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Moving Day
October 1 2004
Nintendo DS Wireless Capabilities revealed?

There's some interesting speculation at Nintendojo involving some confirmed patents and the involvement of the Warp Pipe Team when it comes to the amazing possibilities that may lay in wait inside the Nintendo DS, due in the USA this November. While not much is known yet, supposedly a lot more is to be confirmed next week-- for now, you might as well scan their article.

--AP

TransFormers Alternators Windcharger & Shockblast, More

First up, we spotted numerous new Energon toys at Toys "R" Us during lunch yesterday. During their buy-two-get-one-free sale, we've seen numerous cases of new Deluxes and Basics, and now we can add on the Megas. For your information, that includes Shockblast, Cliffjumper, Dreadwing, and Energon Ironhide-- and all of these appear in the new red Powerlinx Battles packaging. With the sale, it might be worth making a run of your neighborhood Toys "R" Us stores-- which we've said before but we're reiterating to make sure.

Meanwhile, Hasbro posted preview pictures of Windcharger, a brand new toy in the Alternators range. The red convertable is listed as coming out fairly soon-- this November.

Lastly, TVShowsOnDVD.com psoted a story on the upcoming Armada volume one DVD box from Rhino, including the specific release date. No price or episode count has been listed, but whatever will be included will be spread over four discs.

--AP

Jon Stewart Interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air

Need something to listen to that's sure to please? NPR aired an interview with Comedy Central's Jon Stewart yesterday and the archive is up for your listening pleasure. The Daily Show host tackles his background as a comedian-- most notably, as a failed standup-- and of course the politis of the day in this nearly 40-minute interview. It's worth listening to, surely-- especially if you're at work and needing to kill some time.

--AP

And in other news...

It's moving day-- the first of many moving days which will end sometime next week. As such, toy run related news may be light and reviews will be thinner than usual, which is to say pretty damned thin.

--AP

He's A Special Person
October 2 2004
Nintendo DS Packaging

It's not the biggest story of the year, but it's still neat to see the American Nintendo DS packaging as posted at The Magic Box. As reported earlier, the system includes a demo of Metroid Prime Hunters and there's a nice graphic promoting this, which is also the only real color you'll see on the packaging.

--AP

Zoids Struggle Screenshots & Exclusive Kit with Vs. III

Want to see what kind of fun Tomy has on tap for Zoids fans in Japan? The Magic Box posted two pages of pictures of the new animal mech combat title which may or may not come to the USA.

Also notable, NCS is selling copies of Zoids Versus III for GameCube, and it includes an exclusive PteroRayse it. We're not sure what's special about the kit, but it certainly does sound like a heck of an interesting deal if you can play imported GameCube software.

--AP

And in other news...

This may not be news to you, but it's news to us. The highly acclaimed Mr. Show with Bob and David, which just completed its release to DVD, is now airing on TBS-- yes, TBS, the cable channel. Episodes are 30 minutes and while we have not tuned into them yet we expect that they, like Sex in the City, are heavily edited. Have you seen them? Let us know what you saw!

In other news, we're off to go see the "Put the Mock Back Into Democracy" show in Phoenix tonight with David Cross, Brian Posehn, and Patton Oswalt as well as some other comic you won't know. (Hey, we don't know the guy's act.) Tickets are $12-$17 if you go, and it sure as heck seems like a lot of comedy for the price.

--AP

It Was Good
October 3 2004
Hasbro's New Names

The guys over at Transfandom dug up a ton of new character names for which Hasbro recently applied for trademarks. Highlights include Vector Prime (notable as it's also a name of a Star Wars novel), Autobot Skids, Drench, Longhorn, Kickback, and Repugnus. There are some really interesting chocies there so be sure to look it up.

--AP

And in other news...

We went and saw "Put the Mock Back Into Democracy" and it was indeed good. Brian Posehn and Patton Oswalt both put on amazingly great sets and some of the other acts were great as well. David Cross was funny, and the entire show was roughly 2 hours and change-- not exactly long, but given that Naked Trucker and an iffy Phoenix-area comedy duo were on tap, well, attention spans are short. If for any reason it comes to your town you might want to go see it as the numerous D&D gags made for a funny show.

--AP

Have a Nice Fall
October 4 2004
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly and, as always, I'm looking for new questions. So, feel free to send any in.

--AP

Final Wars Godzilla Toys

A friend of the site sent us a link to this image showing off several Final Wars toys including a new Mothra, Anguiras, Minya, Godzilla, and many other new figures you may not have seen yet. Check it out, homes!

--AP

And in other news...

The move of the offices is going fairly well but I've hit a snag-- namely, my falling down a few stairs and now my ankle is sprained. Is this the antithesis of good times? Yes, yes it is.

--AP

Bosom Buddies, Transform and Roll Out
October 5 2004
Tom Hanks wants to be Optimus Prime?

That's the buzz going around the web. The famous actor once sang the TransFormers original theme song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno a couple of years back, and is now saying he wants to be on board as the big bot himself! Is he kidding? Well, stranger things have happened, and with the right voice modulation anything is possible. (For the curious, Mr. Hanks was born in 1956. Could he be a closet toy nerd? If so, power, brother.)

--AP

Action is Back

The little seen Jay Mohr and Ilena Douglas comedy Action started airing again on Comedy Central yesterday (technically today) in a late-night capacity, starting with the pilot. (Or we never noticed it before and the pilot was on.) Mohr's abraisive comedy can be seen in clubs across the USA as well as on repeats of SNL and the reality program Last Comic Standing, while his sidekick-- the late great Buddy Hackett-- needs no introduction.

--AP

Warioware Sequel Video Online

The Magic Box posted a brief video of commercials of the next Made in Wario game (aka Warioware)... in Japanese, meaning it'll be awesome. Warioware is a GameBoy Advance game available in the USA and a little tricky to find these days in which there are literally 200 minigames which you play in rapid succession which give you next to no reaction time. The game is a true treasure and a real sleeper, so if you haven't seen it, go get it, and if you saw it, go to this link and get the video of the game Mawaru Made in Wario which will be available in Japan on October 14.

--AP

Joe Comic Packs #4, #5 Online

The folks over at Yo Joe! have the latest figure set with comic packs up for viewing! #4 has Grunt, Snake Eyes (again), and Zap, while #5 collects a Cobra Officer, General Flagg, and Steeler. Kudos to Hasbro for finding a smart, original, and frankly awesome way to use old material and make it super-appealing to even passive fans.

