#stellar crown full card art

[trainerjoshie]

Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Joltik illustration by MARINA Chikazawa (removed card text)

[drossna]

Top 5 Illustration Rare Cards from Surging Sparks IMO

#5 - Flapple 210/191 by Uninori I love the texture of the linework and the soft, watercolour feel. The white highlights make me think of classic Ken Sugimori art

#4 - Ceruledge 197/191 by Rond It's the colours.... I'm a sucker for colours... Maxing the saturation on Ceruledge makes this art go crazy hard, and the contrast against the orange background is gonna make me lose it

#3 - Mesprit 204/191 by HYOGONOSUKE This artist has been killing it with the full art cards lately, and their Ledian (Stellar Crown) and Cleffa (Obsidian Flames) are some of my absolute favourites. This Mesprit card has such a calm aura, and a lot of HYOGONOSUKE's work inspires a sense of serenity

#2 - Kecleon 213/191 by Mori Yuu I love this card both conceptually and in execution. The simple lineart, the limited colours, and the paper texture feel so soft and comfy. Plus, the stylized flowers remind me of Marimekko prints. The translucency of the background Kecleon is a really clever touch and it definitely bumped this card up a few placements

#1 - Feebas 198/191 by Kuroimori Move over Milotic, Feebas has my heart. These two cards are a matched set. Together they tell the story of Feebas' evolution, but despite Milotic's dynamic pose, the way the waterline splits the screen, and the beautiful pastel lighting, the Feebas card beats it out. The warm, earthy tones are just as beautiful, and the visual narrative of Feebas waiting among the lotus buds, waiting to bloom, gazing up into the bright world above... the story of yet unrealized potential is very potent for me. If Feebas has zero fans then I am dead

[kleptodreamer]

I have a slight obsession with pulling pokemon card packs...

anyway, guess who just pulled the Lacey Full Art from Stellar Crown! And the Gold Full Art Terapagos EX!

[total-cards]

The next Pokemon TCG set, Scarlet & Violet - Stellar Crown, has just been announced!

Release Date and Set Details

New Pokémon ex and introducing Stellar Tera Pokémon

As with every new set, we can expect to see so many new Pokemon ex! We're already guaranteed to have Cinderace ex, Lapras ex, Galvantula ex and Terapagos ex as they're featured on the pack artwork (and Terapagos ex was revealed as part of Stellar Miracle).

The interesting thing about this set is we are being introduced to Stellar Tera Pokemon, which feature powerful attacks that cost different types of energy - three to be precise. Each attack is inspired by various gemstones, such as Terapagos ex's "Crown Opal" or "Larimar Rain" from Laprax ex.

Beautiful Illustrations

Scarlet & Violet - Stellar Crown also, as usual, features some of the most beautiful artwork within the TCG. With special illustration rare cards, your collection will look better than ever. Take the Elite Trainer Box promo card, for example. This Noctowl is not only a highly playable card (allowing you to search your deck for up to 2 Trainer cards, dependent on your cards in play), but it's also truly stunning! Not to mention, the Stellar Tera cards look like gemstones in themselves, we're really expecting Pokemon to have pulled out all the stops with the 7th set for Scarlet & Violet.

Trainer Cards and More

We're expecting to see so many new Trainer Cards, and ACE SPEC! As before, we've already gotten a glimpse of some upcoming cards we will hopefully receive in this set, such as Briar (You can play this card only if your opponent has exactly 2 Prize cards remaining. Until the end of this turn, if your opponent's Active Pokemon is Knocked Out by damage from 1 of your Tera Pokemon attacks, take 1 more prize card.) or the highly playable Sparkling Crystal (The attack cost of the Tera Pokemon this card is attached to is reduced by 1 of any type of Energy.) Arguably, one of the stand-out cards from this set could be Area Zero Underdepths, which increases your benched Pokemon to 8 from 5 if they have a Tera Pokemon in play!

Elite Trainer Box

A staple of almost every Pokemon set is the Elite Trainer Box. This is always the best and most efficient way for players both new and seasoned to get their hands on the latest set. An ETB comes with 9 packs of the titular set, 1 full-art foil promo card, 65 card sleeves featuring the artwork from the ETB and so much more! We expect this product to be highly popular due to the Noctowl promo card, so be sure to get your pre-orders in as soon as possible! The Stellar Crown Elite Trainer Box includes:

9 Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Stellar Crown booster packs

1 full-art foil promo card featuring Noctowl

65 card sleeves featuring Terastal Form Terapagos

45 Pokémon TCG Energy cards

A player’s guide to the Stellar Crown expansion

6 damage-counter dice

1 competition-legal coin-flip die

2 plastic condition markers

A collector’s box to hold everything, with 4 dividers to keep it organized

A code card for Pokémon Trading Card Game Live

Pre-Order Now

Don’t miss out on this awesome set. Pre-order your packs and boxes now on Total Cards to make sure you get them first!

[lunararoace]

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

IM OPENING THE STELLAR CROWN PACKS I GOT AT THE SC PRERELEASE

ive gotten nothing much but a greninja ex and a full art meditite (which i traded for a full art archaludon)

im on my last booster (of like 8)

its this one

im like

please give me something good, galvantua?

i open it

fighting energy nymble slowpoke ledyba this medicham is holo, is it the rare? no, azumarill behind it is also holofoil

last card, bouffalant. i have like 6. slip it out to back and

hydrapple ex

FUCKING ALT ART HYDRAPPLE

FUCKING ALT ART HYDRAPPLE

FUCKING. ALT. ART. HYDRAPPLE. EX.

