Mondo | Geekscape

SDCC 2018: Derek’s Long- Winded SDCC Recap – Saturday

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 21, 2018

Well, today was far, far more relaxed than any other day of this year’s convention. We all turned in fairly early last night after laughing our asses off at Shane’s lack of ABBA knowledge and a myriad of other things (though by ‘early’, I mean that I finally stopped writing after midnight long after everyone else was asleep).

I woke up today just after 7 (to an empty hotel room, aside from Shane who was still fast asleep on the floor) feeling well rested and energetic. I wanted to be on the floor at show-open as a must-have Mondo print (Boris Pelcer’s Drive poster) was set to drop right away.

After the rough entry that I experienced on Thursday, things seemed to go far more smoothly this morning. When I arrived at the convention centre, there was already a door letting people in (to the centre, not to the exhibit hall floor) so I jumped in so that I could feel that sweet, sweet air conditioning. It didn’t really seem like anyone knew where to send me (as a press member, rather than an attendee or professional), so they just sent me through to the professional entrance… which worked out really well as I ended up on the show floor 15 minutes early.

Mondo somehow already had a huge line, and it was pretty clear that a lot of these people were working in groups to simply buy these super-limited edition screen prints in order to resell them.

I bought the Drive print, but there was something else that I wasn’t expecting. Mondo released another, surprise Jurassic Park print by an artist that Mikaela really loves (and so do I) named Daniel Danger. Daniel did the Crimson Peak piece that I picked up a couple of years ago, as well as The Shape of Water print that I’d be trying to pick up later in the day. This Jurassic Park print was just as gorgeous, was super limited to 125 pieces, and was signed as well. I wasn’t going to buy it, until the employee at Mondo confirmed that it was in fact Daniel Danger, and was so freaking limited. Mikaela was at work, so she was unable to talk me out of it, so I picked that one up as well.

Every time I buy something, I freak out about spending money irresponsibly and Mikaela has to talk me off a ledge, and this time was no different. She’s really a saint for putting up with my bullshit for this long.

Following my purchase, I carefully returned the prints to the Geekscape booth, which was terrifying as the show floor opened, was flooded, and the prints were loose and would have been so easy to damage. Matt put them aside, and I went on a hunt to find some appropriate poster tubes and after what seemed like forever I managed to find some. I returned to the Geekscape booth, rolled the prints, and set off again. During my travels, I found the creepy as fuck tooth kid from the criminally underrated Channel Zero, Deadpool’s hilarious animatronic band, some classic protesters (and hilarious parody protesters), and more!

While I was on the floor, Shane attended an Aquabats concert (and band that I’d never heard of until I met him, and a band that I’m pretty sure nobody in Canada knows about), and he looked so incredibly happy it the photos that he shared. Seeing a smile that big, and the genuine on his face absolutely warmed my heart. After missing last year’s event, I’m glad he looks like he’s having such a great time.

Courtney and I grabbed a quick bite (and a couple of beverages) at the Wired Cafe before I returned to the convention centre for the Expanding Sea of Thieves panel. There was a huge line for this, far longer than I would have anticipated, and I was pretty worried that I wasn’t going to get in. I actually think the line was cut off just a few people after me, so I really lucked out, as the panel was interesting as hell for fans of the game. The panel opened with an epic new video of the upcoming skeleton crews, which showed them preparing for battle, and showed the ship diving under the ocean before the Cursed Sails splash appears. The crew then celebrated the myriad of Pirate Legends that were present in the room (a lot of them somehow had t-shirts with their GamerTags on their backs), before diving into the comic book and novel that are in the works. The novel is called Athena’s Fortune, and will be about some of the first pirates’ journey to the Sea of Thieves. The team noted that there are also references to some real players in the book, and that this is really the start of an expanded universe that will soon be referenced in the game.

I’ll hopefully have a dedicated article up about this panel in the next few days, but watching this team so passionately talk about the game and their plans for its future made me so excited to be a player. I’ve loved this world since the very first time that I played the beta, and I cannot wait to see what it evolves into. The crew even gave out some time-limited Perfect Dark inspired DLC, which I was not expecting, but which I cannot wait to see in game. Amazing.

