Random Toy Reviews

I'm a television star!

2012-01-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

I got my 7 minutes in the spotlight tonight. The local CBS station in Charlotte aired my story of my Transformers toy collection. Since I've mention it here before I thought I'd share the video from the broadcast now that it has aired. I'm happy with it - they didn't make me look like the dork that I really am!

Carolina Camera, Jan. 2012 - Part 4

How many toys does he have?

2012-01-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier the local television station came and interviewed me and my Transformers collection for a program called Carolina Camera. I'm still not sure as to when the episode will air, but it looks like they eventually post the segments either on their website or on their YouTube channel.

I'm really floored that they chose me to feature as my collection pails in comparison to some that I've seen. I'm glad I was chosen however because it really lit a fire underneath me to finally get my toy room completed. After I was initially contacted about the program I started to work in my often neglected room. Soon after my wife asked me to move my video games and such from downstairs to make room for our kids to have a playroom. There was no way I was going to fit my TV, game consoles and arcade machine into my already crowded toy room. That meant having to move my toy room to the empty room next door. The room was bigger, but now I had more stuff to put in the room. After months and months of work I have finally finished just in time for the filming of the Carolina Camera episode.

Since the episode segment focuses on my Transformers collection and I have much more than that I wanted to show off the rest of the room that wasn't part of the filming. I'm really happy to have a functional room where I can kick back at the end of the day and enjoy myself...whether that be working on my laptop, playing a game or reviewing one of the many toys I have. So I invite you to take a few moments and scroll down (or watch the short video) and check out the fruits of my labor.

We'll start with the IKEA cabinet full of Japanese exclusive G1 Transformers. Most of these toys are complete with original packaging, but due to space restraints those boxes are stored away in the closet. In my haste of snapping pictures I forgot to snap one of the crowded closet.

I thought the G1 Legends fit in good scale wise with Fort Max.

Headmasters and Beastformers! Metalhawk was one of the first vintage Japanese G1 TFs I acquired when I started collecting again.

Vintage Star Convoy representing! I have the reissue, but it wasn't good enough for me so I had to track down the real deal. Road Caesar is another vintage figure I've had for a long time. Not my favorite, but he does have his own unique charm. Sonic Bomber is a small brick, but one of my favorite G1 toys. Notice the red Hot Spot? He's from the ever elusive Guard City giftset. I got him in a lot on Yahoo! Japan auctions years ago...same goes for the combiner part-less Sixwing Micromasters.

This is one of my favorite shelves in the cabinet. I traded away my 2006 Botcon Darksyde Megatron for Blackzarak (plus some cash). I'll never touch him again nor will I ever transform him due to GPS. Mine has a small break on the underside of one foot that has been repaired so I feel fortunate that is all the GPS he suffers from. Dinoking hands down is my holy grail. I pieced the set together over several years. He is 99% complete - I think I'm missing the paperwork for Kokuryu.

Overlord still isn't 100% complete, but I'm working on it. Like Dinoking above, I pieced together my Liokaiser as well. Still missing the boxes for Gaihawk and Jargua. The Darkwings giftset is my "newest" addition to the Japanese collection.

The rest of this wall is lined with track shelving housing the majority of my Transformers collection. We'll start off with the G1 Autobot shelf. The pictures of these shelves are going left to right. Dinobot Grimlock is one of the few toys I still have from my childhood.

Even though the Guardian robot is a simple repaint of Omega Supreme I still can't get over how lovely it looks.

1987 is about the time I started to loose interest as a kid. I think I hit that time in a kid's life were I became "too cool for toys". I believe the Monsterbot Grotusque was the only toy in this picture I had as a kid.

I loved the G1 Pretender toys long before that became socially acceptable and collected by other fans. The smaller Pretenders like Pincher and Longtooth are favorites of mine.

Now we'll take a look at the G1 Decepticon shelf. This particular section of the shelf is a little sparse. I was hoping to get the other '84/'85 'bots...but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

I like how the third party Quintessons blend so seemlessly. Bruticus there in the back is sporting his new cartoon accurate reprolabels.

Still need to pick up the last few Abominus combiner parts for the Terrorcons.

picked up Misfire at a small toy shop in the Netherlands years ago while on a missions trip, but I never had any of the other Decepticon Targetmasters until a year or so ago.

Ultra Pretender Roadblock is another one that can suffer from GPS, but thankfully mine is a-ok.

I didn't have room for the Micromasters on the appropriate shelves below so they start off the next shelf.

I would have loved to set up the different playsets in a city like way, but again just not enough space. The Autobot Battlefield HQ to the right was a Botcon 2007 purchase years ago for the low low price of $50. I already had purchased an empty box for $10 earlier so I was thrilled to find the toy for such a great deal.

Before we get to the G2 toys I thought I would lead in with the European exclusive "G1.5" toys. I particularly love the Turbomaster toys and the neon translucent Sparkabots are awesome. Ironfist is another favorite of mine.

Call me crazy but my favorites in this picture are the neon Firecons! I can't tell you how long I searched for those two little guys. I also love the Powermaster Staxx (at least in truck mode) and I'm starting to enjoy Action Masters again. Take-Off and Firebeast are high on the list right now.

I started to run out of room towards the end of the shelf so the G2 stuff is a little jumbled, but it's all out and viewable! Yes, that is a fully intact and complete Laser Rod Electro in the back!

Next shelf is for the modern versions of the G1 characters. Classics, Henkei!, Generations, United, Reveal the Shield stuff. Speaking of Henkei! I'm so glad I purchased the majority of the stuff as it was released because secondary market prices for some of these have gotten a bit crazy!

