HAL 9000 Replica by Artifactory

When it comes to murderous A.I. villains, you have to love 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000. Sure, Apeture Science's GLaDOS from the Portal games may be more witty and evil-to-the-core than this post's red camera light friend, but you can't tell me that you didn't think at some point how she shared some resemblence to HAL. And if you didn't then you must be the only sci-fi lover who has never seen the movie, read Arthur C. Clarke's books or seen an AFI Movie Best countdown on television O_O (by the way, HAL was number 13 on the 100 greatest villains list). Plus, while I admit it took me into my adult years to finally appreciate and understand what exactly was going on in Stanley Kubrick's artsy film adaptation (and the added help of the movie & novel's sequel "2010"), I liked Mr. 9000 from day one with his eerily calm voice and seemingly sinister ways, and even more that he was actually a "good" character gone bad thanks to receiving conflicting orders from his superiors.

If you would love to own Dr. Chandra's creation, Artifactory has created an 11 pound replica of the machine from the original 1967 studio blueprint to add to your collection. It has been stated that HAL 9000 will feature 15 lines of dialogue. Exactly what he'll say hasn't been released, but I would imagine it would feature such things as personal favorites "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." and "I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over." Maybe he'll even serenade us with his slow shutdown rendition of the tune Daisy.The cost to own your own HAL 9000? $499.99 over at Big Bad Toy Store! I'm sorry Artifactory, but I'm afraid I can't do that. Awesome as this sounds to a nerd like me, I would wish a demo and more details about the ""several user-selectable modes" before shelling out the astronomical funds to bring this into my domain. Maybe if HAL's replica was more interactive than just pushing a button to hear famous lines I could justify the price. Come on, give SIRI on my iPhone a reason to be jealous!

Asuka November 2012 Now On Sale

Luka... This is for you. I made a lucky charm. Will you take it? ... It's the only thing I can give. Although it's not half as much compared to what you're doing for me.   

Get your money over to CD Japan today as the November issue of Asuka is for sale. The magazine is home to "Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru" as die hard fans know, so who better to grace the cover than Luka Crosszeria himself!

Actually it can get even better when the bonus item inside is Luka's protection charm, given to him by Yuki in Act 36 of the manga. The black cross features the rose emblem of the series and comes with a mini-chain. And when I say mini, I mean it. It's a shame that it isn't a necklace like in the manga and it's way too small to wear as a bracelet unless you are a chibi, but nevertheless it is a nice freebie to add to any "Uragiri" collection, especially if you are a Luka fan (*points to self*). [Partial scanlation image credit to Stargazing Scanlations]