters to leave their email win.  USA residents only.  Please let someone else win if you've won a recent giveaway.

The Man of Steel Limited Edition Gift Set (Blu-ray + DVD + Ultra Violet Combo) with Superman and Zod figures is 45% off at Amazon.

The Amazing Spider-Man (Three-Disc Combo: Blu-ray / DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy) is $5 (82% off).

Brain-eating amoeba that looks like a clown face.

LeBron's kids dunking

How St. Nicholas became Santa Claus

NatGeo looks at the slow process of a Greek saint, born in the year 280, becoming the patron saint of children, and ultimately Santa Claus:

In the better-known tale, three young girls are saved from a life of prostitution when young Bishop Nicholas secretly delivers three bags of gold to their indebted father, which can be used for their dowries. 

"The other story is not so well known now but was enormously well known in the Middle Ages," Bowler said. Nicholas entered an inn whose keeper had just murdered three boys and pickled their dismembered bodies in basement barrels. The bishop not only sensed the crime, but resurrected the victims as well. "That's one of the things that made him the patron saint of children."

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are $1.99 each at Amazon today.

Disney's Castle of Illusion is $3.75 right now (iOS version is $10).

Hello Games suffered massive flood damage

Hello Games, makers of Joe Danger and the upcoming No Man's Sky suffered massive flood damage:

A river broke its bank nearby yesterday, and A LOT of water flooded in really quickly. A biblical amount. It was coming in the windows!
— Hello Games (@hellogames) December 25, 2013

We've lost most things - PCs, monitors, furniture, a door, a wall. You'd think the massive water cooled mega PC would be ok? It was not :(
— Hello Games (@hellogames) December 25, 2013

Lots of personal stuff lost (my console collection! my super rare neo geo pocket!) - that line between home and office is a little blurry
— Hello Games (@hellogames) December 25, 2013

Upcoming 3.75" Grim Reaper, Wasp, Hyperion, and Hulk. And speaking of new Marvel figures, check out photo galleries of the new Winter Soldier Marvel Legends series Red Skull, Baron Zemo, and more.



You can preorder the set here and here.

Tiny Lego Batman, Robin, and Batmobile by Rod Gillies.

Blowout sale at Entertainment Earth includes 50% off on Marvel Legends and The Walking Dead figures.

Photo gallery of Rei by AX2 Studio.

Snow-Moai

I don't know anything about the people who live in this house, except that I think I love them! pic.twitter.com/8pomwWvJ20
— Shawn Huckaby (@ShawnHuckaby) December 23, 2013

The Lost Hero, part of the Percy Jackson series, is one of today's $1.99 downloads at Amazon.

The difference between Cracked and Buzzfeed:

BuzzFeed's more about making you feel good about things you already know or believe

Quantum Conundrum with DLC is $1.19 at Amazon (Steam download) and comes with a $5 promotional code.

Highlights from Future Cinema's screening of Ghostbusters

Video of highlights from Future Cinema's screening of Ghostbusters, including an in-theater battle against Slimer and Stay-Puft. Big photo gallery, too.

*Buy Janine Melnitz toys at Amazon.

Gone Home is getting an authorized JRPG demake

I got the go-ahead to continue on with my @GoneHomeGame JRPG demake. Here are the screens, if you haven't seen them. http://t.co/f83TAnT7c8
— Seth Macy (@sethmacy) December 23, 2013

Via.

Brandon Boyer's post finally convinced me to order one of Mr. Div's prints. (The "SWISSGIF" discount code Swiss Miss posted last week still works.)

(They've sold 18 of these.  I wonder how many were purchased by bloggers I follow.)

"Groupon Waits Until Now To Admit It’s Not Shipping Nexus 7 Purchased On Black Friday."

Cowboys QB Tony Romo has been ruled out the rest of the season due to his back injury, per league source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 23, 2013

Wired's nightmare fuel 2013 slideshow.

Polygon looks at Telltale's upcoming Game of Thrones and Borderlands games:

"Creatively, we're going to defer to the show because we are using HBO's license," Allison said. "Playing the game should feel like watching the show and we'll be making lots of decisions the same way the showrunners do.... the Games of Thrones project, though still in early development stages, took more than a year of conversation with HBO to seal the deal — a multi-year, multi-title deal, to be exact.

Looks like ThreeZero will make Game of Thrones figures.

A detailed look at threeA's upcoming Metal Gear Ray. (You can also preorder a cheaper model with five tiny figurines at the BBTS.)

NFL highlight thread week 16.

Jill Valentine by Justin Chan.

Gerard Way has started posting Umbrella Academy series 3 concept art

Gerard Way started posting character designs for Umbrella Academy series three. Gabriel Ba will again be the artist. (I highly, highly recommend series one and two, available at Amazon.)

*Previously: Umbrella Academy custom action figures.

Predictable behavior from the writer of the New 52 Starfire.

Former Eagles Cheerleader to Be Honored for Military Service in Afghanistan:

[Rachel] Washburn spent three seasons (2007-09) as a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the military in 2010.... She’s since served two tours in Afghanistan as an Army intelligence officer in a special ops combat unit.

Private Eye #5 by Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin is now available. Terrific pay what you want series.

Documentary about Detroit-area firefighters battling a plague of burning buildings

The Verge:

Limited budgets and crumbling infrastructure have left Highland Park's fire department stretched thin. Abandoned buildings are burning with families inside.

Here's the featured fireman's personal Youtube channel.

"South Africans are dying of AIDS at the same rate that Americans died during the worst years of the Civil War."

From 6 Ridiculous Lies You Believe About the Founding of America:

that's generally how the settling process went: The plague acted as a lead blocker for white European settlers, clearing the land of all the natives. The Europeans had superior weapons, but they also had superior guns when they tried to colonize China, India, Africa and basically every other region on the planet. When you picture Chinese or Indian or African people today, they're not white because those lands were already inhabited when the Europeans showed up. And so was America.

I've also been reading the outstanding Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History.

Star Wars 1313 Concept Art by Gustavo Mendonca.