Swords and Spaceships

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.