Then & Now, Round 6: Rancor Keeper '84 vs. Malakili '97 vs. Malakili '09

Well I haven't been keeping up on this feature like I would like to, so tonight it's back at Round 6. I never had the original Rancor Keeper, although I had the Rancor beast in my youth and I was a fan of it. The 1997 incarnation, dubbed "Malakili" was one I ended up with a few of. To help clear some figures off the pegs Hasbro rep's put $2 off coupons on figures that were left on the shelf. I was out at Walmart in Eastlake in '97 or '98 and the Malakili was marked down to $1. I took 2 of him up to the register and used the $2 off coupon, lo and behold the total after the coupon was $.12! Twelve cents for two figures, you can't beat that.

The 2009 edition  of Malakili was in a better scale to modern figures and not as bulky as the Power of the Force (2) figures from the late '90s. I bought him with the other 7 Return of the Jedi figures that were released in that 2009 wave. That way I was able to build two droids from the build-a-droid promotion. Each figure came with a part to build an astromech droid like R2-D2. The build-a-droid promotion is now over sadly enough, it was good while it lasted. Now I need to track down the Target exclusive Rancor Beast from a few years back. (photos from this article are courtesy of the photo archive at Rebelscum.com)

Transformers Generation 2 spychangers never cease to amaze me.

Well technically the molds in question were not called spychangers until the 2001 toy line: Robots in Disguise (RID). In Generation 2 they were called "go-bots" in reference to their ability to "go" fast on Hot Wheels scaled tracks. I was poking around the Transformers Wiki today looking up info on the Cyberjets, when I stumbled upon a variation I had not yet memorized in my extensive knowledge of the spychangers. Since Firecracker's body was translucent red, and Blowout's was translucent smoke, some of the body parts of wave 1 Gearhead, and Motormouth, namely the underbody, were also translucent red and smoke. In wave two when Optimus Prime and Megatron replaced Firecracker and Blowout the underbody on Gearhead and Motormouth changed to solid red and silver.

This was due to the cross-pollenation of molds. To increase the color variety amongst these bots different elements came from different plastic injection mold-trees. The shared trees between the above mentioned cars became cast in different colors as Firecracker and Optimus are the same vehicle, to differentiate them Optimus was a solid red as opposed to Firecracker's translucent red, and Megatron was silver, as opposed to Blowout's translucent smoke. So when the wave 2 bots were cast, a color change occured on both Gearhead and Motormouth who shared elements on the other cars' plastic mold trees.

Although today's topic is very nerdy, I think it's pretty nifty.

Wonka's Bottle Caps, the 80's never tasted better!

So my buddy, TK, and I went over to Walmart in Eastlake, because it was late at night and we had nothing to do. They had a decent selection of the new Transformers 3 toys, though I passed on them. While we were in the electronics section I mentioned how I hadn't seen the latest entry in the Predator franchise, Predators. At $9 it was still a pass up item, as it didn't seem to have the greatest number of  features. I will check it out at "The Exchange" sometime in the next few weeks. The Exchange is our local buy, sell, and trade store. Sometimes they have very reasonable prices, that's where I got my copy of Pokemon Sapphire for $15 the other month.

Anyways I saw a dump bin of theater box size candies including: "Wonka's Bottle Caps". I haven't had these since I was a kid. I happily bought myself a box and it is practically gone already, although I have been sharing them. If you have never had these before, I assure you they are part of the flavorscape that was the candy aisle in the 80's. A true retro experience.

Once a LEGO maniac, always a LEGO maniac!

So I've been a member of the website Bricklink since 2005. It's a great site for finding all your LEGO needs from old sets to individual bricks and old instructions, to new sets. I'd be lying to say I don't have "too many" LEGOs for one man, but what can I say I have a passion for the brick. Feel free to browse my selection on Bricklink: Logan's New Bricks. I must however tip my hat to the official Shop at Home LEGO site which sets and maintains MSRP and a wide selection of the best modern sets. (BTW this isn't an entirely shameless plug, just mostly)

Rise of the Machines! Autobots, Transform & Roll Out

Here's a nice piece by McFarlane from Terminator Rise of the Machines, The Endoskeleton T-X Terminatrix fighting the wounded Terminatior. The T-X was cool in the movie not only for being a hot chick, but for being a combination of endoskeleton and liquid metal. This boxed set also came out of storage today with that Alien and Predator stuff, which is up for auction with the G2 Transformers: My auctions for the week. Below we have Wrecker Hook and Indy Heat from the Transformers Car Robots 2000 line (Not For Sale). I managed to snag these years back, and was lucky enough to have duplicates b/c I ended up in a bind a couple of years ago and had to sell the majority of my Transformers Robots in Disguise 2001 toys. Now I'm getting psyched about Dark Side of the Moon.

