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“Bootleg” Toys Better Than the Licensed Ones?

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Any movie or pop culture enthusiast has had their share of action figures through the years and they are relatively easy to come by especially if it’s a licensed item. Just go to a big box retailer, Amazon, or even Hot Topic to get your nerd on.

But what if you really want an effigy of something that isn’t massed produced in plastic. Or if there is, it’s not really “true” to the character or thing you feel it’s supposed to represent?

If you’re like some people, you make it yourself. But is that the same thing, or is it even as valuable? Surprisingly yes.

A recent New York Times article explores the question of “Bootleg” toys and their sentimental and monetary values.

Death By Toys

The article introduces us to Aaron Moreno an avid movie buff and collector who just wanted a figurine of a Critters alien furball or a something out of Creepshow, there wasn’t anything available at the time so he went ahead and made them himself.

Since packaging is also a part of the collectible experience Mr. Moreno sought out an artist friend to do that part of it and began selling them online to hungry collectors who bought each and every last one, sometimes selling out in only a few minutes.

Super Secret Fan Club

To be clear these aren’t the same types of toys sold through popular companies such as NECA or McFarlane Toys. No, these are considered artisanal where the artists often take pieces from other renderings and make them into something much more personal.

Buyers are at the ready too, take for instance our cover picture made by Dan Polydoris of Deathbytoys.com. Yes, that’s packaged fog from John Carpenter’s 1980 classic The Fog. And yes, people bought it.

“It’s a joke,” Mr. Polydoris said of his cotton creations. “It’s just garbage taped to other garbage.”

That trash turned out to be a lot of people’s treasure; 100 credit card commandos shelled out $30 each for the exclusive.

dogmantoys.bigcartel.com

You’d think the people who created the original property would be pissed, but rarely has there been a cease and desist order from a copyright lawyer to stop them.

Peter Goral, 33, makes a comfortable living off of his merchandise which he began to create back in 2007. “With a lot of the guys who collect and do this, it’s all deeply rooted in their childhoods,” he says.

These homemade figures have infiltrated television too. Adam F. Goldberg, creator of the pop culture and easter egg heavy “The Goldbergs” collects them and hides them in his show.

“I look at them as pieces of art,” Goldberg said of his bootleg horde. “I don’t collect art. This is what I collect instead.”

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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