Saturday, January 26, 2013
Another week on Ebay
Got some fun items up on Ebay this week including a handful of large LEGO sets, some assorted LEGO Kingdoms sets, some DS and original Game Boy games, Transformers, and what I think are the last of my Superman figures. Check them out here!
G.I.Joe the Real American Hero, a recap of then beginning until now
For the edification of my readers, and as a favor for Joe Biel of Microcosm Publishing, today I plan a "quick" rundown of the History of G.I.Joe. First off we will be skipping the following incarnations of our beloved heroes: 12 inch, Sgt. Savage, G.I.Joe Extreme, & Sigma Six. G.I.Joe is a three and three quarters inch military action figure series. Oft times denoted as 3 3/4 inch of 3.75 inch, although the figures are said to have moved to the 4 inch level sometime in the past couple of years either at the release of G.I.Joe movie action figures or the subsequent Pursuit of Cobra line, I'm not sure when.
Anyways let's head back in time, with Kenner Products runaway success with 3.75 inch Star Wars figures and vehicles that hit the market in 1978 (within a year of the 1977 release of Star Wars: A New Hope), Hasbro was playing catch up when it decided to modernize and reinvigorate there G.I.Joe property. It was realized that the small scale of the Star Wars figures (which was also shared by Micronauts) that the sale of vehicles was a realistic option that was not really that feasible with the old 12 inch G.I.Joe figures. Simply put, it was a matter of space, 3.75 inch scale figure vehicles were more reasonably sized than 12 inch scale vehicles, and children could easily own multiple vehicles.
So Hasbro in the early 1980's launched the G.I.Joe line that is now referred to as RAH, for Real American Hero. At first the line started with about 10 figures, which were made of even less figure molds as they shared body parts in a clever way as to not make an eager child think they were just getting the exact same figure simply repeated. It's interesting to note, as a further cost-cutting measure to sharing molds, one of the Joe's had a masked face and was cast in all black plastic with no paint applications. It was thought that by having at least one figure that didn't have paint applications, it would reduce the cost of the overall line by averaging the savings over the line. This particular character accidentally became the arguably the most popular Joe character ever, codename: Snake-eyes.
Two other ideas were put forward before the line launched that helped cement it into modern history. Although the figures were military themed, originally they weren't going to have gun accessories due to the feelings on some executive's part that it was too soon since the Vietnam war for guns to be a plaything. Luckily some sensible member of the development team insisted on the figures having guns. This is probably one of the most important decisions that made G.I.Joe the classic that it is today.
Secondly, an enemy was not initially slotted for the line. The line was supposed to consist solely of "good guys". Clearly this lacked the "play-value" that also helped make G.I.Joe great. So a character called "The Enemy" of the evil terrorist faction known as Cobra was made in a deep blue colored uniform. A color I still refer to this day as "Cobra Blue".
Now our heroes had guns and an enemy to fight, they needed one more crucial element to lead to it's victory over Star Wars figures. This element unlike the other two elements was present in the initial plan. The element is wicked awesome articulation of movement. Where Star Wars figures swiveled only at the neck, shoulders and hips, G.I.Joe would have a revolutionary amount of articulation. First off they had hinged elbows and knees. The shoulders would be a swivel joint at the connection of the arm to the body that allowed the arm to rotate 360 degrees, the second was a swivel at 90 degrees to the body which would allow for a full range of motion when combined with the first joint. The hips connected at a ball joint that allowed for a similar range of movement. The lynchpin of the the successful articulation was the connection of the torso to the waist and hip piece. This was what is now know as the o-ring design, the upper torso had a convex bottom that fit into the concave upper portion of the waist, connected on the interior by a rubber o-ring connected inside the torso and waist, which allowed for a full-range of upper body movement.
The last weapon G.I.Joe had in its belt was a set of two animated mini-series that were released in the first two years until US laws were relaxed to the point to basically allow a regular syndicated animated series be a half hour commercial for a toy. Now G.I.Joe was set to launch with an arsenal of improvements over what would now be antiquated Star Wars figures. Although initially seen as a risky concept, G.I.Joe conquered the toy landscape and was present in this form for the better part of the 1980's into the early 1990's. Eventually interest in G.I.Joe waned as nearly every conceivable specialist, enemy, and theme was exhausted. It did take a decade to wear out G.I. Joe's popularity in the toy aisles.
This however was not the end of our heroes, with two luke warm attempts to relaunch the property in a different size scale in the mid to late 1990's, around the year 2000 our heroes would return. The relaunch at the turn of the millennium was two-fold, first some of the old molds were frankensteined together, repainted, and occasionally renamed; then they were released in commemorative two-packs. Also a new 3.75 Joe design was introduced. Although the same scale as the classic Joes, the articulation was scaled back and the overall aesthetic was more "cartoony". The line was helped by awesome new vehicles, but the design hurt the overall success of the line.