THIS.

(why the fuck did tumblr sideways it?)

[labselkie]

i bought out someone’s entire stock of stellar crown (5 packs of 5 cards each) and got the CRISPIN FULL ART and only two basic briars

it’s ok though i get to kiss her for real now

falin day😈

[spaceexp]

Milky Way on x-ray sky map

ROSCOSMOS & DLR - Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (Spektr-RG) patch. June 19, 2020 A week ago, the ART-XC and eROSITA telescopes, mounted on board the Russian Spectrum-RG orbital observatory, completed scanning of the entire sky in X-rays. Work on building a map and determining the number of sources detected during the scan continues. Russian scientists process data from one side of the sky, and German scientists work with x-ray photons that came from the other half of the sky. The map of the whole sky, built by scientists of two scientific consortia and shown in the illustration, was surprisingly informative. At the very center of the map is a supermassive black hole with a mass of 4 million solar masses (this is a rather weak x-ray source). At the equator of the image passes the plane of the Milky Way galaxy, which we can observe in full glory in the south of our country on a moonless summer night. On the X-ray map, the Milky Way looks like a dark strip due to the fact that molecular gas and dust in the plane of the Galaxy absorb X-rays. The blue dots located in this region demonstrate the presence of a large number of bright and powerful sources of X-ray radiation in the Milky Way - these are X-ray pulsars accreting black holes in binary stellar systems, the remnants of supernova explosions (the result of recent star death).

This card is multicolor, and various colors immediately allow you to judge the characteristic energy of incoming photons. It shows all X-ray photons recorded by eROSITA detectors in the energy range from 300 electron-volts to 2.3 kiloelectron-volts for half a year of continuous scanning of the sky. Red color corresponds to photons with an energy of 0.3-0.6 keV, green - 0.6-1 keV, blue - 1-2.3 keV. For ease of understanding, we can say that these three energy ranges correspond, for example, to the temperature of a radiating hot substance from 3 million to 6 million degrees (red); from 6 to 10 million degrees (green) and from 10 to 25 million degrees (blue). Good angular resolution (~ 20 arc seconds) and the highest sensitivity of the eROSITA telescope allowed it to map over a million compact sources and tens of thousands of extended ones. Such a quantity cannot be demonstrated in a single image. Only the brightest of the sources are visible on the map as dots. The very first sky survey by the Russian Astrophysical Observatory “Spectrum-RG” allowed the eROSITA telescope to construct a map containing almost 10 times more sources and four times more sensitive than the former best-in-the-world map of the German satellite ROSAT, obtained in 1990. In just six months of sky scanning, eROSITA was able to double the total number of sources recorded by all satellites in the world in 60 years of X-ray astronomy. “This map of the whole sky completely changes our view of high-energy processes in the Universe,” says Peter Predel, scientific director of the eROSITA telescope at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. “We see such a wealth of detail - the beauty of this image is simply amazing.” This map allows you to see how hundreds of supernova explosions, and possibly the activity, from time to time, of a supermassive black hole in the center of the Galaxy, lead to gushing emissions of hot gas with temperatures up to 10 million degrees from the plane of our Galaxy (bright zones above and below the plane Galaxies). About two hundred thousand stars quite close to us with crowns much more powerful than those of our Sun also contribute to the emission of zones with a lower temperature. Three quarters of all objects on this map are distant quasars and nuclei of active galaxies, that is, supermassive black holes emitting due to the fall of matter on them. They are located far beyond the Milky Way at distances of hundreds of millions and billions of light years from us. Among the newly discovered objects on this map, quasars with redshifts of more than 6 have already been found (all lines in their spectra are shifted to the red side more than 7 times due to the expansion of the Universe). We see on the map about 20 thousand clusters of galaxies filled with the mysterious "dark matter". Using optical telescopes to obtain complete information on the redshifts of most quasars and clusters of galaxies discovered by the eROSITA telescope will take years.

Spektr-RG / SRG (Spectrum Roentgen Gamma) satellite

“But now we can begin to use this set of objects located at gigantic distances to determine the time of their appearance in the Universe and to clarify its properties and parameters, that is, for the purposes of cosmology,” says academician of the Spectrum RG observatory academician Rashid Sunyaev. The telescopes of the Spectrum RG observatory continue to work, it is planned that in a few days it will begin a second survey of the sky. It is expected that it will last until the end of the year. In total, it is planned to get seven more such eROSITA cards - it will take another three and a half years. The total map will be about 5 times more sensitive than the first, and the number of sources on it should increase by more than 10 times. “Then there will be confidence that our maps and source catalogs will be used by astrophysicists and cosmologists of all countries of the world for at least the next twenty years, until more advanced X-ray telescopes appear, and scientists decide that it is time to create a new, more sensitive map of the X-ray sky” - notes Rashid Sunyaev. Relate article in Russian: Рентгеновская карта неба от eROSITA: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28676/ ROSCOSMOS Press Release: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28703/ Related links in Russian: ART-XC: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28668/ eROSITA: https://www.roscosmos.ru/28676/ «Спектр-РГ» - (Spectrum-RG): https://www.roscosmos.ru/srg/ Related links in English: Spectrum-RG: http://arc.iki.rssi.ru/eng/srg.htm Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma: http://srg.iki.rssi.ru/?lang=en Images, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Best of 2018

