Nickelodeon has some hot new retail items exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con 2018 that are only available at the Nick booth (#4113).
Nickelodeon is bringing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, INVADER ZIM and more to life at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2018 through one-of-a-kind virtual and real-world experiences. Attendees can get their fill of both new and nostalgic Nick with retail items spanning original Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, an all-new Nick Box, enamel pins designed by artists at Nickelodeon Burbank and additional items celebrating favorites SpongeBob SquarePants, Rugrats and INVADER ZIM.
Below are descriptions of the items that will be on sale at Nick’s booth. Images can be downloaded here.
Playmates SDCC Exclusive Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Figures
Based on the new Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series debuting this fall, Playmates is unveiling four SDCC exclusive figures featuring Raph, Leo, Donnie and Mikey.
Each figure is individually sculpted and styled based on the TV series with heights ranging from 4.25” (Mikey) to 4.75” (Raph, both Donnie and Leo’s heights are 4.5” tall). Each figure has 13 points of articulation and comes with their new core weapon accessories.
All the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures will feature exclusive, additional decoration and details on the figures and accessories.
Each figure comes in a highly collectible and personal fifth panel window box. All fifth panel window boxes will be placed in a protective 2018 San Diego Comic-Con corrugate inner noting the name of the Turtle included.
SRP: $30.00 each
Lisa Frank x SpongeBob Pouch
‘90s icons SpongeBob SquarePants and Lisa Frank unite for the first time to deliver a collaboration that nostalgic dreams are made of. This pastel rainbow cosmetic bag features SpongeBob and Patrick in the colorful and imaginative Lisa Frank universe and is available exclusively for SDCC.
SRP: $10.00
Action Vinyls x The Loyal Subjects exclusive Rocko
The ’90s called and they want their shirt back! Rocko is making an Action Vinyls debut at SDCC with a Neon ’90s exclusive throwback fit. Each articulated collectible known widely as Action Vinyls figure stands at 3″ tall and Rocko even comes equipped with his loving pooch Spunky. Quantities are limited, so be sure to pick up yours today!
SRP: $15.00
Action Vinyls x The Loyal Subjects exclusive Tommy
Hang on to your ‘diapies babies, we’re going to Comic Con! Everyone’s favorite Rugrats hero, Tommy Pickles is making an Action Vinyls SDCC debut this year with a splash. A splash of chocolate milk that is, with this exclusive Chocolate Milk Stained Tee color variant. Each articulated collectible known widely as Action Vinyls stands at 3.25″ tall, and Tommy even comes equipped with his signature baby bottle filled to the brim with that tasty chocolate milk. Be sure to nab yours today!
SRP: $15.00
Kidrobot Purple Reptar
“I am Reptar, hear me ROAR!” It’s time to take home Tommy Pickle’s favorite T. Rex with the Reptar medium figure from Kidrobot. This lean, mean, cereal-eating machine stands at approximately 7” and is ready to dominate your collection today, with a bowl of cereal in hand and enough in the cereal box for seconds!
SRP: $50.00
FOCO Eekeez Zim and Gir Figurines
Enjoy some Earth-conquering fun with Invader Zim Eekeez Figurines from FOCO! Each poly resin figurine stands 4 inches tall and comes in window packaging, making them a must-have for fans and collectors alike. This series includes figurines of Zim and GIR.
SRP: $15.00 each
Nickelodeon Enamel Pins
Designed by members of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, these six pins are the result of a studio-wide design contest to deliver original, hand-crafted designs exclusive to SDCC. Featuring Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, Double Dare, INVADER ZIM, The Loud House and Rugrats, only 250 of each pin will be sold, making them a collectible you won’t want to miss.
SRP: $10 each
The Nick Box
Grab your bathing suits and get ready to make some popsicle stick crafts because the Nick Box is back for the summer with an all new theme–Camp Nick Box! Each Nick Box comes filled with exclusive collectibles, apparel, accessories, home goods and so much more, featuring all your favorite classic Nickelodeon shows. The Nick Box is a quarterly, subscription service that brings your most memorable Nickelodeon experiences right to your front door, but the Camp Nick Box at SDCC features a SDCC exclusive. This installment features these items and more:
Camping Rocko Vinyl Figure – Grab your Fish-O-Matic and join Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt on a camping trip. This vinyl features Rocko as seen in the episode Hut Sut Raw.
Hey Arnold! Helga Bobblehead – Whether you’re building a shrine or secretly writing love poems about your summer crush, Helga will be there to lend her expertise.
Camp Anawanna Water Bottle – It’s important to stay hydrated when you salute your shorts!
Pasture Puffies Reusable Lunch Bag – Now you can enjoy Heffer’s favorite snack! Well, kinda… Just pack this SDCC exclusive insulated bag with your favorite snacks and get ready for that Hall H line.
Limited quantities of the Camp Nick Box will be available at the Nickelodeon booth (Booth #4113) each day during the convention.
SRP: $50.00
Customized T-Shirt and Tote Station
Fans can purchase a t-shirt and tote from the retail shop and customize it on the spot with characters and art from their choice of seven fan-favorite Nick shows: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Loud House, Double Dare, INVADER ZIM, Hey Arnold! and Rugrats.
SRP: Tote $15; T-Shirt $20; Baseball Tee $25

