Swords and Spaceships

Here it is- that which is assumed to be the pinnacle of the Rise of Cobra tie-in line. And it's based on a design seen not in the movie, but the animation GI Joe: Resolute. Hasbro basically ran out of time to release all the Resolute figures they had designed before the movie stuff came out, so they've gone with the only option left to them: pepper the line with a few of them. (For instance, Roadblock was recently released in a Wal-Mart exclusive set called Outpost Defender.) Is this Snake Eyes worthy of all the hype? Sure, Snake Eyes kicked a lot of ass in the animation, and this figure looks spot-on to that design. The traditional visor was done away with, which I like to see. And the figure isn't all black, which is another plus. You have optional sword placement as well- you can place it high on his back, or lower at the waist, as seen in the animation. The figure features a nice selection of guns, fitting the commando part of the Snake Eyes equation. There's a larg...

I've purchased a lot of GI Joes in the last couple of months. Thanks to prices that are 30-40% cheaper than this summer, I bought all the figures I wanted for a tidy price of $5-6 each. One of those was this fellow here, Duke in the Delta-6 Accelerator Suit. A lot of GI Joe fans who saw these in the trailers didn't like them, and matters weren't helped any when, on the DVD/Blu-Ray special features, the director of the film Stephen Sommers basically admitted to putting the Delta-6 suit in the film to satisfy his own ambitions from a failed 25 year old script about a super suit that did pretty much exactly what these suits did in the Joe flick. I really liked the idea of such a suit, especially growing up as a fan of the old Sunbow GI Joe cartoon. I was glad to see some tech for the Joes that wasn't another damn box with a beam emitter. This 3.75" figure recreates the look of that suit fairly well. Hasbro are kings of this scale, and there's lots of sculpted deta...

Ah, yes. Scare Glow here is one of the figures I was wishing for when Masters of the Universe Classics began, and less than a year into the line, he's chilling on my shelf. Happy dance? Fuck you, I'm going to do it anyway. Scare Glow was a figure that came at the end of the original Masters line in the 1980s. He was in the very last series, just so you know. To be honest, I never knew/remembered he existed until 1999 when I discovered he-man.org. By the time he came out, I had pretty much moved on to GI Joe, and I knew that last series also had King Randor and the Sorceress, and I mainly spent my time looking for them. This Scare Glow character just didn't register for me. I had plenty of bad guys (most of the figures in the original line were villains) so I rarely looked for more. However, as a discerning adult collector, Scare Glow appealed to me, mostly I'm sure due to scarcity. That's just how it works for toy collectors- if it's rare, it's gotta be good...

Star Wars toys are coming fast and furious these days, thanks to a dicked-up release pattern by Hasbro. This summer was a drought, with Legacy wave 5 showing up in March/April, wave 6 I didn't see until June (and only sporadically), and wave 7 barely made it out here at all until October when Kohl's unleashed a torrent of that particular wave. In the last two months, I've seen figures from four waves in rapid sucession. I won't even be close to scoring what I want from one wave before the next shows up. This has been happening for a few years now, but it's no less annoying. For instance, I picked up this figure, Concept Art IG-88 from wave 11, a full week before I found and picked up the figures I wanted from wave 10. Based on concept art for The Empire Strikes Back by Ralph McQuarrie, I knew as soon as I saw this figure I had to own it. I know the art was merely intended for a background character from a galaxy far, far away, but I'll be damned if it doesn'...

Here's what Hasbro is doing with the GI Joe line this year. I know that if you roll through this blog, you have a little extra cash for luxury, so go ahead a buy a couple of these (or something else) and put them in a drop box. Even if you're buying Joes for yourself, Hasbro still donates something, so it's a win for everybody. I took advantage of Wal-Mart's current $5 price and threw a Duke and Destro in one of the boxes I found at Toys 'R Us, and I know you can swing that too. Help those kids out- they'd probably love to have a fraction of what us collectors have.