I forgot to put the new HeadRobot head on Hardhead before snapping these pictures.

1986 movie characters.

Third party toys in full force here! Fans Project "Insecticons and Bruticus".

I have the HeadRobots Blood upgrade kit for Bludgeon, but I stripped his tiny screws on the back of the head trying to swap the heads! Oh well, at least he has a big shiny katana to wield now.

This section is what I refer to as my G2 Redux shelf. Hubcap is there because I plan to pick up the G2 reprolabel set.

I simply love the Botcon exclusive Double Punch toy. What a fantastic upgrade. Skyfall back there is sporting the awesome Renderform custom head.

Next we come to glorious Transformers Animated toys.

Even the Legends size Animated toys are great!

I only have one Japanese Animated toy - Hot Rod - don't ask why.

The 2011 Botcon Animated Stunticons finish off the shelf.

The next few shelves are smaller groups from various series. Here we have the Takara reissue Micromaster combiners. All the chase versions are here too if you can't see them. The Berserker SixWing took me the longest to complete, but the Rage SixTrain is my favorite.

Japanese Robot Masters. I love this line - great mix of older molds and new molds. The LioConvoy mold is a thing of beauty.

Next up is the Unicron trilogy toys - Armada, Energon & Cybertron. Before I had to move my room I had far more of these toys. I'm happy that this move forced me to slim this part of the collection down as I'm left with my favorites. See Armada "super pants Prime" holding 4 different Star Sabers?

Forgot that I crammed in my small Car Robots/RID collection in here at the end.

The very top shelf houses my Beast Wars collection. Beast Wars is one of the lines that helped draw me back into collecting TFs again.

Mixed in are 'bots from Beasts Wars II and Beast Wars Neo from Japan.

Finally on the end of this short shelf we have the complete Machine Wars line.

On the end of the room are two book cases and my video game console collection. The book shelves house miscellaneous Transformers and other toys.

Brave Max looks so much better with weapons in hand.

The Amazon.com exclusive Unicron simply blows the Armada version out of the water. I'm so glad I swapped the Armada version out for this one.

Power Core Combiners. If it weren't for the Mini-Cons I'm not sure if I would've bought so many of these...although some of the molds like Heavytread and Undertow are quite excellent.

Not sure what happened to the focus here. This is my "Universe" shelf of sorts containing Henkei! exclusive figures (Ghost Starscream & Thundercracker) as well as OTFCC exclusive mini-bots (Glyph & Tap-Out) and other random TFs.

I was a big fan of Alternators, but several were casualties of my new space restraints. It's OK though as I love the Alternity scale a little better. Thundercracker front and center here is amazing. I threw in the oversized G2 Optimus Prime since the Alternators/Alternity cars fit inside his trailer.

e-Hobby exclusives and S.F.C. PVC figures. Favorites here include Nucleon Quest Ginrai and the Hauler (or is it Road Hauler?).

This shelf was empty minus my 3 Prime toys prior to the film crew coming. I just grabbed a few random Dark of the Moon toys and toss them on the shelf to fill it up.

Another "Universe" like shelf. Highlights here are the OTFCC exclusive Megazarak, Sentinel Maximus & Sunstreaker and canceled movie Reverb (green helicopter).

I had new shelves made to squeeze into the bookshelves to house my Mini-Con/Micron collection. Highlights here include the Megalo & all white Microns.

The shelf from above continued.

The next section of Mini-Cons/Microns.

The T-Rexs had to sit so they wouldn't constantly take nose dives off the shelf!

Here we have one of the favorite parts of my TF collection - Spychangers! Blame it on my love of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars growing up.

I have 2 other Dairycon exclusive Spychangers that I forgot to pull out when I was setting this shelf.

Behind each mold here are the different variations. I have both the Car Robots and RID versions along with the different translucent KB Toys versions. The Takara Super Spychangers are also mixed in. Only thing I'm still searching for are the clear translucent chase versions of the Super Spychangers - I have two of the 6.

The next shelf is a mixture of the remaining Mini-Cons/Microns and Spychangers. I tossed in a few basic/scout sized toys across the back because I didn't have anywhere to put them.

The CD-ROM versions of Beast Wars Convobat and Megalligator were my very first Botcon purchase back in 2001.

The bottom shelf of each bookcase are the only non-TFs displayed here. I love Go-Bots and their Japanese Machine Robo counterparts. Rock Lords however take the cake. Say what you will about transforming rocks, but I think they are awesome.

Still looking for a few Rock Lords, but most of them are hard to find (i.e. expensive) now.

The large train robot is the lone toy I have from my Brave collection. His name escapes me. Highlights on the shelf though are the 2 Rock Lords Narlies - Narliebat and Narlielion. These two guys are near impossible to find these days.

My one and only AFA graded G1 TF - my namesake Flywheels. He was a generous gift from a friend and fellow blogger who runs Mostly Transformers Redux.

On the very bottom are a few Monsterous Go-Bots, Machine Robo Capsule toys from Japan and 4 often never heard of die-cast robots from a line called Converters by Select Toys.

These next few pictures are of the white modular furniture that houses my TV and video game console collection. I like the functionality of the furniture because it gives me lots of cubes to store and display items.

I got these 5 oversized hardcover IDW Transformers books for Christmas. I can't wait to sit down and read them all...some of the issues for the first time.

I don't have a lot of room now to display the few G.I. Joe vehicles I have. Here you have the Pursuit of Cobra Rage and a custom made Cobra helicopter. I made this a few years ago from a cheap Corps! helicopter I found at Walmart.

