Again, too much cool to count.

Hello again...It's been one hell of a summer.  Baby's growing, moved with a week to plan it during the only heatwave of the season, major change in monetary situation, sold everything off except my Joe's and Star Wars, got a second teaching license, waiting on word for another Social Studies job, went back to FedEx where I never thought I'd set foot again and luckily came to my senses and quit hastily.  Quit a bit happened sufficed to say.   Anyway...this isn't the life according to Mr. R's blog...this is about toys, movies and other inane things that a select few of us value.

Besides all that...quit a few nice developments in the realm of collectibles and figures occurred over the course of Q3.  Some disappointing as well.  Let's have at it.

The only figure I want from this whole line...

Hasbro...what the hell are you thinking...So black series is quite the literal mess as our favorite love-hate-hate toy company who loves shilling us another 10 bucks for the same guys on different cardbacks decided to not put proper glue on said cardbacks and we now have these crappy mostly reissues laying all over the floors of Targets and TRUs and Wal-Mar....oh wait...due to Hasbro deluging the market with the Phantom Menace Vintage Line that sat for 2 years, most Wal-Mart's aren't even carring Star Wars this year!  There's only one figure I want out of three waves of this series and I bet he'll be hard as hell to locate since he's wave three of a seemingly poorly selling collection...A yet unmade Nikto guard named Vizam...Finally a new OTC figure from Jabba's palace...c'mon Brock Starsher and Cane Adiss!  Remember the old BAD line when they went nuts making every random Cantina Patron they could find???  How in the name of Holy Hell can we still not be able to recreate the skiff crews from the Sarlaac Battle still?  These would be action figures who actually saw some action in the films too!  Even an update of Yak Face, Pote Snitkin, or Squid Head would be very welcome.

 Jabba-wise, also from Lego was a redesign of the Sail Barge with Ree-Yees, Weequay and Max Rebo included...not too bad.  For OTC lego fans, besides the upcoming Ewok Village this Christmas...you're in for a disappointment as there's only one troop builder set of Death Star Troopers for the Winter 2014 lineup...seems like a cool little Death Star Turbo Laser Station with 2 Royal Guards and 2 Death Squad Commanders. (no Imperial Gunner Lego-style yet, surprisingly) A real sketchy catalog leak was up a week ago but I think Lego corporate put the Kibosh on it.

I'd be so freaking pissed if this was on my doorstep

 

Then you had the Amazon debacle of the Vintage Collection Slave-1!  From being shipped without packing boxes, to missing pieces we saw quite a few unhappy campers but apparently Amazon was very cool about exchanges, credits and returns so all good?  Amazon also has an exclusive T.I.E. Interceptor out there as well.  There's a TRU exclusive Bigg's X-Wing fighter floating around as well as an upcoming Ewok Catapult K-Mart Exclusive packed with two more yet unmade ewoks (can't find out their names...I looked up and down and they apparently are based on 2 unnamed ewoks who were loading the catapult in the scene from Jedi) as well as a Vintage packed ROTJ AT-AT vehicle priced at a reasonable 130.00.

Preordered him within minutes!

Love this guy! (Why did Kenner never make these fellas? or Rebel Troopers? or Grand Moff Tarkin?)

Beyond some flubs, I laud the new 6 inch Black Series as I look at my awesome Sandtrooper on my desk.  I pre-ordered the wave two Boba Fett as well (who jumped to the number 4 top selling toy on Amazon in a day!...he's at 95 now, boo)...debated moving for the Han or Luke or if I'll just stick with Imperials.  Nice poseablility, great paint applique and detail I very much enjoy studying on a grander scale. Apparently they are developing a Scout and Speeder Bike for this line for Q2 2014...Something to very much look forward to.  Made me look at the vintage 12" Boba Fett for a while on ebay.  Speaking of, tried my damnedest to snag the Boba/Han SDCC exclusive off Hasbro Toy Shop.com but didn't even come close before the vultures snagged em all and put em up at 100+ a pop.

Looks great with my other favorites!

Never though Fort Max could be outsized...

One SDCC exclusive I did snag (at a great price on top of a great price) was the TRU exclusive Masterpiece Soundwave with 5 cassettes including Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak (easily worth 100 just for the cassettes)...Too much value to count compiled on a 15% off promotion put him at 108 bucks even for the whole sha-bang.  I was able to find this quick-to-sell-out beauty on the last day of the sale after letting on pass me by earlier in the week...gotta say, I love these Masterpieces and may be only looking at these guys, third parties and gestalts from now on.  Stuff I can buy current without having to kitbash vintage stuff.  Already ordered a KO MP SideSwipe for 37 bucks...Can't go wrong for that price and am looking forward to the "Afterhours" as I dubbed him, MP-10 KO Prime in the works later this month.  