Holy shit, have I neglected this blog or what. It wasn't intentional, it just happened. Anyway, I've really put aside the Star Wars collecting in favor of GI Joe. After picking up the recent Return of the Jedi wave, I was left very underwhelmed. I think it had more to do with buyer's remorse than anything. I figured if I hadn't bought a few of those figures, I might have been happier. So I ended up returning half of the figures I bought, and took that money and picked up a set of Joes I had my eye on, the Rescue Mission set that is exclusive to Target. (pics from Generalsjoes!) Yeah, this set rocks. It was $20, and included two Neo-Vipers (didn't have any of those!), a Duke in regular battle fatigues (the Dukes so far in this line all have some kind of specialized armor), and most awesome, a unique version of Snake Eyes. This SE uses the Resolute/City Strike mold with the Paris Pursuit SE head. Since I have yet to find a City Strike SE (very, very, very popular figu...

This is what you can build if you buy all five sets. I would have done so, because I really like Darktrooper action figures, but Wal-Mart (the chain these packs are exclusive to) decided to charge $17 a set for them, so it seems like I won't be doing that after all. I haven't been buying much from the Star Wars line in the last year or two, and things like this are why. It's just a bank-breaking chore to keep up, which begs the question- do I need to keep up? Hasbro really did everything I could have possibly wanted, and that was two years ago, so it's kind of been a strange relationship with this line since then. And now for something completely different: my vintage Star Wars collection.

I received my MOTUC Man-At-Arms this week. As impressed as I was by Hordak, MAA is even better. Of course, Duncan was always one of the better figures in any incarnation, due to the armor and the colors used on the toys. Like Mer-Man, the contrast is quite striking, and makes you pay more attention to the figure than you would otherwise, so you notice more things about the figure in turn. Like his finely detailed and well-painted armor, or the intricate detailing on the helmet on both heads. Yes, you get two heads with this figure, one clean-shaven to represent the original figure's appearance, and one with a 'stache, to represent either his Filmation or MYP/200x appearance. Duncan also features more accessories than any other figure thus far, befitting his status as Eternia's master of weapons- his classic mace, a small laser pistol, and two swords. One is a regular-issue Eternian sword, and the other is a new version of the sword He-Man carried in the 200x line, now retco...

unmitigated awesomeness Man, I'm over the moon with these new figures. This line is really taking off now. I'm a little worried that they're really running through their big names so soon, but you never know when the heat on this line may die off, and since this Matty thing is an unproven business model, this line could end in three releases from now. So I'm glad that Scare Glow is in November. Trap Jaw looks great too, but I'm pretty sure the 200x figure is still my favorite rendition. The rest, are neat, but I think Zodak or Adora will be the first figures I pass on.

My Joe collection continues to grow. It's more movie stuff than anything, but I did get a few Generation 3 items- the Resolute 5-pack, Cobra Diver, the Joe 5-pack (on clearance!), and the SHARC w/ Deep Six. The movie stuff I've acquired since the last post- Shipwreck, Boob Armor Scarlett, Destro, Desert Ambush Duke, Elite Viper, Ice Viper, TRU exclusive Firefly (beyond awesome), and the Pit Commando, who is also awesome. I had written this movie line off as bunk, but Hasbro really could reconquer the market with this line of GI Joes. Quite a few collectors like this line, but the real question is will kids dig it. It doesn't seem like kids ever got into the 25th/G3 line, and how could they with guys like me buying everything? But I just think back to the JvC days when Hasbro last tried to market to kids, and not doing so well. Maybe parents just don't want to buy war toys for their kids anymore. Especially at $8 a figure.

I only own four figures so far from the line- Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes, Baroness, and the Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes, but I have to admit- I'm very impressed by them. Whether or not you like what you've seen from the trailers about this movie, if you like great GI Joe toys, I'd suggest picking up a few of these. They're great, and they're in scale with the 25th Anniversary line you may or may not have been buying for the last couple of years. I humbly suggest either Snake Eyes figures, but if I had to choose one, it would be the Paris Pursuit version (pictured above). The trenchcoat is a new thing for Snake Eyes, and even if you don't like the movie line, it'll fit in well with your 25th collection. Your best bet right now is Target, since Wal-Mart and TRU seem to be waiting for the weekend even though Hasbro gave the OK to start selling them on the 6th.

