Swords and Spaceships

Ahhh, Serpentor. If you're a fan of GI Joe, you either love him or hate him. I'm in the camp of the former, as I came into GI Joe in 1986 and this dude was awesome to my five-year-old eyes. I received Serpentor and his Air Chariot in 1986, which is quite some time ago. He ruled over my meager Cobra collection with an iron fist. Which, for a guy in a snake costume, was quite an accomplishment. But he didn't have many guys to boss around- just some Vipers of different flavors and Cobra Commander. I wrote about Serpy at length earlier, so if you poke around the archives for the last few months, it would be there. This is just another tribute to awesome stuff I got for Christmas back in the day.

There’s an annoying little thing that happens as you get older- Christmas loses its “oomph”, as it were. Sure, now I can drink heavily and not sit at the kid’s table, but there’s still something gone for me- not getting those great toys of yesteryear. Today, we’re going to take a look at something I got nineteen years ago this Christmas- the Masters of the Universe Snake Mountain. I got my NES that same year. I’m not going to lie and say I ignored it for my Snake Mountain. I got right into Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt, but I did tire of having my ass handed to me by Goombas and having that fucking dog laughing at me when I missed a duck. So I finally got around to Snake Mountain. The box was huge to my seven year old self. The painting gracing the front of the box was awesome. They don’t make packaging like this anymore, let me tell you. It was dark, and Skeletor clearly had the upper hand over He-Man and poor Man-At-Arms, who was chained up to the side of the mountain. The face on

Yeah, it's GI Joe related. What can you do? Anyway, here's some comic packs that may or may not make the shelves at your local big-boxer: GIJ COMIC 2 PK STORM SHADOW VS FIREFLY GIJ COMIC 2 PK SHIPWRECK VS COPPERHEAD GIJ COMIC 2 PK COBRA COMMANDO VS TRIPWIR GIJ COMIC 2 PK DESTRO VS GRENADIER GIJ COMIC 2 PK FALCON AND NEMESIS GIJ COMIC 2 PK DUKE AND RED STAR I'm liking the Copperhead, Falcon, and Nemesis (I suppose it's Nemesis Enforcer) ideas, but a pack with Storm Shadow and Firefly just has "skip" written all over it.

And for the absolute-most-awesome-i'm-gonna-shit-my-pants thing you're going to see all week: I could do without the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow pack, but if I need it to get another Doc, so be it. I love seeing all these great pictures of toys I can't buy because I simply can't find them. This situation SO reminds me of the early days of Hasbro/Kenner's modern Star Wars line in 1995. I suppose the Indiana Jones line is going to be the exact same situation, so, have courage, geeks.

and that's unlikely to change for a bit. Good news for us poor bastards unable to stand out front of Target and TRU every morning to buy all the GI Joe 25th Anniversary figures- starting January 24th 2008, Wal-Mart stores that aren't carrying the line currently will start doing so, making it quite a bit easier to get one's hands on these. Hell, I just found a Beach Head at retail this weekend, the only wave 2 figure I've seen at retail besides Buzzer. Anyway, finding it was like a transcendental experience, something only kids in the 1980s who grew up in the Midwest can feel. Here in the Midwest, you were practically issued GI Joe toys. By the way, rumor has it that waves 4 and 5 are getting out there already. Wave 5 is full of all sorts of awesome. It's going to suck not finding those.

So, dig it. New interweb thingy Joost has a few Transformers G1 episodes. It's a player that downloads onto your computer, and it's of much higher quality than YouTube. It sucks up about 500 MB, which is peanuts. Of course, watching all this stuff for free does have a cost- depending on your gender, you will see a commercial during the breaks. Whatever it is for the ladies, I don't know. But for the dudes, it's a Gillette commercial. But hey- you get to watch G1 TFs! For those of us who don't have the DVDs, it's quite a boon.

This is why I never got on Xbox Live.

It's out in the wild now. It will be no small feat for me to locate one of these, I'm sure. My track record with Wal-Mart Transformers exclusives is awful. I'm not ready to buy it anyway, so if it takes me a month or two to find one, that's OK with me.