--AP

Happy Birthday Truck

German department store Vedes has an exclusive Playmobil truck celebrating the 100th anniversary of the chain. The Playmoboard has photos, but as of now I'm not entirely sure what's the easiest way to get one if you live in the USA. (Although we're looking.)

--AP

I Want To Know The Same Thing
October 6 2004
John Woo to do He-Man Movie

While the line is as dead as they come in the USA, John Woo is going around saying that he's going to make a movie based on the classic Mattel toy line Masters of the Universe. Previously, Woo was attached to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and obviously, he's never done anything on that. Yet, anyway.

--AP

(British) Men Behaving Badly DVD

The original British show Men Behaving Badly (the inspiration for the so-bad-it's-great US sitcom on NBC with Rob Schneider) is coming to DVD, so says TVShowsOnDVD. Two season are on the way, check out the story for cover art and the full scoop.

--AP

Jump! Super Stars

The Magic Box has news of a Nintendo DS game in which characters from Naruto, DragonBall, One Piece, and more duke it out for total supremacy. Cute concept, it'd be great if it were expanded to include even more characters but hey, them's the brakes.

--AP

Energon Unloaded at Wal-Marts

Here in Phoenix, we're being assaulted with the latest TransFormers Energon toys, and now Wal-Mart is getting a number of shelf display units for the Deluxe-sized toys, which means many stores are getting cases and cases of Slugslinger, Downshift, Towline, Rodimus, Sharkticon, the Energon Hot Shot repaint, and a couple of others. Happy hunting!

--AP

And in other news...

A number of CDs were released yesterday, some of which will interest you and others... not so much. First up, William Shatner released Has Been, his long-in-development second album. It's apparently as esoteric and odd as his first which is best known for his covers of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and the like. Most exciting to us is Tom Waits' Real Gone, which is a lot more gravelly goodness that you'll probably like if you like things like that. REM released their latest album "Around the Sun" in regular and limited editions and Cake has put out Pressure Chief, showing that waning critical and fan interest is no reason to opt for an early retirement.

But we're digging Real Gone. Best Buy has it for $12 this week if you're so inclined.

--AP

How can you follow a mumbler?
October 7 2004
The Simpsons Season 5-- In December!

TVShowsOnDVD.com has news that shocked the world-- or both people who were reading up on The Simpsons today. Season five of the eternally popular show is due out on December 21! More details at their site.

--AP

Joes on sale at Target

Target stores have a bunch of their 3 3/4" G.I. Joe toys on sale this week. The comic book figure three-packs are pennies under $8.50, the figure two-packs are a dollar off, and a few of the vehicles are marked down as well. Selection varies by store so be sure to check it out.

--AP

Energon Deluxes on sale at Wal-Mart

While the prices reportedly vary from store to store, the Deluxe shipments we reported yesterday are supposedly part of a sale. We saw them marked down to $8.47 at one location but heard reports of prices being as low as 25% off. While the deal isn't spectacular for a $9.99 toy, they're getting plenty of new product so if you need the new guys, keep hunting!

--AP

And in other news...

Crisis! Moving freak-out!! We're going back to packing now as issues have come up preventing us from sticking to our original schedules. Later!

--AP

Hang On To Something Like That
October 8 2004
Final Fantasy III & More on Nintendo DS

Gamespot has a story confirming the Japanese release of Final Fantasy III on the Nintendo DS in Japan as well as the possibility of some cell phone games being ported to the new portable.

Also notable: the very impressive Japanese DS game launch lineup which includes Warioware DS, Pokemon Dash, and a buttload of other goodies. The American launch lineup pales by comparison with only one first-party game, Mario 64 DS, and a lot of US-developed sports games. Zzzzzz.

--AP

Spooky Cereals

Not content to settle for Boo Berry and Count Chocula, it seems Kellogg's is now brining "Haunted Manor" flavors of Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, and Froot Loops. We saw 'em at Kmart and odds are they're at your local store too. And odds are these taste iffy, but we aren't big sugar cereal buffs.

--AP

And in other news...

So, yeah. Middle of the big move. A lot of stuff is in a truck, some things like the laptop are not. As such, here's a weak update.

Also, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher has guests David Cross and Michael Moore tonight, which should make for good TV. I mean, David Cross. C'mon.

--AP

House Made of Trouble
October 9 2004
New G.I. Joe Built To Rule

Yo Joe! added new shots of the Built to Rule Ground Striker and Venom Striker vehicles with figures. Which we have yet to see in stores-- so good stuff, check it out!

--AP

Tom Waits on NPR

In a pleasant surprise during today's move, we heard that NPR broadcast an old interview with Tom Waits, newly peppered with songs from Real Gone-- and yes, you can listen to it online. Good stuff, very informative assuming it's true.

--AP

Oy oy oy
October 10 2004
Takara Woes & TransFormers Armada Part 1 DVD Details...

TVShowsOnDVD.com has an episode and extras listing on this fine series. That's the good news. The bad news is it's a little thin, but hey, it's coming on November 9!

On a less fortunate bit of news, it appears Takara is hurting again-- reports around the Web say the toymaker is hurting due to poor sales of girl's toys. Seeing as that the company is hitting all the right marks (from our armchair POV) for boy's toys with SuperLink, BinalTech, Robot Masters, and Microman, we can't imagine what else they could do at this stage of the game. Time to market robots to girls!

--AP

The Brak Show DVD Details, too!

TVShowsOnDVD.com also posted box art, early content listings, and more for the popular The Brak Show on DVD-- Volume 1. MSRP is a low $29.98 and it's due to street on February 1, 2005-- more at the story above.

--AP

And in other news...

It just gets worse. Despite finding an extreme amount of difficulty getting (and still getting) moved in to the new digs, our high speed internet isn't working due to the people who apparently can't do their job properly, leaving us having to use dial-up. As an added bonus, the OS 9.X we were using doesn't seem to have the modem control panels installed-- so we got to boot back into System 8.2 on a backup hard disk from... well, it's 2001 or 2002. I was still at Yakface and my backgrounds were Weezer and The Causey Way.

Oh, yeah-- dial-up sucks. This is why I originally decided I had to have twin monitors-- one would load while I read something on the other. And lemme tell you, after being spoiled by high-speed at work and at home, I read way too fast these days.

So the move continues, and if all goes well it'll be totally done this afternoon. Although with no high-speed and the whereabouts of our Shellac CDs unknown, we're none too pleased.

--AP

C'Mon, He's In Depeche Mode
October 11 2004
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly and, as always, I'm looking for new questions. So, feel free to send any in.