Cobra H.I.S.S. Tanks unite!

I just recently opened up this awesome Hummer vehicle from the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra line. I had no idea just how cool and detailed it was. The blue vehicle is the original G.I. Joe A.P.C. from 1984. I customized it for my Cobra troops and it's a highlight of my small Joe collection.

I have most of the Cobra figures from the 25th Anniversary line. I bought Star Cases for all of them and displayed them on the wall in a wallpaper like fashion.

A couple of comic posters for good measure. I particularly love the New Warriors poster as it was one of the first comics I read in the early 90's.

This black rack is actually an old cassette rack that my dad made for me YEARS ago. I painted it black after realizing it was the perfect size to display some of my Joe figures.

The G.I. Joe poster is a 2004 Joe Con exclusive with art by Tim Seeley.

Rock 'n Roll and Scarlett were two of my favorite Joe characters. I was lucky enough years ago to find the hard to find Japanese versions still sealed. Being a big Transformers fan I love the idea that Takara had a hand in G.I. Joe toys being brought to Japan. Too bad the eastern kids over there didn't care for the military toys.

With the beginning of the Pursuit of Cobra and 30th Anniversary G.I. Joe lines I dropped the cases to save money. They still look really nice on the wall. The little HeadRobots head is called Snake - a tribute to the old cartoon episode where Cobra Commander shows up in Transformers.

Original artwork by Mark Brooks (Ms. Marvel) & Cully Hamner (Firestar) obtained locally during a Free Comic Book Day event. The Transformers prints below the comic art are Botcon exclusive prints from Genesis art book.

More original comic art by Mark Brooks (Nikki from Guardians of the Galaxy & Diamondback from Captain America) and Tom Lyle (Scarlet Spider).

More Pursuit of Cobra figures.

30th Anniversary G.I. Joe figures.

A few Atlanta Braves things hung on the wall behind the door.

This huge rack has all the video games for my various consoles. Consoles include Nintendo NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System, PC Engine, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Mega Drive, Super Nintendo, Super Famicom, Sega Saturn, Sega Saturn (JPN), Playstation, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360.

Various TF and video game related busts & action figures.

Above the arcade cabinet is my Masters of the Universe Classics collection. When editing the photo I cut off by accident the top shelf w/ the Masters figures.

I forgot to photograph the small white bookshelf beside the arcade cabinet. I have my Marvel Universe, Thundercats (both modern and vintage) and my Masters of the Universe 200X collection displayed.

The arcade machine itself was a wedding present from my awesome wife when we were married on New Year's Day many many years ago.

So there you have it. A quick tour around my new and improved toy room and a look at my Transformers collection. If you happen to spot a figure in one of the pictures that you'd like to see here on the blog in a toy review please let me know. I hope to provide more real content here in the near future now that all of my toys have been opened and displayed properly. Thanks everyone!

Video Review: iGear Mini Warriors Spray & Rager

2012-01-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

Taking a different approach to my normal format for toy reviews - 2 video reviews for iGear's first two Mini Warriors - Spray & Rager.

Quick recap. Buy them! You won't be disappointed!

You're invited to take a 3 minute virtual tour of my collection

2012-01-11T16:07:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a week or so ago that my Transformers collection was going to be featured on a local news program. Well the producer and film crew stopped by the other day to record. I'm still not sure at this time when the episode of Carolina Camera will air on local television, but when I know I'll post the details here. Hopefully they'll put the segment online too so I can share.

Since the story is focusing on my Transformers collection the rest of my newly finished room was not videoed, I wanted to still be able to share the rest of the room with others. I grabbed our Flip camera and shot a quick video. You'll only waste 3 minutes of your life so go ahead and push the play button. I also have a LOT of still photos of the room including my entire Transformers collection that I'll share once I finish editing them all. So for now enjoy the quick virtual tour of my room I hang out in nearly everyday.

Anyone want RID Optimus Prime hanging on your Christmas tree next year?

2012-01-04T16:26:00.000-05:00

While preparing my room for next week's interview/filming I ran across a small bag with some Christmas ornaments/lights. Sometime after I was married my wife found a set of RID themed Transformers Christmas ornaments/lights and bought for me. I think I only used them once or twice before being told we had a unified color theme for the tree (pre-kids I might add - now the tree is full of everything!).

Optimus is hollow and has a hole in the top of his head allowing for a light bulb to be plugged in. The plastic is very light and translucent. The ornament is about the size of a current Scout class figure. Unless you are using LED lights they don't light up the entire ornament sadly. Overall it's a neat little novelty item, but one that I no longer have a need for. I'll be putting up all 4 for cheap on Crave soon so if you must have these on your tree next year here is your chance!

Lights, Camera, Action!

2011-12-31T16:00:00.001-05:00

I just got notice a few days ago that the local CBS news affiliate wants to interview me and film my Transformers collection. My mom put in a word for me with a producer from the local channel for a program called Carolina Camera. I talked to the producer a few times back in late summer. I wasn't sure if it was going to go anywhere, but now I know. I've got a reporter and a film crew coming over on Tuesday, January 10th.

Now I've just got to finish getting the final touches done to my new hobby room and make sure everything looks "camera ready". That said I probably won't be doing much in the way of reviews until after filming has been completed. I do have several things in the pipeline to share, but those will have to wait. I'll try to keep everyone (who cares) updated. It looks like they put some of the episodes online so I'll make sure to provide a link if that happens.