OK, that's a Sgt. Slaughter quote. But we'll go with it since it relates to what this is all about. I received my wave 2 of GI Joe 25th Anniversary figures from smalljoes.com this week. I am now the proud owner of a set of diaper-crotched renditions of Lady Jaye, Buzzer, a Cobra, and two of my absolute favorite characters, Serpentor and Beach Head. I've only opened Beach Head and Serpentor so far, but i love this line more with each new acquistion. Maybe it's because I don't lose the weapons so easily these days, like I did back in the 80s. Maybe it's that these toys take the best parts of the old and mix them with the very latest in toymaking tech, creating something brand new yet recognizable as a classic. I only wish they'd fit in vehicles better and weren't so difficult to find. I do get tired of paying $42 after shipping for each wave of these. I suppose Hasbro just underestimated demand, so hopefully the first three waves will be easier to find som

Damage control. It really doesn't matter. In my opinion, the GI Joe of the 1980s was too colorful of a concept for a live-action movie made in the 21st century, so it's going to be reviled no matter what. I mean, Serpentor? Destro? The only villain even remotely believable was Baroness, and she spent all her time in neck-to-toe black leather. Transformers was a little better off as a movie made now, but I'm sure Hasbro learned a thing or two from that and they're going to take a bigger role in the movies from now on. Witness the linked press release.

Clicky Yes, I am impressed. It managed to work in a lot of things about MOTU that I hope make it into a movie. However, I do hope to see more of these from a few other creators, just to see what else is out there. It's going to be a very long time before we see the MOTU movie actually make it into the wild, so bide your time with this wonderful gallery of cardback art from the vintage MOTU toys. If only they all had the English text on the back since that was a huge part of the experience, but since this is from a French fan site, I'll just take what I can get.

Believe it or not, yes it is. I wandered there this morning, and found the pegs absolutely stuffed with Star Wars figures I hadn't seen yet, wave 5 in particular. The newest Legends figures were there too, so I got my hands on a Biker Scout and a Darktrooper in addition to Hermi Odle, Concept Vader, and Roron Corobb. So, get there now before the intergeeks at large figure it out. And if you can hook me up with a Starkiller Hero, drop me a line.

I'm not doing to well on keeping up on the Star Wars toys. I found the 30th Ann. wave 6 this weekend, but I passed on them since the McQuarrie Snowtrooper was gone. Not getting the Concept figures usually ends up being a deal-breaker for me buying these at retail. I can't wait till this subset is finally done. The toys are great, but the easiest ones to get were the fucking con exclusives. That's pathetic. So let's look at something else that's really great in Star Wars collecting. If there's one thing I usually loathe, it's Target exclusives. Especially since the local outlet very rarely stocks enough of ANYTHING to satisfy demand, and when they do, it does poorly and goes to clearance. Odds are, these two pieces won't: Battle of Hoth Battle Pack Battle of Endor Battle Pack I have yet to own a modern AT-ST, so these are a real treat. Plus, the Endor set has Ewoks and fucking logs, man. LOGS! It's better than bad, it's good. They should be out at

Yes, "Concept." If the next-gen Camaro was going to be available in the 2008 model year, people would be driving them around already. The real thing isn't even approved for production, so continue holding your breath. I finally got my hands on one of these last week. I might add I've been looking for it since July. I've never, NEVER had something take me so long to get my hands on. It reminded me of back in the G1 days when I was a wee lad, where my mom and I would scour stores looking for that damn minibot Bumblebee. Never did find him. So sad. Back to now- Hasbro finally caught up a bit with demand, allowing cases of Deluxe TFs to hit shelves nationwide last week. Bumblebee here was the only one I was seeking, since I'm quite unsure I want to own the non-movie figures in the line. I only bought toys of characters that were in the movie, and I'm not even done with those yet. (Just need the Best Buy versions of Ratchet and Megatron, and the Leader Class Br

Well, waves 2 and 3 of the GI Joe 25th Anniversary line are out in the wild now. While I had quite an ordeal getting the first wave of single packs and the 5-packs, this is even harder, because now, all the non-interwebbing nerds are getting in on this line, making it that much harder. I do have Serpentor from wave 2, which Matt kindly thought to pick me up. He's so far my favorite of the entire line, but bear in mind I don't have Beach Head, and if Hasbro updates Wet-Suit v1, well, you best stay out of my way then. I do enjoy this new Serpentor. He's based on the Devil's Due comic, which tones down the ridiculous snake motif a little bit. You can tell without a doubt it's Serpentor when you look at it, and we finally get that modern Serpentor we've been wating for since he showed up in the first DD run. The only thing I don't like is the face sculpt. He has a grin that makes him look like he just farted in public. I wish Hasbro had gone all out and made a n

I'm not a fan of Kubricks at all, but I'm just tickled by Phantom Menace merchandise. I know that if I bought these, it would be a slippery slope that could only lead to bankruptcy. So I cribbed this image from JediDefender and put it here just to gawk at occasionally. Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.