This was a hard list to compile. It was made harder by the fact that I’ve gotten a new perspective on what “The Best Movies of the Year” should be. I’ll tell you ahead of time that Green Book isn't on my list. It isn’t that, in hindsight, I feel as though it’s another example of the white savior story, or that I’m upset about the real-life Shirley family informing us that what’s happening on-screen isn’t accurate to the truth. It’s a great film with solid performances, some of the year's biggest laughs and terrific characters. I WANTED to put it on my list but also wondered if it would be a picture that endures. In 5 years, 10 years, will we look back and say “I remember who I was before Green Book, and who I was after it. The picture changed something for me.” I’m not sure I will. This feeling of change and lasting power is what I kept in mind when listing...

10. Upgrade

The vigilante revenge film is an enduring genre. We saw two others in 2018, (Death Wish and Peppermint), 2019’s already had Cold Pursuit. Upgrade tries many new things. It’s got buddy-comedy elements and winds up being one of the funniest dark movies of recent memory. It’s action sequences are dynamic and creative, the camera work top-notch. The story’s many twists and turns show much intelligence beneath what seems like a simple story. It’s not quite a game-changer but does highlight the problem with bare-bones films such as Venom (which appeared on my “worst of” list). I’ve bought it on Blu-ray and can’t wait to show it to others. I think it’s favorite just waiting to be discovered.

9. Black Panther

Now this is one people are going to remember. Yes, it might’ve featured wobbly special effects in a couple of scenes and the climax is a little generic but wow does it have an identity. From the music to the costumes to the story, everything about it stands out. Many people had been waiting decades to see it. Black Panther is the Star Wars of this year, the film which blew up and changed EVERYTHING. Within are one of the year’s best villains and a spectacular soundtrack. It elevates the superhero genre once again.

8. Crazy Rich Asians

The romantic comedy genre is largely dead. I saw a couple of them in 2018 but these were obscure, back-alley titles only hardcore fans of the genre heard of - if they even went to see them. Comedies as a whole are trying to find their footing right now, largely due to the increasingly light tone of many of Marvel’s superhero films and the high-quality children’s animated features arriving to theatres on a semi-regular rate. People don’t accept couples falling in love within an hour and a half anymore but still want to see romance on-screen, as this film proves. While it might not have been as big as Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians proves there are groups thirsting to see themselves represented in big-budget productions. Or maybe it was a success simply due to its great cast, lavish production, and laugh-out-loud moments. It’s the best date movie of 2018 by far, an unashamedly romantic 2-hour tale which features a wedding so beautiful it moved me to tears.

7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I'll bet money Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse wins this year’s Academy award for best animated film. Sony's take on the character has bold visuals which combine comic book art with graffiti-like graphics and a blend of 2-D and 3-D animation. It improves the material it’s based on significantly, brings us not just one but a half-dozen new, favourite characters and features an emotional story whose depth no one expected. This film uses tricks others have never even thought of and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

6. A Star is Born

Initially a shoe-in for the year’s best picture, many critics have now dismissed it because it doesn’t have a big message or isn’t politically tied to anything. So what? This directorial debut still brings forth powerful emotions and features some of the year’s best tunes. A Star is Born has single moments that once seen, cannot be forgotten. When Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine is at his lowest, he’s such a mess you simultaneously hate and pity him. Who would’ve thought Lady Gaga was going to be this good?

5. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Probably the best instalment in the series - which is saying something - this is the definition of a satisfying blockbuster. It delivers the stunts, special effects, thrills, and action you crave by giving you one dazzling set piece after another. You won’t believe how this film could top itself, but it does over and over. And then, it does the unexpected and delivers great character moments as well. Many action franchses could learn from Fallout, its smart, twisty plot, expert direction and jaw-dropping stunts. It’s one of the greatest action films ever, right alongside Mad Max: Fury Road, how could it NOT be on my list?

4. The Favourite

With stellar performances from its entire cast, gorgeous and moody cinematography, lavish costumes and immersive camera work, it’s easy to get lost in Yorgos Lanthimos’ period-piece drama. Even the choice of fonts and placement of characters in the chapter cards is meticulous. It’s such a good movie to look at its demented tone takes you by surprise. Full of venom and scheming, you’re tense the whole way through, biting your nails hoping Emma Stone’s character will make it out alright, only for her dark side to come up and turn her into an even bigger monster than Rachel Weisz' Duchess of Marlborough. Meanwhile, everyone’s walking on eggshells, carefully trying to influence Queen Anne of Great Britain (Olivia Colman), a cross between a vindictive child and an incompetent ruler. It’s fascinating stuff.

3. Roma

Roma is one of the reasons it took me so long to make this list. I started watching it weeks ago and was immediately enraptured. Unfortunately, I got caught up with other business and didn’t get the chance to finish it, delaying this list once again. It’s a beautiful film both visually - I’m particularly fond of the black-and-white cinematography - and content-wise, with lasting, intimate emotional beats which put you right there in Cleo’s shoes. The instant you understand what the image on the poster means is just - wow.