I of course hope to share my own pictures and maybe even some video of the room after it's completion. I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Machine Robo Mugenbine - Carryeagle "Lucky Draw"

2011-12-30T14:00:00.001-05:00

You may be familiar with the term "Lucky Draw" if you collection Japanese toys. From what I know the term coined thanks in part to contests that people could enter to win one of usually only a few special toys. Takara did this a lot with various series of Transformers.

In late 2003 Bandai continued the current re-imagining of the Machine Robo brand with the creation of Mugenbine. By the time 2005 had come around Bandai had created a figure for just about every letter in the alphabet. Through the company's official website (http://www.mr-club.jp) you could somehow enter a contest for several different limited toys. One of which was Mugen General 3. The toy is comprised of Airleon, Buildgiraffet and Carryeagle and each figure was made in a chrome like silver. From what I could gather off the website at the time only 3 sets were made. Years ago when I was crazy about Mugenbine I ran across an auction for this silver "Lucky Draw" Carryeagle and I could resist the opportunity at adding such a limited toy to my collection. Because of it's limited nature I'm a little leary handling the figure much, but since I had to move my toy room I decided to do a proper post on this awesome rarely seen figure.

The box is rather boring being a plain white box with a black and white label. The box is the same size as the majority of the 'alphabet' series toys.

Inside the plain white box you'll find a plastic tray containing all the shiny chrome parts including the clear translucent Mugenroid figure.

The only paint apps on the figure is the lime green used for the eye visor. The rest of the Mugenroid is entirely made of clear plastic.

The set came with it's own sticker sheet and other than the colors being different from the one included with the normal release of Carryeagle they are the same. I of course had or have no intention of ever using these however.

There aren't any real changes to the toy other than the silver chrome so I'll just share a few pictures of each mode. We'll start with the animal mode:

I was never too fond of the eagle mode. The large wheel sections that double as the feet are just too big for my tastes. You can tell that Carryeagle was one of the early Mugenbine releases as the modes got much better with subsequent releases.

The dump truck mode is by far my favorite. Being a big Transformers fan I would have loved to see this set released in neon green and purple! You can see in both modes here that some of the Bine parts aren't chromed. The silver pieces does have a metallic look, but overall it's more flat than shiny. Surprisingly they fit in well overall with the silver chrome and the translucent Mugenroid.

Carryeagle comprises the top half of the Mugen General 3 gestalt so it's appropriate that his combiner head has the chrome treatment as well.

I wish I read Japanese so I could figure out what this insert inside the box read. Anyone care to translate for me?

This is a fantastic toy in it's own right. Throw in the silver chrome and the limited nature of being 1 of 3 in existence and it puts it over the top. Since I acquired this piece I have sold off most of my Mugenbine collection so this figure can be had if you really want it. Price is negotiable so if you are serious please don't hesitate to contact me.

The best Christmas gift ever!

2011-12-28T14:22:00.000-05:00

I'm a very blessed guy. I've got a wonderful family who loves me and they showed me this in part by the number of gifts I got for Christmas. However one gift really stood of the bunch...a homemade gift from my 2 year old daughter (with help from my beautiful wife). Take a look:

A homemade "snow globe" featuring a Lego Minifigure! A few weeks before Christmas my wife was looking around in my room and asking me if she could have various small toys she was looking at. I said no to just about everything she asked about, but I figured she wouldn't be asking if she didn't have something up her sleeve. Thanks to the Lego Minifigures being blind packaged I had an extra Indian so I let her take it. Several weeks passed and I forgot all about it...until Christmas morning with my daughter gave me a brown paper bag she had decorated herself. I reached inside and pulled out this awesome creation! Shake it up and you'll see specks of gold glitter float around in the water.

Thank you so much to my daughter and wife for the very thoughtful and well made gift. I was the highlight of the Christmas gift giving season.

Fun with Zombie-Vipers

2011-12-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

Reading and participating in various toy and action figure forums and message boards led me to start this very blog here. I wasn't sure that I could contribute anything new, but it was nice to have an outlet to share my opinions. It also gave me something else to do with my various toys.

One of the things about this toy community I enjoy is reading other people's reviews and admiring people's diorama skills. One of the best pictures I've seen to date was found earlier today on the HISSTank.com message boards. The Cobra Zombie-Viper has recently hit retail stores and it seems that it's an early on fan favorite. Just take a look!

Now if only I could find these awesome Zombie-Vipers in my neck of the woods...not that I have the skill to create something as awesome as this!

Daigunder Tri-Horn

2011-12-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

Several years ago Takara tried something new - combining a video game with a transformable robot ala Transformers. The result was a series called Web Diver. I'm not sure what kind of success it had in Japan, but I'm assuming it was modest as Takara released several toys over a short period.

Daigunder is the successor to Web Diver. The premise of both line of toys is you have one larger figure that acts as the "game system". All of the other figures act as secondary items in the game itself. The larger figure attaches to a television with standard RGB cables and features infrared sensors to interact with the other figures. Are you following all of this?

I had the fortune (or misfortune depending on who you ask) of owning several Web Diver toys when they were new - including the leader and "game system" Gradion. The game itself was rather boring and the small controls on the back of the figure weren't all that responsive. As far as the other figures interacting in the game was just a well designed marketing scam if you ask me. It's kind of like this new Skylanders game that is hitting the current gen home consoles. You fork out a lot of money for the core game and then you have to buy additional figures to unlock things in the game. Instead of digitally downloading this content they make you buy a figure to get the in game content. Really smooth idea from a business stand point - but sucks for us as the consumer.

