This sneaker is Singaporean artist and illustrator tobyato‘s first collaboration with ASICS through the ‘Art in Motion’ collection. The design draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese philosophy of yin and yang. tobyato x ASICS NOVABLAST™ features an asymmetrical black and white design with a pop of pink and interchangeable velcro patches on the sneaker tongue.
The design also explores the delicate balance between black and white and the co-dependency between opposite elements, which discovers a synergy that is nothing short of exceptional.
The bold flowing tiger stripe motif on the shoe’s upper mimics traditional Chinese ink painting and pays homage to the Chinese belief that a tiger’s breath creates the winds around the world, mirroring the flow of creativity throughout the world.
Who is tobyato? tobyato is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and illustrator who has worked across multiple mediums ranging from sprawling murals in Singapore, to brand collaborations across South-East Asia. His aesthetic is often bold, striking, and inspired by traditional Chinese motifs, and modern, playful influences that reflect both his heritage, as well as his personality.
As an enthusiast of street culture, he has collaborated with CASIO G-SHOCK, Levi’s, Shake Shack, JD Sports and ASICS amongst others, steadily building a body of work that exemplifies artist brand collaborations.
About the ASICS Art in Motion Collection ASICS Sportstyle presents the ‘Art in Motion’ collection, a limited edition release designed by three local Southeast Asian artists. Ann Irin (Thailand), Kenji Chai (Malaysia) and tobyato (Singapore), put their creative spin on our most iconic shoes, the Japan S™, GEL-1130™, NOVABLAST™, bringing you an exclusive collection!
The collaboration marks ASICS Sportstyle’s commitment to uplifting the creative community and culture across the Southeast Asia region by providing local creatives with a platform to showcase their craft.
Marvel Studios surprised fans today with the reveal of the first full trailer from the upcoming series along with the release date. She-Hulk stars Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters, a New York City lawyer whose ife is changed after she gets into an accident, leading to her receiving a blood transfusion from her cousin, Bruce Banner. As a result, Jennifer develops her own iteration of Hulk powers, which affect both her life as a lawyer and her newfound life as a superhero. The cast will also include Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk, Jameela Jamil as Titania, Tim Roth as The Abomination, and Ginger Gonzaga, Josh Segura, and Renee Elise Goldsberry.
The series will be showrun by Jessica Gao, whose filmography includes Silicon Valley and Rick and Morty. Directors on the series will include Kat Coiro (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Anu Valia (Never Have I Ever, A.P. Bio).
She-Hulk is set to start streaming on Disney+ from August 17th, 2022
Are you excited for this one Marvel fans? Let us know what you think
After a long 13 year wait, we finally have a trailer for the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster. While we were teased with some concept art back in January, we finally have some footage to the James Cameron blockbuster
For those who have had the privilege of seeing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at the cinema over the past couple of weeks, would have seen this trailer before the movie as they did it as an exclusive with the movie. And now, its is available for everyone to view online.
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure. Directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, the film stars Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet.
Avatar was one of those movies that was ahead of its time when it came to special effects. This was James Cameron’s masterpiece that went on to become the highest grossing movie of all-time. Although, Avatar was briefly topped by Avengers: Endgame, which then took the number 1 spot back in late 2020 when Disney did a re-release of Avatar in cinemas. It should hold onto the number 1 spot for sometime as we are expecting another cinema release of the 2009 movie in September 2022 before The Way of Water release later this year.
Let us know what you think fans. Are you excited to see this one? Or has it been too long between movies to live up to the hype?
Avatar: The Way Of Water is set for release on December 15th 2022 in Australia with December 16th for international.
Give me a hell yeah! – The WWE 2K series is back after taking a 1-year hiatus in the series. Last time round the 2K series drew quite a bit of buzz online but maybe not for the right reasons with a what seemed to be rushed and unfinished release. However, the team at 2K have seemingly been hard artwork in this time refining and solidifying the game engine, designing new story modes, and jampacking a vibrant roster of playable characters, to produce honestly one of my favourite wrestling titles to date (WWE No Mercy will always be hard to beat!).