2. They Shall Not Grow Old

A crowning achievement in documentary filmmaking, They Shall Not Grow Old brings history to life in ways I could’ve never envisioned. I was initially against colorizing black-and-white footage. Seeing the results - in 3D to boot - is breathtaking. The way it humanizes the people and the war is unforgettable. I think it's destined to be shown in classrooms, which might make it sound like homework, but no. This is a living, breathing documentary full of love and respect.

Runner-ups

There were a number of pictures I wish I could’ve put on the list, maybe at the #10 spot, which I reserve for films “just for me”.

A Fantastic Woman and Paddington 2 SHOULD’VE been on my list last year but weren’t for various reasons. Hopefully mentioning them now is penance enough for my mistake back then. The stylish and unique Sorry to Bother You and BlacKkKlansman deserved to be on this list too but I just couldn’t knock anything else off of it. Finally, I was immensely pleased with the new Halloween, A Simple Favour and Colette. They’re a bit more niche but if you think they’ll align with your tastes, I think are highly enjoyable. And now that we’ve stalled enough to get your anticipating peaked, let’s talk about my number 1 film…

1. The Rider

The Rider is too small to get the attention it deserves. It only played in one theater in my city, the smallest one with only a single screen. I knew it never had a shot at an Academy Awards but I don’t care about budgets or box office results. I care about how a movie makes me feel, how long it lasts and how powerful its message is. Blurring the lines between real-life and fiction, director Chloé Zhao uses untrained actors to tell a metaphor-rich story of masculinity. It’s an engrossing drama whose themes blend so well with its characters and story it seems almost effortless. 

[lostinyourears]

Fire Pro Roster Recap #3 : Thunder Pro Wrestling Retsuden

Figured I’d knock this one out since it seemingly has the smallest roster of the console releases for this series. This one is probably one of the last ones I would recommend because it’s rough and earlier edition of Fire Pro. While on the SNES the series became more polished and pretty much perfected the formula by the last few iterations on SNES. This would be the only Fire Pro game on the Sega Genesis and because of that is fairly unpolished and as said above has a small 12 man roster. 

Since most of these were also featured in the first game of the series I will be copying the bios over and will designate those entries with an asterisk which will make future entries easier because I already have a real life photo of them and a written bio.

Akira Maeda (*) : A wrestler who worked for many companies and is credited with being one of the pioneers of the shoot style. He worked for NJPW, Japan UWF(Which he co-created and was a promoter for) and he was even featured on World of Sports working for all 3 of those companies in the 80′s before 1991 rolled around Akira Maeda would found the wrestling promotion Rings, that would later shift focus in 1995 and become an MMA promotion.

Antonio Inoki (*) : Oh boy! Inoki, how can I sum up such a massive and important career in a paragraph? Truth be told I can’t for him or any of these men, but here we go. Inoki is one of the most important wrestlers ever and is credited with the invention of the enzuigiri. When Inoki started down the wrestling path he train with Karl Gotch in old school catch wrestling. Inoki would name his own style of wrestling ‘Strong Style’ which is still used today by many Japanese talents.

Inoki is also credited as being a forefather of the modern MMA boom. Inoki use to fight people from around the world who all were trained in different fighting arts. Many of his fights were scripted, but still showed the world was interested in that kind of competition. Also, he fought Ric Flair in North Korea which drew 150,000 and 190,000 people for the two day event and is still the biggest wrestling show in recorded history.  

I could go on for ages about Inoki as he has a long intriguing history. He ontop of the above listed things also was : founder of NJPW in 1972 which came about after Rikidozan’s(The original Japanese Wrestler/Promoter) Japanese Wrestling Association went defunct having NJPW/AJPW spring up in it’s place. Inoki owned NJPW out right until he sold the company to Yuke’s in 2005. Inoki is also a politician in his home country of Japan where he was elected to positions twice. That’s all for Inoki, if you want to know more feel free to look him up. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t books about the man who has a huge legacy.

Bam Bam Bigelow : Bam Bam first worked smaller promotions before working for WWF in the mid 80′s before going to NJPW from 1989-1992 where he would form a dominant tag team with Vader, the two even capturing the IWGP Tag Titles. After his stint in NJPW he would go on to work for all 3 of the major US Promotions in the 90′s WWF, WCW and ECW. Most notably headlining WM XI versus linebacker Lawrence Taylor in what may be the highest profile match to ever include a non-wrestler. He was also a main event talent in ECW helping lend credibility to the 3rd player in the United States wrestling scene.

Genichiro Tenryu (*) : Genichiro like many wrestlers actually started in a different Martial Art. Sumo, which is of course very popular in Japan. Tenryu started his sumo training at the young age of 13 and would continue down that path for another 13 years before shifting his focus to the Puroresu ring.  He would then be scouted by Giant Baba of AJPW. Tenryu would be sent over to Texas where he was trained by Dory Funk Jr and Terry Funk. In the early 80′s Tenryu would team with Jumbo Tsuruta collectively called  “Kakuryu” (鶴 = kaku = tsuru (the “tsuru” in Tsuruta) + 龍 = ryū in Tenryū).

Tenryu would go on to become one of the most decorated players in AJPW history. The Tokyo Sports awards, a non partisan award for japanese wrestling achievements would give Tenryu Best bout/MOTY award an astonishing 9 times and call him MVP of the year 4 different times.

