Sci-Fi Storm

Her Universe and founder Ashley Eckstein announced today that the Her Universe brand is being acquired by pop culture retailer Hot Topic. Hot Topic will take over operations of the e-commerce and wholesale operations. Eckstein will stay on and continue to develop the brand.

“We are very excited to partner with Ashley Eckstein and Her Universe,” said Steve Vranes, CEO of Hot Topic. “We have worked closely with Ashley, Araca, and Her Universe over the past six years, together bringing fangirl fashion to a growing community of passionate fans. Ashley and Araca have built an incredible brand with a loyal customer base, and we look forward to supporting Her Universe in this new capacity.”

“I am thrilled to be bringing Her Universe to the Hot Topic family of brands,” said Ashley Eckstein, Founder of Her Universe. “Six years ago I founded Her Universe with the mission to create an empowering community and t-shirt brand for fangirls. We’ve since grown into a fashion, entertainment, publishing and lifestyle brand. Operating as a division of Hot Topic, Her Universe will continue to be a stand-alone brand selling to various retailers but with the support needed to grow the company in ways I have always dreamed.”

Eckstein, in a separate letter, said, “I imagine your next question probably is, ‘Will Her Universe only be a brand at Hot Topic now?’ The answer is emphatically ‘no.’ Her Universe will continue to be a stand-alone brand that is available at multiple retailers and on HerUniverse.com just like we always have been. We will also be continuing with the Her Universe Fashion Show and Her Universe Press. Honestly, the Her Universe brand that we’ve all grown and built together will continue as you’ve known it, but exciting growth and amazing opportunities lie ahead.

“What can you expect? Here’s just a sampling:

* We’ll finally be able to offer more plus sizes
* We’re going to offer our designs in Europe
* We’ll be designing some fashion for men
* We’ll be re-launching a new and improved Her Universe Press
* We’re going to add more licenses, more active wear and more fashion categories

“I am personally going to focus on continuing to build our amazing community and offering more content and ways for fans to connect. Honestly, I cannot contain my excitement over what’s ahead! Hot Topic has been such an important partner of ours and now that we are joining forces, we are listening and we are excited to bring you more!”

I met Ashley just over six years ago, and I’ve been asking for men’s items since then, so yes, we’re happy about this announcement! Good luck to Ashley and Her Universe!

Fashion Week may belong in New York City, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have our own version of it, and have it at the center of geekdom – San Diego Comic-Con!

Our dear friends at Her Universe, in conjunction with Hot Topic and Nerdist Industries, will bring the first-ever full-scale “Geek Couture” fashion show and design competition to SDCC this year, which runs July 24-27, 2014.

As part of the fashion show, Her Universe is offering a fashion design competition – amateur designers 18 years old and older can submit designs to HerUniverse.com inspired by anything that is celebrated at Comic-Con. 30 contestants will be chosen to participate at the show, modeling the fashions themselves or with their own model. Two winners will be chosen – one by a panel of judges (including fashion experts), and the other by the audience. The prize? An opportunity to co-design, with Ashley Eckstein, an exclusive Her Universe fashion collection for Hot Topic.

Check out the official release for more info! And my daughter is trying to figure out how to age five years in the next couple weeks 🙂

I know it is late in the shopping season – I’ve been uber-busy this year, but you might still have time…here are a few of the things we like out there…most of which we’ve purchased!

With three science-fiction-loving girls in my house, there was never much in the way of appropriate clothing you could get for them for gifts…until about four years ago. Today, their wardrobes and my wallet seem to be aimed at Her Universe, founded by an actual Jedi – the voice of Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein. Covering not just Star Wars, but Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Star Trek, and Syfy programs, clothing and other merchandise specially made for women with awesome designs abound. And you can also get items at ThinkGeek and Hot Topic (in the stores as well!) Still no merchandise for men…yet.

For the men at least, if you are a fan of Warehouse 13, did you know that star Eddie McClintock, who plays Agent Pete Lattimer, is an artist? For the last few seasons he’s designed and sold T-shirts for the show, and the final season T-shirt is not only available for sale, but you can GET IT SIGNED BY HIM for free! It may be too late for Christmas, but who doesn’t like an extra gift after the holidays? And while you are at it, check out his original artwork for sale.

