Toay in Figure of the Day, we look at the Chewbacca figure Hasbro painted up to look all Marvel-y on us. More like a work of art than a figure, this peculiar take on the Wookiee makes us examine the character in a whole new light. That, or it's a goofy cheap cash-in to get one last squeeze out of a very successful mold. Either way, I dig it. Will you? Read on!
Burger King is doing its traditional big blockbuster push for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We walked down there today to get some lunch, and we snagged a kiddie meal with a free toy.
Some of them are activity toys, and some of them are figural in appearance. We got an invisible ink pen-- we wanted something with a figure on it, but well, there's always another day. Since we see so many people doing videos rather than photo shoots, we're going to try that out. Take it away, Adam.
(No idea why it picked that as a keyframe. Does anyone know how to change that?) There's something that feels a whole lot less legit about shooting third-rate video rather than a full shoot, but well, we're lazy. Watch it, dagnabbit, and it's not like a goofy fast food item needs eight pages on it, right?
Word is going around that Hasbro has regained the rights to their 80s TV shows produced by Sunbow. This is pretty awesome-- this means Transformers, My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, and others are now under their control, which may mean new (or continued) DVD releases. Some buzz indicates this may also include some English dubs of Japanese Transformers series, which is a bit of a mixed blessing as apparently a lot of those kind of suck. More as we have it, true believers!
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
The G.I. Joe Convention folks have updated with news of guests as well as specifics as to the file cards for some of the 3 3/4-inch figures. Of note, it seems few 12-inch-era guests are coming, which either means that generation has given up on the hobby or maybe the young whippersnappers of the 1980s are finally the driving economic force. Either way, it's interesting.
This week, you can grab Assault Heroes 2, a sequel to a popular arcadey shooter. You can blow stuff up real good, drive around, and blow up stuff with the thing you drive around. It should be good times.
The WiiWare service launched this week with a ton of games, and no Virtual Console games were cranked out. Titles include Defend Your Castle, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, LostWinds, Pop, TV Show King, and at least one or two more. We're waiting for Alien Crush, but Star Solider R might be good when it hits supposedly next week.
This is more of a heads-up than anything else-- a bunch of news sites (and therefore forums) are positively popping with news over the next several episodes of Transformers Animated as the next batch of episodes has aired in numerous international markets. In addition to plot, there's also video on YouTube, pictures, and other details. We won't be posting it here (as we have yet to implement any sort of TV coverage), but we figured you might be interested-- or wary-- in knowing these things are popping up elsewhere.
But Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
Over at Hisstank.com, a number of unpainted test shots suddenly appeared last week. A mix of old and new old faces appear, including new versions of Cobra Commander and Lady Jaye alongside the first-ever "modern" Nemesis Enforcer and Lt. Falcon. Click the pic for more.
Due to the early samples of Indiana Jones toys-- what's the technical term?-- oh yes, sucking, we decided to not collect the the line as a whole-- this isn't because of issues like articulation, packaging, pricing, or accessories, but rather due to the simple fact we couldn't find figures with decent paint jobs on their faces.
We spent the bulk of the past week's toy runs examining figures on the pegs, specifically, their faces. Most of the Mutt Williams figures have very Spock-esque eyebrows, as as such, are easy to not buy. (Seeing how many of him are sitting at Toys "R" Us, it seems that pre-movie, nobody else wants him either.) The majority of minor character figures look decent, but well, we're trying to be cheap as we'd rather put money into overpriced Botcon toys these days.
The real disappointment comes from Indiana Jones himself. Hasbro has already released several versions of the character. There's a Cairo whipping version, a Raiders-based version complete with the fertility idol, there are two Kingdom of the Crystal Skull versions, and, what's more, there are several deluxe versions of Indy, which cost $10 or more and include traps, horses, or other large accessories. And looking over dozens of samples of nearly 10 versions of Harrison Ford, the bulk of them are terrible-- not because of any fault of the sculptors, engineers, or the talented artisans at Hasbro, but because of simple quality control. Some stores are charging $7.50 or more for basic figures, and simple things like painting eyebrows in the proper location or an eye in the right place seems difficult. Some Indy figures have too much black on their eyes, others have their eyes painted on their cheeks-- the manufacturers in China seem to be rushing these a bit.