Well, the man part is obvious. The bat part is obvious in the ears and the Horde symbols. The pig is less obvious. It's in the nose, and if you ever saw any of the She-Ra cartoon, you'd know that whoever Filmation cast to voice Hordak gave him this awful snort that sounded like a pig, so that's why I picked the title. Anyway, UPS dropped off my Hordak figure today. Apparently, since I don't live in what they consider a war zone anymore, they just leave it at the door. Works for me. I gleefully opened it when I got home from work, and there it was- the first new Hordak action figure I've owned since my fourth birthday in 1985 (which is also in June. Huzzah.) Hordak is a great action figure. All the things that made Hordak back then look so great are present, and there's a few added flairs- namely, the staff that the 200x incarnation carried. It's the best of both worlds. He also carries a meaner-looking crossbow and little bat dude that the vintage version ha...

So I bought this a week or two ago. I opened it tonight, and it's one of the few purchases that made me go "cool" as soon as I opened it. It's Soundwave from the Revenge of the Fallen toyline. I had a hell of a time finding it. No local retailer bothered stocking the preview toys until a week after the release of the regular line, so I was Soundwave-less for like three weeks, which in this internet age, is like a lifetime. Memes rise and fall in less time, for instance. Apparently, 'Wave is a satellite and a space cruiser in addition to his robot form. I really can't tell one from the other, so I'm just going to assume his true form is the satellite, since that keeps with Soundwave's function while still making him different from Frenzy in the first movie, who ostensibly was Soundwave in all but name. (Of course, had the producers used Soundwave's name for Frenzy, I would still be up in arms about it, but I'm an ornery fanboy who is prone to su...

Yes kids, the toys for the new Transformers flick are out. The first one I bought? One that probably isn't in the movie. But look at this dude. It's an antiquated vehicle that transforms into a freakin' robot! That's steampunk-y, and I like it. It reminds me of that story IDW published when they first got the TF comic license, called Hearts of Steel. The TFs were trains in that story, and I love the idea of the TFs coming here at a different era in history than whatever entertainment they're in says they arrvied in. I suppose Ransack here would have arrived during WWI. Which gets me going- what about a bunch of TFs from WWII? It's an idea ripe for the picking, but would probably only appeal to dorks like me. At least I got the WWI biplane. Ransack here is a Scout class TF, meaning he'll set you back $8-9 at retail. Not cool, when a mere year ago, you could get a Deluxe for $10 and a Scout for $6. Considering the money I've spent on this shit (and the f...

Picked up my Masters of the Universe Classics Zodac today. This is the only figure thus far that gave me pause- do I really want to spend $30 on a character that's a lame-o? I had Zodac as a kid, and never really found much use for him. Of course, he was 50 cents at a garage sale in 1986, and it was a He-Man toy, so I couldn't pass him up. But now it's 2009 and he costs $30. I went ahead and bought him anyway. I'm glad I did. Zodac Zur here is the first figure in the line that includes that other great MOTU staple, the laser gun. It's kind of small, but considering the guns in the vintage line were too big, I forgive it. His armor is much more detailed this time around, adding what looks like a jetpack on the back. His helmet and armor look almost exactly the same as they did in the 80s, just much more detailed now. It's not so obvious in pictures; it's much more so in person. The guy is called a 'cosmic enforcer' and is tasked with keeping things in...

Ejector- Decepticon toaster I reckon Hasbro is out to prove it can sell anything that has a Transformers name on it this summer.

It's a beaut. I'm shocked he's this early in the line. If Mattel finishes the Horde in the next year, they'll have updated almost entirely the toys I had back in the day. I would post a link, but that might be in bad taste at this point. If you can remember the email address for submissions to this site, I will let you see the image. (but that goes all the way back to 2005, so we'll see what happens...)

As I mentioned earlier, I'm in the process of moving. In this, I've found several Star Wars items I hadn't gotten around to opening. For instance, I found a pack of Pit Droids and Battle Droids on 2007 cards, and two more Biker Scouts, which brings my total numbers of Biker Scout action figures to 12. Which is great, since the Biker Scout is my favorite trooper from the saga. I also opened three Evolutions sets- Padme, Rebel Pilots II, and Sith Lords. I've left the Sith one boxed for damn near 18 months. I'm kind of disappointed it took so long, since I have a new favorite SW figure after opening it- Darth Nihilus . I also opened my Lucas Family set, which is a great boxed set of their background appearances in Revenge of the Sith. It's basically a set of background aliens and a Jedi Padawan and was a terrible seller when it was released, since it was overpriced. I got it for $10, and it's a steal for that. I still have yet to open a Death Star Briefing set ...