Following this panel, I essentially ran back to Mondo to join the giant line for Daniel Danger’s The Shape of Water print that was set to drop at 3PM. The line was pretty long (and was capped immediately after I got in it), but after about an hour it was my turn to pick up the print. Mikaela talked me off the ledge again, and I simply cannot wait to put this beautiful art up on our walls.

I brought the prints back to the hotel, and then it was time for another amazing event. I’d been invited to a wine-tasting event in celebration of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Emmy-nominated series StarTalk. Shane and Courtney were coming with me, and Shane decided that as it was a ‘wine tasting’, people would be dressed up, and that we should do the same. Shane put on the second bold suit that I’d seen him wear this week, and I brought nothing like that, but put on jeans and a button-up. We very warmly walked the numerous blocks to the event’s location, took the elevator up to the rooftop bar, and very quickly realized that everyone else was wearing shorts and t-shirts. Damnit, Shane.

The event itself was awesome. There was delicious food, bourbon, wine, and beer available. Once the sun dropped below some nearby buildings things cooled off immensely, and it was also one of the only parties that I’d been to this week that was not PACKED (the invitation said intimate, and I really appreciate how chill it was), and the only event where the music was at a volume appropriate enough to still have a conversation. It was great to be at an event with these friends that I don’t see very often and actually be able to speak, instead of just look at each other (or nod like you heard what they said). Neal seemed like a super nice guy, and was happy to chat with attendees and to take photos. There was an adorable lady there that looked as though she was going to cry the entire time that she was in Neal’s presence, and I’m super glad they were able to spend some time together. I also saw WWE’s Cathy Kelly there, which was pretty rad as I’m a big fan of her onscreen presence. We watched Neal play a giant game of Jenga with a Nat Geo (which airs StarTalk) exec, which was pretty impressive as the game went on as long as it possibly could, with Neal finally losing in the end. A huge thanks to National Geographic for hosting this super memorable event!

Following the wine tasting, Courtney, Shane, Matt, and I went to Panda Express at the Horton Plaza. We made it just in time to order before they closed, and while it was slim pickins’ in terms of food choices, they still had their to die for orange chicken. I was so wonderful that Matt had two orders of it.

There was a memorial toast planned for Jon Schnepp at the Grand Hyatt, so we all made a stop there to check things out. Shortly after, video came from Hall H showing Kevin Smith’s moment of silence / tribute to Jon, which was super touching. Schnepp was always a huge part of Comic-Con (I feel like especially for Geekscape, as Jon’s booth has been right beside ours for years), and its awesome for someone like Smith to use their limited panel time to remember that he’s been lost.

Gui has been trying to get me to go to some country music bar for what seems like hours at this point, so I’m not sure if I’ll end up there, or end up just falling asleep, but it’s absolutely crazy to think that when I wake up tomorrow, this will essentially be over for another year.

Tomorrow is likely to be a very relaxed day of walking the floor before packing up after the show closes, so I’m not completely sure if another recap will be necessary. In any case, if you’ve come this far, I truly thank you for reading along. I began writing these pieces as a means to remember what I’d seen, heard, attended, and accomplished at these events, and it turns out that some people like reading what I’ve been up to as well!

So, if tomorrow is interesting, I’ll see you then, and if not… we’ll see you at PAX West next month!

SDCC 2018: Derek’s Long-Winded SDCC Recap – Friday

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 20, 2018

Read pre-convention and preview night here.
Read my Thursday recap here.

What a freaking day.

Just when I thought I that things could not possibly be as cool today as they were yesterday (I’m still reeling about the WWE stuff at PetCo Park), this morning began with three awesome back to back offsite events.

The day began fairly early, as I had to be at the Amazon Fire TV to the Future offsite event for an 8AM start time. The event showed off all of the neat things that you could do with the FireTV product line (including the new FireTV Cube, which also acts as a smart-home hub). A lot of people seemed super impressed with the smart-home stuff, but as someone who has been using Philips Hue lights and an Alexa-enabled TV for some time, the Cube seemed a little slow to respond at times (I think it’s likely due to networking issues more than anything, seeings as this was as temporary building.