Even for KO, they don't come cheap...this guy is listed at 230 and the combiners are 100 a piece.

On top of this I'm seeing the price on anime Devastator dropping to 67 bucks on Amazon, Fort Max Encore to less than 310 and you have that amazing Titan Class Metroplex hitting stores and on-line retailers on top of the too good a deal to pass on of Platinum Predaking Reissue Amazon / BigBadToyStore Exclusive (watch Amazon since they are apparently pullling the Slave-1 shipping switcharoo on buyers...order as a gift to ensure a packing box) .   Referring to KO's, if your in the market and missed out on some later G1 Series biggies Zhong Jin has released this trio of Scorponok, Abonimus and Computron, all have been floating around ioffer lately.  Can't stress enough how much I want the Fans-Toys 03 Quake Wave (Shockwave masterpiece figure)...looks absolutely great and a perfect high quality G1 rendition.

Icing on this cake is the late late late release of the original Kenner Alien action figures which have surfaced on entertainment earth and bbts from Super7 toy company.  If you are a fan of Alien(s) particularly Space Marines, slated for release in November is a helmeted Hicks vs exploding xenomorph 2 pack from Neca. 

If you missed out on the original vintage G.I. Joe Tomahawk (A pinnacle vehicle from the collection)  you can get the re-release for about 40 or so bucks in a teeny-tiny box...seriously different from the old-school ARAH boxes. Now it's the Eaglehawk and man, there are some real differences...HUD and control panels in the cockpit, a crank for the wench, removable engine panels, more detail on the door guns, rotors and propellers (which also fold back for easier storage)...Gotta hand it to Hasbro on this one!

For all you Vintage Turtle fans, announced today was the news that the classic collection was snagged as a TRU exclusive with more to come along the lines of the 1990 likenesses from the movie as well as a new Retro collection included Don, Mike, Leo, Raph, Shedder, Splinter, Foot Soldier and Kraang along with the Party Wagon...at 2013 prices alas.  They are up for 12.99 each pre-order on TRU's website along with a steeeeply priced 59.99 Party Wagon which excites the retro fan in me but infuriates the consumer in me simultaneously.  Honest to God, I sold a carded 1988 Donatello on ebay for 20.00  and a set of the first four years of complete figures with cardbacks for 150.00 so if you are in the market for vintage you may want to go with actual vintage.  I remember seeing them on K-Mart's clearance rack in the 90's for 1.99 a figure!  How times have changed and I call bullshit on the fact they know they are shilling collectors like us  who are the target market in buying the same stuff we had as kids... Christ, I could get a ACTUAL retro Party Wagon from 1989 for that price and since the pretty much exact same modern Shellraiser goes for 22.99 at Target today, I wonder what the whole 40 dollar mark up is about.

So, any readers share my interest in any of this? What's on your wish lists this holiday season?  Think the Party Wagon ISN'T overpriced?  Sound off in the comments!

Everything Must go Sale!

Selling a ton of my collection to downsize, create space and generate some scratch for the summer.  Check my ebay profile or the sidebar for some nice vintage and modern items.

League Assignment: Eye spy something...

GREEN!!!!

...That is all


Hello again folks!

Simple but says it.  Wanted to get this done earlier but I'll just say to everyone who already put group shots up; imitation is the highest form of flattery...and plagiarism. :)

As you see throughout the scene, I incorporated quite a few individuals I had sitting around in the toy room who met this week's strict criteria, let's take a look:

 My wife's Glow-worm is prominently displayed. 

Sy Snoodles and Greedo are representing some vintage Kenner love. 

 Alec DeLeon is standing guard in his green E-Frame. 

Transformers got a healthy showing  with the Constructicons, Brawl, Classics Hound and Reissue Hoist. 

The Slaughter's Marauders, Sci Fi, Wild Bill and Footloose are rocking out in the Equalizer with the PAC/RATs for backup...all they found was a lone Cobra safety cone.

 A solitary Toad Storm Trooper lingers in the rear. 

The green Battle Beasts are ready.  

Couldn't be a green page without some Ninja Turtles...Genghis Frog and Muckman jumped in the shot at the last second.

