Swords and Spaceships

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.