'Transformers' score by Steve Jablonsky It should have been out a long while ago. But as it is, it ties into the DVD release which is rumored to be October 16th. These things usually turn out to be true, so I'm going with that. Alas, no tracklisting yet. If it doesn't have the music accompanying the Autobot's arrival on Earth, there will be pandemonium in the streets. But that would be stupid. That would be like releasing the Grindhouse films WITHOUT the fake trailers. Aw, fuck. I can understand releasing them seperately, since Grindhouse effectively tanked at the BO and they need to recoup some benjamins, but keeping the fake trailers from folks? I think they're just asking for these DVDs to tank at retail.

clicky. This stinks of something I've seen before. Man, if only I could think of what it was... Now I remember!

clicky. Man. What an odd choice for a reissue. But hey, TFs that aren't from 1984-5 are always welcome. I like my pre-movie 'formers, but they've been done to death. The TFC was starting to get interesting with Broadcast, Kup, and Perceptor being reissued (granted, Broadcast and Perceptor are US '85, but whatever...) Plus, Lynx is a pretty big TF. I wonder if I'll be able to afford this one since I couldn't afford Predaking when Takara reissued him.

I'll bet you didn't know it, but Wal-Mart, bane of the American retail landscape, has an exclusive set of 12" Adventure Team GI Joes, reissues of the ones from the 1970s. A little background. I myself have an affinity for these big guys. I bought the Land Adventurer that was a Hot Topic exclusive last year, and I was looking forward to buying a couple more. But I come to find out that they're exclusive to Wal-Mart, and more importantly, my local branches aren't going to be getting these (or the 25th Anniversary small Joes either). I ask you, what's the point of conquering the competition and taking an exclusive if you're not going to sell it to everyone who wants it? This happens all the time. Some WMs that aren't in huge cities get nothing when it comes to Hasbro exclusives, and other stores just can't get rid of them, eventually being forced to clearance them. Wal-Mart has ruined GI Joe before, and it seems like they're looking to do it again

DC Universe series 2 I really can't afford superhero toys any more (since both Marvel and DC toys cost $10 a crack these days) but I am buying Aquaman, Red Tornado, and Harley Quinn from this line. I'd buy the monkey if it was available seperately, but I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to buy Supermen Red and Blue. To me, they represent the lowest point in comics in the 90s, aside from killing Superman. But, Mattel is still doing something great. I like their DC line since the toys aren't over-articulated like Marvel Legends tend to be. Hopefully, they avoid the pitfalls that have plagued their DC Superheroes, Batman comic, and MOTU lines this time. They're doing OK on DCSH, and if you're going to offer a BAF, you have to have sane distribution. Even Mattel knows that.

Thank your dear and fluffy lord for Target doing their fall reset in the toy aisle. I was finally able to get my sweaty hands on some 25th Anniversary GI Joe 5-packs. I only found the Joe set, and it was the last one there. I scooped it up, and made threatening gestures to anyone who looked at me funny as I walked to the checkout. And people will look at you funny, since the box is big, shiny, and noisy. When you see one of these on the shelf, you know beyond any doubt that Reagan's America is alive and well somewhere. Well, not so much that. If you were to take a look at the back of the box, it should fill you with pity, especially if you're standing in the aisles of a big-box retailer as I was. You get a twinge of sadness that this new generation is allowing the bar to be set so low for themselves when it comes time for recreation. Instead of Terror Dromes, space shuttles, boats, tanks, jeeps, 7-foot aircraft carriers that can house your entire Joe collection, or toys of bike

100 posts of madness! And what better way to ring it in than a couple pics of what may be a Masters of the Universe anniversary line? Mattel is holding a MOTU-related panel at SDCC this afternoon, so we're going to have to wait. Edit- 8-4-07. Well, it was a big nothing. Mattel didn't say anything about it or even acknowledge its existence, even though they had a couple display cases chock full of vintage MOTU toys. Apparently, it's a kitbash from DC Superheroes parts, and it was in my opinion someone's idea of a practical joke. It's a shitty joke, but hey, Mattel and shitty are like chocolate and peanut butter. All of this was to announce that the 2002-3 cartoon will be on DVD soon. Which, of course, means that they should display vintage toys because they have exactly nothing to do with that cartoon.