Below is a survivor from my TF:RID collection, the Autobot three pack (NFS) comprised of some nifty repaints of some very clever molds previously used in the ill fated Beast Machines toy-line. I also dig both the US and Japanese package designs. Maybe after I get my art degree I can make stuff as awesome as this.

Screw Storage Wars, my storage locker rules!

So I stopped by my storage to basically give my friend a rough idea of how much stuff I have to consign in his hobby shop. Meanwhile I nabbed 2 boxes with some cool stuff.  I found a shitton of carded Generation 2 Transformers go-bots/spychangers I had bought back in 2001-02 when I was collecting TF Robots in Disguise. They are from the 90’s and in good condition. I will be parting with them on EBay shortly so I can invest into some new toys. I also found some McFarlane Toys Alien Vs. Predator, and Alien & Predator figures from  movie maniacs series 6. I will be selling these as well although I kinda hate to part with them, I’ll probably buy the newer NECA Aliens & Predator figures and still have some scratch maybe for some LEGOs or Joes.

Kevin Wansley former art director for Wild Planet Interview regarding Battle Crawlers

 I recently had the oppurtunity to talk to Kevin Wansley, who was the art director for Wild Planet Entertainment, about the Battle Crawlers toy line. Here's what he had to say in regards to a few questions asked:

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your interest in my Battle Crawlers packaging.

I worked as an Art Director for Wild Planet Entertainment from 1999-2009,

and Battle Crawlers was one of the brands I art Directed and designed.

I will try to answer you questions as completely as possible.

Q: Was this a package proposal for the toy line, or was the product released in this design? (image above)

A: The BC(Maxxo)image on my site was the 3rd iteration of the BC packaging. It was specifically

designed for the international markets/clients of Wild Planet and was not released in the domestically. 

The blister package showing the disassembled product was a departure from the domestic closed box packaging.

Q: Was this package design made before or after the product was released on the market?

A: This particular package design was released after the product was released to market. As I mentioned

the original packaging was closed box. There were 2 versions of the domestic closed box packaging that were released.

Version one had photos of the assembled product on the front with sparks coming out of the wheels and a glow around the product.

The next year I redesigned the package with the product looking real and battling in a post apocalyptic wasteland.

Q: Do you have more pictures of this piece?

A: Im attaching pictures of version one and version two packaging plus an exclusive "Duel-Pack" that was designed for TRU.  

Q: Does this piece still physically exist?

A: The Battle Crawlers brand was first released by Wild Planet around 2004 and was on shelf domestically until 2006-2007

    *The original product was called Battle Bugs by Bandai and only available in Japan. In 2004 Wild Planet licensed the brand and

     produced it as Battle Crawlers.

I hope this answers your questions. If you visit my website: zanamandesign.com you can see some of the other toy packaging that I

Art Directed/Designed for Wild Planet Entertainment.

The Mighty Insecticons Reborn

A few small start-up companies have been making some professional grade add-on accessories for actual Transformers, mostly from the "TF:Classics" line, over the past few years. Recently one of these companies, Fansproject, created two additional limbs for the modern Bruticus combiner. These limbs are basically in and of themselves new "Transformers". I was excited to see a small company go the extra mile to improve an existing transformers design.

Well now Fansproject is stepping out on their own with three new offerings this calendar year that are basically "Transformers" or "Perfect Transformation Robots". I haven't been this excited about insect Transformers since the Deluxe Insecticons from Generation 1. Just as Generation 1 was an amalgam of toys from different toylines from Japan, I think now is as good a time as any for some upstart companies to offer their own transforming robots in toylines inspired by, but separate from, Hasbro's Transformers.

