July 18, 2010

Q: What do you think of the Money in the Bank Ring? Do you feel like it accurately captures the action inside the ring?

A:Definitely. Mattel took the existing ring and expanded on the idea by adding ladders, action points and other features. Plus the sound button in the middle of the ring adds extra potential.

Q: What was the best part of the development process of your action figure?

A:The attention to detail and realism.

Q: Is there a WWE Superstar who has played a significant part in your development as a sports entertainer? Who is it and how did this Superstar influence you?

A:Randy Orton. He forced me to step up my game and bring out a savage side of Kofi Kingston that people hadn't seen.

Q:You are from a family of music lovers. If you could have any entertainer perform while you were making your entrance, who would it be?

A: My little brother. He is an aspiring lyricist and is big into performing. It would be a thrill to have him perform my entrance music. He has a MySpace Music page at www.myspace.com/kalamity781

Q:What piece of advice would give to your numerous young fans who aspire to be WWE Superstars?

A:They should understand that it takes a lot of time and sacrifice to become a WWE Superstar. You need to put in 100% of your effort. If you are willing to put in a lot of dedication and sacrifice, you can do it.

Q: You have a degree in communications from Boston College. If you were not a WWE Superstar, what profession would you pursue?

A: Something involving advertising and marketing. Actually, I saw some Adirondack chairs the other day and that reminded me that I built one of them when I was in 8th grade. Maybe carpentry could be in the cards for me.

Q: If you could tag team with any public figure for a match, who would it be?

A:Barack Obama. I'm sure he has a lot of special forces in his back pocket.

Q: How did you develop your signature Boom Drop?

A:It has been a progression. I borrowed the double leg drop from a guy I used to train with. Then I added the high knees and shoulder shrugs to let the fans know what was coming. It's still a work in progress and will probably look totally different 20 years from now.

Q: What match was the hardest for you to date?

A: The Money In The Bank match at WrestleMania XXVI. Ten Superstars were competing to win the ultimate prize and you had to try to take advantage of your window of opportunity.

RING And we're on!

So there you have it. AFTimes' prediction is the Kofi Kingston current holder of the Intercontinental Championship belt will win this year's Money in the Bank match! You can watch it on Pay per View tonight!

July 12, 2010

Two-packs Spotlight Historic UFC Bouts

Round 5, a leader in producing mixed martial arts collectible figurines, today released images of several prototypes of its "Versus" line, pairs of distinctly new figures highlighting battle scenes from great UFC matchups. The prototypes were first seen at the Round 5 booth at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas in May.

The "Versus" series includes collectibles representing the following bouts: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92), 12-27-2008; Forrest Griffin vs. Jackson ("The Ultimate Fighter 7"); Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC 100), 7-11-2008; and Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell (UFC 66), 12-30-2006.

Images of the first available "Versus" pairs can be viewed at http://www.round5mma.com/blog/?p=418. Future "Versus" pairs will include classic PRIDE matchups and other special editions.

The "Versus" line, scheduled to hit Toys"R"Us stores in the fall and other retailers later in the year, will be accompanied by an Octagon segment display.

Round 5 UFC "Ultimate Collector" Series 1 and 2 are now available at leading retailers across North

America. A list can be found at www.Round5MMA.com.

About Round 5
Round 5 (www.Round5MMA.com), headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada, is the MMA industry's fastest growing worldwide collectible figure company. Committed to developing intricately detailed figures, Round 5 strives to remain true to the sport of MMA and its personalities.

Visit Round 5!

June 22, 2010

The widow of a World Wrestling Entertainment performer who died in a 1999 stunt says she's suing the Connecticut-based company and its leaders, including Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon.

Martha Hart said McMahon, who stepped down as WWE chief executive to run for Senate, and her husband, Vince, the current chairman, have continued to use Owen Hart's image to promote the business despite agreeing to stop after his death.

Hart is filing her lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

Owen Hart died when he fell 78 feet from a harness as it lowered him into a wrestling ring in Kansas City, Mo., on May 23, 1999. He was 34.