TV
Top Ten Times Willow was the Worst

With all the discourse surrounding the much anticipated Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, not
to mention Sarah Michelle Gellar’s and Alyson Hannigan’s joint interview on the Today show
discussing the show’s legacy! Many fans have revised their opinions on some of the
original show’s titular characters. One such character is Hannigan’s own, Willow Rosenberg. Once seen as the shy, lovable, nerdy sidekick, now her image is less than rosy. Manipulative? Petty? And maybe worst of all: a bad friend.
10. Easing us in with a somewhat annoying one. In Season 6, Episode 11, ‘Gone’, it is
morning in the Summers household. After throwing out most of Willow’s magical stash as
the fallen wiccan tries to go cold turkey with her magic addiction (more on that later). Buffy
is post-traumatic-resurrection trying to keep it all together after a night of hot,
passionate…fighting with a vampire. Willow appears to be living in the Summers’ home rent-free and is cooking Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg) an apology omelette. She is making a
mess while cooking, as one does, but leaves her traumatised friend to clean up after her! Poor
Buffy (you’ll hear that a lot) was just lambasting herself for not noticing Willow’s self-
inflicted downfall. Buffy is literally chopping off her own hair in distress, and no one notices!
The audacity!
9. In Season 3, Episode 2, ‘Dead Man’s Party’, Buffy has returned to Sunnydale after her
secondment in LA. After a traumatic year, Buffy clearly just wants to hang out with her
friends like a regular teenager. Willow agrees to meet Buffy in town to re-bond over
shopping. Yes, Willow did say earlier in the episode that she had school work that she would
have to rearrange, which is fair enough, but at least cancel instead of leaving poor Buffy
(see?) sitting alone waiting for you!