This is a line which, while the fulfillment of a years-old dream, is something of a letdown. It's filled with diverse characters spanning nearly three decades of cinema, plus there's vehicles and all sorts of other goodies. It's spoiled by the fact that the 1980s "Adventures of Indiana Jones" figures from Kenner seemed to have consistently better face paint, which is pretty horrible. The new Hasbro line is selling quite well, and why not? It's a very exciting line based on an incredibly strong and undermerchandised (until just now) license. If you're somewhat picky like us, though, we would suggest you consider not buying the first of each figure you see at this time. Plenty of shipments are showing up at stores everywhere, and due to the wild QC on each figure, you might find Indy with a moustache and not much "scruff", or a figure with eyes that may seem more appropriate on a special version of a Hunter S. Thompson figure.
Good samples of some figures most certainly do exist-- last Friday, we stumbled upon a hat-and-jacket Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Indiana Jones figure with a face that's as perfect as we believe anyone is likely to see. (And a quick shot is pictured above.) The scruff was evenly painted, the hair didn't have any unpainted strands, and the eyes were right where they should have been, with the added bonus of not being too large or too small. The reason we bring this up is that we have received a fairly significant number of complaints at the sites we write for on the quality of this line, and it appears that there's good product out there to be found if you're persistent. We know this isn't an ideal answer to the "why does my figure suck?" question, but if you're patient and willing to do some hunting, you may find a good one. We'd rather they all just be perfect, too, but on the bright side at least you have an excuse to not buy them all at once now.
In short: Strong license, iffy execution, lots of potential in the days to come.
Just last week, Universal rereleased Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie on DVD after being off the market for nearly eight years. With no new features to speak of, nor any special features at all, this single-disc release brings you the full 1996 theatrical edit of the film and little else. Should you watch it? Yes. Want more to go on? Read our review! There's only about 75 minutes of content on the disc, so if you aren't much of a reader, just go out and buy it-- it's not that long.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: TIE Bomber, Millennium Falcon. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
The first batch of "movie" exclusives at Toys "R" Us are hitting, we saw both Wingblade and Jetstorm (pictured) on the way home today. Both are Cybertron-era molds repainted for a new release, and they do look fairly nice. The bulk of the molds from 2002-2007 are actually quite nice, so we expect these to be loads of fun too.
We're also crapping our pants with glee over the Takara version of Rodimus, as seen on Amazon.jp. The chrome spoiler's a little goofy, but aside from that, we're probably going to go ahead and overpay and import that sucker. It may be goofy, but we're totally eating it up.
Some days, Hasbro just goes crazy and does everything right. They've announced two Comic-Con exclusive figures and made this little video promoting them, and we simply can't get enough of it. We've watched it like six times and it still makes us smile. The two exclusives announced thus far are variants of Cobra Commander in a Suit with a Podium, based on an old Marvel comic. One is blue, one is black. We're in love. COBRA!
Also, HISSTank.com has a note which they say came from Hasbro and confirms that the "Specialist Trakker" figure making the rounds on many lists is indeed Kenner's own MASK leader, Matt Trakker. Hot damn, if it's totally true this is a line that keeps on giving.
Spaced, a British comedy from the people that brought you Shaun of the Dead and whatnot, is finally coming to DVD in the USA. The show aired on BBC America on and off over the years and it's actually quite awesome. Save your pennies for this one, it's worth it.
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Today in Figure of the Day, we look at the Geonosian Starfighter from the original Clone Wars line. It even came with a figure-- which kinda sucked-- but the unique vehicle seems to be pretty good. Read on!
This week, you can grab Wits & Wagers, some sort of board game thing which we can't be bothered to pretend to care about. The site's description is as follows: Wits & Wagers is the fun trivia party game where you don't need the right answers to win! For each question, bet on the answer you think is closest to the truth, whether or not that answer is your own. Use your knowledge of trivia, your intuition, and the odds to help decide where to bet! Seven rounds of questions‹plus dancing characters and upbeat music‹keep a fifteen-minute game lively for family and friends, local or online. Wits & Wagers includes 700 unique and fun questions for up to 25 hours of exciting play! Whatever, man. Bring on Bionic Commando.
Nine months ago, downloadable games on the Wii and Xbox seemed to be filled with awesomeness. This week: It's Pokemon Puzzle League for the Nintendo 64. We never played it, but the buzz was decent so it might be worth a look. Renegade for the NES fills out this week's offerings, and we refused to give it the time of day back in the day. As such, we don't suggest you get it.
