Weekly round up! Transformers, Exo-Squad, Minimates / up-and-coming announcements!

It was a pretty eventful week with tons of new finds and toy related news and releases to speak of.
Also, I was able to score a few nice items to add to the ever-growing toy room so let's jump right in.

I was able to find some killer Exo-Squad E-frames and figures for 9 dollars a piece and for the most part they are pretty complete and functional which is no easy feat. Usually when you look for these guys on-line they are mainly a shell with no extras. I was able to grab Alec DeLeon with his Field Communication E-Frame and General Typhonius in his High-Speed Stealth E-Frame. Both are really good, well articulated figures to add to my Sean Napier figure. Alec came near complete with only two small red missiles missing (he even has his super easy to lose power cell) Typhonius wasn't so lucky as he was missing his one projectile, two purple side missiles, two weapons and cell but his frame was in good condition despite two snapped hand controls (I wish I asked more about him after thinking about it) Nonetheless, on a glance-over basis, he looks good for display purposes and I could always gradually find his parts the hard way.

DeLeon is the real show-stopper. He was the figure I wanted most as a kid but for some reason just didn't pick up. I only had the Napier and J.T. Marsh frames (why did I sell him? Stupid move) I love his green mech design with bullet chain, radar dish, Gatling gun, rotating transmitter and orange see through cockpit harness system. Also DeLeon had the headband and goggles look going on which was, in my opinion, bad ass. (Why I also loved my AT-ST driver and Low-Light figures) Exo Squad was such an innovative show and really portrayed an admirable effort at emulating the Japanese Space Operas but giving American audiences a slice of the Macross universe. Unfortunately, it didn't last because American children are stupid just like FireFly didn't last because American adults are stupid. Added bonus of this purchase was that the E-bay seller lived 20 minutes from me so my wife and I took a drive up the mountain to meet him at his ice-cream store...I got figures, the wife got ice cream...win-win. :)

Earlier in the week I found this little Transformers Universe Armada figure "Makeshift." Not an Armada collector at all but he was 2 bucks and a 4 year old figure so I jumped at him. Cool little minibot to put with my other Generations/Classics figures. I also like his Shockwave looking head as well.

About 6 weeks ago I started looking at Mini-Mates figures.. I've been building my Battle Beasts and giving more shelf space to my McDonalds Happy Meal guys so I am paying a lot more attention to the Diamond Select series. Also, it's just nice to be into some toy lines you actually can find in stores even though these guys are pretty much best accessible through BigBadToyStore. (just like everything) I just picked up the Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 set of Deadpool vs. Dante. Great set with 3 swords, 4 pistols and two well detailed, super articulated figures. Deadpool is one of my favorite Marvel characters and they did a great job with him. Dante has some great detailing on the face and coat as well. They look good with my Sentinel and Ryu set. Can't wait to get some of the newer Battle Beasts up there next to them later this year!

Last up where some G1 Transformers, I was able to find the Ricochet and Boomer Targetmasters to accompany the QuickMix figure I scored a few months back making him my first completed Targetmaster. These little guys are greatly detailed and have nice paint work on both of their legs, arms and faces, they connect to the sides of the Cement Mixer, Quickmix in alt more and can either stand alone as separate robots or be used as weapons for the bigger autobot or, better yet, combine to fore a double barreled gun! Great addition to my set...Quickmix needed quite a bit of cleaning when I got him (for a buck) and I also had him fitted with some brand new repro labels from Reprolabels.com along with his counterpart LandFill. They look great.

Also, I was able to score Huffer for 4 dollars/Free Shipping. This little Big Mouth Minibot was a great find with shiny chrome, practically new stickers and smooth, sturdy transformations. Nice little guy to add to the set who looks brand new. Couldn't believe he wasn't a re-issue.

Here is my latest wrap of toy headlines from around the camp-fire.

TOY HUNTERS is coming back on August 15 for 8 episodes, woot woot!

Transformers Masterpiece Collection is releasing some confirmed major fan favorites like Soundwave with Laserbeak (who can hold three cassettes!), Red Alert, and SideSwipe...I'm also hearing scuttlebutt about a cassette set and a minibot set. If you ever needed to hit the lottery, right?

There are a ton more photos floating around the interwebs of Beast Saga figures beyond the initial 12 or so we saw on BBTS preorder list.  Thanks a bunch to Battle Beasts News!  I will do nothing short of flying to Japan to get my hands on this collection.