--AP

Cybertron Leaders Revealed

Shown originally at Fan2Fan

and mirrored at The Allspark and elsewhere are the new leaders from TransFormers Cybertron. There are two CG models shown, in robot mode, and it turns out the blurry picture from the other day was, in fact, the real deal. The Optimus Prime image is available in color and black-and-white, while whom we presume to be Megatron is only in the B&W shot.

Both designs are quite nifty and contain elements of other characters from previous generations of TransFormers. Be sure to check these out-- even though they're devoid of faction logos thus far!

--AP

Bubble Bobble Found for GameBoy Advance

Despite numerous delays and having totally missed its in-store date, the USA released of Bubble Bobble: Old & New has surfaced for $19.99 at a local GameStop. It was originally due on September 28 but after having not appeared that week, it was widely assumed it was delayed again-- and apparently it showed up late last week.

The game itself includes what seems to be a straight port of the original arcade title, a remixed version with some very unpleasant character sprites, and a host of multiplayer functions. If you like the game, it's worth $20. While some have complained the game screen scrolls up and down, chopping off a little bit to make it fit on the oddly shaped GBA screen, there's a solution. Push L or R and the screen zooms out a smidgen and you can see the entire playing field.

--AP

And in other news...

We're still on dial-up and probably will be through at least Tuesday. So updates will be thin.

--AP

The Common Man Asking Common Questions
October 12 2004
Invader Zim Volume 3 Today

The third and apparently, sadly, final volume of the cult favorite Invader Zim hits fine DVD stores everywhere today. It'll be on sale at some places for about $16 this week, so happy hunting!

--AP

New G.I. Joe Valor vs. Venom Spotted

A new Storm Shadow, Kamakura, and more are available alongside Venomous Maximus and a brand new Snake Eyes on his Ninja Lightning cycle... and many others. We spotted several of these at a local Wal-Mart yesterday and odds are they're shipping whereever fine toys are sold.

--AP

New Yoshi title coming for GameBoy Advance

The folks at The Magic Box posted screens of Nintendo's latest and all-too-infrequent brand new platformer. The graphics this time around look once again like they were drawn in crayon in parts, which looks pretty spiffy. Check it out, yo.

--AP

Bonus Ren & Stimpy at Best Buy

Ren & Stimpy hits DVD today, and while we're told there were edits made, the sets sold at Best Buy will include a bonus disc with extra episodes. Since we don't know or really care more details, we'll leave it at that.

Next week, there's a bundle of new Godzilla DVD releases as well as Arrested Development Season One and the complete Greg the Bunny.

--AP

And in other news...

We hobbled over to an Urban Outfitters last night to see what all they had for sale in the way of fun and irony, and were quite surprised to see their offerings becoming increasingly broad. As in, an overpriced Target. In addition to the usual swag, they also had a number of Star Wars items-- basic OTC figures were $12.00 and the X-wing and TIE Fighter were $35.00 a pop. For the record, Wal-Mart and their ilk charge about $4.99 and $19.99, respectively, with the highest we've seen these items previously being around $6.99 and $24.99. So kudos, Urban Outfitters-- it seems like you managed to sell some figures for three or four times your cost, scoring one for capitalism. (And we're happy all you had were pegwarmers. May they rot.)

--AP

Delicious? OK!
October 13 2004
TransFormers Energon Volumes 1, 2 Available

Two cheaply priced DVDs of TransFormers Energon made it to stores yesterday, and there's a few more surprises hidden in there. One, they revised, redubbed, and tweaked a few episodes with new dialogue and a few minor alterations explaining the backstory-- i.e., Armada.

Of course, there's bad news-- one volume has episodes 1-4, the other has 6-9. What's to become of episode 5? Will there be a box set down the road? Or a bonus disc somewhere? We don't know at the moment, and frankly we think this is a really bad way to start the series-- or any series-- on DVD..

--AP

New Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Spotted-- with new DVDs!

Wal-Mart is offering up a second round of exclusive basic figure-with-DVD assortments and there's a lot of ground covered here, including Splinter, the Scuba TMNTs, the original TMNTs, several random characters, and even brand new weight lifting "Ripped Up" TMNTs. Two different episodes have been spotted thus far ("Evil Encounters" and "Secrets Behind the Shells") and there appear to be dozens of figures for $5.83. Check your local stores for the selection as well, we're lazy.

--AP

Capcom Fighting Jam

Fighting nerds, rejoice! Capcom is releasng a new title for the PS2 (Japan only so far) in which you can play as characters from Street Fighters II and III, Darkstalkers, Warzard (???), and more-- and it's due in the beginning of December. It sounds like a heck of a neat title so be sure to pester your favorite importer or beg Capcom for a USA release!

--AP

And in other news...

We're still experiencing significant problem but we're back online, for now. So, yay.

--AP

Merge For The Kill
October 14 2004
TransFormers Universe Micromaster Constructicon Devastator Found; War Within Prime Statue Coming; Soundblaster

Found... and purchased. Kay-Bee's exclusive six-piece Micromasters combiner Constructicon Devastator is now available at a fairly pricey $3.99 per figure. We do not have images at this time because we do not have a camera at this time, but the instructions are completely in English instead of being in multiple languages, and there's individual character art in each instruction manual but not on the packaging. It's a nifty set, but for the price it's not what you might call a killer deal. (For the record, I bought the set at Metrocenter Mall in Phoenix, AZ Kay-Bee Toys and there seemed to be enough stock for at least 2-3 more sets.)

Also, Palisades is showing sketches to members of their collector's club of their next statue-- War Within Optimus Prime. Kudos to someone realizing there's a real demand for characters from this series, and here's hoping someone sees the potential for selling toys based on these top-notch designs.

Lastly, it looks like Takara's next reissue is going to be the infamous Soundblaster, a remold of Soundwave that can carry two cassettes and was repainted in black. Like Stepper (aka Ricochet) he's quite rare and this will be the first shot most collectors will have at him-- so happy hunting!

--AP

Insane Cheap Season One Fox DVD Box Sets

TVShowsOnDVD.com is reporting that Amazon is now selling eight popular Fox shows on DVD for $14.99 per season box. Shows include Simpsons, Futurama, Buffy, Angel, MASH, and several others-- click through for the details.

--AP

GameBoy Advance WarioWare 2 and Motion Yoshi

The Japanese version of Mawaru Made in Wario is now available, and it does have a motion sensor as previously reported-- you can see the unique cart and packaging here, and some impressions and screen shots are also posted here. The links are at a game importer, NCS, which is also selling the game-- so bias beware. But it looks good.

IGN posted some information on the new Yoshi game and how the motion sensor will work-- and apparently it will work well. Kudos to Nintendo for innovating, even if you will look silly playing the games in public.