The three newest offerings are inspired directly by the first three Insecticons in Generation One. The first to be released will be "ThunderShred", a modern redo of the classic Shrapnel. He is currently available for pre-order at www.bigbadtoystore.com for $47.99, which although seemingly 4 times the price a mass market toy would cost, it isn't too far off from a convention exclusive offering price. I feel the price is fair given the company is nowhere as big as the big boys like Hasbro. Although if this company continues to be successful, I hope the prices will become more fair with larger production runs.

I can't do this toy justice in words, so here is a bit from his pre-order text: "Thundershred – A wounded outer space warrior, was converted and recovered. Also learned Ninja jutsu and able to control over the power of “air” in godai. Having the ability to transform into a stag beetle. Carrying 4 sickles which can compose into a manji shaken, and a set of gauntlets attach with 4 blades (* they can be stored on the back of shoulders). Multiplex combinations to switch different forms of weaponry. High quality and superior posability as always."

I can't wait to get my hands on this bad boy, if everything stays on schedule he might be here sometime in June. Being the cheap bast@rd I am, I think it's no small compliment that I am willing to shell out $$$ for this guy. Any serious Robotic Insect, Transformer, or Giant Robot fan should give serious thought into ordering this guy, and his kin when they get released. Check out more images at www.fansproject.com

G.I.Joe lot arrives, part 2 of 2

Here's the second box of G.I.Joe goodies from my sister. On the top left we have the Snake Trax ATV that came with Scrap Iron from the first wave of movie vehicles. Just below it is a pair of Arctic Rockslide ATV's with Snow Job. These three came in at $7.99 versus the initial movie launch price of $15.99. On the bottom left are two figures from the 25th anniversary line, the Cobra Viper & Paraviper. Both of these were $3.99 rather than $7.99 and they came from a Marshall's. Center top are two more Cobra Fury Urban Theater vehicles. On the center bottom is 4 additional Arctic Threat Air Assault Gliders. The grand prize are the three Sand Serpent Desert Battle repaints of the Night Viper from the Rise of Cobra. They were initially intended to be Target exclusives, I think, anyhow they ended up at Ross for $15.99 versus $39.99. So this batch came in at $127.86 (plus $22 shipping) versus $274.86 original retail value.

G.I.Joe lot arrives, part 1 of 2

Well in the past week I got two boxes crammed with G.I.Joe goodies from my sister. She had some fun dropping into a sh!t-ton of Ross and TJMaxx stores on my behalf and phoning me with her finds. Her check is in the mail for these awesome lots. On the left we have two boxes of MARS Industry troopers, Destro's loyal soldiers. I think these supposedly retailed for $24.99 when the movie launched and were pretty much an internet exclusive, I got them for $6.99 apiece. Top center and right are four Pursuit of Cobra HISS tanks. These should be the running change coloration in black as opposed to the original burgundy. These came in at $11.99 apiece, and had retailed for $24.99 apiece. Bottom left is the POC Cobra Fury, the new incarnation of the vintage Cobra Rage. It comes with an Alley Viper officer, and is priced the same as the HISS Tank. Bottom right are the Air Assault Glider & Desert RAM cycle, which had been intended as the last wave of deluxe figures from Target, but they never made it there. These were $5.99 apiece as opposed to the $9.99, they would have been released at. These last two vehicles are "off-screen" vehicles and the side of the box makes reference to the continuing story arc of the "Pursuit of Cobra".

So this lot comes in at $85.91 plus about $20 in shipping as opposed to the original retail of $194.91. A tidy savings on an arsenal of toys.

Death of the malls

I may be a latecomer to the dead malls scene, which is weird because I watched several malls in the Cleveland area decay into near nothingness. One of these malls was Randal Park Mall, which from what I can tell in the online dead malls community is a rather high profile dead mall. It was virtually extinct by the turn of the millennium. I still stopped by the Toys R Us located across the street until they eventually "moved" to Mayfield, which was probably close to ten years ago.

The last two memories I have besides that of Randal Park, was the last time I entered the mall in the late nineties to discover the Kay Bee toys had been shuttered for a number of years. The other memory was of a seasonal assistant manager of the Great Lakes Mall Kay Bee (where I worked in the late nineties), she constantly claimed "I was the Manager of Randal Park". I never did think that phrase meant much.