 

Toys R Us is putting out exclusive Star Wars: Vintage Collection vehicle packs like Return of the Jedi packed AT-AT walker, Slave-1 and Speeder bike with tri-pod cannon and scout figure...no word of prices or pics but the speeder is supposedly marketing for 20 bucks which sounds like a great deal especially since it's going to be totally movie accurate in design, function and articulation. These are gonna be extremely limited at 30,000 pieces and hopefully by September...we'll be rid of those God-awful Phantom Menace figures.

Lego is making the most epic haunted house you could ever imagine...two words: Zombie Chef.  Seriously, if any of you knew me as a child...you'd understand why this sets a bit of a big deal for me.

                        

This video is old news but watch it again...you know you want to.  Sheer Lego awesome sauce.

Mechs, Rabbits and Gremlins, Oh My!

Let's move into some random but neat items I have laying about my toy room...cough cough, office. hehe.  I sold one of these items and another I'm currently selling so I'd like to get a few words in about them while I still have them around to talk about.   These are all great pieces from my childhood and they all got some quality play time over the years. 

First up is my Gremlins Stripe figure.  He was produced from LJN toys in 1984 in a wireframed bendy rendition in the same manner as their wrestling superstars figures that soon followed.  He was part of a limited release to tie in with the gremlins movie and I don't think any other "bendy" gremlins figures were ever released.  He (Gremlin form and Mogwai form) and Gizmo were all
released as well in classic action figure modes and Gizmo was made into various sized plush dolls as well. I remember not going anywhere without my Gizmo as a little kid and even had him on a shelf in college but I lost him in one of my moves (still have a mini one at my parents house though ) Stripe's a very accurate depiction with the cool mohawk, long fingers and nice paintjob and anything with Megatron's voice (Frank Welker) is badass. Gremlins always is a movie I can watch start to finish no matter what is happening, it works on so many levels that could draw kids in buy has lasting appeal for adults. I remember getting this on a bootleg VHS tape from my uncle with Dragon Slayer on before it, nice two pack. The Gremlin effects are superb and hilarious and despite them being little evil monsters, you end up rooting for them. It also has some pretty disturbing imagery for a film geared at little kids that was marketed as a Christmas, family, E.T. clone. (which it most certainly isn't) The violence (and Phoebe Cates' horrifying Santa story) pissed off so many parents that this and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are the double-handed reasons for the PG-13 rating's existance! This figure is shipping out on Monday so it was nice knowing ya!

Next up is a figure/vehicle set from the Exo-Squad line produced from Playmates in 1992. This one of the police E-Frame Mech with Shawn Napier driver figure above and with Arial Attack E-Frame with commander J.T. Marsh below.  This line was great. It had so many details and accessories and the molds and articulation was amazing. All of the sets came with a Frame of various size and a figure. Some came bigger like aircraft, tanks...some came with smaller stuff like rocket packs and standards came with mech suits called E-Frames. This was an extension of the Japanese Robotech line that carried into the states in various forms. Reminds me a little of the Transformers Macross Jetfire/Valkyrie figure Japan/US conversions. Each frame came with a little plastic crystal shard to power the suite, firing missiles or projectiles, action features on the suit itself, full articulation and moving parts to lock the figure in place as well as a mind-jack uplink cable that connects the figures head. The figure also was filly articulation in the manner of a GI Joe figure and included a weapon set of their own! Talk about fully loaded toys! The cartoon was on at random times so I only caught a few episodes but I remember them being really well animated and well written. I had this guy and JT Marsh (the commander) and got them both from K-Mart (thanks mom) but never got any more figures... I usually put them in with my Joes and just used them as future soldiers. If you can find these in complete form which is rare, pick them up there are a great toy line!

Last up is my absolute favorite figure from Playmates Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Line, Usagi Yojimbo "bodyguard rabbit".  Originally released as his own creation by Stan Sakai and 1987 comic series and gradually picked up into the animated series based comics through crossovers and featured on the animated series as a close companion to Leonardo, Usagi was just classic cool from top to bottom.  I love this figure, from the paint, expression, stance, accessories.  He is just a perfect action figure and a crowning achievement from Playmates Toys.  Pretty much anything that they produced was gold in the 90's.  They really did a great job translating animated properties into toys.  Their Toxic Crusaders toys and Dick Tracy figures  were superb as well all the way to the super colorful packaging and box art.   I plan to do more Turtles reviews and highlights of items I have since sold.  I tell you this, no matter what, Usagi isn't going anywhere.