Getting back to Daigunder I missed the boat originally when they were released. I had seen plenty of pictures of the toys online, but finding the toys (especially here in the US) I found difficult. I remember seeing Daigunder himself at BigBadToyStore's table at a past Botcon, but I glossed over it. Eventually these toys were popping up all over the place in Korean packaging and a fellow TFW2005 board member a gew years ago was gracious enough to hook me up with a few of the toys for super cheap. One of these was an early favorite of mine, Tri-Horn.

Judging from the screen shots of the video game it looks to be a huge step forward from the Web Diver game. Looking at the health bars and time across the top of the screen I'd guess the game is your standard 2D fighter like Street Fighter...only with transformable robots.

Across the bottom of the box you can see the cross sell images of other Daigunder toys. Tri-Horn was part of the Dino Unit along with Bonerex (red tyrannosaurus rex) and Deathspector (blue pteranodon).

The side of the box shows you another way that Tri-Horn can interact with the main figure of the series. Along with Bonerex you can combine them both to form a large gauntlet like weapon. Prior to obtaining this toy I didn't know about this feature.

Tri-Horn is a very bulky and stout figure. With a little re-tooling it looks like he could be a ape with those large fists that just barely drag the ground. Most of the paint apps here are nicely done and feature a metallic shine. The light blue on the head and legs looks a little out of place, but I guess it works. There isn't much articulation to speak of. Standard points of articulation include the elbows and hips - not much else. I'm guessing the electronics inside the figure contribute to making this a brick of a figure.

If you look on the back you'll see the video game components - a thumb button that pivots right to left and a larger button with red chrome trim. I have no idea what these buttons do in game.

Takara did a nice job with the head sculpt. He has a large chin that sticks out which fits his stocky nature. The bone like helmet is also a nice touch as it gives the appearance of him being a tough fighter.

The whole triceratops head comes off and forms a staff like weapon for Tri-Horn to wield in robot mode. Simply fold the horns up and you have your weapon.

You gotta admit he looks pretty bad a in this form. From the large weapon to the massive fists he doesn't look like a robot I'd want to tussle with.

I was surprised to see that the triceratops is really small. I guess its the lack of a tail that makes the dinosaur look small and well...a little off. What I do like about the dino mode is how all of the robot parts are incorporated. His chest splits into two pieces and forms the front legs while his massive fits form the middle. Very clever design if you ask me.

Overall this is a fun little toy and lived up to most of my expectations. Thankfully with these Korean editions now on the market they are much more accessible if you want to track one down. There are usually a few sellers on eBay that routinely sell a decent selection of Daigunder toys.

More limited Transformers Microns

2011-12-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

(from left to right)

Aimless, Fracas, Peaceman

Takara Tomy strikes again with more limited (i.e. expense) Microns. Starting December 28th in Japan shoppers can get one of 3 different limited Microns with a minimum purchase at various retail stores.

Aimless is named after G1 Misfire's Targetmaster of the same name and is a repaint of Power Core Combiner Sledge's Micron partner Throttler. Fracas is named after G1 Scourge's Targetmaster of the same name and is a repaint of Power Core Combiner Heavytread's Micron partner Groundspike. Peaceman is named after G1 Pointblank's Targetmaster Peacemaker and is a repaint of Power Core Combiner Smoulder's Micron partner Chopster.

Now I'm a self confessed Mini-Con/Micron hoarder. I love the little guys and I can't see to get enough. However I must say these are unimpressive. The best thing they have going is that they are cast in sold plastic as opposed to the clear translucent plastic Hasbro used in the Power Core Combiner line. One day these may find a way into my collection, but if that day ever comes I don't think it'll be any time soon.

Bring back the mail-in programs

2011-12-18T22:56:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one that misses the old main-in programs that the toy companies used to do? While flipping through an old comic book this weekend I came across this old ad inside the front cover. I vaguely remember filling out the order form to send in. What made this program so different than the others was that you got to create and personalize your character. I never was a huge fan of the Steel Brigade concept, but with the new 30th Anniversary version I'm starting to see why others have always had a soft spot for the Brigade.

What shocked me a little was the cost. This program took place in 1987 so you would think a simple action figure such as this would only be a few bucks plus shipping. Not sure if you can read the fine print or not, but parents had to send in a check for $7.50 plus an additional $1.50 for shipping. You can buy a new 30th Anniversary Steel Brigade figure at retail for less than $9.00 these days! True you don't get to personalize your figure and it doesn't come with the nifty patch.

In this day and age of internet these types of mail away programs are all but dead. I however would love to see something like this be utilized again. I know Hasbro tried a mail away program with their Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen line of toys...but the "exclusive" Ravage figure sucked hard. Hasbro hasn't tried the mail away program with the G.I. Joe brand since the Joe vs. Cobra days with a Storm Shadow figure that featured a removable mask. Correct that. I forgot about the Doc program from the 25th Anniversary comic packs. By the time I collected enough stickers to mail in the supply had been exhausted. Boo!

Who else would like to see some sort of mail in program for your favorite line of action figures? Sound off!

Mastermind Creations: Hexatron unreleased prototype photos & etc

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Mastermind Creations: Hexatron unreleased prototype photos & etc: These are the photos that we rendered and displayed with the prototype of Hexatron in Victoria's Ultimated Toy Show Oct 16 in Victoria, BC.

I'm really starting to think I should abandon my search for a G1 Sixshot (at least for the moment) after seeing colored pictures of Hexatron. It appears that Mastermind Creations will have a smash hit on their hands.

Korean Transformers Cybertron trading cards?