Long time no update. I am in the middle of moving, yet again. You never realize how much shit you have until you have to move it. I haven't bought much lately- I did finish up my collection of Star Trek 3.75" duders, for now. Then I bought Diamond Select's model of the original Kirk's Enterprise, from the 1960s TV series. It's tres nostalgic, if I knew what that meant. Friday sees the release of the MOTUC Zodac, as well as the Transformers: ROTF preview toys. I will probably buy neither, since I'm needing to watch the cash. I will probably spring for Zodac, though. I'm a dork like that. I boxed up my TFs from the first movie recently. I kept Prime out, for now. I think he'll be on display at my new place, since he's badass and I can't afford the new Leader Prime. Which reminds me, I still have all my higher-end collectibles to box. Fuck! I hate moving.

I have mentioned here that I'm getting pretty geeked for this new Star Trek movie. I picked this up recently, since I never did get the Transporter Playmates did for their TNG line in the 90s. I wanted this right away. I'm glad I got it. I haven't seen the movie at this point, so I can't tell if it's accurate, but who cares- it's fun. Want to know how it works? So would I. Here's what I can tell you: Take one of your 3.75" Trek figures and place it on the included blue base. You put the figure and base in the designated spot, put the transporter thingy over the figure. You press the delta shield, and lights and sounds, and your figure has disappered behind a mirrored piece of... something. Then you take the transporter thingy off the base, and place it wherever. Then, to make the figure reappear, you hold two buttons on the side of the thingy and press the delta shield again. You remove the thingy and your figure is standing there! It's like magic o...

At least that's what Mer-Man's eyes here say to me. Big, bulbous, soul-devouring eyes! Hideous. And such. I picked up my Masters of the Universe Classics Mer-Man from UPS on Friday. It's a great figure, and really indicative of what Mattel can do when they want to. Of course, this was a hard-won purchase. I battled for an hour on mattycollector.com, ended up with three orders which I had to cancel two of, and then I had to fight with UPS to arrange a Will Call to pick the figure up since they insist on delivering to my residence in the afternoon when I'm at work. As you can tell, Mer-Man's main feature is swappable heads. The Modern version is one of the Four Horsemen's interpretation of how the original cardback art looked. The Original version is how the original toy looked. Clearly, the modern version is more interesting to look at, but I'm glad to have to option to swap heads if I so chose instead of having to buy two figures. I will say the original ve...

Michael Bay Signs $50M Deal To Fuck Up 'ThunderCats'

I'm suffering from extreme hype build-up leading into the new Star Trek movie. I'm not quite as geeked as I was before any of the Star Wars movies, but I'm quite a bit older now. Anyway, I picked up Playmates' version of the redesigned Enterprise last night, and it's without a doubt the crown jewel of their roster of product. It's smaller than I expected. I thought, judging by the size of the box, that I'd have to put the nacelles and those arms onto the hull, but the ship came fully assembled, with every detail painted on, and no stickers. Which was great. It's substantially smaller than the Playmates ships from the 90s, but it does look pretty good with DST's ships. Hell, it's almost too big scale-wise for them, but if all these ships had a consistent scale from two companies across fifteen years, I'd be shocked. It looks great next to my DST Enterprise-E, so that's all I care about. I was a little annoyed that I forked over $30 for a m...

Clicky. It's awesome. Lots of death. Plenty of kick-ass to go around. I can see why Hasbro might have had cold feet about releasing this, though. It's pretty violent, though I do believe the audience that (currently) buys GI Joe stuff is my age anyway, but that probably won't be the case this summer when the (blech) live-action movie is released.

