Toronto Thumbs

Winning!
Batman: Year One – Limerick Contest

Batman really needs a hug. He’s practically leaping out of the screen to give you one.

Our friends at the WB were kind enough to send us a copy of Batman: Year One (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digi) to give away on our site (so big hugs go out to them and their peeps). Of course, it is always a challenge trying to come up with a giveaway idea; our friend Alex Bethke -via Twitter- suggested that “#ThunderdomeSolvesAllProblems”.

So with that in mind, we are inviting you to write a limerick that somehow involves Thunderdome. Just leave it in our comments field, and after the deadline our team will judge which one is the best one and that person will win the prize (which I will deliver relatively soon thereafter). Contest is now closed..

Give ‘er!

Posted in Blu-ray, Contests, DVD | 2 Comments »

At a Glance
Get Into the Zone (with Freebies!)

Never be the first or the last guy. Middle is always the way to go.

Newly-registered (officially) Xitol Softworks used to be a mod team for Halo: CE and and Halo 2 PC; later, they were a community for Halo 3. But now they have evolved ton an indie game dev team, and are working on some pretty neat stuff.

Their current endeavour, Zone: The Battleground, is an Unreal-powered multi-player FPS built off of the Zone universe (created by Xitol) that is rumoured to be intense and vastly customizable! It will be released next year, but Xitol wants you to start getting excited about it now; and they have given us the nod to Tweet some codes for a free copy of the remix of the original “Future” track created by Kenny Clemson (here).

You’ll have to follow us on Twitter to be able to get the codes. Once you have a code, click here and go bananas. These codes are one-use; please be kind and don’t hog them all.

Posted in Contests, News Bytes | No Comments »

Contest
We Have a Winnah!

Remember the contest for Bumblebee? Well the winner is Daniel Spiler!

Daniel wins the Kre-O Transformers Bumblebee kit, all due to his hard work on creating this image of Poppa Thumbs:

So…many…thumbs…

Congrats, Daniel!

Posted in Contests | 2 Comments »

Toys
Kre-O Transformers: Bumblebee (and a Contest)

This is another post for those of you that like to get your holiday shopping done early; or maybe you just like buying cool toys (we don’t judge*). In any case, this is a pretty neat set that I had a lot of fun putting together, taking apart, and putting together again!

I haven’t played with LEGO in a long time; not the LEGO that I grew up with, anyway. Recently, I have been using Duplo more than anything else, trying to teach my kiddo that it is okay to build things that aren’t shown on the box – not that there is anything wrong with sticking to the plan, of course. Modern building sets are much different than they used to be. On one hand, they have such highly specialized pieces**; going free-form is challenging in a good way – working around the super-specialized pieces can really help to stretch your noodle. On the other hand, there are a lot of tie-ins to movies and such with recognizable vehicles – it is just a different level of fun! Since the big dog’s patent ran out, other folks have moved in to fill in the gaps – and that’s where Hasbro’s Kre-O comes in.

Read the rest »

Posted in Awesome, Contests, Gadgets, Holiday Hints, News Bytes, Toys | 2 Comments »

Contest
Forza 4 Demo Codes!

In keeping with the theme: if you screw up I will drive my backfist into your skull. Get it?

Ricky suggested that we should run contests more often; far be it from me to disappoint our craziest writer*. A little birdie flew into my window and dropped a piece of paper with five (count ‘em: five!) codes for XBL to allow you access to the Forza Motorsports 4 Demo. The game will not be out for another week and a half, so you will be the envy of all of your car-gazing friends. All you have to do is write an entertaining work of fiction using the following elements**:

• Driving.
• Groceries.
• Hit men.
• An exotic plant.

Your story should be brief, but not miniscule (you don’t have to write a novel). Just be creative; write well and you will have a great chance of taking home a code. Winners will be decided by internal votes among the Toronto Thumbs staff***. Contest deadline is October 2nd (23:00), so burn some rubber!

UPDATE (Oct 02, 2011 – 23:00): Contest is now closed. Winners have been notified.

Posted in Contests, LIVE, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Contest
Game Codes!

If you can’t figure out how to enter, it’s the back of my hand for you!

Our friends at Konami have given us some extra codes for some cool games. Several codes for Redbull X Fighters are up for grabs (XBL); one code is available for Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (PSN). All you have to do is click the appropriate link and write a work of fiction using the following elements:

• The game in question.
• An animal of your choice.
• Some form of odd weather.
• A man with a very enviable moustache.