My friends and I did alot of "mall-hopping" in the mid to late nineties. We were spending our days off hunting Star Wars & Marvel toys in different Cleveland area malls. I pretty much only really ever checked out Kay Bee Toys and Hot Topic, while my friends also checked out Spencer's and the bookstores (Waldenbooks & B Dalton). Alot of the good times I had freewheeling around in my early 20's was done at malls and surrounding retail environments. When Kay Bee finally went under in the early part of the last decade, it is not a surprise to me that the bulk of my mall-hopping days were done.

However what did catch me off-guard when I stumbled upon deadmalls.com earlier this year was that I was one of the last of a breed who frequented malls. About the time I stopped visiting malls, apparently so did everyone else. This lead to the closure of alot of malls throughout the last decade. Another early dead mall, that pretty much was toast by the turn of the millennium was the Euclid Square Mall. I can remember visiting the Toys R Us there until at least 2001 or 2002 when the Transformers Robots in Disguise toy-line was out.

Another mall I seem to remember being open at around this time, although majorly wounded, was the Rolling Acres Mall. I can remember going into the Target there and thinking it was cool how a Target was the anchor of a major mall.

From the best of my understanding Randal Park, Euclid Square, and Rolling Acres are all now closed to human foot traffic. I think this is an amazing thing to me. That these "monuments to consumerism"* are all now dead. I have a whole lot of memories surrounding having good times with my friends at different malls, and I suppose at least I get to keep those.

I plan to visit a local dying mall near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border, the Ashtabula Mall sometime this year, since I doubt it will be open much longer. I am however happy that somehow despite all the mall deaths in the Cleveland area it's comforting to know that at least for the time being my hometown mall, Great Lakes Mall, and the nearby Beachwood Place mall continue to operate at nearly full capacity. I doubt however that Richmond Mall will last more than the next few years. (Oh I forgot to mention Westlake Mall, which I think has been demolished and rebuilt as an outdoor shopping center.)


Well I bid a fond adieu to these palaces of retail experiences.

*paraphrasing Kevin Smith's 1995 film "Mallrats"

The toy lot from LA

So my buddy, Dave, has been buying a few things for me on and off as he finds it out in California. I just got a package last week that he's been building up since Fall 2010. I'm psyched about the LEGO Kingdoms Advent Calendar, which is full of all sorts of good characters which are exclusive to this set, like: The Queen, The Prince, The Blue Wizard, and the Blacksmith. It also has tons of other goodies in it, and it was exclusive to the LEGO Brand store, which we didn't have in the Cleveland area, although we do have one now. I also got 8 assorted King's Knights from the 2007/08 Castle theme, which is a new incarnation of the Blue Crown Knights from the first LEGO Castle from about 1980, which I had as a child. I got a pair of LEGO collectible figures, the Luchedore from series 1, and the Witch from series 2. Lastly on the LEGO end is two Skeletal Steeds, which are for my Evil Army of the Undead.

For Hasbro's Star Wars line I got the Ewok and Ewok Glider from the $25 battlepack, which he had gotten for about half that price, and sold off the Luke and Imperial Officer. I think this Ewok is supposed to be Warok, one of the Ewoks that was in the classic Kenner line. Another neat thing he sent me, though not pictured, are some cardboard Endor backdrops, which will be perfect for when I finally set up my Return of the Jedi Ewok battle. These save me the time of trying to make a Forest environment from scratch.... which I probably would never get around to because it requires work.

The remainder of the package from Dave, is made of 25th Anniversary & Rise of Cobra (ROC) G.I.Joe Hasbro action figures. The tan desert camo figures are Zartan as a PIT trooper, Law & Order the MP and canine, the Female Dailtone who was introduced in the GIJoe Resolute webisodes, and the last one is either Dusty or an actual PIT trooper. In the classic Joe toyline, Dialtone had been male. Since I started collecting GIJoe again early this year, I missed the Dreadnoks, Torch, Buzzer, and Ripper, and although I still need a Buzzer I got the other two mercenary hooligans in this lot. The last three Joes, are more 25th figures, including Lt. Falcon & Tunnel Rat who debuted in the 80's Animated movie, and Outback the survivalist who was also one of my favs.