Color me excited. Between this and the new He-Man shown yesterday, I might end up having a nerd-related heart attack this weekend.

Finally got my hands on some 25th Anniversary GI Joes from smalljoes.com today. I've only opened Flint and Cobra Commander so far, but I'm digging them. Almost-orgasmic digging. I opened those two first since I had them as a kid, and these updated versions don't disappoint in the slightest. I have yet to open Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, and the Cobra Officer, but I'm patient. I still have yet to find the 5-packs. No rush, I guess. I'm at the mercy of online and brick-and-mortar retailers for those.

Clicky. Oh my dear and fluffy lord, I'm going to be so broke. Two of my favorites are in the next wave (Serpentor and Beach Head) plus there's Shipwreck, Stalker, and others. It's a pity about those custom jobbies Hasbro is showing off. I'd pay good, hard-earned money for all of them to be made. I'm sure it's inevitable. I just think they're showing them off to show us what they can do with this new body style, and when this line really takes off (which it looks like it already has) these will eventually be made. I don't think I could live without that Range Viper or Shockwave. I don't think I've been as excited about a new toy line since the modern Star Wars line debuted in 1995.

Soundwave Wins TF Movie Sequel Character Poll I swear to some deity, fans just have NO imagination whatsoever. Soundwave's function was pretty much used up by Frenzy in this year's movie. Instead of voting for some character that could give the Autobots the edge (like, I dunno, Jetfire?) they go redundant. Of course, the moviemakers aren't going to give this any real credence (and they shouldn't), so the point is moot.

Maybe a more apt name would be "Ape-Plane." I'll admit, this was an iffy purchase for me. Sure, I want action figures of all the TFs in the movie, but since Starscream was one of my two least-favorite designs in the movie (the other being Megatron), I was a little unsure. But seeing that F-22 toy in that neat box put me over the edge, and I picked up Screamer instead of Ironhide. Well, the toy is great until you get it out of the box. Then you notice all the robot guts hanging off the bottom. The problem with TFs that turn into jets is that they're never sleek. They're always going to have this problem. G1 had this problem, hell, even the Classics line had the same problem, to a lesser extent. But there's a lot of stuff hanging off this Starscream, and it's just going to happen since it's a mere physical toy and not a CGI illusion that costs millions of dollars to pull off. No, the jet mode isn't all that exciting. But, the robot mode is great, in

We here at S&S lurv our GI Joes. Specifically, those big-headed turd-sized ones made between 1982 and 1994. Since Matt hooked me up with a Cross Country recently, and with the 25th Anniversary line finally making its way to retailers (we don’t have ours yet), it’s time to take a gander at one of the crown jewels of the Real American Hero line, Cobra Commander version 2. Yes, you know this one. Cobra Commander in his casual Friday attire. (You can only handle a explosive-laced helmet a few days a week, after all.) Anyone who owned a few Joes owned this one. He was readily available for ten years, starting in 1984 and going all the way until the end of the line 1994. You got him by sending in your Flag Points, little pieces of cardboard found on the back of every GI Joe toy made in the 80s. You may have lost the filecard that you clipped off of every figure or vehicle, but you sure as hell didn’t lose those Flag Points. I remember my mother telling me to cut them out and give them to

Nothing much to say, really. I only have two more TF movie figures to get (and while I'm considering more, the jury's still out on them), I'm hooked on Robot Heroes, my Pepsi Prime still isn't here from HTS, and Star Wars is all caught up. I'm going nuts looking for the new GI Joes. People have been finding them at retail for two weeks now, and I have squat. Hell, they're even sold out everywhere I trust online. So we continue to wait. I suppose I could buy some stuff that's been on my someday list for a few months, but I'm finding that one particular piece has completely disappeared from the secondary market. And I'm not telling you what it is, since I don't need any more competition for one.

It's about all we talk about anymore: Transformers. But that's OK. Sign us up for a Soundwave and Convoy. Been waiting for a Soundwave in a G1-ish box for a very long time. Here's hoping Hasbro follows TakTom's lead and does something similar. If they had any plans, they'd have let us know at Botcon. Alas, all we really know is the Alternators and Titanium are dead, Classics are going to be back in Fall 2008 (the hell?) and don't expect to see the Thundercracker, Thrust, and Dirge figures ever again, Masterpiece Starscream is coming to the US as a Wal-Mart exclusive, and Hasbro's dumping most of their resources into the new cartoon.