2011-12-07T14:22:00.000-05:00

Several years ago (?) I remember seeing these packs of Transformers Cybertron trading card packs for sale on Robot Kingdom. Since they were only 2 bucks and I'm a sucker for Transformer cards I bought a few packs. Long story short they got shuffled around with the rest of my cards and I haven't seen them for awhile until recently. I don't know anything about these, but from what I can tell the language on the cards appears to be Korean. The back of the card is basically that character's tech specs. The bio also features English. Seeing the prominent Hasbro logo tells me these are a official release, but none of my searches have turned up anything.

While collating the cards I came up with several duplicates. If anyone reading this is interested in them just let me know and we'll see about working out something.

Free Comic Book Day Sketch

2011-12-05T11:00:00.000-05:00

There was a time when I was all about comic books. While I still enjoy reading I just don't have the time nor the funds (or space for that matter) to collect comic books. One of the great things about comics for me each year was Free Comic Book Day. One of the local comic shops in town always treated the event really big each May. Several notable artists would be invited and for several hours would provide sketches by request for FREE! Most of the artists didn't just scribble something down either. They would take there time and craft some beautiful pieces of art. I've got several from Mark Brooks currently framed and on my wall at home. I don't remember what kept me from attending FCBD in 2010, but my brother graciously requested a Scarlet Spider sketch for me from artist Tom Lyle. When he brought it home to me I was floored at the level of detail Tom put into it. I still need to find a suitable frame, but once I do this piece will be proudly displayed on the walls of my home.

Versus: Beast Wars Terrorsaur

2011-12-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

If you are a fan of Transformers then you probably know by now that Takara strives to produce show accurate figures as opposed to Hasbro. That's not to say that Hasbro hasn't released some great decos on some of their figures, but on average the Takara version seems to be the superior deco. One case that couldn't be more true of this is Beast Wars Terrorsaur.

Terrorsaur was a fan favorite character due to the portrayal of his character on the awesome CGI Beast Wars television show. However when Kenner/Hasbro released the first figure of him they strayed from the CGI character model for some reason. While the toy is a rather excellent "flipchanger", the Hasbro decor is horrible. Why did they decide it was a good idea to omit the yellow from the "beak" on the dinosaur's head? Why did they think a stripe of green spots down the back would look good? If you don't follow me take a look of this screen capture of Terrorsaur first.

Now take a look at the deco on the Hasbro version of Terrorsaur.

Where did that purple come from in addition to the green spots? What about the black on the body? Honestly until I realized the Takara version got the deco right I had no idea the Hasbro figure was that ugly. Trust me though - wait until you see the comparison pictures.

Before we take a look at the Takara version be forewarned that if you want to track down this toy you better pack some patience. I don't even remember how long I looked for this toy it took me that long to find it!

The best mode alone is reason enough to purchase this version. Not only are the ugly green spots missing, but the red plastic is much brighter and vivid than what Hasbro used. The addition of the yellow paint on the "beak" and the eyes also makes a huge difference.

Gone is the purple on the head, fists and legs. The black has been replaced with a more show accurate gray. The deco on this figure is down right sexy.

I'll leave you with some side by side comparison pics to truly show you in the words of G1 Soundwave - "Hasbro inferior, Takara superior".

Machine Robo Mugenbine - Quest Knight Wedge

2011-11-29T15:38:00.000-05:00

In 2005 a Japanese publisher released the definitive Machine Robo book simply called Machine Robo Wedge. The book featured lots of text (that unfortunately I can't read since it's all in Japanese) and lots of colorful pictures for Machine Robo toys that ranged from the beginning of the line through the then current Mugenbine line.

The book also came packaged with a region 2 DVD full of vintage Machine Robo commericals. I've only seen a few of these as I'm afraid to switch the region code on my laptop's CD-ROM drive too many times, but it was an excellent addition to the book. If you are a fan of any iteration of Machine Robo then I highly recommend you pick up this book. I believe at the time of this post HLJ still has it in stock.

Part of the book was some sort of contest for a special Mugenbine set called Quest Knight Wedge. Unfortunately I don't know much about the contest itself or how the toy was awarded or how many exist, but I did manage to run across one a few years ago and purchased it. I had completely forgot I even owned the toy as it never made it to one of my display shelves in my toy room and I only recently came across it buried in a box as I was moving. While I still love the Mugenbine toys my collection focus has changed so the toy wasn't a fixture in my collection. I did find a fellow collector to sell the set to and I'm happy it's going to a good home. Before I let it go however I had to open him for a quick review.

Quest Knight comes packaged in a plain white box with only a sticker letting you know which character is hiding inside. My Lucky Draw Carry Eagle came in a similar box. Slide the inner plastic tray out and you'll see the Turboroid and his Bineparts all laid out. Quest Knight Wedge is (obviously) a recolor of the regular Quest Knight figure. I believe he was one of three released that first used the new Turboroid figure as the base. The translucent smoke colored plastic combined with the orange and silver paint apps are beautiful. In some ways it looks better than the regular red version.

The Turboroid figures featured the same articulation and close to the same style that the "regular" Mugenroid figure had - only with wheels! This allowed the figure to convert to a vehicle of some sort with the attachment of other Bineparts.

Not the greatest range of motion and articulation, but the combinations can be endless.

Quest Knight Wedge has 3 different combined modes. The first is his beast mode - a dragon. Because this version is recolored from the original I have to say the dragon doesn't look as good being mostly translucent. The original featured a vibrant red plastic with white and gold paint apps. The toy still looks great in this mode however. Take a look.