The club posted another update showcasing another convention figure. This Headhunter Stormtrooper is neat, and it seems they're really hoping you like it because they are going to put six of them in every boxed set.
Oh, and Yojoe.com posted a preview of some new comic packs too. These sets look a lot more boring as production pieces. Storm Shadow being made with a Gung Ho torso. Thrilling.
After Iron Man had a nice big opening, Marvel Studios announced more movies yesterday in a press release. Here are the parts that matter:
In order to focus its attention on maximizing the success of an Iron Man sequel and the launch of Thor in the summer of 2010 and because Marvel believes that the summer is the optimal time to launch a new property, the Company will not release a self produced film in 2009. Marvel plans to launch its 2010 film slate with the release of the sequel, Iron Man 2, on April 30, 2010, followed by the launch of Thor on June 4, 2010. Additionally, Marvel is planting its feature film stakes for summer 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer a two-picture project which will debut on May 6, 2011 with The First Avenger: Captain America (working title), followed by The Avengers in July 2011.
Some older Generation 2 toys are showing up for sale. This is notable because these toys never saw release, so you can only imagine how excited we were to get a look at this Motormaster gallery after TFW2005.com posted a link to it. You might say "what's the point, it's just a stupid blue and purple 90s repaint of a toy from the 80s!" To which we would say "yes, exactly." We love it.
But Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
The first batch of Indiana Jones product has hit, and from our sightings, selling quickly. Stores are blowing through their action figures, vehicles, roleplay items, potato heads, and vehicles. The Adventure Heroes seem to be slower sellers. So far we haven't picked up anything but may do so soonish if any product is available. We also noticed Iron Man stuff seems to be in short supply.
We also heard of a variant on the Cairo Swordsman-- apparently he comes with light or dark skin. We're not sure which was first, as they're all hitting at once.
Later this year, McFarlane Toys will be releasing 3 statues/action figures (like Star Wars Unleashed, but not) from Halo. These are specialty market only (read: don't expect them at Wal-Mart) and include Master Chief, an Arbiter, and the Brute Chieftain. They're 7-inch scale and look pretty slick if the early pics Entertainment Earth posted are any indication. (Yes, we work there.) If you don't yet have a Master Chief and want a statue at a toy price, this may be what you need. Then again, you can just buy the action figure today for like ten or fifteen bucks, so yeah, do whatever. Click the pic to see 'em at our sponsor.
A special R-9 collectible ship (like the Vic Viper we reviewed recently) will be a freebie if you pre-order PSP R-Type Command in North America. Joystiq has the details, and it does look nice-- but you could buy the original one on eBay or from an importer like right now.
Today in Figure of the Day, let's look at the deluxe General Grievous figure from 2005. It's dirty, has four lightsabers, a cape, and a firing rocket. Oh, and it has yet to be reissued-- is this a good sign? Read on!
A Transformers site, of all places, has a picture of what may be a new chase variant for G.I. Joe. Turns out the new Duke with Jetpack has a big ol' India flag in at least one version of the figure, as can be seen here. More as we have it. Here's hoping it's no hoax.
This week: It's Double Dragon for the NES. People were gonzo for this like 20 years ago and we're not entirely sure why. It was a weak arcade port of a weak game, so we don't expect you to download it. The game features a sidescrolling beat-'em-up mode, plus a vs. fighting mode-- one of the better NES fighting games, frankly-- where two players could play as different versions of the same guy and duke it out in a crappy arena. The game itself is mostly forgettable, at least as a port goes, but it does have some decent music including the highly memorable track from the Vs. Abobo stage.
Not content to be left out, Hasbro decided to post a whole mess of new news after the show, complete with extra details and loads of pictures.
The name of the game is mostly repaints-- the only "new" molds are the Titanium items which were molds that were presumed "lost" after the series came and went last year. Good news for fans of Cybertronian alt modes and questionably assembled die-cast metal toys.