Employees demonstrated Dolby Atmos via a Vizio sound bar (Mikaela, I’m sorry but we need a new soundbar), showing off the newest trailer for Jack Ryan which premieres on Amazon Prime on August 31st and looks freaking awesome. I also feel like this thing has been in the works for freaking ever, as I’m pretty sure that there were buildings covered in Jack Ryan shit last year.

There were a number of photo ops throughout the exhibit as well, including Game of Thrones (the iron throne, of course), The Good Place, Westworld, Jack Ryan, and more, as well as a few neat installations like a ‘Backyard Cinema Club’, a giant overgrown remote that looked like something out of The Last of Us, and an area with themed cocktails.

It was fun, and it was air conditioned (which is pretty rare for some of these offsite events, and it was much. It’s also a little off the beaten path, so from what I’ve seen the line hasn’t even been that crazy. It’s open through Sunday, so you should probably check it out.

Next up was one of the events that I was most excited for coming into this week. Last year’s Mr. Mercedes sponsored Wired Cafe was the first I’d heard of the title (in book or television form), and I absolutely loved the series when I eventually watched it (and by watched I mean binged super quickly). I was lucky enough to see the fantastic first two episodes of the second season before I left for California last week, and I was beyond ready to see what AT&T and the Audience Network had in store for attendees.

The entire offsite was fantastic. There were rebuilds of some of the sets (including Brady’s coma room, Brady’s lair, Supreme Electronics, and more), a VR escape room that had you locked in Brady’s lair searching for clues before a bomb goes off (with Brady’s creepy, computerize voice talking in your ear the whole time and creeping the shit out of you). There was also a neat augmented reality application that you could download in order to partake in a scavenger hunt around the exhibit. You could find clues that would unlock dialog between Bill and Brady, and it was a super fun way to make the offsite more interactive. There was even a cool photo op that morphed you into the show’s poster – they even print it into one of those cool 3D lenticular things that were popular in the 90’s.

Attendees could also find physical clues throughout the exhibit that would earn them stamps, and at the end of the event you’d get some swag based on how many stamps you earned, ranging from pins to bags to some sweet San Diego exclusive t-shirts.

I was also there at the perfect time. As I was coming back up from Brady’s lair, the PR organizer let me know that some of the cast and crew was coming through if I wanted to check things out. I ended up grabbing a photo with Justine Lupe and director Jack Bender, and even had a (very brief) change to chat with Bender about Lost (which was mostly me telling him that his episodes are my very favourite episodes of TV).

https://instagram.com/p/Ble4–uh7WQ/

Look for my dedicated article about the in the next couple of days, but you should definitely be getting in line for this one (and yes, I realize that I’m just telling you to get in line for everything – it turns out that shit is cool at Comic-Con, okay?)

Following Mr. Mercedes, I walked just down the block again to the Purge City offsite (super convenient placement). I was inexpressibly excited to see this activation, simply because it looked fucking hilarious, and the premise is amazing. There’s a ten-episode The Purge TV series set to hit USA Network in September, and this was a fantastic way to advertise. Purge City has to be the most immersive offsite that I’ve been to in years, as every single actor in the venue was in full character 100% of the time. They often had creepy smiles, and were constantly asking patrons what they were doing for the Purge. When asked, I noted that I was from Canada so I wasn’t used to purging, and the employees were happy to offer suggestions.

Upon entry, you’re given 20 ‘Purge Bucks’ to spend on whatever you want. There are shirts available for 15 Purge Bucks, hats for 12, temporary tattoos, candles, energy drinks, and even more. You can grab a basket and fill up! I picked up a t-shirt, a replica of the 28th amendment to the constitution (which is when the purge was added), and a greeting card that said ‘Live, Laugh, Purge’ on it. This totalled 20 Purge Bucks, and I also received a helium balloon and a reusable ‘Purge City’ bag upon checkout.