Oh yeah, I also got the recolored ROC Mole Pod from the Toys R Us exclusive multi-pack. So now I have all three colorations of this vehicle which fills the void of never getting a driller pod from Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles (if they ever made the a toy from the much used vehicle from the TMNT animated series). So that wraps up this haul, I have another package due from my sister, and my buddy Cam. More on those when they arrive.

Easter selections for boys this year

G.I.Joe is a perennial favorite of boys since the 80's. Right now Marshall's has some of the 25th anniversary figures that came out before the Rise of Cobra movie, for $3.99 apiece. This is a bargain price, as I recall when I stopped collecting Joe's in the early 90's they were either $2.79 or $2.99. These modern figures are easily worth $5.99-$7.99. Gabriel brothers has a selection of the Rise of Cobra (ROC) figures for $3.99 as well, the same holds true for their retail value of $5.99-$7.99. These ROC figures are from the later waves that were produced in lower numbers than the earlier waves of figures. A perfect fit for an Easter Basket this year.

Another favorite amongst boys is LEGO, and contrary to popular belief, not all LEGO is overpriced. Here we have some examples of affordable LEGO for this year's Easter celebration. The Ninjago Bone Chopper polybag is $3.49 at Toys R Us and is an exclusive. Target has a counterpart to this Ninjago set (not pictured), that would make a perfect pair. The small boxed sets usually sell for $3.99 apiece, but are on sale until the 16th at buy 1 get 1 %50 off, which averages to $2.99 apiece (Available at Toys R Us).

Beachwood, Ohio LEGO brand store exclusive Minifigure set

Here is the exclusive set of LEGO figures from this weekend's grand opening event. An individually numbered piece of a series of only 500 sets. Sorry about the flash, my picture taking skills are not the best. You should be able to make out the Water-tower in the background with Beachwood written on it. Also the backs of the figures say something like "LEGO Grand Opening Beachwood, Ohio". Overall a great piece of local LEGO history. Also the decorations on the fronts of the figure torsos are unique to grand opening sets and have only been seen on the Costa Mesa, CA set so far.

Drooling toy-a-holic in LEGO Heaven

Well a LEGO Brand store has opened in the Cleveland, OH area and I must admit I had one hell of a weekend during the Grand Opening of Beachwood Place's store. I went on Friday with my friend from high school and her son after his school let out. He was tempted to skip school, but didn't. This conjures memories of reports of some Pokemon related launch, I think it was for an Official Pokemart store, and many, many kids skipped school to be there. Anyways we waited about a half hour in  line to get into the store. Once inside we marveled at the vast selection of common sets, and exclusives. We decided however to skip purchasing anything Friday as there was an exclusive set of minifigures being given away with a $35 purchase to the first 500 customers on Saturday. So I called the mall office to see when the mall opened. I was told it would be 10AM.... then I asked when does it open to mall-walkers, "Oh well 8:30 or 9:00". Well we made plans to be there at 8:30AM. We got there bright and early with my LEGO fanatic brother. We all ended up getting our exclusive sets, as we were maybe 13th in line if you count children. The store actually opened its doors early at about 9:30AM. I am very, very happy to have participated in the grand opening mayhem... and it was a madhouse. All told by 11AM when I left the mall thousands of fans had lined up for the Store, and the master building event! I will have more on this subject soon.

Easter selections for girls this year

High on my list of recommendations this year for Easter presents for your girls are: 1. Hasbro's Littlest Pet Shop. 2. Mattel's Monster High Gloom Beach assortment. 3. Hasbro's Strawberry Shortcake doll assortment.

I can understand the appeal of Littlest Pet Shop (LPS). First of all they are pocket size which is great for visitng friends or showing off or trading at school. Secondly, there are quite a few variations of the same animal. Lastly, there are tons to choose from. LPS has been high on my niece's want list for the last several years. This year I highly recommend checking out the prices at your local TJMaxx or Marshall's, they have a wide selection, and oftentimes clearance pricing on some. They have the best prices by far. This year Big Lots has a surprisingly large assortment but the price is not the best. Don't pass up smaller three packs and the like at Family Dollar in the range of $5.50. Although I haven't checked, it's very likely Walgreens will have a decent deal on basket stuffers.