I should mention that the dragon's tail is comprised of a sword so it's rather thin. On the dragon's back you can also see the combined robot's head exposed which is a major drawback.

The second mode utilizes the Turboroid's vehicle form. Again without having the original red color you may not look at the vehicle form and immediately recognize that it's a fire truck of sorts. The rest of the included Bineparts form some sort of base if you will. None of the these Mugenbine Turboroid sets had very convincing structures if you ask me. I'll just call this thing a make shift fire house.

Is the dragon tail / sword a large fire hose or a ladder? You tell me! While the construct may be lacking the fire truck mode is actually pretty good. You basically just lay the Turboroid face down and snap on 3 pieces and wa-la you have a fire truck!

The last of the combined modes is a robot. I should also mention that Quest Knight can also form a larger robot with two other Turboroid sets (Razor Ninja & Save Gunman). Quest Knight's combined robot mode stands at 3 inches or so. It's not small, but it's not the size of a Transformers combiner either. The robot can wield the dragon's tail in either hand. You can rotate the arms out, but that's about all the articulation in this mode that you'll get.

The head sculpt is excellent and the bright orange really pops on the translucent smoke colored plastic. This is a great set and has a lot of great parts. I was immediately reminded of why I was so attracted to these Mugenbine sets in the mid 2000's after taking these pictures. Part of me wishes I had more room for these toys as I would've loved to have kept my set as I had nearly the entire Mugenbine line. I doubt you'll run across this Wedge version, but if you can find the regular issue Quest Knight set pick it up. If you can find the other related sets and you have a good imagination you'll be able to pull off some great combinations.

Japanese G1 Transformers Wrapper

2011-11-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

I'm hoping someone out there in cyberspace can shed some light on this for me. Not too long ago I ran across a wrapper to some vintage G1 Japanese trading cards or stickers. I've done a few Google searches and nothing seems to come up. The wrapper is more like a paper pouch than your standard fare card/sticker wrapper. It appears it was stapled shut at one point as well. Even though I have no idea about this wrapper I couldn't pass up the opportunity to add it to my "odd ball" TF collection. Does anyone know anything about this wrapper?

New pictures of my Transformers collection

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Things are finally starting to come together in my new "man cave". Last night I loaded up my one lone IKEA Detolf glass display case with all of my G1 Japanese Transformers. I wasn't able to arrange everything in the cases the way I had originally envisioned, but I'm satisfied with the final outcome.

Here we have a selection of Headmasters and Masterforce toys including Super God Ginrai, Twin Cast, Metalhawk, 3 of 6 Trainbots, Headmaster heads and a selection of BeastFormers.

Victory and Zone make up the 2nd shelf in the case. Star Convoy, Sonicbomber, Landcross, Road Ceasar, Guard City's Fire Chief, Hotspark, Sixwing (sans combiner parts) and the Battle Patrol Micromasters.

For the Destrons we'll start off with a selection from Headmasters, Masterforce and Victory. Black Zarak, Dinoking and a selection of BeastFormers.

The last shelf is again a mixture of Masterforce and Victory. Overlord, Hydra & Buster, Liokaiser and Guzzle.

I hope to be able to do some individual featured posts of some of these toys once I finish resetting the rest of the room so if there is a toy in the case that you'd like to see more of please comment! More pictures to come soon (hopefully)!

G.I. Joe Subscription Preview - Big Boa

2011-11-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

Finally! Another Cobra figure joins the G.I. Joe Club subscription service! I know Big Boa was originally created to pair off against the cancelled Rocky figure, but I always liked the idea of him being the Cobra trainer. This is a PERFECT update of this character. Not much is changed...which is good as the original figure was pretty good. What takes this figure over the top are the included accessories. For those of you that don't like the idea of him always wearing boxing gloves we now have a pair of interchangeable hands! on top of that we get "traditional" box headgear, a dumb bell, a baton a sledgehammer!

Most likely there will be no way at this point for me to afford the subscription service so I'll just have to settle and hope I can find this figure on the secondary market. While some of the figures have me interested this is the first figure that made me say "Wow" out loud.

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Polar Sharc Submarine with Ice Storm

2011-11-17T10:00:00.000-05:00

When the Rise of Cobra line of G.I. Joe toys was winding down several items were axed by Hasbro...my guess to dwindling sales. I'm not sure how well the ROC line sold overall, but I know a lot of the toys were relatively easy to find in my parts.

One of these "cancelled" items was the Polar Sharc submarine as featured in the underwater battle scene towards the end of the live action movie. Somewhere along the way Hasbro seemed to strike up a good relationship with several retailers (Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx) and finally found an outlet for some of these items such as the Polar Sharc. I came across this toy along with the Lava Pod w/ Volcano-Viper at a regional store called Ollie's. I think I've read reports of people finding these toys at Zellar's in Canada as well. This vehicle was priced at $9.99. I always liked the design when I first saw images online so I willingly grabbed it to see what it was like. End result = A-.

Hasbro did a good job with the likeness of the vehicle when compared to the movie version. Sure the toy is smaller as it is basically a one man submarine, but that doesn't detract from the overall toy. The sub features an opening cockpit, retractable guns on the rear fins and rotating engine fins.

The included figure (or any other figure) simply lays down on their back inside the cockpit. It would've been better if the cockpit could have been engineered a different way allowing the figure to be positioned a different way, but then that may have altered the overall sleekness of the sub.