Soon after it's launch, the line started to have more frankensteined classic o-ring figures introduced into it, and the articulation was improved on the new design to the point of nearly mimicking the level of articulation as the classic Joes. The line evolved from the banner "G.I.Joe versus Cobra" to "Spytroops" (where the articulation had reached an acceptable level) to "Valor Vs Venom" were something unexpected happened. Although the toy line was selling moderately well, Hasbro yanked the plug and announced that 3.75 scale Joes were going on "indefinite hiatus" in the looming wake of a new much larger scale referred to as Sigma Six.
The "hiatus" was an unexpected snafu to the progress the 3.75 inch line had reached since it's redesign in 2000. It was curious why Hasbro would stop the steam the 3.75 line was gathering early last decade, the vehicles had been the bright spot of the modern line. Luckily the wait for the hiatus to lift wasn't too horribly long, I think it lasted three to four years.
Then a new line was announced for the 25th Anniversary of RAH in 2007. The articulation and realistic proportions of the figures was a definite step up from probably every previous incarnation of 3.75 inch figures. Actually, the 25th anniversary line was just going to be a batch of like 10 figures, but the internet/fanbase response to the early press photos was resoundingly positive. In classic fashion Hasbro scrambled to find a way to reuse parts from the first batch of figures to speed up the production of the, now to be, continuing 25th anniversary line. Hasbro managed to successfully bridge the gap between the release of the initial wave of anniversary figures and the continuing series it became.
This line would run up until the release of the 2009 Rise of Cobra (ROC) movie figures. Although the movie may have had a so-so reception amongst fans, the toys were of a good quality. Unfortunately due to overestimating the desire for the movie figures drastically, the line clogged shelves. Mostly due to the over-production and not the lack of quality, as later waves of figures were produced in smaller numbers and sold more briskly. (Hasbro had aimed high with G.I.Joe movie toys because they had been caught with their pants down when the underestimated the demand of the Live Action Transformers toys, and had under-produced the initial waves of those toys out of the gate).
When the demand for ROC movie toys seemingly totally vaporized, the 3.75 inch package design and direction was switched from being a continuing subset of the ROC line into it's own full fledged line known as the Pursuit of Cobra (POC). Hasbro carefully released low numbers of this line and the toys sales leveled out and new figures came out regularly without a glut to clog the shelves. It's likely that the steady close-outs and clearance of the overstock from the end of both the Movie line and remnants of the end of the 25th anniversary line, helped keep G.I.Joe afloat and relevant, and the core fanbase numbers might have been figured out by Hasbro during the Pursuit of Cobra Era. Although now that I think of it some of the core fanbase budget for POC figures was split between the POC figures at full retail and the ROC and 25th closeouts. So the accurate core fanbase desire for new figures may still be underestimated.
Nevertheless in 2012 a handful of 30th anniversary figures were released as well as figures for the newest cartoon Renegades (The second season of the Renegades cartoon has been pushed back until after the second G.I.Joe live action movie Retaliation gets released.) Even more unfortunate is that Retaliation was pushed back from a summer 2012 release to spring 2013. This in turned off fans of Renegades as they have to wait for more episodes and toys, as well as the core fanbase which has nothing new to buy. A small batch of Retaliation toys were released in early 2012, but shipments were suspended as the film was delayed. Now with the March release of Retaliation looming, the toys are starting to trickle back out (although I haven't seen them). Early reports indicate that the second wave of toys are turning up, which points to underproduction of the first wave. Now it's up to the new Movie to reinvigorate the fanbase and draw new and old collectors back to the aisles of toy stores.
Anyways let's head back in time, with Kenner Products runaway success with 3.75 inch Star Wars figures and vehicles that hit the market in 1978 (within a year of the 1977 release of Star Wars: A New Hope), Hasbro was playing catch up when it decided to modernize and reinvigorate there G.I.Joe property. It was realized that the small scale of the Star Wars figures (which was also shared by Micronauts) that the sale of vehicles was a realistic option that was not really that feasible with the old 12 inch G.I.Joe figures. Simply put, it was a matter of space, 3.75 inch scale figure vehicles were more reasonably sized than 12 inch scale vehicles, and children could easily own multiple vehicles.