His family sued the WWE and several other defendants in the death. Martha Hart agreed to a $18 million settlement with the WWE in 2000.

In her new lawsuit, she alleges the WWE and the McMahons violated a contract that restricts the use of Owen Hart's name, likeness and wrestling footage.

She said in a written statement Tuesday that she learned earlier this year that his image was appearing in WWE promotional materials.

"In the 11 years since Owen's tragic and avoidable death, I have worked tirelessly to disassociate Owen's name and likeness from anything related to WWE in order to protect our children from any reminder of the circumstances surrounding their father's death, and to avoid any misplaced perception that I endorse WWE," she said in a statement.

Representatives for the WWE and McMahon's Senate campaign said they could not immediately comment but expected to release statements later Tuesday.

June 09, 2010

TO BE INDUCTED INTO 2010 TOYFARE HALL OF FAME

AT PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON

JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK) Executive Vice-President of Marketing, Jeremy Padawer, will be inducted into the ToyFare Hall of Fame at the Philadelphia Comic Con, which is taking place at the PA Convention Center, June 11-13, 2010.

The third annual ToyFare Hall of Fame Awards will take place on Friday, June 11th, starting with a Big Toy Industry Panel featuring the three inductees, Jeremy Padawer from JAKKS; Georg Brewer from DC Direct; and Robert Tonner of Tonner Dolls, Inc., and concluding with the induction ceremony.

“I’m truly honored to be recognized by Wizard Entertainment and ToyFare magazine, the leading pop culture action figure content producers in the industry,” said Jeremy Padawer, Executive Vice-President of Marketing, JAKKS Pacific. “My team is phenomenal and I consider this an induction for the entire JAKKS Boys Entertainment team. In reality, providing the strategy is just one piece of the puzzle. Without the passion and day to day hard work of my team, any success would have been impossible.”

“We like to have fun with toys, but we are also serious about the art form of toys, statues and collectibles, and we’re excited to induct Jeremy Padawer into the ToyFare Hall of Fame at this year’s Wizard World Philadelphia,” said Gareb Shamus, Wizard World CEO. “Jeremy’s vision, creativity and enthusiasm for the world of action figures and collectibles have resulted in products that have brought inspiration and joy to many people.”

For more information on the Philadelphia Comic Con and the ToyFare Hall of Fame Awards, visit www.wizardworld.com.

About Jeremy Padawer

As the Executive Vice-President of Marketing for leading U.S. toymaker, JAKKS Pacific, Padawer is responsible for product development, marketing, new business, intellectual property, and entertainment content development for JAKKS, including Girls, Dolls, Activities, Preschool, Vehicles, Seasonal, Construction, Boys Entertainment, Electronics and Pets. Padawer joined JAKKS in 2003 and has successfully grown the Entertainment Brand Marketing Division worldwide. Padawer began his toy career in the mid-1990’s creating one of the first online networks for buying/selling collectibles and toy products.

June 07, 2010

TOYS“R”US TIMES SQUARE TO CELEBRATE NEW LINE OF WWE MERCHANDISE

Superstars to Autograph Action Figures in Their Likeness for

First 400 Fans to Purchase Mattel® WWE® Product*

WHO: WWE® SmackDown® Superstars Kofi Kingston® and MVP®

WHAT: To introduce fans and collectors to the latest WWE merchandise from Mattel®, WWE Superstars Kofi Kingston and MVP visit Toys“R”Us Times Square for an exclusive autograph signing event.

Beginning Monday, June 7, the first 400 customers to purchase $50 worth of Mattel’s WWE merchandise* will receive a ticket to meet Superstars Kofi Kingston and MVP on Saturday, June 19. Customers must purchase Mattel WWE merchandise through the Personal Shopping department on Level Three of Toys“R”Us Times Square, while supplies last, to receive a ticket.*

Customers who purchase the Kofi Kingston and MVP action figures are encouraged to bring these items back to the store on the day of the event to receive an autograph from each of the Superstars on their respective characters.