--AP

I Have Lost My Indian Drum
October 15 2004
Energon Megas on clearance at Target; TransFormers Robot Masters Megatron?

After Takara posted this flowchart of relationships in Robot Masters, fans noted the dark shadowy outline of a character similar to Megatron. And by an amazing coincidence, the Japanese lettering by his name reads "Megatron," although it doesn't specify which Megatron. Some are crossing their fingers for the original gun mode, others for the version of the character as he appears in The War Within comics-- as a tank. As long as we get one of those two, I'm all smiles-- heck, maybe even Super Megatron from Battlestars would be awesome as he never was produced as a toy.

Also, we spotted several Ironhides and Jetfires at a Target store today from the Energon line marked down to $13.85. If this is a management decision or chain-wide remains to be seen, but it is notable especially as new toys at this price point are being shipped with Grimlock, Wingsaber, and more expected any day now. (Note: we have not spotted any figures from this assortment since Mirage at any Target as of yet.)

--AP

18" Lord of the Rings Clearance

Suncoast stores are marking a lot of their older toys down to crazy low prices, with Muppets as low as $2 and other figures just as cheap. Especially notable are the NECA 18" Aragorn and Legolas, now on clearance at many locations for $29.99, a decent but not fantastic break from the $39.99 they used to go for.

--AP

Sega Classics coming to PS2, GBA Video Sale

The folks over at The Magic Box are confirming a ten-game collection of Sega classics, many of which we've never heard of, is on the way to the USA PlayStation 2. While Monaco GP and Virtua Racing are... *cough*.... at least it has Columns, Alien Syndrome, OutRun, and Space Harrier. Oh, and Fantasy Zone.

And Target has their Pokemon GameBoy Advance videos for some episodes of Pokemon on sale for half price-- $19.99. This temporary price cut seems to be at some stores and will last through next week.

--AP

And in other news...

Did you know there was a Logan's Run TV series on CBS back in the 1970s? We sure didn't. We just found out about it today, and if you're as curious as we were, there's some information over at TVTome.

If we forgot to report it earlier, the Kay-Bee Jurassic Park range has been expanded again. Now, two large electronic dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park III range have been repainted and repackaged in their own generic packaging-- a T-Rex and a (we think) Pteranadon. Our notes got lost. We know, we suck.

Also, Freezepop is coming to Modified next week here in Arizona. I'll see you there... from the back, as I'm the old fart now.

Lastly, Wal-Mart is duking it out with the recording industry over CD prices. To quote a tagline of Aliens vs. Predator-- "Whoever wins, we lose." More at Rolling Stone.

--AP

Kim Jong Il's Panthers
October 16 2004
DVDs Next Week

There's a bundle of goodies next week for the DVD fan that we forgot about. For starters, the special edition of Hellboy is being released with and without a minibust, with a roughly $20 price difference between the two. Season one of Arrested Development will be shipping alongside the complete Greg the Bunny... and there are three different box sets of Godzilla movies as well as individual releases of several films. Be sure to check your favorite stores for pricing this Tuesday.

--AP

More Mawaru Made in Wario Impressions

Surely you want to know about the sequel to Warioware that's available in Japan, don't you? Check this out, and find out why you'll look like a spaz if you play it in public.

--AP

And in other news...

Well, we went and saw Team America: World Police and it was a blast. Theater was empty, but if you've got a sense of humor in which this would fit, go see it. Very funny stuff.

Also, the elder AP pointed us out to this link which contains clips from a recent Tom Waits appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. In it, you can find out why Waits doesn't help his kids with their homework in an interview segment, and in a musical segment, he sings "Let It Rain" off of his new album.

--AP

Everybody Knows
October 17 2004
More Direct-Market Single Carded Joes

A few months ago, Hasbro released a bundle of Valor vs. Venom figures on individual cards for release at grocery stores at about $3.99 per. Well, they did another wave of new figures on new-style packaging, instead of a rectangle bubble now it's more form-fitting. We spotted these in Phoenix at a Fry's Marketplace, and what was really interesting is that one figure was either mispackaged or Hasbro really goofed it up. There were a lot of repaints, and unfortunately we are not experts in the line-- but here's what the names on the packages were and some notes.

Alley Viper II (repainted in red), Swamp Rat, Desert CLAWS (although the figure inside wasn't a Desert CLAWS), Scarlett (repaint), Duke, and Heavy Duty. We do not believe we saw a full case, but who knows.

--AP

Plastics Video on SCTV Volume 2

Here's a little known fact-- there was an old episode of SCTV in which they broadcast two music videos. One was the Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," and the other-- probably never broadcast anywhere in North America-- was "Top Secret Man" from The Plastics, a Japanese band we love to pieces here at 16bit.com. As there probably will never be a DVD Region 1 release of anything by The Plastics, you may well want to check out SCTV Volume 2 on DVD to see this. It's pre-MTV, just the band, a white background, and a few props. But it is The Plastics, a truly great band deserving of your attention if you have the times.

--AP

Finally!
October 18 2004
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly and, as always, I'm looking for new questions. So, feel free to send any in.

--AP

New Transformers In-Box Images

A number of new boxed images and photo galleries were posted yesterday to various web sites, and they are...

Alternators
Grimlock
Swindle

Energon
Alpha Quintesson
Grimlock & Swoop
Energon Kicker & High Wire

SuperLink
Bruticus

And yes, the name of the toy is Energon Kicker, not just Kicker.

Also, Amazon.com has some TransFormers reissues marked down to $9.99-- namely Hoist, Silverstreak, and Smokescreen. Excellent deals there, folks.

--AP

Invader ZIM DVD Box Set, Box, and Exclusive Toy Info

TVShowsOnDVD.com strikes again with news on several new ZIM products... one we noticed yesterday while browsing Amazon, and it's a six piece (and very cheap) set of the entire Zim series. And they're doing mini-DVDs for some reason.

There's also word here of the house-shaped box with exclusive GIR and more... so go check it out. Even if you bought the three two-disc sets, the seventh bonus disc sounds pretty spiffy as it will have the recorded audio of the unfinished episodes!

--AP

Now Available: Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper

No seriously-- this is for real. Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper is now available in regular and diet varieties. It's also pretty crappy. We found a 12-pack at our local grocery store in our quest for snacks and after splitting a can, we can safely say that we could do without the other 11. While your milage may vary, we didn't find the taste adventure to be worth the price of admission.

According to some news sites we persed, these new sodas hit the southwestern USA (i.e., 16bit.comville) on October 15 and will roll out nationwide in January. The product is scheduled to cease distribution in March-- it's a limited run thing, and we agree with this decision wholeheartedly.