Hulk Hogan : A man who doesn’t need an introduction or an explanation, but just in case you’ve had the 80′s erased from your memory. Hulk Hogan is easily considered the biggest draw in the 1980′s wrestling scene. Main eventing several Wrestlemania’s, the only wrestlers of the 80′s who can rival him in North America would have to be Ric Flair. He would go on to reinvent himself in the mid 90′s and become a focus of WCW programming when he was the 3rd man in the stable NWO. 

Jumbo Tsuruta (*) : Another huge star for AJPW through the 80′s. Jumbo as mentioned above was a stellar tag team with Tenryu. He also had 7 MOTY’s from Tokyo sports and captured nearly anything of note in AJPW. He would sadly die in the year 2000 after complications from a kidney transplant, just short a year after his retirement in 1999. Though he hadn’t been in serious competition most of the 1990′s where he mostly worked 6 man tag matches that were comedic in tone.

Jushin Thunder Liger : Arguably the greatest Cruiserweight/Junior Heavyweight of all time. Jushin Thunder Liger has done almost anything you can name. While he never worked in AJPW, he had done pretty much everything you can in NJPW including being one of two men who have won BOSJ on 3 separate occasions. He also worked in several North American companies : TNA, CMLL, WCW and most recently a one off match in NXT in 2015. In the early 1990′s he was one of the most beloved wrestlers by WoN who voted him best Technical/Best High Flyer/Most Outstanding All 3, 3 years in a row. 1990-1992. You’d have a hard time finding many more wrestlers more decorated than Liger. 

Kensuke Sasaki : A mega star of Japan who started in the business in 1986, before taking an international excursion which is common for young guys stars of NJPW to do as a way of gaining skills outside the Japanese ecosystem. When he returned to Japan in the early 90′s he formed a popular tag team with fellow wrestler Hiroshi Hase the two having a great series of matches with the Steiner Brothers who were in Japan and worked with NJPW through WCW as well. Kensuke is one of two men to ever hold all three major Japanese Heavyweight titles : IWGP(NJPW), Triple Crown(AJPW) and GHC(NOAH). He also founded his own promotion Diamond Ring which he ran from 2005-2014 when it closed it’s doors. Sasaki has retired, his last match was in DDT in 2015 though his official retirement happened before that. 

Riki Choshu (*) : Riki Choshu innovated a move that would define early 90′s wrestling in the states and most don’t even know it. That move being The Sharpshooter or as Riki Choshu called it : Sasori-gatame.

Riki Choshu is also credited as being the first ever traitor heel in Japan. Turning on his friend Fujinami after being snubbed for the inaugural tournament for the IWGP Heavyweight championship in 1983. Riki Choshu is also one of the few people to do a clean sweep of the G1 Climax where he won every match in the tournament he had.

In 1998 Riki Choshu would retire, his final card he wrestled 5 matches in one night and won 4 of them. After his retirement he would focus more as a booker at NJPW where he spent most of his career. He has moved a decent amount post 2000 and even had a deathmatch in FMW shortly after his retirement. He has wrestled sparingly in the years since, but not full time.  

Stan Hansen (*) : You can’t talk gaijin(Japanese for Foreigner) and not mention Stan Hansen. The cream of the crop when it comes to American assholes in Japan. The man’s career started with a very good case of ‘turning Lemons into Lemonade’ when he accidently broke Bruno Sammartino’s neck via a botched powerslam. The bookers and Hansen rolled with it and instead claimed the break came at the end of one of Stan Hansen’s destructive lariats.

Stan Hansen would leave WWF shortly after that and have a brief run in NJPW where he participated in the first ever G1 Tag League with his partner Hulk Hogan.

He would move over to AJPW where he would make his name winning anything he could get his hands on. He also was awarded MOTY 3 times by Tokyo sports vs great talents Kawada, Giant Baba and Tenryu. He would also win Most Outstanding Foreigner in 1982 and most popular wrestler in 1980. He by no means invented the lariat, but many credit him with it’s incredible popularity in Japan.

Super Strong Machine : Super Strong Machine is an old school 80′s talent who is most known as a tag team competitor having 3 reigns with the IWGP Tag Titles. He had an excursion like many NJPW talents where he played a native character in Stampede wrestling named Sonny Two Rivers in 83/84, before coming back to NJPW where he wrestled mostly as Super Strong Machine though in various points in his career he wrestled without a mask as just Junji Hirata his real name. He still works in NJPW as a trainer, his last match was in 2014 and most of the 2000′s he worked in tag/trio matches. I did a spotlight on him which you can find here.

Big Van Vader : If Stan Hansen isn’t the most important and over villainous gaijin in NJPW. Starting in AWA in the mid 80′s, his career didn’t really take off until he made his way to Japan in 1988 when he pulled a MitB, Inoki had already had a grueling match with��Riki Choshu, but Vader appeared and challenged Inoki, who accepted and was quickly slain by Vader. The pro-Inoki crowd went crazy and rioted which got NJPW banned from the Sumo Hall that had been their home arena for a year or so. 

From this giant debut Vader would go on to become the first ever gaijin/foreigner to win the IWGP Heavyweight championship. He would also win the tag titles with Bam Bam Bigelow in the same time period of the early 90′s. Vader would also have famously one of the most stiff brawls ever  when he and Stan Hansen collided as the two big monsters of AJPW/NJPW at a crossover show. 