For mothers who aren't fan of Barbie but are looking for a fashion doll alternative to Bratz, there is Monster High. A ghoulishly clever idea of placing the children of the classic horror monsters into a high school set. These are stylish and affordable, and eliminate the Caucasian-centric doll paradigm by casting the girls in different hues, from greenish, to pinkish, to blueish... a step into the current millennium.

Mothers who grew up in the 80's will love the newest assortments of  Hasbro's Strawberry Shortcake dolls. A definite similarity to the classic dolls can be seen in the newest releases. So far they have released: Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Torte, Plum Pudding, Orange Marmalade, and Blueberry Muffin. These range from $7.99-10.49. They are available at Target and Toys R Us, you may be able to find some at web e-tailers, like from Hasbrotoyshop.com. (Oh, Blueberry is most likely $14.99, but she has a color-changing outfit and hair, a variation of Strawberry Shortcake is also in this feature as well)

Says the Night Raven, GIJoe forevermore

So another of the vastly overpriced item from the G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra movie (ROC) was the electronic Night Raven. It came out at $39.99 or better and doesn’t include batteries.  Nevertheless the vehicle itself is definitely awesome and worth owning. A reincarnation of the classic Night Raven, though admittedly much smaller,  it includes the modern incarnation of the Strato-viper who was designed for the 25^th Anniversary line (25^th) that preceded ROC.  I was lucky enough to get the Strato-Viper in his classic colors from the 25th Cobra Island 7 figure boxed set, that Dave was nice enough to allow me to get just the figures I wanted without buying the whole box (which was an internet exclusive).  I got a Night Raven a month or two ago for the bargain price of $15 on clearance at TJMaxx or Marshalls. This week I bought a second at the steal price of $10….. just ten dollars!?! I’m happy,&  I will probably sell off the pilot ;)

My Review of LEGO MiniFigure Series 4 (8804)

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The LEGO MiniFigure Series 4 (8804) adds 16 all-new, special minifigures to the growing LEGO MiniFigure Collection. Which one will you get when you open the mystery bag? Each MiniFigure comes in a sealed, mystery bag, so you never know which MiniFigure you might get. And each character has its own ...

LEGO MiniFigure Series 4 (8804)

Another round of excellent characters

By L Whip from Cleveland, OH on 4/4/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Detailed, Fun, Stands on its Own

Cons: Small Parts

Best Uses: Gift, Young Children, Imaginative Play, Collecting

Describe Yourself: Collector

Was this a gift?: No

The perfect impulse item. Another batch of unique characters to appeal to LEGO fans of all ages. With something for all tastes from the mohawked Punk Rocker to the Garden Gnome. The thrill of the hunt is on. Can you find every figure you want?

(legalese)

Boosting morale versus The Scourge of the Forest Moon

So I'm a huge fan of the Endor Conflict. I imagine the Imperial Propagandists refer to Ewoks as 'The Ewok Terrorist Front of Endor". Due to our challenging political correct times where the evil ruthless organization of Cobra isn't referred to as "terrorists", I suppose that "The Scourge of the Forest Moon" is a more suitable title. I think one of the neat fun things about fan-artists is the new creative angles in which they view their favorite properties. Thus I can see the Empire using recruitment posters like the one in this post to get civilians psyched about operating in forest theaters like Endor, even with the constant threat of "The Scourge". I hope our boys around the globe defending our civil rights are privy to the uplifting efforts of artists and the age old classic of pin-up girl posters.

Transformers Knock Off Cyberjets/Robot Masters

Found a gem today that I had seen en masse at Family Dollar, but this time as the combination of both G2 Cyberjets, at Tuesday Morning. These are reverse engineered off actual Hasbro/Takara Transformers that were seen in Generation 2 as Cyberjets, but may have been used about 5 years ago in Japan's Robot Masters, but I'm not sure. These knock-offs are naturally of some of the poorest quality. I bought them as I had missed buying the G2 Cyberjets from the dump bins of Kay Bee Toys 15 years ago. Visually, they blend okay with real TF's. I am pleased, and only wished they had been released in the Car Robots 2000/Robots in Disguise line. The two biggest problems are one of the rocket's doesn't fit in the launcher on one, and the back landing gear is non-functional. The packaging is a knock off  of the Robot Masters style. If you can't find them at Tuesday Morning try Family Dollar.