Speaking of ThinkGeek – I’m not a coffee drinker, but I do like a hot cup of tea, and I can be a bit of a tea snob. More recently I’ve delved into the realm of loose leaf teas, but they can be difficult to use – I’ve got two of those round mesh tea infusers (including a Mickey head one I picked up at WDW), but if you’re dealing with fine cut tea, they never really seem to close properly and you get pieces of tea in your drink. But then I found this TARDIS tea infuser, which looks perfect. I haven’t tried it yet because it’s a Christmas gift to myself, but the design looks to be just what I want – fill from the top, fine holes on the bottom…problem solved.
(continue reading…)

Here are some of the big and our favorite stories we covered in 2012…

In January, rapidly rising British actor Benedict Cumberbatch joined Star Trek: Into Darkness, while CW’s Arrow dropped “Green” from the name and named Stephen Amell the lead actor.

We lost actor Ian Abercrombie and the voice of the Robot from Lost In Space Dick Tufeld.
(continue reading…)

I haven’t done one of these in a few years, but I thought I’d put together a small holiday buying guide for SF lovers – at least some of the items I think readers of this site would like…

To start, I cannot say enough about Ashley Eckstein’s Her Universe – except that I am jealous as the merchandise is for females of the species. My loss appears to be my wife and daughters gain – they love their shirts, and they might just be finding a few more delivered by Santa this year…just this week there are two new Doctor Who shirts – “Whovian” and “The Girl Who Waited”, while on the Star Wars side there are new “Cute Vader” pajamas and a Japanese-style V-neck. And the Ahsoka Tano hoodie, representing Ashley’s alter ego, is now available in adult sizes due to demand.
(continue reading…)

Our friend and favorite fangirl Ashley Eckstein and her Her Universe brand has added two new properties to her apparel line – Doctor Who and Star Trek! (Apparently these were announced while I was on vacation, but they went on sale this week!)

In her Star Trek shop, there are Enterprise-D and Uhura uniform T-shirts, an “I’ve got a crush on Crusher” T (I wonder if she wears that around Comic-Con and happens upon Wil Wheaton what would happen…), an “I Grok Spock” T, and a “LLAP” (Live Long and Prosper) purple women’s polo.

Out of the Whoniverse comes three T-shirt styles: A “Hell in High Heels” V-neck featuring some high heels, referring to what the Doctor called River Song; a “Something Blue” V-neck with a drawing of the TARDIS and the “Something borrowed…” saying; and a scoop-neck T featuring the Van Gogh painting of the exploding TARDIS!

So jealous…heck, I’d wear a Princess Leia hoodie if I could go to Comic-Con this year…

Ashley Eckstein, who voices the character of Jedi padawan Ashoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is not your typical SF actor…she’s a fan as well. And as a female fan, she’s trying to change the SF merchandise landscape: one that has been marketed primarily to males, even though females account for half of science fiction fans. That’s why she’s founded Her Universe, which produces products focused on female fans.

Her Universe just launched some of their Star Wars shirts online with retailer Hot Topic, and Ashley begins her job as co-host for Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World this Friday, and taking place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through June 10th.

I spoke with the always friendly Ashley about Her Universe, Star Wars, and Disney.
(continue reading…)

Star Wars Weekends starts a week from tomorrow at Walt Disney World, but some of the stars and characters are around a bit early…actress Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano, founder of Her Universe (awesome Star Wars and Syfy apparel and items for the female fans) and co-host of Star Wars Weekends, was around this past weekend signing pictures and selling merchandise. And it seems she found a rather persistent admirer…
(continue reading…)

Our friend Ashley Eckstein and her HerUniverse brand has added some new merchandise for the holiday season, including some Cyber Monday deals…including this cute Eureka holiday-themed tote bag, featuring the characters in one of the many animated forms they take in the upcoming holiday episode, airing next Tuesday, December 6th.

Other new items include other Syfy products, such as a Battlestar Galactica pajama set, a Viper wings necklace, a Warehouse 13 burnout T-shirt, and a Sharktopus T-shirt (including a first-ever Mens version). On the Star Wars side, there is a “Daddy Issues” thermal hoodie and a Jedi charm. Plus, there are a limited number of Cylon “Toaster” necklaces (previously a convention exclusive), and also right now with any purchase you can get a free holiday Yoda pin!

My wife is participating in a “virtual fair” fundraiser for Give Kids the World Village in Florida. This organization brings terminally ill children and their families to the Disney area! We are trying to raise a million dollars for this wonderful organization.

If you need any books for your children or friends, please consider checking out her website. She will be donating up to 45% of her profit to this amazing charity! There are 12 other vendors that are also donating proceeds to this charity. Feel free to order from any of the charities!

http://powerof10fair.blogspot.com/
(continue reading…)