WHEN: Saturday, June 19

Line-Up Begins: 11:30am

Autograph Signing Begins: 1:30pm

WHERE: Toys“R”Us Times Square, Level Three, The Skybox

1514 Broadway (at 44th Street), New York, NY 10036

SUBWAYS: 1, 2, 3, 7, N, R, Q, W, A, C, E (All to 42nd Street Station)

FOR CONSUMERS: For more information, visit ToysrusTimesSquare.com or call the Toys“R”Us Times Square Special Events Hotline at 646-366-8855.

*There is a limit of one ticket per guest available only with purchase of $50 worth of Mattel WWE merchandise. One ticket valid for one autograph from each Superstar. Kofi Kingston and MVP will only autograph their respective Mattel action figures OR a WWE autograph card provided at the event. No other memorabilia will be signed. Only 400 tickets are available for this event on a first come, first served basis. Tickets are available from June 7 through June 19, or while supplies last. Event and talent subject to change or cancellation.

May 31, 2010

May 20, 2010

Linda McMahon has had some infamous moments in the ring — kicking a man in the groin, getting slapped across the face by her daughter, and sitting in a wheelchair, feigning a coma, as her famous husband cavorted before thousands of screaming fans with a scantily clad "Diva."

McMahon last year stepped away from her wild World Wrestling Entertainment empire to climb into the political ring, where she has parlayed some of her experience with attention-getting stunts into a viable Republican candidacy to succeed the retiring Chris Dodd in the U.S. Senate.

As the state GOP prepares to endorse a candidate Friday, McMahon unabashedly acknowledges her campaign used some of the $50 million she has pledged for the race to provide "some things" for a news report that front runner Richard Blumenthal, the state's popular Democratic attorney general, had distorted his record of military service during the Vietnam War.

She also continues to deflect criticism about the WWE, which over the years has come under fire for the health of its performers and some of its stunts, including a developmentally disabled character being beaten and a performer simulating sex with a woman's corpse in a casket.

"It's push-back that WWE has heard over time. To produce seven hours of fresh programming every single week, with no reruns for 52 weeks a year, you do some story lines, you know, better than others," McMahon, a political novice, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "It becomes a matter of taste."

McMahon, who stepped down as chief executive officer of WWE last fall to run for the Senate, is now pitching herself as a successful entrepreneur with than 30 years of business experience, someone who knows how to manage a budget, create jobs and stimulate the economy.

Her early salvo has left a blemish in Blumenthal's tidy record in addition to stirring up renewed attention to her own record with the Greenwich-based WWE, where she helped grow a 13-person operation into a global business with more than 500 employees.

Democrats and McMahon's main GOP rival, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, are attempting to turn the tables and use the controversy that McMahon helped to create, as well as her campaign's words, as political ammunition.

Simmons points to McMahon's statements about the health and wellness of her WWE performers. His campaign recently produced an Internet video that flashes pictures of seven wrestlers who appeared in a 1991 Wrestlemania Event and later died, most of them in their 40s. It points out how the WWE stopped its drug testing in 1996 and didn't resume it until 2006.

"Evaluating Linda McMahon, the candidate begins with evaluating Linda McMahon's WWE business experience — the good, the bad, the ugly," read one recent Simmons mailer.

Another reads: "Linda McMahon made hundreds of millions of dollars she's using to fund her Senate campaign by selling graphic sex and violence to children of all ages."

It's questionable whether that rhetoric will influence Republican delegates on Friday, though.

"Rob Simmons, since September, has been attacking Linda, has run a nonstop negative campaign against Linda, he has been talking exclusively about wrestling, WWE," said Ed Patru, a McMahon campaign spokesman. "The result has been a nose dive in the polls for him."

While Simmons was the front runner for the Republican nomination earlier this year, actually leading Dodd back in January when the senator was still in the race, a March 17 Quinnipiac University Poll showed McMahon, who has already run numerous television ads, had taken the apparent lead among Republican primary voters. While Simmons is expected to win the endorsement Friday, some Republicans acknowledge McMahon has a shot.

Even if McMahon doesn't win the nod Friday, she's still expected to win enough delegates needed to challenge Simmons to a primary on Aug. 10. Simmons has said he won't seek a primary if he does not secure the endorsement.