So Hasbro in the early 1980's launched the G.I.Joe line that is now referred to as RAH, for Real American Hero. At first the line started with about 10 figures, which were made of even less figure molds as they shared body parts in a clever way as to not make an eager child think they were just getting the exact same figure simply repeated. It's interesting to note, as a further cost-cutting measure to sharing molds, one of the Joe's had a masked face and was cast in all black plastic with no paint applications. It was thought that by having at least one figure that didn't have paint applications, it would reduce the cost of the overall line by averaging the savings over the line. This particular character accidentally became the arguably the most popular Joe character ever, codename: Snake-eyes.
Two other ideas were put forward before the line launched that helped cement it into modern history. Although the figures were military themed, originally they weren't going to have gun accessories due to the feelings on some executive's part that it was too soon since the Vietnam war for guns to be a plaything. Luckily some sensible member of the development team insisted on the figures having guns. This is probably one of the most important decisions that made G.I.Joe the classic that it is today.
Secondly, an enemy was not initially slotted for the line. The line was supposed to consist solely of "good guys". Clearly this lacked the "play-value" that also helped make G.I.Joe great. So a character called "The Enemy" of the evil terrorist faction known as Cobra was made in a deep blue colored uniform. A color I still refer to this day as "Cobra Blue".
Now our heroes had guns and an enemy to fight, they needed one more crucial element to lead to it's victory over Star Wars figures. This element unlike the other two elements was present in the initial plan. The element is wicked awesome articulation of movement. Where Star Wars figures swiveled only at the neck, shoulders and hips, G.I.Joe would have a revolutionary amount of articulation. First off they had hinged elbows and knees. The shoulders would be a swivel joint at the connection of the arm to the body that allowed the arm to rotate 360 degrees, the second was a swivel at 90 degrees to the body which would allow for a full range of motion when combined with the first joint. The hips connected at a ball joint that allowed for a similar range of movement. The lynchpin of the the successful articulation was the connection of the torso to the waist and hip piece. This was what is now know as the o-ring design, the upper torso had a convex bottom that fit into the concave upper portion of the waist, connected on the interior by a rubber o-ring connected inside the torso and waist, which allowed for a full-range of upper body movement.
The last weapon G.I.Joe had in its belt was a set of two animated mini-series that were released in the first two years until US laws were relaxed to the point to basically allow a regular syndicated animated series be a half hour commercial for a toy. Now G.I.Joe was set to launch with an arsenal of improvements over what would now be antiquated Star Wars figures. Although initially seen as a risky concept, G.I.Joe conquered the toy landscape and was present in this form for the better part of the 1980's into the early 1990's. Eventually interest in G.I.Joe waned as nearly every conceivable specialist, enemy, and theme was exhausted. It did take a decade to wear out G.I. Joe's popularity in the toy aisles.
This however was not the end of our heroes, with two luke warm attempts to relaunch the property in a different size scale in the mid to late 1990's, around the year 2000 our heroes would return. The relaunch at the turn of the millennium was two-fold, first some of the old molds were frankensteined together, repainted, and occasionally renamed; then they were released in commemorative two-packs. Also a new 3.75 Joe design was introduced. Although the same scale as the classic Joes, the articulation was scaled back and the overall aesthetic was more "cartoony". The line was helped by awesome new vehicles, but the design hurt the overall success of the line.
Soon after it's launch, the line started to have more frankensteined classic o-ring figures introduced into it, and the articulation was improved on the new design to the point of nearly mimicking the level of articulation as the classic Joes. The line evolved from the banner "G.I.Joe versus Cobra" to "Spytroops" (where the articulation had reached an acceptable level) to "Valor Vs Venom" were something unexpected happened. Although the toy line was selling moderately well, Hasbro yanked the plug and announced that 3.75 scale Joes were going on "indefinite hiatus" in the looming wake of a new much larger scale referred to as Sigma Six.
The "hiatus" was an unexpected snafu to the progress the 3.75 inch line had reached since it's redesign in 2000. It was curious why Hasbro would stop the steam the 3.75 line was gathering early last decade, the vehicles had been the bright spot of the modern line. Luckily the wait for the hiatus to lift wasn't too horribly long, I think it lasted three to four years.
Then a new line was announced for the 25th Anniversary of RAH in 2007. The articulation and realistic proportions of the figures was a definite step up from probably every previous incarnation of 3.75 inch figures. Actually, the 25th anniversary line was just going to be a batch of like 10 figures, but the internet/fanbase response to the early press photos was resoundingly positive. In classic fashion Hasbro scrambled to find a way to reuse parts from the first batch of figures to speed up the production of the, now to be, continuing 25th anniversary line. Hasbro managed to successfully bridge the gap between the release of the initial wave of anniversary figures and the continuing series it became.