I spent a long time in Purge City absorbing as much as I possibly could. Every single piece of merchendise (whether actually for sale or for display only) was totally believable, and so freaking well done. I also had a chance to spend some time in the Purge City ‘demo’ area, which had employees demoing some new products coming out for this year’s Purge.

Be sure to watch this demo of the ‘Purge Day Precision Cake Cutter’:

Take a look at some photos from Purge City below, and be on the lookout for even more in the next day or two. For SDCC attendees, Purge City is open tomorrow from 11AM to 7PM, and on Sunday from 11AM-4PM.

I packed a lot into my morning, and decided to keep things mostly relaxed for the rest of the day. I met up with Courtney and Shane at the Wired Cafe for a quick drink (thanks again, Wired) and to watch the rest of the vultures scramble for the donuts, sandwiches, and sliders that were coming out regularly.

We also saw our first protesters today, and Courtney got really mad at the one that said “Vaccines Cause Autism”. There are always some parody protesters as well though, which is always pretty hilarious.

Finally, I hit the show floor. Naturally, I b-lined it directly to the Mondo booth. Matt asked me to grab the Die Hard print for a friend of his (and then somehow did not know how big or expensive prints can be), and the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom prints were also still in stock. I wandered around for a bit and tried to call Mikaela multiple times so that she could talk me out of buying things, but she didn’t pick up… so I bought the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Mondo print. I also scoped out a sweet Sea of Thieves shirt and replica coin that I haven’t bit the bullet on quite yet (but there are still two more days to do so). Next up, I went to the ABC booth to look for some Golden Girls items for Mikaela, and then I doubled back to Factory Entertainment to pick up the exclusive die-cast S.S. Georgie replica and an exclusive Goonies bottle opener (which was my second choice after seeing that the Jurassic Park raptor claw bottle opener was sold out). At checkout, when asked if I needed anything else, I joked “Not unless you have any more of those Jurassic Park bottle openers left,” to which they said “Actually we just found one.”

Safe to say, I bought it. I actually meant to grab it instead of the Goonies one, but there was a bit of a misunderstanding and somehow I ended up with both. Then Mikaela had to talk me off the ledge because I was freaking out about how much money I’d spent. She’s lovely and I don’t know what I would do without her.

I took a quick walk over to the Castle Rock exhibit, which had about a 120 minute line that I didn’t feel like standing in. I’m still super impressed with that house they built, and the car (and creepy kid) in the water make more some great photo ops. There were some Hulu representatives in the area giving out neat lightning/micro-USB powered fans (it’s hot out) in exchange for doing a survey about how you used Hulu. I said “I’m from Canada,” and they just said “Sorry,” and handed me the fan.

Shane, Courtney, and I grabbed some food – this was at like 5:30, and I’d intended to grab something small so I could eat with Matt at 8:30, but by the time we’d found something that didn’t have a super long wait it was after 7:00. I had delicious nachos.

At this point in the day, I’d been out and about for its entirety and I needed to get to work. We made a quick stop at the PetCo Interactive Zone to see Greg Grunberg, Adrian Pasdar, and friends ‘Band From TV’ play a few songs, and then we returned the hotel in order to get writing.

Writing was tough, but for good reasons. The room was full of dudes – Jonathan, Gui, Shane, and Matt were all in the room, and over the course of the night I learned that there were like 15 Puppet Master movies, that Shane didn’t know that Mamma Mia was based on the music of Abba, and a bunch of other shit.

But here we are. Today was a fun as hell, and then very odd day – of course I knew that things with Jon Schnepp were bad, but I hadn’t been online in hours and I only learned of his death from Geekscape Alumni Eric Diaz. I’d only met Jon a few times, but I truly enjoyed the conversations that we’d had over the years, and watching him and Jonathan talk about things at a way deeper level than I could ever hope to understand was always fascinating. Schnepp had the SDCC booth next to ours for the past few years, and it’s super weird and very sad to look at that booth and not see him. I cannot imagine the heartbreak that his partner Holly and his family are feeling right now. A ‘Get Better Jon Schnepp’ fund was set up last week, and is still ongoing at this time to help cover his medical expenses.