For the record, we like Vanilla Coke and disliked Pepsi Vanilla and Pepsi Blue.

--AP & EK

Drink comrade! Drink! It's this or the gulag!
October 19 2004
Awful Transformers Costumes

Need quick amusement? Click here. Scores of photos of Optimus Prime costumes-- mostly bad-- with commentary. Do check them out, some are nifty, some are tolerable, and others are probably felonies.

--AP

Paramount 2005 DVD Special Edition Rumor List Revealed

The Digital Bits has a list of catalog titles their sources indicate may be coming out again in 2005 as Special Editions. Included are classics like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Hondo, Braveheart, and Titanic. Also included on this list: Face Off. And more. Check it out.

In an unrelated note, there's some big deal titles coming out today, including the three-disc editions of Hellboy (both with and without an excellent Sideshow minibust), as well as DVD collections of the TV shows Greg the Bunny and Arrested Development. Oh, and SCTV season two which, as reported earlier, contains a rarely seen video from The Plastics. Sure, the context presents it ironically, but dammit it's The Plastics.

--AP

Godzilla DVDs Today

Today, there are three Godzilla DVDs being released individually and as parts of several box sets. Prepare to open your wallets for: Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla vs. Hedorah. The latter of which, we thought, was always called Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster but we are not experts in this field.

--AP

Thirsty? Try Leninade, Comrade!

It's a communist-themed pink lemonade soda. Leninade is made by a tiny bottling company and we found it at a local establishment called Pop the Soda Shop. It's about a buck a bottle and there's two different labels you can get, and you might get a kick out of it. We're going to be getting a case for an upcoming event because novelty trumps value every time.

--AP & thanks to Dr. Texas

Made In: China
October 20 2004
Review: Emperor Palpatine (Executor Transmission)

Today at Galactic Hunter, I look at the final Original Trilogy Collection action figure with the Star Wars Emperor Palpatine (Executor Transmission), a repaint based on the 1997 Power of the Force molds. Unpainted, clear, and purple, you might be asking just what the heck makes him worth the $10-- and you'd be right. Cool as he may be, there's a question of value here-- find out the answer to this question in today's review.

--AP

Awful Zoids Knock-Off at Kmart

Attention shoppers, Blue Light Special on crap. Kmart has a section of blue boxed no-brand toys made by "Just Kidz" and now they've taken and modified the Deathsaurer kit into a green US Army weapon. No, I'm not making this up. It includes two 3.75-inch G.I. Joe ripoffs and costs $10 even, plus tax. We'd show it to you but we're happier with the $10.

--AP

Target's TransFormers Universe Nemesis Prime spotted

Last night we spotted a Universe Nemesis Prime at Target, which may be better known as a repaint of Japan's Big Convoy toy from Beast Wars Neo. This is the first ever offering of the toy in the USA, and he's $19.99. Target also has an advertised 15% off all TransFormers this week, although most toys will not ring up as being on sale-- so be sure to point this out at the registers!

Also, the rumor mill today seems to indicate that while Hasbro has awarded the convention license to some company-- and it's not 3H Productions. What does this mean to us, the fans? Absolutely nothing. Stay tuned for real news.

--AP

New Playmobil at TJ Maxx (and Marshall's)

Every holiday season, TJ Maxx and Marshall's carry a limited, discounted, and seemingly random selection of Playmobil toys, and this year is no exception. Last night, we spotted four sets at a Scottsdale area TJ Maxx.

We personally spotted: Three Wise Men (3365, $5.99), Nativity Barn (3367, $12.99), Santa's Sleigh (3366, $7.99), and a Green Dragon/Knight set previously offered at Target and Toys "R" Us (3345, $12.99). We'll post more as we find it.

--AP

Kingdom Hearts Edition GameBoy Advance SP

Finally, pictures have been revealed of the highly limited Kingdom Hearts edition SP. And... it sucks. NCS has an image and a preorder of the new unit which features a silver lid and apparently a black interior. We'll pass.

--AP

US Date for "Polysics or DIE!!"

After being released in Japan earlier this year, and in the UK this summer, Tofu Records has announced that they will be bringing the Best-Of Compilation "Polysics or DIE!!" by Polysics to the USA in January, more specifically, January 11. Price TBD, but it's assumed it will feature the same track listing as the roughly $40 Japanese disc. (Or roughly $20 UK disc.)

This has most of their best songs, but it's lacking some of their Devo covers, their cover of "My Way," "Techno Dracula," or their own two-minutes-and-change ode to cube dwellers "I'm a Worker." (But you can get that last one on Neu.)

Previous US Polysics releases (Hey! Bob! My Friend! and Neu) were on the Asian Man label and were quite cheap-- usually under $10 direct and about $11 in most stores.

--AP

In case you missed it... Steve Martin

Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation, listeners were treated to an appearance by Steve Martin. You can find the stream of the program here, and in it you can hear Mr. Martin basically tell you that he's never going to do standup again, ever, or do a banjo album, ever. But it's funnier when he says it.

--AP

Spin That Wheel
October 21 2004
Comic for TransFormers Beast Wars; Universe Swerve spotted

Dreamwave has been circulating a press release and some images promoting the upcoming six-issue miniseries focused on the Beast Wars, the last TransFormers series that was pretty much entirely crafted by the likes of Canada and the USA.

We also spotted Universe figures Swerve and Roadhandler, repaints of the Armada Blurr and Incinerator toys, at a local Wal-Mart. No other new figures were available at this time.

--AP

MORE New Playmobil at TJ Maxx

We went to another TJ Maxx, and this time we found a few more sets. Well, two-- an Emergency Raft (5721, $5.99) and a big ol' pirate ship (5733, $19.99). We expect there to be more coming, and we'll let you know as we find 'em. (Or you can let us know what you find.)

--AP

TV DVD News A-Plenty

Item: Chappelle's Show now the #1 best selling DVD of all time. It finally overtook The Simpsons season one, and odds are it's because the Comedy Central series was cheap, funny, and largely unseen by the masses.

Item: TVShowsOnDVD also reports that three sitcoms you won't watch are coming to DVD-- Full House, Murphy Brown, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Final item: The Digital Bits posted a report on the upcoming classic DVD sets of the original Twilight Zone, which is packed with extras and a big ol' hardcover book. Sounds quite excellent to us, even though it is quite expensive.

--AP

And in other news...

Freezepop, a great synthpop outfit out of Boston, is playing here in Phoenix tonight at Modified Arts. See ya there, kids!