My lone Hero Quest orc is just milling about.

Kermit can safely say it is pretty damn easy bein' green!

Infinite-Hollywood-Time is sporting the St Paddy colors in his figure menagerie!

Shezcrafti is all turtles all the time!

Caught some Tendril action over at the GREEN plastic squirt gun, bonus points for having green in his blog title!!!

The Dork Horde's Lair is looking at the coolest, M.U.S.C.L.E. inspired, green Zombies ever made.

You won't like Brian at Cool and Collected when he's angry!

Weekly reviews! 2012 TMNT figures and Avengers Minimates!

I made a couple quality purchases this week that didn't require checking my mail, tirelessly browsing Ebay or having to access my Paypal account!  These last 2 weeks actually had me going to a Toys R Us and finding something worth buying twice!  Actually, there was a third time as I actually had a Fall of Cybertron Shockwave in my hand and I put it down...big regret there since that line seems like it's going to be rare as hell.  Additionally, I finally broke down and ordered two of my long overdue Star Wars Vintage Collection figures. (got them both for 20 bucks with shipping included...score!)   Very soon, a Luke in Hoth Gear and Wedge Antilles will be getting their 7 month late reviews! 

Do the new Tutles measure up??? Let's find out.

But as for the two things I DID get, they were some nice ones.  I got what appeared to be the last set of Minimates Avengers that any local TRU seems to be carrying and the 2 pack was of Hawkeye and Black Widow, the two lesser popularly known members of the Avengers Initiative from the blockbuster summer film.  I also managed to find two of my favorite Ninjas, Leonardo and Donatello, from the quickly selling Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line by Playmates.  They will get a bit more attention in this post as seeing an honest to God TMNT display with proper attention paid to it instantly rocketed me back to 1989 and it's been a long, long while since I was so excited to buy a toy.

Some fine packaging houses these two great figures.

Black widow comes packed with functioning holsters

Hawkeye's got an alternate face and working quiver

The Minimates were super cool.  The pair came packaged in a Toys R Us exclusive box with nice illustrations of the Avengers team on the peg flap and two Minimate illustrations of the individual characters on the bottom corners.  The flip side of the box has a nice shot of the entire Avengers Collection. (Wish I could find the Iron Man, Hulk, Captain and Thor sets) They were very well produced figures with super detailed costume art on their body parts with nice hair attachments.  Black Widow comes with a twin set of handguns and Hawkeye comes with 3 arrows and a bow.  Whats really cool about his weapons is that his arrows can fit in his quiver and the one he's holding has a slot to fit into his bow to make some nice poses.  He also comes with two interchangeable heads; one with goggles, one without.  My only gripe is that with most Minimates and it pertains to their ability to stand.  I wish they all either had bigger feet (a la the Sentinel) or got clear plastic stands (a la Ryu) since most of these will be sold to a collectors market.  Overall, nice purchase.  If  you like comics, get 'em.  If you like the Avengers, get 'em.  If you like toys, get 'em!

 Ahhh... so nice to see Playmates has still got the touch!

I did like the packaging a lot more on the old figures though with the triptych of our hero or villain springing across the cardback.

They even have a nice little fold out "collection guide"...totally threw me back to the old Kenner Books you would get in a vehicles or playset!

Onto the star of the show today. That's right, my reboot Ninja Turtles! Thanks to Shezcrafti for posting that new theme song footage which I thought of the entire ride to TRU on Thursday. I already stopped at one location to find the shelves swept clean. I was pissed off but a little happy that these guys are getting an enthusiastic response. I saw that they had all four turtles, Splinter, April and Kraang. Kraang looks bad ass btw. April and Splinter don't thrill me. I didn't want to go hog wild so I paced myself and grabbed Leo and Don. Got em home, admired the packaging for a while and opened them up the next day. The packaging has nice artwork supporting the up and coming series with your rank and file stat card on the back and your "Collect em all" display of the series 1 Turtles figures. I tell you, this whole thing is just great. I'll say again, it had Birthday, Christmas morning, and trips to K-Mart with my mom memories pouring into my consciousness. (and really, it was just a great feeling to finally have a toy line available in stores to be psyched about again)

Lookin bad ass as per usual!

Weapons fit nicely into place.

