Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! Many times, actually.

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 Legacy Collection, it's almost like a history lesson! From left to right: Battle Droid, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Darth Vader. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series.

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Also, the Xbox 360 hardware has had a big price drop-- the basic unit is down to $199.99 in the USA. If you've been holding off, it might be the time to buy. But we wouldn't suggest getting it without a hard drive.

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Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! Many times, actually.

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 Legacy Collection, it's almost like a history lesson! From left to right: K-3PX, Han Solo, Po Nudo, Darth Vader. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series.

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The Hasbro Collector's Checklist confirms the new Stealth Lockdown with Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as well as Rescue Ratchet with Prowl and Starscream. For $10, we're gonna get these. For $15, we're probably going to get Ratchet, as he's in this amazing bright yellow color. The clear Lockdown, we're said to say, is not terribly interesting. Clear just seems so very 1990s as exclusives go.

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For those who are interested in spending more of their money on what can loosely be summed up as irony, there's Shred Nebula, which is merely named as if it should have been a shareware game released for Macs in 1993. (Seriously, has anyone heard of this game before this week?) This $10 title (800 MS points) proves that apparently the consistently most mined territory for the downloadable game is the shooter. It's a top-down game, so odds are it'll have more in common with Asteroids than Gradius or 1942.

Last, and likely least (at $5/400 points), Major Nelson makes it a point to bring up Gin Rummy, which we did not see on the official site at this time. While we're very glad to see a $5 game on the service once again, it's a little disappointing that it's not a classic arcade port but is instead something that could probably be downloaded for free on any desktop computer since, oh, let's say 1984.

We were unable to find any reviews at press time, but maybe we weren't looking hard enough. Or maybe we're seeing the crap that was delayed to make the whole Summer of Arcade promotion look better. We applaud the three-game week, which we think is a first, we just don't really care about the games.

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For the Virtual Console: the Super NES Super Mario RPG, a famous Squaresoft/Nintendo collaboration that eventually made it to the clearance racks... and then went on to be a hot collectible for discriminating gamers. It may not be worth all the hype, but the 800 point price tag ($8) should let you know it's special. And really, it is-- we're somewhat astonished it wasn't ported to the GameBoy Advance or Nintendo DS as a full-priced $30-$40 game. From the NES is the less special Clu Clu Land, a fun twist on the Pac-Man clone genre in which you play a balloon, and your enemies are sea urchins. It's one of the very first games for the legendary 8 bit system, so don't get your hopes too high. Still, both are fun games, which is more than we can say about most weeks.

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From left to right: Clone SCUBA Trooper, Biggs Darklighter, Battle Droid. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!

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Also, the new Toys "R" Us exclusive Battle Packs have been spotted in Los Angeles. Choose from the Crimson Guard (4 guards and a commander) or Firefly vs. Greenshirts. Each pack is $25 and has what we consider to be some of the finest packaging out of Hasbro for this line yet.

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For the Virtual Console: the TurboGrafx-16 RPG Ys Book I and II and the classic Neo-Geo fighter Samurai Showdown II are available. Both are considered classics in their own circles, but, as usual, don't compare with what has been coming out in Japan and Europe.

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Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! Many times, actually. 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 Legacy Collection, it's almost like a history lesson! From left to right: Yoda with Kybuck, Yoda, Tri_Droid. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series.

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This weekend, we posted a report on shockingly large amount of product appearing at USA Toys "R" Us stores. The entire Dinosaur and Circus lines seem to be present as well as new take-along sets, knights a-plenty, new Romans, and much more. The Take-Alongs seem to be about ten minutes of fun each, tops. Read all about it!

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From left to right: Yoda with Kybuck, Yoda, Tri_Droid. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!

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Keep your eyes peeled for a new $9.99 Knights assortment with new knights, catapults, and flying knights. Read this for more!

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Brickshelf has images of the new Pirates line, City, Indiana Jones, Racers, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and more.
Flickr member Corran101 added a bunch of larger and clearer shots of select sets, including the Star Wars ones.
The Brothers Brick has a little info, as well.