Toys "R" Us exclusive Titanium Series transforming toys of Grimlock and Prowl from The War Within comic series. [via Hasbro.com]
Target exclusive comic packs and figures based on old Marvel stories, using Cybertron-era molds. We're digging Springer and, we're ashamed to say, Thrust. [via Hasbro.com]
Wal-Mart exclusive "movie" repaints of deluxe toys. Classics Mirage is Fracture, Cybertron Hot Shot is Breakaway, Cybertron Red Alert is Crankcase. We like these. [via Hasbro.com]
Kmart exclusive Mini-Cons 12-pack. Basically, it's 12 of the Classics molds repainted in nifty colors. Points for Heavytread (basically Warpath) and more bonus points for Flatfoot's Mini-Con insignia painted on the hood. $19.99 retail. [via Hasbro.com]
That's the long and short of it-- if there's interest, we'll itemize a menu with all the specific news stuff, but there's so much meat in these articles that we suggest you read them if you like robots and weren't at the show.
We're regular listeners of NPR-via-podcast at the 16bit.com offices as we have a commute to our day jobs and every morning, we make it a point to listen to Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. We were actually quite surprised to hear that one of our favorite TV personalities (who we've seen pop up in a polka album we fished out of the dollar bin, at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, some viral pro-pot videos on Boingboing, and The Price is Right) has now popped up as-- if we heard right-- a regular panelist on the NPR news quiz. Wow. Click through to their page and if you're so inclined, grab the podcast. We're big fans of fake news, so real news outlets doing a game show are right up our alley. At this rate we expect to see him on Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job by the end of the year and, eventually, guest host of The Soup on E!. It'll happen.
But Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
Reports from around the web indicate that 6 new figures are hitting now, including new versions of Snake Eyes and Duke alongside Wild Bill, Spirit, the HISS Driver, and the Viper. Happy hunting! We haven't seen any yet.
Wave 1 of the 2-packs will include Ultimate Captain America & Nick Fury, Elektra & Ronin (with variant chase Skrull Elektra), Wolverine & Forge, and Mr. Fantastic & Thing. Expect these in stores this Summer for about $20-$25 a whack.
There was a shocking array of news this weekend, making this-- and we say this without hyperbole-- quite possibly the most fantosnewsmonious Botcon we've ever had the pleasure of reporting on. (As our monthly budget, which is literally tens of dollars, does not have room for travel.) Between TV news, Hasbro news, and scores of little details, we wish we were there.
Apparently Hasbro is going all-out to make fans of all ages happy, with new tiny Classics, tons of Robot Heroes, and even a G1 style Arcee of sorts in the works. Read on for some of the highlights from this weekend from around the web.
Botcon Day 3 Hasbro Gallery. Booth shots of Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Prowl, Sentinel Prime, Swoop, Ironhide, Galvatron, Jazz, Grimlock, and a whole mess of new exclusives. We very much like Sentinel "The Tick" Prime. [via Tformers.com]
Hasbro design panel. Lots of nifty tidbits dating back as far as Beast Machines. Worth reading. [via Tformers.com]
TFW2005 has the exclusive reveal of movie-style Bumblebee Mr. Potato Head. [via TFW2005.com]
Hasbro Transformers Universe feature. G1 Prime reissue, Sideswipe (with wrong head), Silverstreak, Silverbolt, and loads of Robot Heroes. We love the Robot Heroes. [via Hasbro]
Hasbro panel coverage. News on street dates, a new "Universe" Cheetor, word on a Targetmaster Cyclones, and more. Again, worth reading. [via The Allspark]
Club panel coverage. Club, convention stuff. [via Tformers.com]
That's the long and short of it-- if there's interest, we'll itemize a menu with all the specific news stuff, but there's so much meat in these articles that we suggest you read them if you like robots and weren't at the show.
Mario Kart Wii was released on Sunday, and with it were ample supplies of Wii hardware at most stores we visited. We even got a chance to try out the game, and while it seems good, it didn't seem particularly fresh-- much like Madden, it feels like another series succumbing to "more of the same"-itis, which can really only be cured by significant new features, tons of new characters, or fan service to the extreme-- which we didn't get from our time with it. Still, if you're still looking for a Wii, this might be the week to find it.
Star Wars Figure of the Day Updated at Galactic Hunter
Galactic Hunter has updated Figure of the Day! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the next installment in our ongoing series!
From Spawn.com: "This just in: McFarlane Toys will have two exclusive Halo 3 figures at this year's Comic-Con International, July 24-27 at the San Diego Convention Center. A special edition Spartan Soldier EVA "HellSpartan" will be sold together with an exclusive clear CQB Spartan. Although not packaged together, the two figures will be sold as a set, and cannot be purchased separately."
We totally love the HellSpartan. The clear guy, not so much.