These figures are actually really well made.  They are finely detailed with little battle scars on their undersides and shells.  Their bodies are made of a softer plastic while their shells are hard. They have 11 points of articulation and have balljointed necks, shoulders, elbows, groins and knees. There are fine paint detailing on their leg, knew and elbow wraps as well as little gold touches on their buckles on their weapon harnesses which fit snugly into place.  Their weapon kits are beautifully sculpted with actually variance to their weapons instead of the same set each figure got on the Gen 1 Playmates figures.  (Don get a Naginata,  San Setsu Kon Nunchaku and two large disk shaped Shuriken...Leo gets three 8-pointed Shuriken's  pointed, a tang dagger, an additional katana and a set of 3 kunai knives.  I like how the weapon kits match the skill set of the specific turtle as well.

You get some amazingly detailed and varied weapons here next to the 80's set on the left

                

                     I Always wanted Leonardo to be able to do that!

              

Both editions have their strong points but I'm really liking these new guys a lot

I love that they kept the original look of the faces on the turtles with the opaque white eyes following the original toys and the Laird/Eastman comics.  Never liked the pupils on the Toon Turtles...it just made them look goofy. (Wish they made red bandanna variants)  They are very stylized with big, sturdy feet (3 toes this time!) over large calves and forearms in a caricatured manner.  Their faces are badass but I did notice two griping points.  The first being that they are nowhere near as detailed or dark as their prototypes are on the leaked production photos. Also, I was under the impression that their weapons were going to be in color (detailed on the bo grip, the sword grips, the chain on Mikey's nunchucks, etc.) Here they are only solid plastic in their mold color.  All in all they are tiny gripes and the positives way outshine the negatives.  I like the variant in each turtles skin (although not nearly as dark as the classic G1 Turtles as you can see in the compare shot)  Also, you cannot remove their belts unlike their earlier versions. I never liked that about the old ones so that works for me.  Gone are the "L", "D", "M" and "R" buckles as well.  Again, works for me.  They are super textured with muscles flexed, grit on their hides and folds in their wrappings.  All in all, totally worth the buy and I cannot wait to get the other two and a Foot Soldier!

Sweet Ride!

To respond to a topic posted by a much respected and frequently read fellow blogger, cool and collected, I'm focusing on the question, "besides the Batmobile, what is the coolest ride cruising the streets of pop culture?" I really had to do some serious thinking about this. Besides the caped crusader's ride (of which I have a picture of myself sitting in the original Adam West version at a car show) there are some real obvious choices. You have the Delorean, the Ecto-1, any Transformer, any car from the 70's-80's which stood in as the trusted steed for the new breed of lawmen or lawbreaker, hell...does the TARDIS count?


What I wanted to do was pick some road vehicles that not only stood out to me over my formative years but also would be one's that are iconic but may be off our immediate radar. They are from a few varied properties in animated, toy or film formats. These are in no discernible order besides that fact that they all are undeniably sweet-ass rides.

First, we have the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Foot Cruiser. Holy hell, this is a beauty! Everything about this particular vehicle just screams quality. In fact, almost all of the major TMNT vehicles were high quality, amazingly designed pieces. It retained such a spot on look from the animated property (which Playmates Toys did with expert levels of craft) and had such vibrant colors and accessories, it was simply a feast for any child's eyes to behold. Many people would prefer the Turtle Van (a great vehicle in its' own right) however I think this selection takes the cake for ground vehicles... In fact, the Foot Clan did seem to get the cooler stuff, from the Technodrome (In my opinion, one of the top 5 playsets ever produced) to the Mutant Module.

Mad Max's Interceptor. Starting out as an Australian exclusive 1973 GT Ford Falcone Coup, this car has totally stood the test of time as a vehicle synonymous with utmost badassery. *technical term* I remember liking this car from the first time seeing it on TV before I could comprehend what the hell I was watching. From toddler size, I knew this car demanded respect. Honestly, in the Road Warrior I tend to get a little antsy with some of the dialogue and acting but the car (as well as costume design and most of the other vehicles) always managed to keep my attention. This is a production where the car is just as much a character as our protagonist. It might not talk like KITT but it definitely has a vibrant personality all its own.

The Dreadnok "Thunder Machine". Apparently some people at Hasbro thought the same thing about Mad Max as I did because this beastie looks like it could have been riding the wasteland scrapping for fuel. From the armor plating to the awesome bullet chain firing Gatling guns, this is a serious piece of Cobra Machinery. Couple that with some sweet Cobra red and blue and you got a stew goin'! Never owned this puppy, but some day it will mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

"We've got nukes! We've got knives!"