--AP

Galactic Fun
October 22 2004
Unpainted Revenge of the Sith Figures Leaked

Our pals at Galactic Hunter posted unpainted test shots of what are most likely (OK, they are) the first ever revealed Revenge of the Sith figures. Ironically, before any official word of a sneak preview assortment hit, we're being treated to early shots of Bail Organa, Darth Tyranus, and yes, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Odds are they won't be up for long so check 'em out while you can.

--AP

Revealed: TransFormers Cybertron by way of Galaxy Force

The web lit up yesterday afternoon with pictures of several very new and very cool toys from the followup line to Energon/SuperLink entitled Cybetron, or Galaxy Force if you live in Japan. The line includes many old favorites, some new items, and apparently no overall gimmicks that we can see-- although the Mini-Cons are back and looking better than ever. According to some sources, these will be hitting Japan as early as January, while Hasbro has hinted that Cybertron will not be available stateside until mid-2005. Can anyone say "import"?

Want images? Try the 2005 Boards.

The line is, to say the least, quite impressive. Here's what we've seen so far, with what the Japanese names appear to be:
GC-01: Galaxy Convoy. Removable faceplate, transformation similar to Super Fire Convoy (aka RID Optimus Prime), lots and lots of weapons.
GC-02: Axelion/Axerion. Car mode very similar to Armada's Blurr. Hasbro has hinted old Armada characters would return in the next line, so it's entirely possible that's who this will be in the USA storyline. In Japan, he was sold as Silverbolt during Micron Legend so a name change makes sense here.
GC-03: Vector Prime. New character, Hasbro has recently trademarked the name. Looks huge, includes a MIni-Con, and is colored similarly to SuperLink Galvatron (aka Energon Megatron. Looks to transform into some Ancient Ship of Doom.
GC-05: Jet Rock. Appears to have the head of Armada Jetfire but the body and vehicle are new, and appear to be a modern jet of some description. Quite striking!
GC-05: ???. A second toy was shown with the label of GC-05, and appears to be a smaller toy. Actually, it looks a lot like the recently released green repaint that we in the USA call Energon Ironhide.
GC-06: ???. No name translations are known yet, but the toy looks to be a larger version of the Mini-Con known as Wreckage. More as it develops.
GC-08: Hop, Bumper, Burito. The new group of Mini-Cons/Microns includes a helictoper, car, and SUV of some sort. The real highlight of this set is the bubble-dome headed Burito!
GC-09: Guard Shell. Construction vehicle, bears a strong resemblance to an upgraded/matured version of Energon's uber-popular Omnicon Strongarm. GD-01: Master Megatron. Triple changer-- space vehicle, robot, and a mode that's a cross between Beast Machines Mirage and the Batmobile. Robot mode incorporates numerous elements of Unicron. New helmet design, quite striking.
GD-02: Thundercracker. Small plane, bears pretty much no resemblance to previously made toys of the same name. Looks to be quite nifty and also quite small.
GD-03: Starscream. Apparently, the design incorporates the G1 Cybertronian mode seen in the cartoon with the War Within designs for the character into one pretty cool pretty chunky whole. Most likely the highlight of the set, and the one that will sell out at importers first.

--AP

More on the End of Invader Zim

TVShowsOnDVD added a ton of info on the final four Invader Zim DVD items-- the two minidiscs, and the box with and without the entire series inside. Read on for the full scoop.

--AP

And in other news...

Freezepop was awesome. We saw them at Modified last night and if you have the chance to see them, see that you do so. We also caught Benco and he put on a great one-man show. Well worth the price of admission, and we hope to see them in our fine area code once again very soon!

--AP

I Am A Bike... Thief
October 23 2004
Revealed: TransFormers Robot Masters Newness

With all the hubbub over the Energon sequel, it'd be a shame to miss out on Robot Masters!

This figure from TFW2005 shows the "brainmaster" component to Star Saber, proving that he does in fact have that piece. And a shot at the Allspark reveals a number of new, clear photos of Delta Seeker, Ex Gunner, Road Rocket, and Double Face. It appears Lioconvoy was dropped in favor of the G2 Cyberjet two-pack.

--AP

Devo in Japan

SICK Video has released a DVD of Devo-- Live in the Land of the Rising Sun. $12.99 on sale at Tower Records this week, normally about $10-15 at most outlets. This is their 2003 show with some bonus materials as far back as 1980, so for all you Devotees out there, happy hunting.

--AP

Kaiser Ghidorah

Online shop Image Anime has posted a preorder for Kaiser Ghidorah, a new vinyl kaiju from Godzilla: Final Wars. He's a bigger, bulkier version of the classic monster-- check him out, or don't.

--AP, thanks to EK

Simpsons Season 5 Breakdown, Box Art

TVShowsOnDVD.com posted a huge freaking story breaking down the set disc-by-disc with extras, commentaries, and everything you'd possibly want to know, down to the red box. Check it out!

--AP

They Do Allow Some Nervous Crying
October 24 2004
Revealed: TransFormers Galaxy Force Art

By way of a Japanese fan page, the likes of Seibertron.com posted some concept art for the next big line of TransFormers, better known to you and me as Cybertron. According to this art, the blue car is in fact Hot Shot, and not Blurr as we previously thought-- despite the coloring and design choices.

As an added bonus, the site also added a ton of info from the press release which means character profiles and more. An interesting footnote of this story: it claims the new series will take place in yet another alternate Universe, while Hasbro has said that it will take place after Energon. Can't both be true?

But wait, there's more! TFW2005 posted a feature showing unpainted and painted figures from Galaxy Force and the upcoming Beast Wars Returns, and this includes a new unnamed figure from the former and a show-accurate Blackarachnia from the latter. Something for everyone, no?

--AP

Classic NES Series II

Nintendo's second batch of classic NES titles for the GameBoy Advance hits stores this Tuesday. Choose from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Castlevania, Dr. Mario, and Metroid.

For the budget-friendly gamer, please note that the full version of the NES Metroid was already released on the GameBoy Advance with an added save feature as a bonus item on Metroid: Zero Mission, which is arguably one of the finest games available for the portable. A slightly crippled version of Dr. Mario was released as an unlockable game called Dr. Wario on WarioWars: Mega Microgame$, which is probably tied for the best portable game of all time with Tetris.

If you haven't seen it lately, the official Classic NES site updated with music and information from the new series. While we take issue with naming Dr. Mario a classic over-- say-- anything, it's good to see more of these in the USA.

--AP

Should we leave justice here?
October 25 2004
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly and, as always, I'm looking for new questions. So, feel free to send any in.