Standard Edition
Deluxe Edition
NWO 4-Life Edition
The 2K series has been known to put the realism back into the game, placing the player right into the action and WWE 2K22 does not shy away from this with are designed gameplay engine to new controls and upgraded visuals, WWE 2K22 does live up to “It Hits Different.” slogan.
WWE 2K22 offers a plethora of game modes including:
2K Showcase Mode – We see the return of this series featuring the cover star himself – Rey Mysterio where you can relive his amazing career featuring matches with legends such as Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. This mode stitches gameplay with video footage, seamlessly transitioning within the match and offering a truly immersive experience.
MyGM Mode – The beloved MyGM mode makes a return, placing you in all so coveted ‘authority figure’ seat to live out your fantasy booking dreams.
MyRise Mode – If you wanted to live out your own speculative Indie Wrestling rise from the performance centre all the way to the main roster of the largest wrestling promotion in the world, then look no further than the MyRise game mode within 2K22.
MyFaction Mode – This one is for the fans of FIFA Ultimate Team, featuring a mode to collect, upgrade and battle using Superstar Cards.
Universe Mode – Whether you just want to control the destiny of one superstar or control the whole roster, this mode has you covered. A staple of the WWE2K series returns and offers a nice balance of the MyGM and MyRise game modes.
My thoughts so far:
The Positive: Honestly, WWE 2K22 has surprised me in how much fun I had when I first picked up the game. For me wrestling games should have a ‘pick up and play’ feel – being able to immediately jump into the action, beat your opponent to a pulp, placing them onto a table, climbing a 20-foot ladder to then come crashing down through them – and WWE 2K22 delivers on this!
For returning players you will feel comfortable in gameplay, and for new ones 2K have included a very fun, quick and informative tutorial by none other than ‘Coach Gulak’ himself in the performance centre which does a great job in familiarising players with the controls.
One of the more noticeable changes I’ve felt is in the past there were A LOT of little mini-games when performing submissions, breaking pins and other little extras which for me felt jarring and slowed down the overall feel of the game. In WWE 2K22 they seem to have stripped back on these and the game feels more streamlined and balanced with an arcade feel.
I think so far for me, the highlight has been the Showcase Mode featuring Rey Mysterio. Reliving and getting to play out highlights of the future hall of famer’s career with seamless transitions to live footage of the historic match was a truly immersive experience. If you haven’t played one of these modes before – you play through key matches in the career of the superstar and during the match you complete challenges, transitioning from gameplay to cutscenes of live footage and was very nostalgic for a fan who grew up watching Rey’s early matches.
The Negative: As the game tries to incorporate more advanced move sets such as diving tope suicida’s, to springboard rope attacks, to even just your regular running grapples, the input for these can feel clunky and many times your character will straight up just miss the opponent, and you will spend the next 10 seconds rolling on the floor waiting to get back up.
The character creation is good, and there are still plenty of fantastic Community Created characters to be downloaded to create the ultimate fantasy matches, but not much has changed and some things are even reduced for example certain sliders for body shape are now replaced by pre-sets. Adding to this, the creator is quite slow – e.g. loading new gear on the character even though it’s only a few seconds is enough to make me stop and just go with a pre-set configuration.
The MyFaction mode promises a lot and has that FIFA Ultimate Team or NBA 2K MyTEAM mode of playing card, team building gameplay, however does not have any sort of online capability. There are certain mode exclusive characters which can only be unlocked and played within the MyFaction mode and players are incentivised to purchase virtual currency to speed up the progression in this mode, but without the online piece I feel the incentive to unlock these is limited.