8. Anya (Emma Caulfield), the ex-vengeance demon, was treated pretty coolly by the
Scoobies. Willow was clearly jealous of Anya’s relationship with Xander (Nicholas
Brendon), taking Xander’s attention from her. Throughout the final seasons, Willow treated
Anya like an annoyance at best and undermined her with cruel remarks at worst. In no
episode was this more obvious than Season 5, Episode 11, ‘Triangle’. Willow is brazenly
stealing spell ingredients from Anya’s and Giles’s (her friends) small business. Willow even
says herself she is not “stealing”, she is “…just taking things without paying for them. In what
twisted dictionary is that stealing?”.
Willow comes off as a bully throughout this episode, cruelly mimicking Anya and trying to
make Xander choose between his childhood best friend and his girlfriend. I want to mention
that not only is Willow gay, but has her own girlfriend at this point. So her possessiveness of
Xander comes off as particularly childish.
7. Willow’s irresponsibility with magic becomes a large feature of the series. Even her most
ardent fans can’t explain what she was thinking in Season 5, Episode 17, ‘Forever’ when she
draws Dawn’s attention to a dark spell book. This book encourages 15-year-old Dawn to raise
her mother from the dead. Culminating in what is, in my opinion, one of the creepiest scenes
in Buffy: the shadow of zombie Joyce walking past Summer’s curtained window, returning
home. Presumably, Willow knew the dangers but was fine with a child dabbling in dark
magic.
6. Back to Season 3, Episode 2 ‘Dead Man’s Party’. After not being satisfied standing Buffy
up, she also wants to rant at a clearly distressed Buffy that Willow’s now got a boyfriend and is
practicing witchcraft, AND had no one to talk to about it when Buffy ran away. Bear in mind
that Buffy had to stab her boyfriend through the heart and send him to Hell after months of
his evil alter ego psychologically torturing her. But Willow needs her gal pal.
Very similar to Season 7, Episode 19 ‘Empty Places’ when Willow joined the group pile on,
blaming poor Buffy (and again) for everything that’s gone wrong. And then throwing Buffy
out of her own house (you know the one she pays for?)! In the words of one Buffy fan ‘Y’all
hate her so much, why did you resurrect her?’
5. Going to my personal favourite season, Season 6 (I’m not arguing about it), Episode 10
‘Wrecked’. Willow is caught in the throes of magic addiction. Within the Buffy universe,
magic was a metaphor for lesbian sex, but the metaphor changes in Season 6 to substance
abuse. Willow takes Dawn to what is essentially a magical drug den and leaves her waiting
there for over an hour. Then, high on magic, he proceeds to not take Dawn home, instead
offering to teleport her back home. Willow then gets behind the wheel of a car with Dawn
while high and crashes the car.
Buffy was known to tackle social issues, and its handling of substance abuse was surprisingly
Realistic, mainly due to Alyson Hannigan’s amazing acting!

4. In Season 4, Episode 6, ‘Wild at Heart,’ we get to see the true darkness that appears to live
inside Willow. After being cheated on by her long-time boyfriend Oz (Seth Green), Willow
takes it upon herself to hex both Oz and his cheating partner, Veruca. She casts ‘in the name
of Hell’ wanting to break both their hearts and find no peace or solace…harsh. To be fair to
her, she does stop herself, but Willow, I appreciate you got cheated on, but we can’t just go
about hexing people.
3. And now to one of the best episodes ever! Season 6, Episode 8 ‘Tabula Rasa’ delivers
some serious comic gold, but the premise of the episode is rather disturbing. Despite
promising Tara (Amber Benson), her long-term partner, that she would give up magic for a
week, Willow casts a spell. Tara is understandably upset that the woman she loves cast a
memory spell on her to make her forget their arguments. Willow’s answer to this is to cast yet
another memory spell to make Tara forget the first memory spell (stay with me). Willow also tries to cast a spell on Buffy (you know her friend suffering from depression) to make her forget being in Heaven. As is a staple in the Buffy universe, the spell goes awry, making the whole gang forget who they are, leading to hilarious hijinks.
Yes, it’s one of the funniest Buffy episodes, but if the spell hadn’t accidentally been broken, then they all could have been stuck like that.
2. For such a trailblazing relationship, Willow and Tara have a lot of problems when
scrutinised. Almost everything stems from Willow’s overuse of magic. The relationship
gets darker the more you examine it. As Tara said in ‘Tabula Rasa’, Willow violated her
mind. Some fans have pointed out; not only was the flower Willow used to cast the forgetting
spell (Season 6, Episode 6) is in an oddly convenient place in their bedroom. This begs the
question: how many times has Willow cast these spells? Fans have also pointed out that if
Tara had sex with Willow after any spell was cast on her, she wouldn’t be consenting.
1. As a surprise to literally no one, the number one time Willow was a bad friend on top of
being completely irresponsible, resurrecting one Miss Buffy Summers. Now, many may
argue that after the finale of Season 5, ‘The Gift’, it would be understandable that Willow
would think Buffy was trapped in some Hell dimension.
Ok, let’s stay with that logic. Willow is aware that resurrection spells are extremely volatile,
presumably why the Scoobies have been planning it for weeks. Xander voices it perfectly, in
Season 6, Episode 1 ‘Bargaining Pt 1’, Buffy may try to “eat our brains”. Willow even
comments (Season 6, Episode 3) on how messed up Angel was when he came back from Hell.
Willow could have caused an emotional and physical catastrophe for them all by bringing
back a ‘wrong’ Buffy who still possesses super-strength and super-speed. Spike (James
Marsters) declares in the same episode that he shut down any idea Willow had about bringing
Buffy, back in case it went so badly, they would have to “get rid of what came back”. It’s bad
when the soulless vampire is more mature than you, isn’t it?