That's a mouthful. Yes, one of the much-maligned Star Wars Celebration IV exclusives is now in my possession, by way of HasbroToyShop.com. I had to jump through a few hoops to get it, but in the end, it beat the hell out of driving to ten different stores or ordering a whole case of figures just to get this one McQuarrie-related one. Hell, at this point, I almost wish this whols subset was exclusive to somewhere. It comes on a card just like the rest of the McQuarrie stuff. The only way you know this was a C4 exclusive is the sticker on the clamshell or bitched about it on message boards for weeks leading up to HTS offering them. The figure itself looks great. As depicted on the package, this particular rendering had Luke facing Darth Vader with his side/back to the viewer, which is probably the one piece that really sold 20th Century Fox on making this little movie then called "The Star Wars." The face underneath the breathing mask doesn't really look like anybody. J

the smell of inevitability. Anyway, I'm stoked. I just hope that the Hasbro action figures are 3.75" so I can have my Han Solo and Indy toys face off with each other. Not that I do that, mind you. I just hope I can is all.

Man, Mosquitor and He-Man are fantastic. Jitsu, well, I could leave him. Never a big fan of the guys-with-big-right-hands in my MOTU. The line has been dead since November 2003, but every time I see a fantastic new series of these things, I have to lament how awesome action figures of these would have been. I have the first two series of these mini-statues, and while they look great, they really just don't mesh with my 2002-3 action figures. This Battle Armor He-Man should have been out in place of that truly awful Smash Blade He-Man that basically ruined the line single-handedly, with a little help from Spin Blade Skeletor. It is kind of dumb to offer a version of He-Man that was solely reliant on an action feature as a toy in a statue line. Hopefully, with the Transformers movie coming out and doing big bucks, all those 80s cartoon property rights that have been bought up in the last few months will be put to use, and He-Man and his motley band of goofballs go along for the ride.

I've been effectively broke for two weeks until yesterday. It sucked, but I more than made up for it in nerd-related purchases. First, the Transformers stuff. Since Target was running a sale on the movie toys, I decided I'd go ahead and pick up their exclusive Robo-Vision Optimus Prime. It's the Voyager ($20) sized version, only the regular Voyager release isn't out yet, and this exclusive one is painted much better. I don't think I own a TF with as much kibble on the back as this Prime has. It's a chore to balance him properly, but when you get it right, he looks great. Apparently, the only way to ensure freedom for all sentient beings is to carry a big gun, and this Prime has two. They transform from smokestacks (which I might add, are NOT cut off as recent G1 versions are) to long rifles, and posed with both of them, Prime looks great. I almost broke my sample, due to Hasbro STILL not including text on the instructions, and this cursed Automorph Technology. B

Desanto has Idea to have the Dinobots and Constructicons in Transformers 2 Uh, OK. I can't imagine they'll bother to do those two fan-favorites if they couldn't find a way to pull off Soundwave in the first installment. I do think this is just something to throw out there to keep the interest in the TF movie at its current pitch. I'd love to have some Consructicons and Dinobots in a live-action TF movie.

Clicky You'll find the theme to be used for the movie there, plus what may or may not be the tracklisting. I really hope this is like those infamous "Music Inspired By.." soundtracks and not the real deal, since a score would be infinitely better for a movie like this. I guess it depends what the producers what it to be- an MTV schlockfest, or a genuine science fiction movie. It leans toward the latter with everything but this soundtrack, at least in my opinion.

Optimus Prime vs. Bonecrusher This movie is so going to fucking rock.

Hasbro at Celebration IV, courtesy of JediDefender Man. Ewoks! SA bounty hunter! A-Wing Pilot! Han with a torture device! I never thought I'd see that last one. It's also great to see the AOTC Jedi Starfighter with the hyperspace ring. There's some great stuff there, and not just from Hasbro. Check it out, won't you?

I say "possible" because I don't think anyone would dare to make a movie this awful in a post- "Batman & Robin" world. Clicky. Seriously, it's awful.

Wave 5 of the 30th Anniversary Collection. It's great, and something I'll be buying a full set of.