Final thoughts: WWE 2K22 has impressed me so far. The team at 2K and Visual Concepts have obviously been hard at work in their year off to help refine and polish up the WWE 2K franchise. This game is not a complete ground-up rebuild, but it definitely feels more than just another yearly release. I enjoy the faster, more arcade like gameplay, making it more new-comer friendly (great for when the friends come round), yet peppered with combo systems for the more experienced to master. With its largest (over 160+ superstars) and already expanding roster, DLC already being released, consistent gameplay updates which have introduced new commentary, arenas, visual updates and more. Its great to see that this instalment lives up to its slogan in that it “hits different” and will keep on “hitting different” as the year progresses. – “And that’s the bottom line cause Stone Cold said so”
WWE 2K22 is now available online at wwe.2k.com or at your local retailers – JB HiFi, EB Games or Gamesmen. Make sure you subscribe to our website for the latest features. For other 2K features, click HERE.
Another JD Sports to open here in the Gold Coast boasting hot releases, 100’s of exclusives and stunning range of apparel.
A location that won’t disappoint located in Robina Town Centre. A line of customers already formed outside the store ready for the store opening at 8am. DJ kicking off the grand opening on the right note.
Seeing the customers who were ready to grab their most desired pairs. Available in plenty of styles in Dunks, Jordan’s and highly sought after releases that they may have missed.
Bonus for the first 50 customers to CREP Protect giving away a gift pack. Including a Sneaker crates and a limited edition JD Tote Bag valued over $250.
Really friendly team assisting customers with their purchases. A non-stop morning for the crew churning through the masses of customers. Range of styles and getting their sizes before it was snapped up by the next one.
A extensive range of apparel ranging from Men’s, Women’s and Kids. Major brands such as Nike, Adidas, Jordan Brand, North Face, NBA Retro tees and much much more.
After going through the store with a very keen eye for myself. Noticed the 100’s of exclusives that JD Sports are known for. The massive range of Kids trainers coming in all styles, shapes and sizes.
A very strong first day and grand opening for JD Sports here in QLD. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for stores to open near you. The Kickz Stand will be there to cover the opening and support the brand. Wishing the JD Sports team at Robina Town Centre all the success and all the hard work has paid off.
I’ve always had a particular fondness of Nike and the Air Max one being my favourite silhouette but I’ve been looking further into New Balance recently. The quality of materials on even the GR Made in US is amazing!
I came about this shot when I was playing around with Photoshop and I was looking for create the “floating” sneaker effect. I was scrolling through YouTube and found a tutorial on adding lightning to a photo and thought it might cool to add a different element to the photo.
HBO has released the teaser trailer for Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, the upcoming prequel series set in the world of the massive fantasy hit created by George R. R. Martin. Starring Doctor Who star Matt Smith, the series occurs 200 years before Game of Thrones. It focuses on House Targaryen, the royal family, in the days leading up to the civil war called “The Dance of Dragons.”
The cast lineup for this series is insane. Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans star in House of the Dragon. The cast also includes Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, and Savannah Steyn.
According to HBO’s official House of the Dragon synopsis, “The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires-real and imagined-crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins almost 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.”
So Game of Thrones fans, are we excited for this one? I know alot of fans were let down by the series finale a couple of years ago, will this be a redemption? Let us know what you think
Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon releases on HBO in the US on August 21st. We should have a similar release date here in Australia on Binge & Foxtel
Yes “Star Wars Day” (May the 4th) was a couple of days ago. We kinda knew a new trailer would drop for something, and we got another look at the upcoming Obi-Wan series heading to Disney+ later this month. It was only 2 months ago, we got the first look at the series. So here comes the marketing thick and fast for the next few weeks.
At long last, Obi-Wan Kenobi has returned to the Star Wars universe. After Alec Guiness originated the role of the beloved Jedi in Star Wars: A New Hope, Ewan McGregor stole the hearts of fans as a younger version of the character throughout the prequel trilogy. Now, more than 16 years after last appearing as Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, McGregor is reprising the role in a brand new TV series for Disney+.
Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place in the years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. After the rise of the Empire, Obi-Wan went into hiding on Tatooine, keeping watch over Anakin’s son, Luke Skywalker, from afar. After the death of Padme, and Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side, newborn twins Luke and Leia were split up. Luke was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, under the watchful eye of Obi-Wan, while Leia was adopted by Senator Bail Organa. With Hayden Christensen also returning as Anakin/Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi has become perhaps the most anticipated Star Wars project in the pipeline. This week, Lucasfilm releases a brand new trailer for the series. Take a look!
Are we excited for this one Star Wars fans? Obi-Wan Kenobi hits Disney+ on May 27th and will consist of 6 episodes
After a decade-long partnership, Australian retailer Up There takes another step with ASICS to strengthen their relationship with their first sneaker collaboration. This transpacific partnership is expressed through floral emblems, inspiring a unique version of the ASICS GT-II™ sneaker.
As the official flower of Hyogo Prefecture (where ASICS HQ is based), the Japanese Chrysanthemum represents ASICS. The Pink Heath is emblematic of Up There’s home in Victoria, Australia. This botanical union is symbolic of a partnership bridging oceans and language barriers, galvanized through a decade of working together.
As representations of home and environment, both flowers are expressed pictorially and through a distinct colourway. A crochet mesh is stained with the tones of the Pink Heath, colours bleeding and blending into one another. Each tongue depicts both the Japanese Chrysanthemum and the Pink Heath with intricate embroidery on alternate shoes.
Panels feature a mix of suede in dusty greys melding with sage tones that echo silvery Chrysanthemum leaves. A zigzag stitch secures the iconic ASICS Stripes, a stylistic flair unique to the shoe.
The Up There x ASICS GT-II™ collaboration will come with multiple lace options and beautifully packaged in a custom ASICS box.
CASIO announced the latest addition to the G-SHOCK brand of shock-resistant watches. The five new GA-B2100 watches are the first in the iconic octagonal 2100 line to be equipped with Smartphone Link connectivity via Bluetooth® and solar charging capabilities.
Released in 2019, the base-model GA-2100 was a contemporary interpretation of the very first G-SHOCK, the DW-5000C. Its simple, stylish design proved popular around the world, especially among younger consumers.
With Bluetooth® connectivity and a solar charging system, the new GA-B2100 shock-resistant watches add a whole new level of convenience. Smartphone pairing* via Bluetooth® delivers accurate timekeeping. The Tough Solar charging system effectively converts light from fluorescent lamps and other sources to power the watch, eliminating the need to regularly replace the battery.
In addition, these watches feature a slim module with optimized component layout to retain the compact watch face for which the 2100 line is known, yet still deliver enhanced functionality. Combining this with the Carbon Core Guard structure, which protects the module with a carbon fibre-reinforced resin case, provides both shock resistance and a compact case that is still the same length and width as the GA-2100.
In terms of design, the dual-layer dial construction highlights the dimensionality of the LCD and inset dial. Meticulous attention to detail is evident in the metallic finish on the inset dial ring, which gives the dial a look of enhanced texture.
For these additions, CASIO returns to the classic colours first used in the G-SHOCK 5600 line with reproductions of the yellow, green and blue of the DW-5600C-9BV (released in 1987, EOL), DW-5600B-3V (released in 1987, EOL), and DW-5600B-2V (released in 1987, EOL). There are also two black options — a black and grey model in the same colour scheme as the DW-5600C-1V (released in 1987, EOL) from the original 5600 series, as well as an all-black model.
Model
Colour
GA-B2100-1A
Black × Gray
GA-B2100-1A1
Black × Black
GA-B2100-2A
Blue
GA-B2100-3A
Green
GA-B2100C-9A
Yellow
The Australian release of the G-SHOCK GA-B2100 series will be on May 2022 and will retail for $319 AUD. Make sure you sign up to our newsletter for all the latest features. For more CASIO and G-SHOCK features, click HERE.