Willow Rosenberg is indeed a very complex character played expertly by Alyson Hannigan. Willow has her flaws, but it is those flaws that make her such a compelling character. I, for one, am very interested to see what they do with the character in the reboot.
Movie
Review: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is a stylish and brutal addition to the ever-expanding John Wick universe. Set between the explosive events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4, the film seamlessly slots into the timeline without feeling like a stopgap. Instead, it builds something fresh, introducing a new protagonist on a vengeful journey of her own.
Ana de Armas delivers a fierce and emotionally layered performance as Eve Macarro, a ballerina-trained assassin seeking justice for her family. While her motivations mirror Wick’s, the film avoids repetition by diving deeper into the Ruska Roma and High Table lore. It’s a testament to the world-building that this spin-off doesn’t just feel justified—it feels essential.
As expected, the fight choreography is at its peak—gritty, inventive, and ruthlessly beautiful. Every action set-piece hits with a kinetic energy that’s both thrilling and brutal. This franchise continues to prove that when it comes to stunt work and direction, it’s in a league of its own. Can the John Wick series really disappoint? So far, no.
The story is tight, the pacing brisk, and each supporting performance, especially the cameos from familiar faces, adds weight and continuity to the narrative. Ballerina proves that this universe is more than just one man’s war; it’s a whole underworld waiting to be explored.
With compelling characters, rich mythology, and jaw-dropping action, Ballerina is a strong 9/10—one of the best spin-offs in recent memory.
Movie
The Top 5 Movies of James Gunn — A Symphony of Heart, Humor, and Heroism

Few directors in the modern cinematic landscape have reshaped genre filmmaking quite like James Gunn. Known for blending irreverent humor with profound emotional depth, Gunn has left an indelible mark on both indie horror and superhero franchises. As he transitions into leading DC Studios, it’s the perfect time to revisit his five finest works—each a statement of his unique voice in an often formulaic industry.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Rating: 9.5/10
A rare sequel that deepens its characters rather than merely expanding its universe, Vol. 2 is Gunn at his most personal. The film wrestles with the pain of abandonment, the search for belonging, and the complexity of father-son dynamics—cloaked in vibrant visuals and a killer soundtrack. Yondu’s “He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy” line alone secures its legacy.

2. The Suicide Squad (2021)
Rating: 9/10
Chaotic, gory, and gleefully anarchic, The Suicide Squad is a wild remix of the superhero genre. Gunn injects pathos into misfits like Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man, proving his unmatched talent for humanizing the bizarre. It’s a subversive spectacle that doubles as an anti-war allegory—with a giant alien starfish to boot.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Rating: 8.8/10
The film that redefined Marvel’s creative boundaries, Guardians took a gang of obscure comic-book characters and turned them into pop culture icons. With its perfect balance of humor, heart, and ‘70s mixtape vibes, it’s the origin story of Gunn’s mainstream rise and one of the MCU’s most beloved entries.

4. Slither (2006)
Rating: 8/10
Before superheroes and intergalactic misfits, Gunn gave us Slither—a grotesque and hilarious horror-comedy with serious B-movie charm. This film showcases his roots: practical effects, quotable dialogue, and an affection for the genre’s oddballs. It’s disgusting, delightful, and distinctly Gunn.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
Rating: 8/10
An emotionally charged finale to the Guardians trilogy, *Vol