This line would run up until the release of the 2009 Rise of Cobra (ROC) movie figures. Although the movie may have had a so-so reception amongst fans, the toys were of a good quality. Unfortunately due to overestimating the desire for the movie figures drastically, the line clogged shelves. Mostly due to the over-production and not the lack of quality, as later waves of figures were produced in smaller numbers and sold more briskly. (Hasbro had aimed high with G.I.Joe movie toys because they had been caught with their pants down when the underestimated the demand of the Live Action Transformers toys, and had under-produced the initial waves of those toys out of the gate).
When the demand for ROC movie toys seemingly totally vaporized, the 3.75 inch package design and direction was switched from being a continuing subset of the ROC line into it's own full fledged line known as the Pursuit of Cobra (POC). Hasbro carefully released low numbers of this line and the toys sales leveled out and new figures came out regularly without a glut to clog the shelves. It's likely that the steady close-outs and clearance of the overstock from the end of both the Movie line and remnants of the end of the 25th anniversary line, helped keep G.I.Joe afloat and relevant, and the core fanbase numbers might have been figured out by Hasbro during the Pursuit of Cobra Era. Although now that I think of it some of the core fanbase budget for POC figures was split between the POC figures at full retail and the ROC and 25th closeouts. So the accurate core fanbase desire for new figures may still be underestimated.
Nevertheless in 2012 a handful of 30th anniversary figures were released as well as figures for the newest cartoon Renegades (The second season of the Renegades cartoon has been pushed back until after the second G.I.Joe live action movie Retaliation gets released.) Even more unfortunate is that Retaliation was pushed back from a summer 2012 release to spring 2013. This in turned off fans of Renegades as they have to wait for more episodes and toys, as well as the core fanbase which has nothing new to buy. A small batch of Retaliation toys were released in early 2012, but shipments were suspended as the film was delayed. Now with the March release of Retaliation looming, the toys are starting to trickle back out (although I haven't seen them). Early reports indicate that the second wave of toys are turning up, which points to underproduction of the first wave. Now it's up to the new Movie to reinvigorate the fanbase and draw new and old collectors back to the aisles of toy stores.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The Rise of the Ewok Liberation Front of Endor
First off I would like to thank Phillip Wise and the photographers at Rebelscum for their gracious permission to use photos from their archive here at TheAmazingToyland. In the vintage Kenner Star Wars line there were a total of 8 Ewok action figures made: Chief Chirpa, Logray, Wicket, Teebo, Paploo, Lumat, Warok, & Romba. Today we take another look at Ewoks, specifically the modern incarnations. 2012 is the year of the Ewok it seems. Hasbro decided to fulfill the requests of fans like me and release a total of 8 figures this year alone. Although it Hasbro hasn't been kind to Ewok fans over the years. Before revamping the accuracy of the scale of figures, Hasbro handed us six total Ewoks in the course of the first 10 years of the current Star Wars toyline. In 1998 we got Logray and Wicket, 2002 saw the release of Paploo (he however was only released in a $30 Toys R Us exclusive featuring an AT-ST and the stolen speederbike), Also in 2002 Teebo was released in seemingly limited quantities in the last wave of Power of the Jedi sub-line. At some point an unnamed Ewok was released with a glider in the Endor complete galaxies set.
A more distinct, yet un-named Ewok was released in the Saga Ultra Assortment with the attack glider. After this slow and rocky start we start seeing at least one new Ewok per year starting in 2006. The Chief Chirpa of 2006 introduced the new scale to the ewok figures, although supposedly more accurate, the newer Ewoks seem a little small even for space-midgets.
2007 brought us two Ewok repaints in the Target Ultimate Battle Pack renamed as Widdle Warrick and Ochee, which would be the first new names for Ewoks in action figure form. Graak is also a new Ewok released with Romba for the price of a single carded figure. This set a precedent that was followed for the next two years, two Ewoks for the price of one figure.
In 2008 we see two totally new figures Leektar & Nippet. I do believe Nippet was one of the plush dolls released in the vintage line and may have been the introduction of the term "wokling" meaning "baby Ewok". 2009 had arguably 5 Ewoks released, we see the return of Paploo who is accompanied by Nho'Apakk. The second got his name when it was realized that the Ewok in the photo reference for the figure didn't technically have a Lucasfilm approved name. The new name was a Tribute to a young child, Noah, who shared a love for Star Wars yet had a life threatening illness. This would be at least the second time a Star Wars character was named for a sick young Star Wars Fan, the other being R2-KT, the Imperial Astromech with the heart of gold. The next three ewoks of 2009 were inspired by the Marvel Comics and had some rather garish head-dresses, although one of these characters was a dummy to fool Imperials and not a "living" Ewok. There names for these three are Machook, Keoulkeech, & Kettch, and were available in a comic book pack that was exclusive to Walmart. I only recall seeing these at one out of the six "nearby" Walmarts but not the others.
