Swords and Spaceships

Finally, Stinkor makes his appearance in the modern MOTU form, but not as you'd hope. Here he is beside his vintage counterpart. The first thing you'll notice is that this new figure doesn't have the smell of patchouli oil, that hippie stuff that made the original figure have its smell that still hasn't worn off after 22 years. Instead, this new figure smells heavily of the resin and plastic used to make him. The paint apps are beautiful, and just about the only redeeming quality to this 'staction' idea. There's shading in all the appropriate places, and a dull finish all around except for his eyes, which has a glistening wet look to them. It looks great. This new Four Horsemen (the great guys repsonsible for most of the updated MOTU looks) design incorporates an oxygen tank, since apparently even Stinkor can't stand his own smell. His only detachable accessory is the blue shield, which plugs into a hole on his left arm. It stays in there pretty well, an...

He's big, he's expensive, and he's purple. If his name wasn't Galvatron and if he wasn't a Transformer, no one would care. This is the newest reissue from Takara, the Japanese makers of Transformers. I acquired this sample from Big Bad Toy Store, the best source for Transformers and the best prices I've seen, plus they're the best online store I've ever purchased from. (I wonder if I'll get a kickback for that plug. :) ) This particular reissue didn't come in one of those goofy white boxes with the Pat Lee art. This guy instead came in a long purple box nearly identical to his first issue in Japan, just this time with some art I've never seen before. I like this better than those white boxes, even if I can't read a word on the box besides Takara's logo. Galvatron is much, much bigger than his previous incarnation, Megatron. Galvatron does look better in robot mode than Megatron does, in my opinion. I think most of the movie-era Transf...

I think the Matrix included with Galvatron is just a tweaked version of the one that was included with the New Year Prime a few years ago. I fit the Matrix into my Hasbro reissue Prime, and it's quite snug: Galvatron's alt mode is that of a futuristic (futuristic to 1986, anyway) Unicron-designed cannon, since a handgun probably wasn't a good idea. (Though he turns in to a child-sized handheld laser gun too, but it doesn't look nearly as real as Megatron does.) I say it looks like a cannon, but I'm sure there's some out there that think he looks like a marital aid. To those people, I pity you. Galvatron also features battery-operated sounds. One is a laser blast. Five more are Japanese orders in an angry voice. And the last is that great transforming sound. It's fun to bug people with it and make them think you're immature. This is a pretty kick-ass toy, I must say. It was mightily expensive ($80), but if you want cool foreign toys and don't want to ...

Yeah, it was never as good as the Sunbow series, but it still has its place in Joe history. (Plus it's better than the Sigma 6 cartoon.) Email homeentertainment@dicentertainment.com with your kindly-worded desires to see this series on DVD. More info and banners for your website can be found here. C'mon, man, you know you want to. Ninja basketball! Neon-clad soldiers! Range Vipers! Serpentor turning into a lizard! You know you dig it.

I'm going to wait until I get a camera for an in-depth review, but I just had to blather on about this thing now that I finally have one. First off, he's huge. Almost as tall as Ultra Magnus, which is pretty damn big. About a foot, more or less. He towers over most of my Transformers, but I really don't care. Part of the thing of being a G1 fan is you learn to forgive height differences and the fact that Megatron, who stood taller than Starscream in robot form, could be held in Starscream's hand while in gun mode. Scale is the second thing to go out the window after your money. I figured out the transformation pretty easily, even though the instructions are in Japanese. G1 transformations are easy. You just have to do it once, and you'll know it for the rest of your life. I could be 80 years old and forgotten how to control my bladder and bowels, but you can bet your ass I'd remember how to transform Optimus Prime and Soundwave. I love the battery-powered sounds...

I have never spent more money on shittier figures in my life. We'll start with Jayne, since I wanted this figure the most and was really let down by it. Mercenary Jayne's arms are completely immobile. Not just at the shoulders, but also at both elbows, upper arms, and wrists. His knees are pretty much fused as well. The only articulation points that work are the feet and the neck. He holds his myriad of weapons well, if you can get them in his hands. The head sculpt looks OK, better than Mal, anyway. All in all, I can't believe I spent $20 on this figure. Mal fares a little better, but not much. Both his shoulders don't move, but at least his elbows bend and his wrists twist. The legs and head move properly as well. His hands aren't sculpted well, at all. Only by the will of God is he holding his revolver as he stands here on my desk. The face sculpt doesn't even resemble Mal or Nathan Fillion at all. The paint on both of them looks OK (though it needs a little ...