He would have success in WCW after this and have a less than memorable run in WWF, the less said about that the better. He would come back to Japan working in both NJPW and NOAH. He retired in 2006 before coming back in 2011 where he has wrestled sporadically every year since.

How’s it play? Awful, the first few SNES games are this unpolished, but have larger rosters. The latter half of the SNES Fire Pro games are polished and have bigger rosters and even the first game on TurboGrafx-16 had 16 people on the roster. 

The thin roster, unpolished gameplay and look leave this as perhaps the weakest entry on any console. While oftentimes Fire Pro is the best option for a wrestling game on any given system, I don’t think that’s the case with this Sega Genesis/Mega Drive entry in the series which is the only Fire Pro game for the system compared to the 6+ on the SNES the last 2-3 of which are great. 

[comicsbeat]

  Two weeks to go, people. TWO WEEKS. IDW (#2743) has just released a list of their exclusives giveaways and debuts and it’s HUGE. You can order some of them here. 

Every day IDW will offer a unique bundle package that will include trade paperback collections, hardcovers, rare variants, and TWO title-specific bundles that include a free high-quality Tom Whalen print.

There will also be enamel pins. And the one I want most is that Black Crowne pin!

Everything can be picked up at the booth OR at the San Diego Comic Art Gallery in the Liberty Station Arts District from July 21st through July 24th.

And here we go!

COMICS

Clue #1 Envelope pack, Includes spot color variant plus 3 regular covers and a bonus Spot-color cover by Gabriel Rodriguez $20, Limited to 500 packs

Follow the clues and solve the mystery in IDW’s new CLUE series! We’ve put together a special pack for this convention! We start with a RARE exclusive Gabriel Rodriguez Con variant cover, ONLY available in this pack, include all 3 regular editions with the alternate endings, and finish off with a full set of RARE Clue promotional trading cards, all tucked neatly into a Clue evidence envelope! All the familiar faces from the famous board game are back, with a couple new twists.

Darkness Visible #5, Con variant Cover by Ryan Kelly $10, Limited to 200 copies

Written by Mike Carey and Arvind Ethan David, Darkness Visible tells the story of an uneasy co-existence between humans and demons that lasted eighty years, is now spawning an endless terrorist conflict, with a cover by Ryan Kelly.

DuckTales #0, Con variant Cover by Jeff Smith $10, Limited to 500 copies

Woo-oo! Bone creator Jeff Smith drew an amazing variant cover of the DuckTales cast for our convention variant!  Featuring beloved characters like Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and Huey, Dewey and Louie, this new #0 issue is the perfect jumping on point for fans old and new in anticipation of the brand-new series coming Summer 2017!

Funko Universe Bundle Pack, 5 regular Funko Universe one-shots Various artists $25, Limited to 100 packs

Pick up all 5 of our Funko Universe one-shot comics from May, each with a cover modeled after the popular Funko boxes, and get a free BONUS copy of TMNT #70 with a Funko-style cover by artist Dave Alvarez! The only way to get this variant is to BUY this bundle pack!

Ghostbusters 101 #1, Con photo variant $10, Limited to 400 copies

This time, everybody answers the call! Ghostbusters 101 features the very first appearance of the new Ghostbusters from 2016’s Answer the Call movie, as they team up with the original Ghostbusters from 1984! This convention variant features a photo cover of the original Ghostbusters on the front cover, and a photo of the new team on the back cover! Get your copy signed at the show!

Jem and the Holograms: Infinite #1, Con variant Cover by Erica Henderson $10, Limited to 250 copies

Artist Erica Henderson (Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) drew this gorgeous variant cover of Jem & the Holograms for Part 1 of The FIRST-EVER Jem/Misfits Crossover Event written by Kelly Thompson!

My Little Pony: Movie Prequel #1, Spot color variant Cover by Tony Fleecs $5, Limited to 500 copies

This fall, My Little Pony: The Movie hits theaters, and this prequel mini-series is your first look at the fantastic adventure to come, with a fabulous new cover by artist Tony Fleecs!

ROM vs. Transformers #1, Spot color variant Cover by Alex Milne $10, Limited to 250 copies

Alex Milne provides the variant cover to this crossover hundreds of years in the making! See the first interactions between ROM and the Transformers on Earth, and meet the universe’s only Cybertronian Solstar Knight! TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo, Con variant Cover by Kevin Eastman $10, Limited to 500 copies

TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman and Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai collaborated on this gorgeous convention variant! The TMNT are teleported to a world of talking animals—the world of Usagi Yojimbo! Get your copy signed at the booth!

Wynonna Earp: Season Zero #1, Con photo cover $10, Limited to 400 copies

The stars of the hit television show will be on hand at the convention to sign a special photo variant cover available only at the show! And for the ultimate collectors a deluxe pack will be available collecting the convention variant, last year’s San Diego variant cover, and a bonus item!

Wynonna Earp Season One Yearbook, Con photo variant $10, Limited to 300 copies

This Wynonna Earp Season 1 yearbook, with a special convention photo variant cover, is filled with on-set photos, including action shots from the show and all-new behind-the-scenes goodies. This is a book all Earpers need in their motorcycle saddle bag!