So now Hasbro got our hopes up, but changed gears. In 2010 and 2011 only 2 Ewoks were released, and the were packaged separately now priced the same as 1 full size figure. This should have been a foreshadowing of what happens in 2012. These two were a revisiting of Wicket and Logray that had come out more than 10 years prior as well as within the vintage line. For 2012 Lumat was shown as being in a late wave of the current "The Vintage Collection". As I braced myself for paying $9.99 for a single Ewok, Hasbro announced the wave would be released as an online exclusive rather than to retail stores. This jacked the pre-order price up to $12.99 on Amazon, which has since "pre-sold out". God only knows how much that one Ewok is gonna run me. A slightly less jarring but rather equally appalling pricepoint was announced for the Toys R Us exclusive 5 pack, $39.99. I supposed that's cheaper than 5 seperate figures at $9.99 apiece, but seriously, have we reached the point where 5 figures bundled together should cost nearly $40 at retail? Anyways, we see A revisiting to Teebo in this pack, as well as a realistic incarnation of an old Ewoks Animated character, "Princess Kneesa". Then we get 3 new Ewoks for whom I must learn their names, Tippet (undoubtly named for the SFX master Phil Tippet of ILM), Flitchee, and Nanta. As a bonus however extra headdresses are included which could serve to fix the three Ewoks in the previous Walmart Comic Pack.
2012 Also has K-Mart receiving a two-pack of Ewoks Scouts who overthrew the AT-ST in Return of the Jedi. Although seemingly not identified on there package they are Widdle and Wunka (thanks to Rebelscum again.)
I guess I missed one other Ewok. It came in an Endor Battle Pack with Endor Luke, An Imperial Officer, and an attack glider. Released in 2009 and readily available at Closeout Chains. I guess this Ewok is supposed to be Warok according to our friends at Rebelscum. If that is true, I think all the original 8 Ewoks from the classic line have finally been recreated. So I think the list of characters from the original line must be down to just a couple now.
http://www.rebelscum.com/TLC/BattlePacks/BattleforEndor/NEW-246.jpg
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
A week's LEGO Haul: Dinos, Batman, Aliens, & Police, Oh My!
It was a great week for LEGO buying. I picked up the Dino Defense HQ, with the mighty T-Rex, 2 other dinos, and 4 hero minifigures on clearance at Walmart in Aurora, Ohio. It rings strongly of Jurassic Park, a line by Kenner that I never collected. Well actually, I thought about buying the Kenner Dinosaurs when they were on clearance at KB Toys way back when. That was mostly to be opponents for my Alien & Predator figures by Kenner. Actually when I realized how cheap they had gotten which was like 2/$5 I wanted to get some but they had sold out. I asked about them at Kay Bee for months, then the finally got some more back in but at the higher $5 or $6 price point. I suppose I never made it clear that I wanted cheap Dinosaurs. Technically I think the line had done so well as a close-out that Kenner decided to make more just for Kay Bee to sell. Anyways, the LEGO Defense HQ is one of only 3 of the LEGO Dino sets I have interest in.
It's rare that I buy any LEGO that is a new or current theme. I was lucky enough to stumble on the above Batman/Catwoman set, that was not only clearanced but another 50% off at Kmart.
It seems I really get into a LEGO line in it's dying days when it is at close-out or clearance. That's when I take a closer look at a given line that I may have previously ignored. So I also found the Alien Conquest Mothership at a price I had passed on months earlier, but now that the collectible minifigure series 8 has an Alien Queen, I decided I should pick some sets up at clearance if I can still find some since the line ended at the end of 2011. So we will jump over my Target find to the next Alien Conquest set I found. It's the one with the Farmer being abducted, very clever. The whole 1950's style of the spaceships in the line had me a bit put off, but at a better price, and a closer inspection of the included figures, I think I am digging on the Alien Conquest range.
So my Target find was the Police Station 7498 it was supposedly 20% off, but it is a $100 set and it was marked on sale to $62, so that's more like 38% off. I definitely like it more than the previous year's Police Station set. Although I am a big fan of two police stations I didn't pick up, set 7237 Police Station with light up figure and World City Police HQ 7035, both of which were released at different points in the last decade.
Friday, August 3, 2012
More Transformer Robot Masters Bootleg Jets
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A day on Cleveland's North Coast.