Q&A will be continuing for a few more weeks until the Holiday Break-- which means either the November 15 or November 22 update will be the season finale for 2004. (We're still working on the logistics.)

--AP

New Transformers Galaxy Force Release Dates

The guys over at TFW2005 posted a bundle of release info on the new Galaxy Force line of Cybertronians. Not much new to report other than a December 28 release date and one big surprise-- there's a Street Speed Team redeco listed, meaning that there's going to be some Armada/Micron Legend recolors here.

--AP

The Batman: The DVD

TVShowsOnDVD.com posted the info on the series' release early next year. It's most likely to tie into the new movie coming out next Summer, and it's the "first volume"-- meaning it isn't likely to be a season (or partial season) box set. But hey, who knows.

--AP

Deluxe Life
October 26 2004
Transformers Galaxy Force New Triple Changer; Costco Pack's Out

The chaps over at SGCollect posted the first shot of Landover, a green triple changer that takes the form of a jet and a car. It's notable that it's supposedly a Destron, however it doesn't seem to have any visible faction logos! Interesting, no?

And in less exciting but no less important news, the Costco two-pack of the repainted Optimus Prime and Overload is showing up for a paltry $29.99... but they're in bright yellow, red, and grey.

(Because of this, we updated our Energon Checklist. We're currently researching items for our Armada Checklist because of all the Mini-Con store exclusive packs [there are dozens] and our Cybertron Checklist is still a ways off-- we won't start one until Hasbro makes some announcements.)

--AP

New Releases; Costco Arcade Cabinet with 35 games

The cats online at Costco have a prefab arcade cabinet-- cocktail style-- with 35 games in it from the likes of Atari and Capcom. (Sadly, no Namco games.) There's a bundle of great games you would never expect to see in a cabinet like this, such as Ghosts n' Goblins, Darkstalkers, and even a Mega Man title-- but there's a lot of junk too, which you can see here. Before you click, note the price-- $2299.99, about $66 per game.

And unless you've been living under a rock, you know this week's big release (which hit last night at finer gaming stores) and the counterprogramming. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is apparently raking in the cash with countless in-store launch parties featuring snacks, sodas, and of course, the freaking game. If you're an old fart or just old school, the four Classic NES edition games for the GameBoy Advance hit today-- Zelda II, Metroid, Castlevania, and Dr. Mario, all of which are most excellent titles and would be more excellenter if they were less than $19.99 somewhere.

Lastly, Target stores are getting in new cases of budget $14.99 games for the Nintendo portable. While it's mostly licensed junk, it also includes the THQ port of Sega's classic Cube title Super Monkey Ball which is actually quite good and hasn't been easy to find over the past few months. If you need a cheap thrill and like puzzle games that will teach you new ways to swear, be sure to get this.

--AP

Costco Joes, Too!

Apparently a Battle in a Box isn't just for the Robots in Disguise. Over at Yo Joe!, they slipped in packaged images of the CostCo exclusive vehicle and figure set which includes the Cobra Ringneck, the Smoke Screen Transport, and six figures. (For the record, it includes Dart, Nunchuk, Tunnel Rat, Tele-Viper, Pit Viper, and Cobra Coils.) These don't seem to be special in terms of deco, and there aren't any photos indicating if any accessories are missing from other releases of these toys. While we couldn't find any evidence online of a price, it's assumed that these are $30-$40, which is a pretty spiffy deal.

--AP

Osama bin Laden gag, in-character commentaries on new Family Guy DVD

In the wake of September 11 2001, a lot of movies and TV shows saw edits or an adjustment in their schedules. A few shots were removed from Attack of the Clones, episodes of The Simpsons was yanked from syndication, and a now-famous Osama bin Laden gag from Family Guy was removed from the DVD release and subsequent airings of the episode "The Road to Rhode Island." Where ever your opinions may fall on the matter, it's a curious bit of TV history and especially interesting as series creator and brainchild Seth MacFarlane was reportedly to be on one of the hijacked flights but missed the flight. Because he was drunk. (Seriously.)

Well, the gag is back on DVD, sort of. A "best of" disc featuring episodes from the second and third seasons of Family Guy is coming out on December 14 and claims to have the top five favorite episodes of the series creator as well as some commentary tracks... including an in-charater one with Stewie and Brian. So even though you most likely have these episodes, it's probably worth a rental or a borrow or something to see what the heck all the fuss was over. And of course, the new commentary.

--AP

Filthy Human Lies!
October 27 2004
Review: Senator Yarua (Coruscant Senate)

Today at Galactic Hunter we look at a very early 2005 release from Star Wars with Senator Yarua (Coruscant Senate), a figure that looks and feels like he may have been a holdout from the original Episode I line. Glad as we are they sculpted a new magnificent Wookiee, the paint job and colors of plastic used leave something to be desired. Is he still worth it? Find out in today's review.

Also, in case you missed, it, Galactic Hunter also has news and images of three sneak preview figures for Revenge of the Sith.

--AP

Initial NES Classics Castlevania Impressions

While the first batch of games from Nintendo's Classic NES Series of GameBoy Advance titles were more or less unchanged from the originals save for a "sleep" mode menu, it turns out that there were some modifications in the new batch. Fans of the ghoul attack game will be pleased to know that Konami now included a "save" option, so you don't have to start over when the Grim Reaper kicks your ass and you need to walk away for a while.

The graphics are slightly smooshed, and it's more noticable in some areas than in others. The gameplay and music seem for the most part unchanged, though, and fans of the original will be right at home here. It's a little expensive for a nearly 20-year-old game, but as it's still really fun to play, odds are you won't be cursing Nintendo and Konami for the $20 they just nostalgiaed out of you.

In a final note, it appears that Nintendo was responsible for publishing this based on the packaging, which sports the old-school (and now archaic) Konami logo.

--AP

Kay-Bee's Slide toward Obscurity

The great and fairly nifty store Kay-Bee Toys has been having a lot of problems lately, and the mall-based toy store has announced that there are going to be cutbacks in the form of nearly 141 definite closures, which could go as high as 238.

The toy chain posted lists of the "definite" and "possible" closures right here. We're glad to report there are no stores in our state on the "definite" list, but of the three on the "possible" list, one we've been shopping at since we were like three. So we don't want to see that one go.

--AP

Scooby Doo and a Tiki Too

Toys "R" Us has picked up on the everlasting Scooby Doo range and now carries a bundle of Tiki-themed repaints. It's notable that no tikis appear on the toys, but there's a lot of hawaiian shirts and flowery crap. The Daphne repaint in the Tiki Adventure Mystery Crew set has bare arms-- but sculpted sleeves. Smooth. $9.99.