Linky. We can be nostalgic for other stuff besides toys here. VH1 Classic is streaming videos from several awesome bands at that link. I've linked to the KISS videos, Shout It Out Loud in particular, but you can go anywhere from there. It's weird- VH1 will have all this music content online, and if you even try watching VH1 on basic cable, it's like MTV all over again- no fucking music whatsoever. Pathetic.

Transformers movie sandals. For MEN. Yeah, you got that right. Movie tie-in sandals from a summer movie, for grown men. Show me a man who will wear these, and I'll show you a man who's going to die alone.

Linky because I don't want to host all that hi-resness here. Man. Wow. War, man. Wow. If those 5-packs play music, that means I'll have to buy two sets, or just really be careful opening the box. I know I'm in for two sets of the single carded figures, since those are absolutely fanfuckingtastic.

Finally procured my set of movie preview toys tonight. I went through all sorts of fuzz to get them. I started at Toys R Us, who hadn't stocked them yet. I was dejected, but we're only getting started. I next popped over to Target, who hadn't put them out either. They at least had space set aside, so it was progress, but no toys=no good. So then I went to the two local Wal-Mart stores, which I will note I despise with a passion. I was also looking for the recent Transformers exclusives they have from the Classics and Alternators lines, and they had not a fucking thing. No movie toys, no exclusives, jack shit. So I got out of there while avoiding the midday mob. I figured that K-Mart would have them, since they're the only place left in town I hadn't checked. They didn't have them either. I was all "dammit" so I went back home and watched TV. I took the day off since I needed a day off, so I enjoyed the rest of it. About 8 PM, I decided I'd check TR

But I don't have one, because I wasn't sure about it. After seeing this gallery at Seibertron, I'll have to get one. That's all there is to it.

All you need to know: it's all about Star Wars. This fine coverage is brought to you by JediDefender, the keenest SW fan site on the interwebs. Every other line I collect just showed stuff that's been seen but isn't out yet. Hasbro is really knocking them out of the park this year. Who would have ever thought we'd be getting action figures based on Ralph McQuarrie's concept designs from 1975? I always wanted this Chewbacca, but I never thought it would be a reality. I'm going to be so damn broke.

I think I like these better than what we've seen already. The second versions of Cobra Commander, Storm Shadow, and Snake Eyes are all great figures, and here they are updated, but still retaining their classic look. These figures are what we've been asking Hasbro to do for years, and it's finally being done and done extremely well. Flint- in the second season of the cartoon, Flint seemed to take on the role that Duke inhabited in the first season. It suited me fine- I never liked those perfect guys in leadership roles. Therefore, I'm glad Hasbro is updating him since I'm not a big Duke fan. Snake Eyes w/ Timber- I knew another Snake Eyes was inevitable, but at least it's that iconic second version which everyone seems to fawn over but not own. As with Storm Shadow in the original ARAH line, you couldn't find the second SE figure to save your life. Another great candidate for updatedness. Cobra Officer- I'll hazard a guess and say this will be a single-c

A great article on the Death of Saturday Morning Cartoons. It kind of makes you sad, knowing that a new generation is missing out on that phenomenon. Of course, back then, you could pretty much only watch cartoons on weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings, unless your parents had cable so you could get Nickelodeon, or if they paid for the then-premium Disney Channel. Now there are entire networks devoted to cartoons, and I doubt I'll lament the quality of modern cartoons, since I don't watch them and I bet people my age in 1987 thought The Real Ghostbusters was a terrible cartoon. I guess the point is that, even though kids don't have cartoons on Saturdays on networks, they still have more access to cartoons than we had. Though getting up on Saturday mornings and watching Gummi Bears and Ghostbusters was fun, it was more a symptom of a simpler time, when most couples stayed married and kids weren't afraid to like cartoons or spend their parent's money on toys. I

Yes, I finally bought one of these today. $30 plus Iowa's share. And to think this guy was on my Christmas list. :) I'll have comparison pics between this and the "real" G1 Soundwave soon. I'm still not keen on the double tape deck door. It makes 'wave look fat. But the reason I bought it was for Laserbeak and Ravage. I remember always looking for Ravage for my Soundwave back in the day, but never finding him. And I always thought the tape that was included with Soundwave, Buzzsaw, was actually Laserbeak. But now, I have that all cleared up, and now I finally have those two difficult-to-find Cassetticons. Also included are two cassette cases for Laserbeak and Ravage. A very nice touch. Everyone seems to know how to transform Soundwave, so there's no need to go through that here. The instruction sheet says the following near the top: NOTE: Some parts are made to detach if excessive force is applied and are designed to be reattached if separation occurs. Adu