Like with most G.I. Joe vehicles you get to apply the stickers yourself. Since I didn't attempt to do so I can't comment on the quality of the stickers. I have applied stickers to other ROC vehicles I've bought and those were fine so I would assume the same could be said about these. There is also a removable torpedo launcher that attaches to the bottom of the sub. The downside of attaching this is it creates an uneven bottom not allowing the vehicle to sit without looking lopsided.

Ice Storm is the reason I imagine a lot of people bought this toy for. I wasn't a fan of a lot of the ROC figures and I'm generally more of a Cobra fan than a Joe fan, but Ice Storm here is a really good figure. I was surprised to see that he came packaged with a gun and a bag as a lot of vehicle drivers don't come with any accessories/weapons.

I'm not up to date on my Joe figure parts knowledge so I don't know what figures Ice Storm was made from, but the waist piece does look familiar. Articulation is your standard fare. The "skirt" does hinder some sitting poses, but since he lays down flat in the sub I guess it doesn't matter too much. The colors are a little bright for a polar themed vehicle driver, but the red and black works. The blue gloves are a nice touch as it helps break up the colors.

Overall this is a fun little toy and I would think it would have sold better than some of the other vehicles of similar size had it seen a wide release. It's far better than the Mole Pod / Lava Pod...but then again aren't most other vehicles! If you can grab this for $10 or less it's a great buy. I'm in the process of pairing down my toy collection and have placed this toy on Crave.com along with several others.

G.I. Joe Subscription Preview - Cover Girl

2011-11-16T13:53:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of fans were clamoring for Cover Girl to be included in the subscription service and now that she has been added to the line-up I can't help but think this has been done before. Cover Girl got a really nice figure as part of a comic pack in the Direct To Consumer (DTC) line. I like the updated version, but to me it doesn't look much different. I'll say it again. Where are the rest of the Cobra characters?!

G.I. Joe Subscription Preview - Sure Fire

2011-11-14T15:42:00.000-05:00

Too bad this figure isn't a "sure fire" win for me. I like the included accessories, but I was hoping for another Cobra character myself.

G.I. Joe Subscription Preview - TNT

2011-11-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

The G.I. Joe Club subscription service just got some South American flavor! Can't say this figure is as impressive (at least to me) as the last few have been, but it looks like he'll be a popular character for a lot of collectors.

Inhumanoids - A Big Coloring Book

2011-11-09T16:57:00.000-05:00

Ah, the 80's. What a wonderful time to be a kid. There were so many creative and imaginative properties during the time. One of which was Hasbro's Inhumanoids. Sadly I never owned any of the toys as a kid. Guess I was too into G.I. Joe and Transformers for my parents to buy me anything else. I wasn't able to catch many of the cartoon episodes on Saturday morning television either. Inhumanoids as a whole was rather short lived so it passed and was mostly forgotten about. That is until the age of the internet!

One of the good things about my current re-organizing project I'm undertaking at home right now is it's getting my hands on things that have been buried away for a long time. When I bought the cartoon series on DVD years ago it got me all jazzed up again about Inhumanoids. I searched the 'net to see what kind of merchandise (i.e. toys) I could find. The toys can be found, but most of the time they are horribly incomplete or broken. If you do find any in good condition the asking prices will usually scare you away. During one of those searches I came across a Golden brand coloring book. I don't remember what I paid, but I'm sure it was a deal since I don't normally buy coloring books. I haven't seen this book in a very long time until recently so I wanted to pick out a few pages to share.

This book has a copyright of 1986. It's rather thin, but still cool none the less. If you've seen the cartoon and you know about the toys then you'll know there are some differences in the two. The coloring book actually tells a story of the Inhumanoids and the Earth Corps. Most of the art in the book seems to be modeled after the toys and not the animation models. Bummer as the show was way cooler than the toys. That said I still would love to get my hands on the 3 big monsters.

Metlar was the leader of the Inhumanoids and featured the ability to pull out flaming molten rocks out of his mouth.

D'Compose was the freakiest looking of the 3 as he was some sort of decomposed dinosaur mutant skeleton creature. This art here is a prime example that it was based more on the toy as the animation model didn't have to stupid pony tail.

D'Compose was voiced by the late great Chris Latta (Cobra Commander, Starscream). With just one touch he could mutate the living. Check out this clip from the cartoon to see what I'm talking about.

There is no freakin' way a cartoon like this could air on today's television. What were my parents thinking letting me watch this as a kid! You have to track down the DVDs of the show as it is excellent. Just watching this clip makes me want to pop the DVDs in again.

Tendril was the plant like monster. In toy form he is the easiest to find in my opinion.

The Earth Corps. was a group of scientists that battled the Inhumanoids. They were led by Herc Armstrong.

Auger was the hot head of the trio. I believe he was voiced by Michael Bell (Duke, Prowl) in the cartoon.

Liquidator was the demolitions expert of the Earth Corps.

Dr. Derek Bright was for some reason not shown in his battle suit in the book.

The scientists weren't alone in their battles with Metlar and the Inhumanoids. Granok was the leader of his race of rock creatures and often aided the Earth Corps.

Redlen was the leader of the Redwoods and often clashed with Tendril. Do you think Wes Craven took some inspiration for his killer's mask from the look of Redlen?

Magnokor could split himself into two separate pieces. He controls electromagnetic waves and could imprison Metlar.

As I mentioned earlier most of the artwork here is mediocre since it's based on the toy designs. These pages here are probably the best of the bunch. As a kid I don't think I would've cared about how good the drawings were. Heck, I don't think most kids back in the 1986 would've even noticed or cared that the art wasn't based on the cartoon.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at this odd ball piece of Inhumanoids merchandise.