That’s Friday. Thanks so much for reading this far, and look for more tomorrow.

SDCC 2015: Legendary’s Booth Once Again Steals The Show With Awesome Giveaways & An Incredible Lineup!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 16, 2015

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since 2014’s Comic-Con International. Last year was my second incredible adventure through San Diego, which featured the opportunity to see plenty of old friends, make a whole bunch of new ones, and work my way through a myriad of unbelievable experiences, including the always show-stopping Legendary Entertainment booth, which gave me my very, very first experience with virtual reality, and also introduced me (in person) to one of my favourite directors of all time, Guillermo Del Toro.

During booth setup on Tuesday, I wondered just what Legendary could have in store for attendees this year. Gone were the impressive yet gigantic Oculus Rift-equipped Jaeger Pilot seats, and gone was the SDCC highlight Crimson Peak Gothic Gallery. In fact, during setup, Legendary’s area appeared decidedly more spacious, aside from an beyond-impressive, life-sized Orgrim Doomhammer.

It turns out that the company needed all of that extra space, as this year’s convention appears bigger than ever for the industry giant, and also includes a partnership and giveaway that (I believe) is unparalleled in Comic-Con history.

During the company’s preview night event on Wednesday, which we were lucky enough to attend, Legendary representatives spoke at length about the fact that, while a film studio at its core (and an impressive comic book company to boot), they’re also an experience company, and creating market defining experiences is extremely important to the company and its future. As such, the company decided to release its stellar Pacific Rim: Jaeger Pilot experience, along with two new VR experiences (one for Warcraft, and one for Crimson Peak), to the masses with the help of Google and its Cardboard viewer.

Legendary and Google have partnered up to give away 50,000 Cardboard viewers (the new design, too) during the course of the convention, and if yesterday (Thursday) was any indication, these things are hot. The lineup to grab a Legendary-logoed cardboard viewer was longer than the lineup for many of the actors around the show floor. Apparently, people are dying to get their hands on these things. Learn more about the partnership via the video below, and if you have a Cardboard viewer (or would just like to pan the camera around these experiences) head to legendary.com/vr.

https://youtu.be/G8vZXau9nFg

There was far more to see at the Legendary booth than just VR, however. As I mentioned above, the company also officially revealed the film’s version of Orgrim Doomhammer for the horde, but also brought us over to the nearby Weta booth to unveil the Alliance’s King Llane.

Llane was unveiled by Warcraft director Duncan Jones, and WETA founder (yep, WETA’s freaking founder) Richard Taylor. Following the unveiling, Taylor, Jones, and press members returned to Legendary’s booth to chat about what we just saw. Here’s Richard talking about the amount of work that went into this portable Doomhammer.

https://youtu.be/sf40gbOBga0

And here’s Duncan Jones talking about the prospect of magic in Warcraft‘s world, and also whether or not gamers would see any noticeable easter eggs in the upcoming film.

https://youtu.be/s3L3-AP5R-A

Overall, it was another amazing preview night from Legendary Entertainment. The company really is a juggernaut in the film industry, and always manages to somehow get me interested in properties that I didn’t know that I had interest in, for instance, the upcoming Straight Outta Compton.

Of course, those weren’t all of the revelations that Legendary had in store for us. Also announced were three incredible looking Mondo prints that will be available at Mondo’s booth this Saturday (pictured below), and yesterday, a Warcraft prequel graphic novel from Legendary Comics was debuted.

An exciting night, an incredible way to kick off Comic-Con, and an incredible preview of what Legendary Entertainment has in store for us this year. I can’t freaking wait for Crimson Peak, and I can’t wait to see what comes next. As always, thanks for those at Legendary for hosting an amazing night!

Legendary’s booth #3920, which is right across from #3919 (us). Be sure to go and give them a visit (after saying hi to us, of course), and check out Orgrim for yourself!