Whilst I'm throwing together a post on Toy Fair and what I dig from this year, enjoy this little He-Man platformer video game I just found. http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=20964

Here it is- exactly what us Viper nuts have been asking for since Hasbro started reissuing the RAH molds. A multi-pack of Vipers in red and blue. The weapons may not be 100% correct to that great 1986 Viper, but I doubt Hasbro would have done that even if they could have. As it is, you get five grunts, one officer, four funny-looking rifles, two little guns (if you can't tell, I'm no arms expert) and two of the machine guns that came with the 2006 SAW Viper. Plus, you get six red stands, which always come in handy for displaying either Joes or vintage Star Wars figures. The officer is the one with the gold faceplate. It's an interesting way to change up the diorama a little bit, but I might have preferred all silver-masked Vipers. I'm sure I could trade it off for a silver-masked one if I wanted to, but I'll just leave it be. I have quite a few of the green Viper that Hasbro issued in 2002 in their GI Joe vs. Cobra line (and just as many of that awful Mirage figure.

A pic of all the previews. I'll step over my grandmother to get my hands on ten Cobra Troopers. I always wanted an army of those guys back in the day, but by the time I was playing with GI Joe, those were off the market in favor of the Vipers. This new version is so much better than the Frankenjoe version in DTC wave 3. All in all, I'm going to be very happy with this line. I fear it will be just like Transformers Classics, however- a few waves of utterly brilliant toymaking, only to go back to the run-of-the-mill uninteresting stuff a few months later.

in full color, natch. Linky. I had this on preorder at BBTS, but since they're going to be modding in order to make it legal to sell here in the US, I changed my mind. The thing is going to be packaged in robot mode, and I think the customs officials have bigger things to worry about than a $100 Transformer. So it's Ebay for me, quite likely. I bought a reissue Megatron on there in 2002 without anyone batting an eyelash. As long as I buy this Megatron from a US seller (who already has it stateside) there's not much to worry about.

Of course, Hasbro wouldn't let such an event pass by without something, would they? Hell no. Here are two preview images of two figures from this line: Sign me up for a complete set. Though this complete set involves 25 figures. I'm not very keen on Duke, but that is mostly due to me not being a big fan of Duke. But Storm Shadow looks great. Hasbro is supposed to post a new preview every day for about a week, and there's the first two. I'm glad to see a new life for the holy 3.75" line. It makes up for the sting of not yet owning DTC wave 4, which had the new Night Viper in it. I doubt I'll see it now. I'm also glad that this line isn't backed by a stupid ass gimmick like Spy Troops. Of course, some fans are questioning whether or not these have the o-ring articulation in them. I ask- does it matter? Toy technology has progressed enough that these figures could have the same (or better) articulation without it, and besides, those eventually wear out. I&

Movie Ratchet and some weird-ass roleplay toy. Optimash Prime. It's great that there's quite an array of stuff coming out, but I'm really getting that Episode I vibe from all this stuff, in that Hasbro and other licensees stamped the SW name on everything you could think of, only to see it clearanced shortly thereafter because of the lack of interest in it. TF mp3 players. As soon as I find another site to preorder Soundwave from, I will be all over that. A functioning G1 Soundwave=greatness. Prime and Megatron. Seeing this merchandise is helping me get used to the movie designs. Seeing them pulled off in a three dimensional physical form gives me hope that this movie will knock my socks off. (It can't be any worse than Eragon.)

is so awesome it'll melt your face and kick your ass so hard you'll taste your spleen. I bought one of these this weekend. I had it on preorder with Sideshow. It was supposed to arrive in the 1st Quarter of 2007, but it came early, a mere two weeks before Christmas. Since I was tapped out, I had to cancel my preorder for my Inclusive Edition which has the battle-damaged lightsaber. However, this weekend I found one at my LCS, and paid the $65 to bring it home. I reasoned I could do without the BD lightsaber- I've missed every other exclusive when it comes to these figures, why should Maul be any different? Besides, he's got plenty of other accessories and I have an older Hasbro version that has a lightsaber that splits in two, so that's pretty well covered. And now, you're wondering why I bought this one since I have a Hasbro version. Well, this one is eons beyond Hasbro's work, even on their best days. The lightsaber alone is a piece of work, and you get th