There's a lot of news out of Botcon and Japan today, and we'll be posting Botcon news via Twitter (below) as we can all weekend long. But for now, here's a ton of news.
Botcon reveals 2008 Souvenir figures officially. They are: Sideswipe, Blurr, and Divebomb in the first set. Megatron, Rampage, and Rodimus in the second. [via Botcon.com]
Botcon officially opens and posts a photo gallery. Security guards, queues, and piles of exclusives await you. [via Botcon.com]
Hasbro reveals new animated toys officially. Grimlock and numerous others can be seen right now. [via Hasbro.com]
Takaratomy announces Guardian Robot, a blue repaint of G1 Omega Supreme. It's expensive. [via E-Hobby Shop]
BinalTech continues, this time with a Paradron Medic. It's basically Arcee with some green. [via Fan2Fan]
Hasbro/Entertainment Earth reveal Wave 1 of Marvel Transformers with a pre-order. Spider-Man looks surprisingly good in the pictures. [via Entertainment Earth]
As part of our day job, we actually maintain a Twitter page. It's a mix of product announcements, toy news, and random TV/movie/game tidbits-- some of which you'll see on this site. If you do Twitter, we do suggest you check it out. Stalkers welcome.
But Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
From left to right: Stuff, things you should click on. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!
Seeing as how the 2002 relaunch of Masters of the Universe was met with huge fanfare and a lot of heartbreak before its near total death in 2003, we're a little shocked to hear that Mattel announced that it's coming back and already has two waves and an exclusive (shown) in the works. King Grayskull will be a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive, and his box will unfold to be a replica of-- you guessed it-- Castle Grayskull. His packaging makes mention of fights with Hordak and King Hiss, and He-Man.org has more news on the subject. The line will be similar to DC Universe/Marvel Legends, which is to say, big and totally lacking in action features. And we gotta say, Ram-Man without ramming isn't a figure we think we would like to own.
...but we'll pay good money for a big, poseable Skeletor.
In a continued effort to provide us with cheap, legal entertainment, the clearance overlords at Target stores have marked down The Simpsons Game, a title published for nearly every platform in 2007. The game features talent from the television series, and we're told it's quite good. (We work hard and have not yet had a chance to plug it in.) We found it for $12.48 in a clearance pile for the Xbox 360 platform, and considering the game's decent reviews, it's probably worth it.
As an added bonus-- and we didn't know this until we got it home-- the Target version, on the back, indicates there's a Target exclusive poster inside featuring some of the core cast and the jovial floating head of Mr. Sparkle. Hey, if that wasn't a good enough incentive to buy this, we don't know what is. Also, score one against Target's marketing goons, because we pay a fair amount of attention to game sales and promotions and this one kinda totally passed us by.
Over on the official Hasbro Indiana Jones Page you can check out a sneak peek at the Last Crusade wave of Indy toys! Henry Jones, Young Indy, a bunch of Nazis, and more await you. It's a pretty solid wave, we must say.
Were you wondering how Blitzwing was coming out so far? Well, ACToys.net has a gallery of the new triple changer as well as comparison shots with this 20+ year old ancestor. The new toy seems larger and more detailed, plus the alt modes are pretty convincing. Do check them out.
This week, you can grab Lost Cities, a German card game thing from Sierra. They've managed to make some super-great ports of German board games, so we may give this one a try. It's US $10 (or 800 points) if you dare grab it when it goes live overnight tonight.
This week: It's Phantasy Star III for the Sega Genesis. We never played it, and they still haven't released the first one, but it's a classic RPG and people do have fond memories of this one. River City Ransom for the NES fills out this week's roster, and the brawler is insanely popular for reasons we've never quite figured out. Sure, it's fun, but most people would have you believe this is some sort of classic on the level of a Mario or a Zelda. They're both worth picking up, so try 'em out if you haven't yet already.
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Toay in Figure of the Day, we look at the 
This is more of a heads-up than anything else-- a bunch of news sites (and therefore forums) are positively popping with news over the next several episodes of Transformers Animated as the next batch of episodes has aired in numerous international markets. In addition to plot, there's also video on YouTube, pictures, and other details. We won't be posting it here (as we have yet to implement any sort of TV coverage), but we figured you might be interested-- or wary-- in knowing these things are popping up elsewhere.
After Iron Man had a nice big opening, Marvel Studios announced more movies yesterday in a 