Your story should be brief, but not miniscule (you don’t have to write a novel). Just be creative and write well and you will have a great chance. Winners will be decided by internal votes among the Toronto Thumbs staff. Contest deadline is October 5th (23:00), so get a move on!

UPDATE (Oct 05, 2011 – 23:00): Contest is now closed. Winners have been notified.

Posted in Contests | 5 Comments »

Heads Up!
Konami Ultimate Fan Challenge

Want to go to E3? Konami wants to help you! From now until June 5, head over to Konami’s Facebook Page and “Like” it! Then, open up the “Ultimate Konami Fan Challenge” tab and click away! Prizes include iPad 2 Tablets (bundled with Konami games), consoles (bundled with Konami Games), and the sweetest prize: a grand prize VIP trip to E3 (L.A. – June 7-9 of this year) as Konami’s guest!

Additionally, you can click the “E3 Insider” application for a chance to help shape Konami’s coverage of E3! Now, they will be looking for a little bit of information as well as some words from you; make sure you’re nice and limber before you enter the contest! What are you waiting for! Go check it out!

Posted in Contests, E3, Events | No Comments »

Mad With Power Ring Power
Jim Squires

Not long ago we held a Blackest Night contest with Sidekick Comics providing the goods: A set of Lantern power rings, one for each colour of the rainbow. Jim Squires won them, and upon receiving them, snapped a photo of himself and did some great work superimposing himself onto the cover of this Green Lantern comic book. Bonus points for the Green Lantern shirt!

Jim, I’m glad you’re enjoying the rings. In other DC Universe news, their next ring promotion will be for the Brightest Day event, and they’ll be giving away Flash and Green Lantern rings. I wrote a bit about it for 4 Color Rebellion yesterday, so check it out. Given the rather close relationship between Toronto Thumbs and Sidekick Comics, I’d say there’s a good chance we might have a giveaway for those rings, too.

Posted in Awesome, Comics, Contests | No Comments »

CONTEST WINNER
Lantern Power Ring Giveaway

All right! All right! I’m awake. Jeez. Who knew that 54-40 could rock so hard till the wee hours of the morning despite it being well below zero degrees Celsius? I did, of course; as a huge fan of the band (they are, in fact, my fave band ever) it was a real treat to see them usher in 2010 on the 29th anniversary of their first-ever show, even though I might have ended up with some form of frostbite. But enough about that!

We just drew a winner for our Lantern Power Ring Giveaway. Mr. Jim Squires was the lucky random winner. We asked all entrants to state their comic heroes, be they fictional characters or the people behind them, and Jim’s response was quite heartfelt:

In my heart of hearts, my #1 comic book hero right now has to be Toronto’s own Bryan Lee O’Malley. I’m a late-comer to the Scott Pilgrim party, but as a writer he’s an inspiration. A shining example that comics don’t all have to be about men in tights. A close runner up for the same reason would be Gene Luen Yang.

Jim’s also let us know that this win will be the kick in the pants he needs to get back into the DC Universe. We recommend checking in with our sponsors, Sidekick Comics, for any comic book needs you may have (including back issues!). Jim also mentioned he’s going to be wearing these rings in place of his real wedding ring, which is currently inside of a turtle (though not really). Although this is really geeky and cool I hope he finds his real ring soon. Congrats to Jim, thanks to all the entrants for sharing their fond comic love, and Happy New Year to all!

Posted in Awesome, Comics, Contests | No Comments »

CONTEST
Lantern Power Ring Giveaway

Over a month ago, we teased about an upcoming contest. It took a while to get to, but now it’s finally here. If you’re a fan of comics, then you might be familiar with DC’s Blackest Night event. As part of the promotion for it, the comics giant offered retailers the opportunity to give away different-coloured lantern power rings with select comics throughout the month of November.

Our friends at Sidekick Comics have given us a full set of these awesome rings to give away to one lucky winner of this contest. The rings are solidly constructed and are sized for adult fingers, unlike previous promotional Green Lantern rings. These rings all feature great metallic finishes and, since they come in every colour of the rainbow, are great for accessorizing.

All you need to do if you want to enter this contest is: A) have a Canadian (UPDATE: Or US) mailing address and B) leave a comment on this post with the name of your favourite comic book hero in it. “Hero” in this context can be a fictional character, an artist, writer, or even creator.

The contest closes January 1, 2010. We’ll draw a winner at random* when we wake up that day. Keep in mind due to festivities, this might not be until rather late in the day. We’ll contact the winner at the email address used to leave the comment for some follow-up information, so be sure to use a real one.

UPDATE: Check out the WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT to see who won!

Posted in Awesome, Comics, Contests | 10 Comments »