We can't wait for 2009!

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You may also be hearing that the original Banjo-Kazooie is not only coming to XBLA, but it's going to be a free pre-order bonus as well. Read all about it at Joystiq.

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For the Virtual Console: the TurboGrafx-16 golf game Neo Turf Masters will be downloaded by no one, but the original NES Mega Man is more than worth your while. Well, we think so, we bought the original thousands of years ago and still love it.

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Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! Many times, actually. 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 Legacy Collection, it's almost like a history lesson! Today, it's a McQuarrie Concept Snowtrooper ! Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series! (Or just go to the Figure of the Day blog, with new content every business day and a growing backlog of new old stuff!)

Finally, it seems The Clone Wars' ticket take was terrible. Like, astoundingly terrible for a Star Wars picture. Star Trek: Nemesis had a better opening weekend. Long gone are the days where the two words could guarantee a $100 opening weekend, or perhaps the combination of cynicism and a weak August box office did it in. Either way, odds are, you didn't see the movie-- by our estimates somewhere between 1.5 million and 3 million tickets were sold.

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Also new and exciting: the 2009 club freebies! 12-inch fans can get what they're calling a "Black Talking Commander," while 3 3/4-inch fans can get a super-cool Destro's Iron Grenadier-deco version of Undertow. Undertow, of course, being one of the finest figures Hasbro ever sculpted. Get one.

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At Toys "R" Us, the chain (and web site) is running a buy-one-get-one-half-price sale on all Xbox 360 software. (This ties in to another note.) As such, you may wish to pick up some of the new games you've been holding out on. Sadly, Xbox Points cards do not count as games.

The popular title The Orange Box seems to have had a retail-wide price cut. Formerly $39.99, the game was $29.99 at Target, Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart, and Fry's Electronics on Sunday. Not as a sale, mind you, but a new low price.

Select Wal-Mart stores have Viva Pinata down to pennies under $10. Prices vary by store, though.

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From left to right: Achk Med-Beq, Luke Skywalker, Hoth Rebel Soldier, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series!

Also, we had the fortune of seeing Star Wars: The Clone Wars earlier in the week. If you are the kind of person who reads a column like Figure of the Day, we assume you'll enjoy it. While Ziro the Hutt and Ahsoka may stand out a little, it didn't strike us as awful as the critics would have you believe it to be. While it's impossible to not see this as a marketing pitch for the new TV series this Fall and/or the new toy line, the series really can't provide much more drama and suspense than an episode of Scooby-Doo due to the fact that it's set between other movies and stories of which fans mostly know the outcome. Nobody will be surprised to hear that Anakin doesn't die or that the Republic doesn't fall. It very much is a film aimed at a younger audience, for all its faults, it's still easy to like if you're the type of person who watched Droids in its entirety on YouTube recently And we are that kind of person.

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Each DVD comes in packaging with fairly faded cover art-- the colors on the figure box look much more lively than on the disc jacket or disc labels-- and the DVD itself is fairly basic stuff. The video quality isn't particularly great and compares poorly to other 1980s DVDs we've purchased. The supplements are fairly light, with the episodes and little else. Some old TV commercials would have been cool, but as part of the entire package the DVDs are great.

Set #1 is The MASS Device with a Cobra Trooper, Snake Eyes, SCUBA Baroness, and Sgt. Stalker. And a piece of the MASS Device, a fancy-pants teleporter machine. And a lorry with some boxes on it, too. So what you're essentially getting is $28 worth of figures, $15-$20 worth of DVD, and some extra accessories. It's worth noting the figures are mostly redeco variants from existing releases. Snake Eyes is a radioactive partially clear version, made of grey and clear red plastic. Sgt. Stalker is a redeco with a jetpack and is based on the harder-to-find first yellow release, but with a few differences. The Cobra Trooper has flesh hands and the biggest Cobra logo on his chest you done ever seen. And the Baroness is a new, or mostly new, mold. Her head has glasses, plus goggles which fit over the glasses. Her swim fins are part of her feet. If you like super-villain chicks in tight red rubber, hey, this is the set for you.