Y'know, I'm really becoming enamored with Hasbro's new lines of 3.75" Marvel figures. Even though they don't have the fit and nice finish that the Star Wars or GI Joe figures do, it's still pretty amazing that they manage to stick all that articulation into these little figures. I should also mention that these are much sturdier than any Toy Biz Superhero Showdown figures, which were terrible, terrible figures. I wish the Marvel Universe line was stocked better, though. I can understand that the Wolverine line has a bigger push, but dammit, I want a Captain America. I really missed collecting Marvel toys. After the dip in quality and higher price of Hasbro's first wave of 6" Legends, I quit, and it's great to buy these characters again, in a scale compatible to most of my collection. Plus I don't feel obligated to buy whole waves, which is a major selling point. (Damn BAFs.) If I were to recommend one figure, I'd suggest Modern Iron Man (pi...

GI Joe: Rise of Cobra Duke figure Seriously, does Channing Tatum NOT look like an assclown on the packaging? Granted, the guy could kick my ass nine ways to Super Bowl Sunday if he ever met me for saying that, but still- assclown. And here, Mr. Tatum practically admits the GI Joe movie is going to blow dogs for quarters. Clicky. After reading that, I hope this movie bombs so terribly that studios have no choice but to faithfully adapt classic cartoons for live-action movies, or, they call their movies by antoher name entirely. GI Joe could have been called something different entirely, and I'll gamble that would have helped them come August.

Here it is, Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics San Diego Comic-Con exclusive for 2009, He-Ro. Due to be released back in 1987 or '88 in the original Powers of Grayskull line, but Mattel ended the line before that got started, and ol' He-Ro (eeesh) and another figure, Eldor (just stop it) got shelved forever. Looks like the He-Ro concept got dusted off here, and now you get to pay a lot of money for it this summer. Hopefully, there's enough for both the con and Matty, but Mattel hasn't stated how they're going to sell this guy. As they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Get out there and knock 'em dead, sport. Geez, we must have been gullible as kids to fall for this being an impostor for He-Man. Sure, it was just a way to wring some more money out of molds to build equity early in the line, exactly the same now as it was then. Only when it costs nearly $30, you start to question how much equity do they need to build before I feel like an idiot. I knew what I was buying well before I placed the order, it's just that I would have liked a little extra in the package, like a damaged head, ala the Terminator, since Faker here is a robot. But it didn't happen. Mattel really needs to drop the con exclusive shit. Like, right now. But apparently, there's going to be one at SDCC this year, and odds are, it'll piss just as many people off as Faker here did, and King Grayskull last year, and Keldor in 2003. See a pattern? Just stop, for the love of God. Collectors don't enjoy them at all, they just buy them because you only offer it there...

Yes, Ben can has them. Matt called me on Saturday, and said he found this whole wave at Pamida, which I'd never visited before, but might start to now. He picked me up Indy, Mola Ram, Short Round, and Willie Scott. I passed on the Thuggee dudes, since I wasn't too sure about owning them. Which I may regret, but I may yet not. First, the good stuff. I've been wanting Mola Ram since the line started, and now I finally own it. It helps that he's one of the crown jewels of the line. A truly fantastic figure, with all the right accessories, the flaming heart and chalice of Kali. Indy is great too. After the pathetic Indys from Raiders and Last Crusade, Hasbro truly delivered a good Indy here. This particular version is from the bridge scene at the climax of the film. The figure has the sword he used to cut the bridge, which is a nice touch. Willie is a pretty good figure too, and thankfully, she's a lot quieter like this. Hasbro chose to depict her in the sacrificial dre...

MOTUC Hordak carded images I love how his subtitle is 'Evil Leader of the Evil Horde.' Anyway, I'm just glad this character is finally being made as a modern action figure.

Enough of that nastiness about Transformers. I love the TFs, have spent thousands of dollars on them that I could have otherwise wasted, so I guess when it comes to movie years for these lines, I have to concentrate on what I like about the TFs. In all honesty, they really aren't making these live-action movies for fans like me, who grew up on G1. I should look at it this way- I may not like these movies or the toys from them, but they allow for things like the G1 cartoon to be released on DVD again, and for great toys like Smokescreen here in the off years. The Classics/Universe line has been good to the G1 fan. It offers modern takes on G1 characters, like HasTakTom saying "here's what character X would look like if made today." I will argue that these are a lot more complex in transformation than their G1 predecessors, but that's only obvious. The robot mode is much more, well, dynamic than the barely articulated vintage brick, a toy you could only really move ...