Wynonna Earp #1 Deluxe Pack, 2 special photo variants featuring cast members from the hit show! $20, Limited to 150 packs

Get the last 2 Wynonna Earp Convention Variant comics with a FREE bonus item!

COLLECTED EDITIONS/ HARDCOVERS

Batman TMNT Adventures Vol 1, Con variant Cover by Kevin Eastman $20, Limited to 300 copies

TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman provides a con-exclusive cover to this trade paperback! The animated worlds of the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nickelodeon cartoon and Batman: The Animated Series collide in this outstanding mini-series featuring fan-favorite characters from both universes! Bloom County: Brand Spanking New Day Hardcover, First release at SDCC! Cover by Berkeley Breathed $40, 400 copies at the show

Get a special hardcover version of the latest collection of Berkeley Breathed’s recently revived Bloom County comic strip! This book, containing a bound in plate SIGNED by Breathed, features ALL-NEW strips from 2016 and 2017, that have NEVER appeared in print before (never ever!!). These newly-minted masterpieces present the continuing adventures of Opus, Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, and the rest of the delightful denizens of Bloom County—and heaven knows how we survived all those years without you!

Jack Kirby Fantastic Four World’s Greatest Artist Edition, SDCC variant Cover by Jack Kirby $150, Limited to 100 copies

Jack Kirby was the undisputed King of Comics and IDW is proud to present the second Artist’s Edition focusing on his Fantastic Four work. And, even better, this collects his earlier, “twice up” art—it’s Kirby-sized!! This massive collection includes issues 33, 45, 47, and 60 of the Fantastic Four, plus a stellar gallery with 22 (!!) classic covers, and incredible pages, and three gigantic fold-outs–if you are a Kirby fan, this is the Artist’s Edition you’ve been waiting for!! Debuting at this year’s SDCC is the variant cover featuring Fantastic Four #72. Jack Kirby Forever People Artist Edition, Con variant Cover by Jack Kirby $125, Limited to 100 copies

Continuing IDW’s yearlong celebration of the centennial of Jack “King” Kirby’s birth! Jack Kirby’s classic Fourth World epic told the story of a group of New Gods sent to Earth to oppose Darkseid. Featuring Beautiful Dreamer, Big Bear, Moonrider, and others, this was Kirby’s take on super-powered flower children! Included in this volume are issues, 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with nearly all pages scanned from the originals. Debuting at this year’s SDCC is the variant cover featuring a self-portrait of Jack Kirby, and this is limited to a scarce 100 copies.

Locke & Key: Heaven and Earth, Con variant Cover by Gabriel Rodriguez $20, Limited to 500 copies

This special deluxe release hardcover, with a new cover by series artist Gabriel Rodriguez, finally reprints the oft-requested and long-denied Eisner-winning one-shot, “Open the Moon!”, the other long-sold-out one-shot, “Grindhouse!” and the even more hard-to-find IDW 10th anniversary Locke & Key tale, “In the Can!”, along with additional covers, behind-the-scenes photos and more!

Ragnarök Volume 2 Hardcover, Con variant Cover by Walter Simonson $30, Limited to 500 copies

This convention edition hardcover, with a new cover by creator Walter Simonson, collects issues #7-12 of the Ragnarök series! After hundreds of years, a single god emerged into the post-Ragnarök world, Thor, the God of Thunder. But Angantyr, the Lord of the Dead, has discovered his reappearance, and unleashes his draugar, the undead walkers, against the Thunder God, seeking to destroy the last vestige of the former worlds, and the only hope for the present one.

Return of the Dapper Men, Show debut Cover by Janet Lee $35, 150 copies at the show

Blending clockwork whimsy with majestic art-nouveau visuals, Jim McCann and Janet Lee present a hand-crafted fairy tale that feels both familiar and entirely new in this prestige reprinting!

Sh*t My President Says, Show debut Cover by Shannon Wheeler $15, 500 copies at the show

Some people are saying, I don’t know, you tell me, but a lot of people are saying this is the greatest book of the year. This guy, Shannon Wheeler, he draws these cartoons for the New Yorker, MAD, the Onion-he’s very, very, good, okay? Now he’s illustrated the most incredible tweets. Wow! You won’t believe what he does with these tweets. I mean, these tweets changed the world, folks. It’s true! It’s very true. EVERYONE is going to want this book – even the haters and losers (Sad!).

Star Trek: Boldly Go Volume 1, Con photo variant $20, Limited to 200 copies

All-new Star Trek series following the adventures of Captain Kirk and the iconic crew! New worlds! New species! New ships! New photo cover for the con variant!

Surfside Girls, Show debut Cover by Kim Dwinell $15, 150 copies at the show

Things are getting weird in Surfside. Lately, Samantha’s best friend Jade explodes into fits of giggles whenever she sees a boy, and it’s throwing a wrench into the kick-back summer of surfing and hanging out that Sam had planned. But after swimming through a secret underwater cave, Sam starts to… see things. Like ghosts. And strange creatures. And maybe something even scarier! Can she and Jade get to the bottom of this mystery in time to save their town?

Walter Simonson’s Thor the Return of Beta Ray Bill Artist Edition, SDCC variant Cover by Walter Simonson $125, Limited to 100 copies

The fate of Earth and Asgard hang in the Balance as Thor, Beta Ray Bill, and tons of guest-stars do battle Surtur and his horde of invading demons! All with an exclusive Simonson cover just for the con variant featuring the very first drawing ever done of Beta Ray Bill!