Mondo Announces ‘Mike Mitchell x Marvel x Mondo’ Gallery Show

by Derek KraneveldtApril 17, 2014

Briefly: Mondo has just announced a new show with some fantastic artwork by Mike Mitchell.

The show will run from April 25th through May 17th, and will feature a multitude of Mitchell’s iconic portraits. Characters from The Avengers, X-Men and Spider-man will be represented along with many others from Marvel’s incredible library.

Mitchell said that “My love for Marvel Comics was an integral part of growing up. Not just the comics, but the action figures, video games and cartoons. My intention with this show was to take those characters out of their action-oriented world and give them a moment of silence to catch their breath. There’s a humanizing quality to that which I find extremely interesting. This has easily been the most ambitious project I’ve ever taken on, and it’s due in part to my love for their universe; which is fictional by definition, but real in my mind and in the minds of others.”

Take a look at just a few of the show’s portraits below (plus the giant MODOK outside the showroom), and let us know if you’ll be checking it out in person!

Mondo Unveils Amazing Comic-Con Exclusives!

by Derek KraneveldtJuly 10, 2013

With less than one week to go until San Diego Comic-Con, news and exclusives are starting to come out fast.

Following Toys R Us last week, the latest company revealing so good that we have to share exclusives is none other than Mondo. The company will have a variety of limited edition prints available at their booth (#936) throughout the convention. Some of the prints will even be available for pre-sale starting this Friday, so if you’re quick, maybe you’ll actually be able to get one.

Take a look at all of the new prints below, and let us know what you’ll be trying to pick up. I wish I had the cash for all of them. For more details about the pre-sale, as well as poster signings, head to Mondo’s official blog.

Pacific Rim by Kevin Tong. $45 regular, $75 variant.

Pacific Rim Jaeger and Kaiju by Ash Thorp. $50 each (both of these framed, opposite each other are going to look INSANE).

Pacific Rim by Vania Zouravliov. $50.

The rest of the posters can only be acquired by pre-buying, so again, be sure to head to Mondo’s blog for all of the details.

Dark Tower by Drew Struzan. $275.

Conan by Martin Ansin. $50 regular, $75 variant.

Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle by Olly Moss. $90 each.

Incredible, right? I would love to purchase each and every one of those beautiful, beautiful images. Instead, I’ll probably have to limit myself to one! What are you planning to buy?

Mondo Releasing Two Amazing ‘Man Of Steel’ Posters!

by Derek KraneveldtJune 11, 2013

Mondo is well known for their absolutely incredible posters and artwork (not to mention t-shirts), and they’ve just revealed two new posters for this Summer’s biggest film, Man of Steel.

Two amazing artists have crafted these limited-edition art pieces. Ken Taylor and Martin Ansin have both done some spectacular work, and if my wallet permits, I will definitely be ordering one (if not both) of these.

First, Ken’s 20×36 poster will be available in a regular edition for $50, or a more-limited variant for $75:

Next, Martin Ansin’s 24×36 poster will be available for $50 in a regular edition, or $300 in an incredible metal variant:

These both look absolutely wonderful. Will you be picking one up? Head to Mondo’s official blog for all the details.

Mondo Hosting ‘Game Of Thrones’ Art Show During SXSW!

by Derek KraneveldtFebruary 25, 2013

Did you know that Mondo has an art gallery in Austin, TX?

The gallery’s next event is just around the corner, and sounds absolutely amazing; Mondo has partnered with HBO for the event, which will be all about Game of Thrones. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan and either live near Austin or are heading to SXSW this year, you really need to check this out. The event will run from March 8th – March 12th.

Check out all the info in the press release below, and let us know if you’ll be attending! I’d love to check this out, but alas, I’m stuck up in Canada.

Mondo To Release Limited-Edition ‘Game of Thrones’ Posters At Comic-Con

by Scott AlminianaJuly 10, 2012

Check out these cool Game of Thrones themed posters that Mondo will be releasing throughout Comic-Con at their booth #437. I’ve gotta me my hands on one of these babies. Looks like I might need to bust open my piggy bank!