Clicky. They gave the motherfucker a cane. A fucking cane, to a fucking robot, so he can fucking walk. A fucking robot needs fucking help to fucking WALK. A fucking robot that has a fucking SR-71 as an alt mode has a fucking cane. I might be avoiding a big crowd on the weekend of the last week of June after all. I swear, in and by their desire to make something different, the producers of these films have completely lost sight of what made the TFs so endearing in the first place, and Hasbro themselves are complicit in this.

Poor Dolph Lundgren. He tries so hard. I watched this last night, the first time in a few years. I bought the DVD in 2001, and I've only watched it once or twice. This would be the third time then, I guess. I used to love this movie as a kid. It didn't bother me that most of the movie was set on Earth, and there were few tantalizing glimpses of Eternia. Of course, the best part of the movie escaped me then, which was Frank Langella's amazing work as Skeletor, a role which he still speaks highly of, even as recently as last year when he was doing interviews for the 'Frost/Nixon' hype machine. The movie does show its age in the special effects, which were pretty bad even for their time. This movie was made by the same production company that cheaped out on the effects for Superman IV, so you probably know what to expect when I say that. (Though I'll argue that Masters here was a better film in every way than Superman IV.) The movie does succeed in not having a dul...

So you've probably figured out that I'm not going to delete this blog after all. I spent too much time writing all this jazz, and a lot of people seem to drop by here (seems like at least 30 hits a day) so just as well keep it around. Then I can talk about stuff like this that I just bought. I've been holding off on buying any of these neat 3.75" Marvel toys. Sure, I made a sizeable investment in the ML and movie 6" lines, but I'd be more than happy to add a few of these new guys at this new scale to my collection, since I have tons of Star Wars and GI Joe figures that are in the same scale. I decided I'd take the plunge with this version of Wolverine, one you can find in the movie-related Origins packaging with Hugh Jackman on it. This is clearly a comic-based Wolvie, and it says so on the package. I have always liked the tiger-stripe costume more than the brown classic one, but that's due to the 90's X-Men animated series. Hasbro are the kings of...

"Bleh! I sold out in three hours!" Another MOTUC figure went up for sale today. I got my order in, and I've received confirmation from DR, so I'm good. Lots of other people, not so much. Faker here sold out in about three hours, which was shockingly fast, and yet, not shocking at all. Half the run was sold at NYCC last month, and the remaining stock went up for sale today. And, of course, the people who didn't buy are crying up a storm, saying that Mattel should have had enough stock for everyone who wanted one, not figuring on that Mattel likely made all their Faker figures before even He-Man and Beast Man went on sale in December, and therefore had NO FUCKING IDEA how well these would sell then. How long have some of you been in the game? If you were around back for the 2002 MOTU line, you'd know that this is a HELL of a lot better than fighting twenty local collectors for one figure out of one case, said case being all your local store will receive for anot...

Yes kids, UPS was cool and dropped off my Stratos from Mattycollector.com on Friday. I was unsure about buying Stratos, but I'm glad I did. Dude sold out in three days, which shocked pretty much everyone. I'm sure there was less produced of this figure than say, Skeletor, so that, coupled with the fact that this line is officially the hot thing of the moment, assured that he'd sell out. Nobody thought it would be that fast, but hey, you got to strike when you got the chance. Stratos uses the Beast Man body, just as he did back in the old days. He has his differences, of course. A new head, new left hand (meaning you won't be getting any accessories into Stratos' hands), and some new feet, which for some reason has some fans on the brink of suicide. Stratos also features his rocketpack on his back and red wings on his arms, completing the look of the weird winged monkey. I really think he could have used a better-engineered balljointed head to let him look forward a ...

Just a couple of figures from the apparent first wave of GI Joe: Rise of Cobra movie figures. Looks like they're designed with the kids in mind, which is a good thing. I sure as hell won't be buying them.

LOL fart Well, I did not see that coming. I mean, Wheelie? Seriously?

The Fallen revealed Massive spoilers there, if you're one of three people still actually interested in this movie. (One here, have yet to meet the other two.) A "Cybertronian jet?" That makes three Decepticons that transform into one of those. How about showing a little more creativity with the alt modes? A "Cybertronian jet" is code for "big nothing," obviously. What made and still makes the TFs work is convincing robot and vehicle modes, but this just looks like the bot folds in half, puts his legs in front of him, and puts his head up his iron sphincter. At least the Autobots designs have it right. Well, to be fair, the robot mode on this is pretty freaky, at least different enough from what's come before. But, still. "Cybertronian jet." Blah.