It was a super hot day yesterday. I started bright and early with a friend of mine beachcombing. Beachcombing? Well in the spirit of exploring the hobbies of my friends I have found myself on a few beaches on Lake Erie combing about for long discarded pieces of our manufactured world. Different strokes for different folks. Although I am definitely not one to spend my day in the sun on a regular basis, I find the experience to be a mix of things. For one thing I appreciate the opportunity to get out into nature. Growing up with beach access within minutes of my home as a child, we frequented the beach quite often. I don't think I appreciated it as much in my youth as I do as an adult. A second facet of beachcombing I find fun is the relative expense, quite honestly it could be considered free if you don't take into account gas money to reach the assorted beaches that make up what Clevelanders refer to as "the North Coast". It is certainly also refreshing to explore new locales that I could have at any time since I got my driver's license all those year ago. I as you can expect however didn't spend alot of my recreational time in nature. I generally spent it exploring the halls of malls and the aisles of retailers. As a collector of toys I don't think I considered how much time I spent away from nature which had been a common theme of my youth. As a child my aunt was fond of taking my siblings and I to the many "Metroparks" that dot the landscape in Cleveland. As a Hungarian boy scout I also spent a bit of my youth at camp, exploring vast wooded areas and sleeping in tents. Back to the main subject, I find beachcombing that beachcombing offers a great insight into man vs. nature. The lake has done it's best to wear away at the vast amounts of glass and plastic that has been in it's belly for years. As my friend points out however the amounts of glass and the like that wash ashore these days is nothing like what beachcombing was like when she was younger. I am sure different factors play into this, I imagine the movement away from glass to plastic in the last 3 decades has alot to do with it. Also I am sure recycling has played a part. As well as a boom in the past-time of beachcombing. Well anyways, I had quite a bit of fun.. oh I nearly forgot to mention my prize find of the day... a Captain Jack Sparrow minifigure that shows signs of having been adrift in the lake. Weird how the hobby of a friend crossed back over into one of my own hobbies.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Friends of mine are doing a start-up t-shirt project, raising funds through Kickstarter. A loving mash-up of 80's cartoon/pop culture tee-shirts with a dash of Zombie thrown in. The first four designs include Musclemen trampling a city, Zombie Venger & Dungeon Master, Zombie Shredder & the Foot Ninja Clan, and the cult favorite Visionaries. We hope to see more mash-ups in the future once Thread or Dead lifts off the ground. Good Luck to Kristi & Paul, and thanks to any of my readers who decide to back the project.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Soft launch of G.I.Joe Retaliation toyline
So Hasbro and the movie studio involved with releasing the G.I.Joe live action sequel/reboot, G.I.Joe Retaliation, decided to push back the release of the film from this month until Spring 2013. They official claim it was to enhance the movie into 3D which international audiences are supposedly eating up. To top off the disappointment of fans they have held back any future product releases until closer to the new debut date. The toys had a street date of May 28th 2012, but it looks like retailers ordered minimal amounts with fears that it would perform poorly like the toyline from Rise of Cobra.
Honestly I rather liked the original toyline. Most the Joes in that line were in some version of a blue urban camo duty uniform. I thought this was appropriate for a team like G.I.Joe, who in its original incarnation was formed of different specialists each with their own outfit, without true "uniforms". I know some purists will argue with me that the first handful of Joe's appeared in some version of a "green shirt" uniform. Also others might suggest that Night Force, Tiger Force, Slaughters Marauders and others were like uniforms. I can't argue against these points. It was in the Rise of Cobra line that even Snake-eyes donned duty uniform pants in one incarnation.
Nevertheless, Hasbro and retailers may have majorly misjudged the demand of figures and vehicles for Rise of Cobra (ROC), or perhaps the retail price-point was way too high. It seems the toyline did fairly well at closeout. So anyways, back to the current film, more specifically the toys. It seems of my local stores only Target had more than one case of figures on the shelves for launch, I estimated about 3 cases must have been put out. I did not actually do a toy run on May 28th to all the chain stores in my area, which is basically 2 Walmarts, 2 Targets, 1 Toys R Us, and 1 Kmart. I did manage to pick up a few items in the week leading up to the official street date. I found 2 three-packs at my Toys R Us at the $19.99 price-point, as well as the two vehicles at the $15.99 price-point. After the launch date, my local Walmart had one solid case of characters on the shelf so I bought all twelve. Then I picked up an extra Cobra Commander and Red Ninja from another Walmart not that close to home. This mostly completes what I want from the movie line for now. I am not impressed with the new HISS tank mold, the Joe plane, or the motorcycles. This partially has to do with the limited articulation of the drivers which totally goes against the founding principle of Joe figures being super articulated which had given them the edge against Star Wars toys back in the day.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Shared from: Pleasant Family Shopping: March 1, 1962 - The First Kmart Opens
Pleasant Family Shopping runs a great blog about the shopping experiences of yesteryear. Check out the recent article about the 50th anniversary of K-Mart:
Pleasant Family Shopping: March 1, 1962 - The First Kmart Opens: Today marks a key milestone in retailing history – the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first Kmart store, in Garden City, Michigan, p...