--AP

TRU: More Discount Playmobil

While selection varies by store, we found some new sets as part of the green tag half-price deal at Toys "R" Us-- namely the airport and the airliner, which are now $19.98 each. Great deals, folks!

--AP

More Galaxy Force

Yet more new images have surfaced courtesy of numerous stores and sites. One of the more notable sets is a repaint of the Armada Street Speed Team, now in red, yellow, and blue (as shown by concept art). The gimmicks of numerous toys are being shown off as well, and you can see some of them at Image Anime.

Also, if you missed the memo, the next G1 reissues in Japan have been confirmed to be Soundblaster, a retooled and recolored Soundwave which carries two tapes, and Blitzwing, the triple-changer. Sweet!

--AP

And in other news...

Apple strikes again, not by making a must-have Mac but by adding color to an existing product. Combined with added storage space and longer battery life, the iPod Photo does what you might guess-- iPod music things and photo things. It's also downright expensive.

--AP

Floppy Boot Stomp
October 28 2004
PlayStation Portable Pricing, Final Fantasy Revealed

Between The Magic Box and Gameforms, a lot of new info on Sony's upcoming PlayStation Portable made the rounds today. For starters, the price is a low sub-$200 (in Japan) with a limited but decent selection fo launch titles which, by some reports, will cost around $40. Also, Square Enix confirmed an action RPG spinoff of Final Fantasy VII is in the works-- so there's your killer app. Images of the system's box, information on the PSP bundle, and much more are floating around, so hit those links and your favorite game site.

As far as counterprogramming goes, Nintendo announced they're doing a side-scroller for their DS in which you can play as Princess Peach and you use your umbrella for combat and such. It's no Tomb Raider, but really, who wants to be Tomb Raider?

--AP

Xevoz Delays (Surprise!)

Several new items were slated to be released this month but obviously have not hit. Some online stores like Entertainment Earth have updated the release dates accordingly with items slated to ship in November or December. As we're seeing no signs of new product here but plenty of older product, we're not too hopeful for new items to show up before the week of Christmas... but the week before and after the big holiday often yields a lot of new releases.

--AP

New Robot Masters

It appears the 21st release in Robot Masters will be another repaint-with-DVD, this time Beast Convoy. It is unknown what changes will be made, but as there have been numerous editions of the original Beast Wars Convoy in Japan, anything is possible-- could it be an anime edition, a burning Convoy, a clear one, or something new? Time will tell!

--AP

DVDs for Spider-Man 2... and 2.5

While reported before, we found a new article with a little more meat on the new special edition of this summer's big hit, Spider-Man 2. They're double-dipping, but at least they posted a warning, so when it hits stores in November, it might be worth waiting for the good one in 2005.

--AP

Floppy Boot Stomp
October 29 2004
Review: OTC Star Wars Y-wing Fighter

Today at Galactic Hunter we examine a repaint of a remold that you were sold for $10 less in 1999. And it doesn't even appear in the movie. So why should you care about the brand new Y-wing Fighter? Find out in today's review, but here's a hint-- it rocks.

--AP

Xevoz Release (Surprise!)

Apparently some items did make it out on time-- Big Bad Toy Store received the new Thunder Shaman, an ape with three different interchangable heads, tiki masks, a banana, and numerous other nifty pieces. No in-store sightings have been made yet, so happy hunting!

--AP

In Progress: TransFormers Armada Checklist

It's still in the works, so we're posting it here today for you to peruse and edit, if you're man enough. (Oh, who are we kidding, sure you are.) The 16bit.com TransFormers Armada Checklist contains the entire main line as well as all the exclusive Mini-Cons bonus packs... that we know of. Which are plenty. We even found a few for sale and aren't sure where or when they were sold, so if you have two cents to chime in, please do.

--AP

Ring, Ring
October 30 2004
Energon Combiners Hit USA at Targets

After appearing online last week, we can now confirm that the first four components of the Energon combiner teams are in stores! We spotted Sledge, Dust Storm, Sky Shadow, and Treadshot at a Mesa, AZ Target last night. There were a few of each, it seemed, but no deluxes or other limbs, and no components from the Bruticus set as, well, they aren't shipping yet.

Each figure was the usual $6.99-or-so. As we got these late at night and were taking many packaged photos, we've only opened Sledge thus far, and by himself he's a really neat little toy. The only thing about him that we found weak was the weapon and lack of Mini-Con posts. It has a great design, good color, great posability, and a really interesting transformation. Kudos, Hasbro/Takara! (And a hearty "screw you" to Hasbro's decision to hold back some of the limbs for January, which they announced on their site yesterday. What's the reasoning behind releasing two components now and waiting on the rest for several months later?)

We also spotted a box for Alternators Meister at Wal-Mart and we were really excited until we saw the toy was removed and replaced with a silver die-cast metal non-transforming car. You freaking swine. This is the third time this has happened with a toy I wanted this week... THREE!!! This is ridiculous and I hope you people are happy with yourselves. So in other news, we still don't have Tracks or Meister. But one of you has Meister under false pretsenses... we hope you choke on it. And we mean actual choking, mind you.

--AP

The Fate of Twin Peaks on DVD Revisited

After Artisan said sales of the first season of David Lynch's Twin Peaks didn't justify release of additional episodes, fans felt crushed-- until last week, when they heard Paramount now had the rights to release it, if they were so inclined. Of course, some sites said that the release of a revised first season with pilot box can be expected in 2005, but Paramount ain't talkin' much-- find out more at this TVShowsOnDVD.com article.

--AP

Ghouls And Crap
October 31 2004
Behold, Invader Zim hits Hot Topic

Good news! Last night we sighted all five Invader Zim Hot Topic variants at, you guessed it, Hot Topic. We snagged a GIR Duty Mode figure because of the high prices ($16.99) and these particular variants looked pretty awful, especially Zim. And we just don't like Dib. Pics to follow.

The packaging is particularly uninspired, but for Zim fans, who cares? Buy a GIR, you know you want to.

--AP

New NECA Nightmare

The first four NECA figures for Nightmare Before Christmas hit Hot Topic stores this week and they're about $13 a whack. The accessories are dynamite and sure to please, and the character selection is pretty good. Choose from the Mayor, Jack, Sally, or a Vampire. Vampyre. Whatever.

--AP

Polar Express: The Cereal

Target stores are stocking the licensed theme cereal for the upcoming film Polar Express, which will be best known for creeping people out with eerily accurate representations of Tom Hanks.

--AP

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