Pic! Man, oh man. I've been waiting for a modern Hordak action figure since 2002, and it's finally coming in June. And, it's awesome to boot. I'm glad Mattel is bringing this figure out so early in the line. Hell, I didn't expect one until 2010 at the earliest. I'm glad they abandoned the "8-back characters first" idea and got to something a little more interesting. Now bring on Trap Jaw, please. Pics of Tri-Klops and Man-At-Arms, as well as release dates, here.

New TF toys revealed These are the two preview toys for the new TF flick, Revenge of the Fallen. I won't be buying Bumblebee, since I bought two of those back for the first movie, and I don't think I'll buy Soundwave either. What exactly is this? The link says it's a jet, and if that's what passes for a jet on Cybertron, it's no wonder the Autobots kicked the shit of the Decepticons in the first movie even though they're just automobiles and the Decepticons are war machines. Then I've heard it's a satellite, which makes a little more sense, and is a logical thing for Soundwave to be. Of course, I ended up with at least one toy version of every character from the first movie, and I professed to hate that, so I'm pretty sure I'm buying this dude anyway. I just wish I knew if the Universe line was going on hiatus again for the movie toys, because I'm starting to like what that line has to offer.

Good news, everyone! WB and Mattel have a real chance to outclass Hasbro and Paramount here, and I hope they realize it. Roughly half the TF fanbase hates the movies and the other half hate the first half just because they hate the movies, and the GI Joe movie is DOA, because it looks terrible. (Just wait until the Super Bowl pregame and the trailer for it then. You'll see what I mean.) I know there will undoubtedly be elements I downright HATE from this MOTU movie, but as long as I don't hate everything about it as I do the GI Joe (and to an extent, the TF movies) I'll be OK.

Received the Masters of the Universe Classics Skeletor yesterday. Man, is it fantastic. You should buy yourself one while you have the chance. You may or may not know that He-Man and Beast Man are 'no longer available' on Mattycollector.com, and this will be the case with Skeletor in about 21 days from this post, so there it is. Mattel plans to retire the previous month's figure just before the new one goes on sale, but we'll see how that pans out since demand will undoubtedly become less as time goes on. I'd err on the side of caution. Besides, it's not like Mattel will never offer He-Man again. A little anecdote- I've made mention (several times on this blog) that the original Skeletor was my first action figure. I got it for my third birthday in 1984. Every picture of the rest of the day I had Skeletor in my hand. I wouldn't dare part with it, because it was so cool. I mean, it was a blue-skinned guy with a sword and a possibly-satanic staff that was ...

I'd do this with the money. And I'd probably waste the rest.

I bet the last thing on your mind after seeing 'The Dark Knight' was "man, I wonder what a 16-bit video game of that movie would look like!" Well, that must have been somebody's first thought, so they made a video of what that might look like, and I found it and now you're going to have to watch it.

I picked up these duders at my local Target. Never did own the original versions of Raph or Don (or Mike for that matter) so I assume Playmates Toys and Target were happy to sell me these rereleases for $9 a whack. And I remember when Target dedicated half the toy aisle to the TMNT, and they sold them for less than $4. Of course, that was the early 90s. Apparently, this is the lineup- the four TMNT, Splinter, Casey Jones, April, Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady, Foot Soldier, and Slash. Good choices, though Slash is a little strange. I do remember an interview with Kevin Eastman, where he stated his favorite action figure was Slash, and Slash is one of the most popular characters on the secondary market these days, so I think it made sense for Playmates to release him with this series. It stands to reason that these could be the only toys they rerelease like this (well, the Party Wagon/Turtle Van is up for preorder at BBTS for $33, so there might be some type of future for this line after a...

