Swords and Spaceships

Stop the presses and shave the paperboy: this figure is great. Hasbro has really knocked this guy out of the park, which is great, especially for an army builder. I guess they learned their lesson after the Viper fiasco. To start, this figure is huge. The bulk comes from the furs lining the torso, since an arctic trooper would need those. The articulation is what you'd expect from this line. He can sit, which isn't a common thing for this line. The accessories are spectacular. He comes with a rifle, a missile launcher, a big backpack, snowshoes, and a stand. The neatest part? The feet and snowshoes have an extra set of holes to allow you to display the figure on the stand with the snowshoes on. Nice touch, Hasbro. Yes, I love this figure. I've bought two, and they're intimidating the rest of the toys on my desk because they're bigger and better armed than everyone else. Buy yourself one or two, because this is a crown jewel of the modern GI Joe line.

Yes, friends, I finally found a Last Crusade action figure that's not Indy. It's the one figure that sold me on the line when I first saw pictures for it in April- the Grail Knight, immortal protector of the Holy Grail. First off, the figure looks great. The sculpt is awesome, bringing to life what I think is the most visually interesting figure in the Indiana Jones line. This great sculpt also works against him, as he's sculpted with a hunch (he is around 700 years old) and on my sample, the figure really likes to lean forward. The cape doesn't help matters any, as it's plastic, and doesn't like to move. The accessories include the sword he can't handle anymore and the figure-scale true Grail. I probably would have bought this figure anyway just for the Grail, but I also got a figure of a really ancient guy from the Crusades who guarded the Grail since then. If you can find it, get it. It won't be around much longer. On a different but related note, I h...

If you come to this site, odds are you played the late, great Nintendo Entertainment System. An even further leap of faith would be to assume you liked the music on a lot of the games. Well, I found a site with the original (or close enough) MIDI music that you can download in mp3 form. Here's my personal favorite, Mega Man 2, to get you started.

I wasn't too sure about these figures when I first saw them. But, I took a chance on a couple, and before the week was out, I owned the entire first wave of them, and I dig each and every one of them. Let's take a gander at Obi-Wan, shall we? Wow, two Obi-in-armor figures out on the same day? Amazing! And they're different enough that you don't feel ripped off. This Obi-Wan features a rocketpack with a forgettable firing missile feature, a lightsaber, and what I thought was cool, a swappable head. You can change the regular head with a Clone Commander helmet, which is the best of both worlds as far as I'm concerned. This figure has some questionable articulation- as in no knee or ankle joints. I don't have any problems with my figure standing, though, so maybe it wasn't such a bad choice. The paint on this figure is fantastic, too. The armor is weathered beautifully, and there's a subtle difference in the hair color when compared to the beard. (Your auth...

This is my most anticipated figure from the latest wave (wave 9 or wave 5, depending on your count) of GI Joe. I'm glad to say, it lived up to my expectations. I had the original BAT, back in 1987. Of course, as I was wont to do, I lost all the arm attachments and even the hologram sticker on my figure before he disappeared entirely. I never did get another one, and when I started buying vintage Joes in 2000 (funny how thriteen years will allow you to call something 'vintage') the BAT was one of the first figures I looked for. Alas, to this day, I have not replaced it, since the samples I've seen go for too much money for my blood. The modern updated BATs that Hasbro had in the GI Joe vs Cobra lines left a lot to be desired, so I just about did a backflip when I saw images of this new, updated, yet curiously vintage-looking BAT. This figure features everything that made the original so damn endearing, with some modern flairs that Hasbro wasn't capable of doing twent...

He-Man posted this on MySpace. I hadn't seen it in years, and just had to post it here. Don't you just love the cross-sells in these old toy commercials? Not only did it make you aware of the new bad guy, but also the new Battle Armor He-Man and it reminded you about Castle Grayskull.

Official TMNT25 website Just in case you wanted to check it out.

It's neato. I like it. I find it to be a great nostalgic update to my very first action figure. Hopefully, the regular figures won't be as hard to acquire as King Grayskull. BTW, anyone got an extra regular KG to trade or sell?

I was fortunate enough to score what I lacked from wave 9 of GI Joe this weekend. I scored Hawk, Snow Serpent, and two BATs to accompany the Bazooka and Ninja-Ku dude I scored a few weeks ago. Since I'm way behind on these reviews, I should start with the guy I didn't mention, Barbecue. I assume this fellow is using the Wild Weasel/Snow Job body, or at least a few parts of it. Not that it matters. I'm just wondering how a human head can fit inside that helmet. Granted, there's never been a Barbecue figure with a removable helmet, and these toys are just supposed to pay homage to that. Tha accessories are pretty much the same as the first release in 1985, as are the colors on this new version. There's a lot more detail in this new one, owing to twenty years of improved toymaking technology. I really can't find anything to pick apart or write home about with this figure. It looks fantastic, it doesn't change the world, and it looks great with the rest of your ...