Set #2 is The Revenge of Cobra. It's not nearly as cool as the first, but it does include a massive Weather Dominator accessory-- more on that later. The figures include Lady Jaye, Destro, and Roadblock. How can these be interesting given all three have been released before? Well, Lady Jaye has been recolored and has a new head where they forgot to give her face any makeup. It's a nice head, though, plus she has new accessories. Destro is based more on the cartoon and the original figure, with grey boots, a chrome head with green eyes, and a tiny gun. In short, he's the best overall classic Destro in this new 25th Anniversary-style line. Roadblock is being attacked by some large plant tentacle monster. Watch your cornhole there, soldier. The monster plugs right on to a Joe's display base, and Roadblock can be positioned in its vines. The deco isn't significantly different from other releases, and he's missing his giant gun. He does, however, have a knife. We weren't particularly pleased with the set overall but we'd be lying if we said we didn't get it for the DVD again. In this case, you're getting $21 worth of figures, and they're not significantly different than what you may have bought. If you don't have any Joes, these two sets would be a good starting point.

In these sets you also get some massive hardware-- two chunks of the MASS Device and a Weather Dominator. What's interesting is that the Weather Dominator has holes in the bottom which actually plug in to the MASS Device pieces-- so you can use the parts to make another super weapon while you wait for Hasbro to crank out the rest of the MASS Device! The end result is pretty spiffy, but the Weather Dominator tends to fall apart when you look at it funny.

We were big fans of the comic packs sold over the past few years due to the fact they provided a huge bang for the buck and also had the bonus reading material. We feel the same way about these-- they're neat, they're not too expensive, and it appears you'll own a wonderful selection of figures if you pick all the DVD Battle Packs up. We suggest you do so if you want to get your feet wet with the Joe brand, but if you're already collecting you might find these to be a little too familiar to buy again.

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We're also being told Fable Pub Games can be downloaded for free if you pre-ordered the new Fable game. Otherwise it's 800 points. It doesn't seem like big fun on its own but apparently if you win money in this game, it can be ported over to Fable II when it's released.

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For the Virtual Console: two TurboGrafx-16 titles. Star Parodier, which is to Star Soldier what Parodius is to Gradius. If you understand that, you know why you want it. Also, Break In, a billiards game. Why? We don't know.

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Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! Many times, actually. 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! Today, it's Romba-- he's an Ewok, and a remake of one of the hardest-to-find figures in the original line nearly 20 years ago. Go to Figure of the Day for the next update, with the latest installment in our ongoing series! (Or just go to the Figure of the Day blog, with new content every business day and a growing backlog of new old stuff!)

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This weekend, we posted a report on the new mass market 2-packs. There are four of them, but the real news is that they're being found at Wal-Mart stores, which didn't carry Playmobil, uh, ever. Target also got a large $40 Roman arena set which is still smaller than the giant one as well as a number of Barbarian and Pirate sets. Oh, and next year's German catalog? You can see it online right now. Read all about it!

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Comedy is Dead

• Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, a television review by Shaun Clayton
• Patton Oswalt 222, an album review by Shaun Clayton
• Patton Oswalt Werewolves & Lollipops, an album review by Shaun Clayton
• Patton Oswalt Frankensteins & Gumdrops, an album review by Adam Pawlus

Wow! What quality. We've been dealing with server outages and other weirdness, so yeah, we're working on it. Get off our backs. We love you.

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Target stores are selling 1600 point cards for $14.99-- that's 25% off. With the recent onslaught of decent games on the service, you might want to buy a few-- you'll be using them shortly. Circuit City stores have the 12+1 Xbox Live Gold account cards for $39.99-- that's 20% off, plus you get the extra month. If you're in the market for such things, get to the stores before they sell through.

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