These arrived yesterday morning just before I went to work. I ripped open the box with much gusto, and was greeted with these kick-ass action figures. But alas, I had to go to work, so I didn't open them. But when I got home, I took an X-Acto to the bubbles and set them free. Damn, they're awesome. These are what Masters of the Universe toys SHOULD be like. Massive, well-thought articulation, spot-on sculpts, the right accessories, and that spirit that was sorely lacking in all previous relaunches of the mythos. Of course, this line is aimed squarely at people like me, who grew up in the 1980s having battles with their MOTU toys everywhere they could. You can tell this by the 'adult collector' tag on the insert in the packaging. I initially thought kids were missing out by not having this sold to them, but fuck them. They didn't get on board in 2002, so it's our turn. And no one should give these to kids either. Nowhere on the packaging is there a choking hazar...

See that pose he's in? That's about all the action you'll get from this figure. I managed to get this dude as soon as he hit Hasbro Toy Shop. It's great to get another Joe, because I love this line, but this guy kind of missed the mark in execution. We'll start with the mask/helmet. Hasbro is the undeniable king of removable headgear for toys, and I personally think with this release, they got a little too cocky making the mask seperate from the helmet. At least on my sample, they refuse to stay attached. I'm considering gluing them together, it's so bad. Then there's the flamethrower. It's nigh impossible to get him to hold it with both hands if the hose from the mask is plugged into his chest. I also had the same problem with the weapon and backpack with Flash last year- the hose from the weapon refuses to stay plugged into the backpack. It's absurdly annoying. His colors are bright, just like the vintage figure, so that's a plus. He'll...

I traded my Wraith variant for this. Considering Wraith is a crummy toy, I don't regret it. Ah, the Cobra Frogman. Easily one of the most popular figures from the vintage line, judging by how expensive he is on today's secondary market. Naval Joes are my favorite group, so after picking up the SRO set with Cutter, Deep Six, and Torpedo, they needed a nemesis. Well, I have one, and only one. Hasbro saw fit to include this guy one per case, and while that sucks now, he'll ship for a while. I hope this figure becomes as plentiful as the Snow Serpents from wave 9. For a month or two, I couldn't throw a rock without hitting one of those. The Eel is based on the Torpedo mold, which can't be a surprise. Torpedo is one of the best figures in this line, and Hasbro's getting a lot of mileage out of the mold. To make him look like the faceless Eel, this figure features a masked head and a fearsome helmet. Looks great. Quit buying them, everybody. I need a few more. Hasbro ...

I found this on clearance at my local Wal-Mart for $15. Couldn't resist, especially since I've been looking for it for a couple of months now and it has Serpentor in it. This set features three figures- Serpentor, a new-enough BAT, and Dusty. Also included are weapons, a DVD with the 'Arise, Serpentor, Arise' miniseries, a piece of the MASS Device that can be assembled after buying all five current Battle Packs, and a glorified accessory taking the place of a figure in this set, Montezuma's Skeleton. We'll start with the figures. Dusty will be first. You, as of press time, can't get Dusty anywhere else, so for most collectors, he's the big draw of the set. He looks great. The original Dusty came out in 1985, and looking back on it now, you can see the strides Hasbro has made in paint apps. Now Dusty looks like he didn't fall face first into a pile of shit, so that's got to count for something. The BAT will be next. He's exactly the same as th...

Yeah, I'm more than a week late. Oh well. I received the Cobra Wolf for Christmas in 1987. I don't remember asking for it, but my parents knew I'd enjoy whatever I got as long as it was He-Man, Transformer, or GI Joe related. Back in the day, Hasbro used to sell vehicles disassembled, like a model car. My dad built model cars when he was a kid, so I think he enjoyed getting these for me and putting them together. This was one of my few vehicles. I seemed to have more Cobra vehicles than Joe, which didn't really bother me. After all I had more Joe figures. Cobra had to make up the difference somehow. Of course, this vehicle, like many other toys I had, didn't survive in a complete state very long, since I had two brothers. I have most of the pieces in storage somewhere, but like every other toy I used to have, I have promised myself I'd get a new one, but I never do. I guess this is relegated to memories of playing in the backyard with all my Joes, losing all the...

Well, I finally ordered the Masters of the Universe Classics He-Man and Beast Man. I ordered them last Friday, so I'm hoping they'll be here by the end of the week. They shipped on Monday, and I chose the UPS 2-day option. Can't wait. It's driving me mad.