Pleasant Family Shopping: March 1, 1962 - The First Kmart Opens: Today marks a key milestone in retailing history – the 50th anniversary of the opening of the first Kmart store, in Garden City, Michigan, p...
Monday, March 12, 2012
From Concept to Screen Tron Legacy Siren Gem
As I finalize my application process to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, this old Facebook update seems all the more fitting.
February 4, 2011 at 8:19am
"From concept to finalized product, this is the sort of thing I like. I can only hope some of my toy concepts see realization some day in the future." (This is not to imply I designed this costume, but I hope some of my designs someday go from the drawing board to finished design like the concept below. Kudos to the artists who made Gem possible)
(Tron Legacy is property of Disney, the image is used here for entertainment and educational purposes)
February 4, 2011 at 8:19am
"From concept to finalized product, this is the sort of thing I like. I can only hope some of my toy concepts see realization some day in the future." (This is not to imply I designed this costume, but I hope some of my designs someday go from the drawing board to finished design like the concept below. Kudos to the artists who made Gem possible)
(Tron Legacy is property of Disney, the image is used here for entertainment and educational purposes)
Lady Muscle
Here is the start of the transfer of my Facebook musings from before my Blog started:
The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on January 31, 2011 at 9:13am
Not all figures are for kids. Inspired by the series that spawned the MUSCLE-Man craze of the early 80's, Here is a re-envisioning as basically "MUSCLE Lady". To satisfy my cool Anime toy desire from missing Ohayocon, I nabbed this exquisite piece off HobbyLinkJapan.
Lady Robin at HobbyLinkJapan
The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on January 31, 2011 at 9:13am
Not all figures are for kids. Inspired by the series that spawned the MUSCLE-Man craze of the early 80's, Here is a re-envisioning as basically "MUSCLE Lady". To satisfy my cool Anime toy desire from missing Ohayocon, I nabbed this exquisite piece off HobbyLinkJapan.
Lady Robin at HobbyLinkJapan
Saturday, March 3, 2012
G.I. Joe at HasbroToyShop.com | G.I. JOE WAVE 10 12-PACK Product Details
One of the current two cases in rotation right now, this case contains an excellent balance of Renegades figures, 30th Anniversary reincarnations of classics, and the new Zombie Viper.
G.I. Joe at HasbroToyShop.com | G.I. JOE WAVE 10 12-PACK Product Details
G.I. Joe at HasbroToyShop.com | G.I. JOE WAVE 10 12-PACK Product Details
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Kenner Aliens: the opening of Night Cougar, Queen Face Hugger, & King
I recently sold some Kenner Aliens figures with some pretty damaged packages on Ebay. Although I had listed the packages as damaged I thought I would confirm with the buyer that the packages were in poor condition before shipping them to him. When he replied that he knew, and planned to do something "very uncollector-like" and open them anyways, it got me to thinking. I wanted to know what the addition of these toys to his collection was like from his perspective. He was more than happy to oblige me and wrote the following with the included pictures. Please enjoy this guest featurette:
Kenner Aliens
This is my hive. Note the complete lack of packaging! The first Alien to begin this hive is appropriately the Deluxe Queen (bottom left), purchased in 1992. I was 12. These variations of the xenomorph (based on Dark Horse Comics after Alien 3) were my introduction to the Alien franchise. I still remember the moment some kid showed me a couple after school one day. "Where are the eyes!?" I was hooked.
I finally took it upon myself to grow the hive. I was fortunate enough to win three missing xenomorphs from "The Amazing Toyland" in Ohio. The box arrived on February 27, 2012.
"I have carefully worked to preserve my collectibles over the years, sometimes even putting an item under glass. I finally got that message, "Don't take it out of its original packaging!"
But not with Kenner ALIENS:
This is my hive. Note the complete lack of packaging! The first Alien to begin this hive is appropriately the Deluxe Queen (bottom left), purchased in 1992. I was 12. These variations of the xenomorph (based on Dark Horse Comics after Alien 3) were my introduction to the Alien franchise. I still remember the moment some kid showed me a couple after school one day. "Where are the eyes!?" I was hooked.
I finally took it upon myself to grow the hive. I was fortunate enough to win three missing xenomorphs from "The Amazing Toyland" in Ohio. The box arrived on February 27, 2012.
Opened! Note the considerate packaging.
There is some aspect of having all these different xenomorphs that is thrilling to me. With the exception of "Atax" (who is hiding within a xenomorph suit, I own none of the space marine characters (not even Ripley). It's all about the bug.