The second Thor Artist’s Edition by the legendary comics’ creator Walter Simonson! Featuring seven complete issues of The Mighty Thor (#349 – 354, plus #380—the legendary all-splash page story!). As with all Artist’s Editions, each page of art scanned from the original art, in this case, from Simonson’s personal archives.

COLLECTIBLES

Disney DuckTales Lithograph $100, limited to 100 copies

We are proud to offer an Official Disney Archive print of the DuckTales #0 SDCC Variant cover by Bone creator Jeff Smith. Each print measures 11.7 by 16.5 inches, is hand-numbered from 1 to 100, and is printed on 51 pound paper. Each print is packaged in a 13″x18″ envelope with a Official Disney Archive label on the front. Get it signed by Jeff Smith and DuckTales creators during the convention!

String Divers figure, Con variant plus free Trade Paperback Designed by Ashley Wood $100, Limited to 50

This String Divers F Defender Statue is a IDW x THREEA SDCC 2017 Exclusive, designed by Ashley Wood. Limited to only 50 units, this statue stands approximately 6” tall, and features 25 points of articulation. This statue also comes with 1 Quantum Defense Suit, 1 Quantum Propulsion Pack, 3 Weapons, and 1 Stand. You will also receive a free copy of the String Divers Trade Paperback with your purchase!

Wynonna Earp Replica Necklace, plus bonus books. Limited release $100, Limited to 50

Want to wear the same style necklace as Melanie Scrofano wears on Wynonna Earp? Here’s your chance to get an authentic replica necklace! As a free bonus, we are including a comic book signed by Doc Holliday himself, Tim Rozon, a comic book signed by Katherine Barrell (Officer Haught) and the Wynonna Earp Season 1 Yearbook!

Locke & Key Teddy Key, Limited release Crafted by Israel Skelton $25, Limited to 100

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Hasbro Enamel Pins: 9 Designs, Limited release $10, Limited to 100 for each design

Autobots shield (Transformers)

Decepticons shield (Transformers)

Bumblebee (Transformers)

Arashikage tattoo (GI Joe)

Cobra symbol (GI Joe)

ROM head

Jem and the Holograms logo

Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony)

Songbird Sia  (My Little Pony)

Locke & Key Enamel Pins: 4 Designs, Limited release Crafted by Israel Skelton $10, Limited to 100 for each design

Ghost Key

Head Key

Omega Key

Shadow Key

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Wynonna Earp Enamel Pins: 4 Designs, Limited release $10, Limited to 100 for each design

Wynonna Earp logo

U.S. Marshal

Special Deputy

Pride Mustache

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  Tom Whalen Poster Bundles: A curated assembly of hardcovers, trade paperbacks and rare variant covers, includes a free high-quality poster! $100 each, 2 bundles per day, Each bundle limited to 50 units

GIVEAWAYS

Get a sneak peek at some of the most exciting titles coming this fall with these giveaways available at the IDW booth throughout the show. Get yours before they’re all gone!

Black Crown Preview book Get your first look at what’s coming from Shelly Bond’s Black Crown imprint, including Kid Lobotomy by Peter Milligan and Tess Fowler, plus more yet-to-be-announced titles.

First Strike (Hasbro) Preview book Limited to 3000 copies Get on the ground floor of this summer’s Hasbro Comic Book Event Series featuring Transformers, G.I. Joe, Rom, and more!

“Summer Insider” Preview book Limited to 3000 copies Look no further for some engaging summer reading from some of your favorite creators.

Star Wars Adventures Preview ashcan Limited to 3000 copies You don’t have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to get a look at the new all-ages Star Wars Adventurescomic series

Sword of Ages Ashcan Preview book Limited to 2000 copies Writer/artist Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key) welcomes you to a world unlike anything you’ve seen before in this sci-fi/fantasy epic.

TMNT Prelude Dimension X FCBD books The 5-week event series coming this August where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles return to Dimension X starts here.

Ducktales/Tangled Flip promo poster Based on the Disney animated shows of the same names, show your enthusiasm by plastering this on your wall.

Diablo House promo poster Limited to 700 copies Those who enter the Diablo House get more than what they bargained for…

My Little Pony Movie Prequel poster Before the movie opens in theaters, snag this poster before they’re gone in a Rainbow Dash!

  ALSO these things:

  SDCC ’17: IDW unveils massive list of exclusives with bundles, Kirby, much much more Two weeks to go, people. TWO WEEKS. IDW (#2743) has just released a list of their exclusives giveaways and debuts and it's HUGE.

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Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Milcery illustration by Dsuke (removed card text)

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Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Zeraora illustration by Kazumasa Yasukuni (removed card text)

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Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Squirtle illustration by Saboteri (removed card text, tried my best)

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Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Reboot illustration by rika (removed card text)

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Pokémon TCG SV Stellar Crown (2024) Gulpin illustration by Jerky (removed card text)

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Pokémon TCG SV Temporal Forces (2024), Twilight Masquerade (2024), Shrouded Fable (2024), Stellar Crown (2024) & Surging Sparks (2024) 9 TCG Art Set illustrated by the amazing Teeziro (yes I combined them 😄)