Honorable Mention: Okay, this doesn't technically count as a car per se but it does have wheels and travels the road.... well the roads of colony LV-426. That's right, the USCM M557 APC. Giant wheels? check. Huge cannons? Check. Dropship compatibility? Check! Many a drawing of mine from grades 5 through 8 (the "Aliens years" for me) were spent centered around this military vehicle as well as SMART guns, xenomorphs, the USS Sulaco, Dropships and all things related. Always wanted one in toy form but it never was to be...kind of bizarre really that this has not been immortalized in plastic.

And for really off the grid stuff that pretty much doesn't have a chance of counting besides the fact that it's wheeled. The Skynet Ground Hunter Killer... shoots lasers, crushes skulls, looks how the Transformers should have looked in a live action movie instead of whirling pieces of garbage. Could have been Johnny 5's deranged half-brother. 'Nuff said. 

Check out  FLYWHEELS's post  for a great Transformer pick!

Stop by the Dork Horde's Lair to see some fine work featuring the Duke's of Hazzard, General Lee!

So much catching up! So much coming up!

One corner of the room which has since been updated

Since I've just recently moved into bigger digs to start the married life which is great (both of these things) I've just now began revitalizing my hobby of toy collecting which has long been placed on moratorium due to living quarters restraints.  That said, I have to do a lot of back collecting on lines I've missed out on as well as gearing up to grab stuff while it's on the actual store shelves. This is not as easy as it sounds since Toys R Us and Wal-Mart restock their items once a decade if they get new items at all.  (side note: I've stopped at TRU on a weekly basis since August and only have ever had one time where I've gotten anything  and I'm yet to see a single figure from the last 2 waves of original trilogy guys, thank you for the three Phantom Menace and Clone Wars lines we now have clogging those racks for a quarter of the year...honestly, how many Qui-Gon Jinns or Naboo guards can you possibly need on a rack?)   Wal-Mart can be pleasantly surprising since I've been able to randomly find most of my store-bought Vintage Collection figures as well as my 30th anniversary GI Joe guys.  I was able, after many, many months, to find Ponda Baba, Echo Base Hoth Soldier and Lando Sandstorm figures and these were all lucky Wal-Mart finds which can be seen below.

Anyway, I'm constantly challenged with the task of arranging and rearranging the small room I'm working out of due to the ever changing size of my collection which is pretty remarkable since it started as one single shelf on the wall.  I'm sure that's how it starts for a lot of us.  These next couple of months, particularly May and September, are going to be tough considering the Star Wars vintage line is finally coming back with some great additions like Luke in Hoth Gear, Grand Moff Tarkin, Kithaba, Imperial Naval Trooper and Dr Evazan and a ton of Fall releases like the Emperor's guard, Nien Numb, Weequay and Nikto as well as re-releasing some of the super hard to get guys from previous waves like the Gamorrean Guard and Wedge Antilles.  Not only that but we have two brand new lines hitting the shelves come September in the newly announced Takara remakes of the Battle Beasts (named Beast Saga) on top of the previously announced Diamond Select Minimate Battle Beasts to coincide with the upcoming IDW comics!!!  Also, (old news) there's a rehash of the classic Ninja Turtles in an 8 figure first wave and they look absolutely fabulous as well a great rendition of the Party Wagon and Sewer Playset coming this Fall.  The Turtles and Takara Beasts are all up for pre-order on BigBadToyStore and I'm doing everything in my power to not impulse reserve anything let along everything. 


Two upcoming TVC figures I'm psyched to see!

Battle Beasts, where you been all my life???

At least nothing that must-have is charted for release in the video game world it seems besides Bioshock: Infinite  however we just had a Shigeru Miyamoto announcement of apparently a new New Super Mario Bros game too.  Speaking of which, Fez came out this week for X-live arcade  and I managed to play a few minutes of the demo last night and it shows some very nice promise.  It's a good time to be an indoor kid.  I just wished I had this space to work with even up to a year ago so I could have bought the Transformers: Generations of first waves of Modern Joes at retail instead of getting everything on the much pricier after-market.  I keep finding myself looking into the other various collections like Hasbro's Bucky O'Hare, NECA's Turtles,  Playmates' Dick Tracy, Kenner's Mega Force and Palisades' (since closed awesome toy company) Invader Zim figures and doing what I can not to start up yet another toy line.  Man, self-control is for suckers!

If you weren't into the Ninja Turtles before, now's a good time to start!