A 2009 congressional committee investigation into steroid use in professional wrestling, one that included interviews with McMahon and her husband, Vince, criticized the WWE for a "lack of independence and transparency."

McMahon pointed out the WWE has improved its wellness program, telling the AP that there are now full cardiac evaluations and physicals for performers, and that the WWE was the first wrestling organization to put mats outside the ring to protect falling wrestlers.

"It's always interesting that you are seemingly punished or looked at askant for what maybe you weren't doing 20 years ago, instead of being credited for how you've evolved it, learned in the process, taken better care of people, and all of the evolutions of content and programming and been in business that long and been on television," McMahon said.

"It's a testament really to the creativity and ingenuity that's the product, I think."

Now McMahon is using that ingenuity in her political race.

A report this week by The New York Times, the newspaper to which McMahon's campaign acknowledges it supplied information, included quotations and a video of Blumenthal saying in 2008 that he had served "in Vietnam" even though his service in the Marine Reserve did not take him overseas.

Blumenthal, who appeared to have a lock on the Senate seat before this with double-digit leads in recent polls, has since said that he "misspoke" on several occasions and that his statements were "totally unintentional" errors.

Referring to McMahon campaign claims that Blumenthal's mistakes about his military record show "deeply disturbing disconnects between the image he sought to portray and reality," Simmons said the same can be said about McMahon.

"Just as Blumenthal's unscrutinized record has now caused consternation for Democrats," Simmons said, "so will McMahon's for Republicans."

April 07, 2010

UFC Deluxe Figures Wave 3

Available online and hitting retail shelves now! UFC Deluxe Figures Wave 3 action figures include BJ Penn, Chuck Liddell, John Fitch, Karo Parysian, Mark Coleman (Legends), Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (Pride) and Thiago Silva. All UFC Deluxe action figures feature Ultra-Flex™ articulated technology to replicate real MMA moves! These authentic replicas of real fighters include officially licensed fight wear and apparel and are styled and deco’ed to match individual event appearances.

UFC Deluxe Figures Wave 4

Coming this Summer! UFC Deluxe Figures Wave 4 action figures include Andrei Arlovski, Don Frye, Jaime Varner, Kimbo Slice, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, Sean Sherk and Wanderlei Silva and will be on store shelves by end of June.

UFC Deluxe action figures are available at Walmart, Toys”R”Us, Target, Kmart and select online retailers. SRP $9.99-$11.99

UFC Deluxe Figure 2-Packs Wave 1

Collectible 2-packs of Deluxe UFC action figures commemorate epic UFC battles and celebrate the best MMA fights of all time from past and present.

Wave 1 includes:

UFC 79 – Chuck Liddell versus Wanderlei Silva

UFC 87 – Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir

UFC 77 – Anderson Silva versus Rich Franklin

Coming this summer! Deluxe Figure 2-packs will be available at Walmart, Toys”R”Us and Kmart. SRP $19.99

UFC Micro Figures 2-Pack Wave 1

Kid-focused, Micro Figure battle 2-packs with full articulation & playable fight gear accessories.

Wave 1 includes:

UFC 100 Brock Lesnar versus Frank Mir

UFC 58 BJ Penn versus Georges St. Pierre

UFC 64 Anderson Silva versus Rich Franklin

UFC 47 Chuck Liddell versus Tito Ortiz

Coming this summer to Walmart, Toys”R”Us and Kmart. SRP $4.99

Electronic Reaction Octagon Playset

Relive exciting MMA fights with the innovative UFC Electronic Octagon playset that have action figure activated sound effects. Real UFC announcers call the action! The 20” playset is an authentic replica of the real UFC Octagon complete with officially licensed sponsors & brands.

Coming this summer to Toys”R”Us. SRP $49.99

Championship Belts Wave 2

Authentic, wearable belts for UFC, Pride & WEC! Wave 2 includes UFC Championship Belt, Ultimate Ultimate Belt and PRIDE Grand Prix Belt.

Coming this summer to Walmart, Toys”R”Us, Target, Kmart. SRP $14.99