The Night Cougar Alien is freed first. I already own two Panther Aliens, which are the same toy, different paint job. I know immediately that the Night Cougar is superior, indicated by the packaging that calls his parasite "kamikaze" rather than merely "flying."
The Queen Face Hugger is next. I am wary of the Queen Face Hugger (as it seems to be pushing even the Dark Horse universe just a bit) but am immediately won over by its many abilities...
...which I need to consult the instructions to understand.
Success!
The Queen Face Hugger also comes with a mini Dark Horse comic (another added benefit from opening the package). The strength in Kenner's Aliens is the odd filtering of the source material. It is not a direct tie-in to James Cameron's Aliens but rather a tie-in to the Dark Horse Comics Aliens (which of course is a tie-in to James Cameron's Aliens). Confusing. What's awesome about Dark Horse (at least to a kid) is how they ran with the idea presented in Alien 3. Thanks to Dark Horse there's an expansive fictional science surrounding the xenomorph, including pure breeds and all these trans-breeds!
Finally. The King.
My immediate theory is that the King is actually a version of the "Rogue" featured in the comic also known simply as "Rogue." In this comic, scientist meddle with the xenomorph DNA and are able to produce a male creature, similar in size to the Queen. Their hope is that it will be peaceful and more susceptible to domestication. They all die.
Night Cougar is introduced to the Scorpion Alien.
The Queen Facehugger is placed next to the Killer Crab Alien. They have strikingly similar paint jobs.
And of course: Queen and King!
The new hive is up and running. At this point, there's only alternate paint jobs out there for me (And I'm pretty much out of room now anyhow)." -Paul L. Petzrick
Saturday, February 25, 2012
I'm not dead yet.
So it seems my blog came to practically a dead standstill in the last 6 months or so. It makes me think back to the inspiration of the blog. As a collector I had been known to post stuff new and old about toys on my Facebook for my friends, some of whom are fellow toy nerds. Then in a short window of time, maybe over the course of a week or two, I posted about five semi-related toy topics per day. Basically I had a theme for each day. That's when my friend Chris suggested a blog. I figured blabbing into the vacuum of the internet could do me good. So I started The Amazing Toyland. Although outside the first couple of weeks of blogging, I didn't really recapture this stream-of-toy-consciousness that I had going on Facebook that had inspired the blog in the first place. Bear in mind I really wasn't a fan of over-doing daily posts on FB so peaking at 5 or 6 inter-related updates a day was a bold maneuver for me. I was mostly afraid people would block me from their feed. Now however since time has passed since the inception of this blog, something is drawing traffic through here, so I am not certain what any of you came to read or hear about, but I feel compelled to get back to the roots of what originated this blog. So I am going to go back into my Facebook from the weeks leading up to the blog and translate the content over to here. Plus it certainly brings me joy to discuss nerdy topics. Which is something I really enjoyed about being at Keiper's Comics from day to day.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Transformers Robots in Disguise & Robot Masters Stealth Bombers
Today's feature is about a pair of Transformers that may quite possibly have crossed over more different incarnations of Transformers than any other molds. Starting in Generation 2 the stealth bomber was released as Dreadwing, along with his compatriot who at that time didn't even get a name. Before returning to US shores, the planes in question moved to Japan in Takara's Beast Wars Neo toyline. While being a garish purple color scheme in G2 these guys were given a far more realistic predominately black color scheme in Japan, they would also return in the Takara licensed Sonokong Transformers line in Korea (in the same color scheme). Dubbed BB and Starscrem, I believe both bots had screen time in the cel animated Beast Wars Neo cartoon. In 2002 they returned as a Target exclusive in the Robots in Disguise toyline in the color scheme seen above. I think the greens really give the guys that military feeling. At this time they were named Dreadwing and Smokejumper. We aren't done yet, the final release to date would come in Takara's Robot Masters line. This time they were dubbed Gigant Bomb and Smokesniper. Packaged examples are seen below.
More MOSC fun from Transformers Generation 2
Since I have a couple posts going up today regarding Transformers, I figured I'd start with the most vintage of the toys. But first some lessons in toy collecting jargon. MOSC in collector's circles stands for "Mint on sealed Card" which is often mistaken for MOMC "Mint on Mint Card". MOMC refers to a carded example of a product with an impeccably factory new AKA "mint" package. MOSC merely indicates the items are still sealed on the original card with no indication as to the condition of the package other than the original glue is holding the toy to the cardback. MOSC is sometimes referred to simply as MOC, or "Mint on Card".
As you are well aware by this point I have a Transformers collection focus, namely "spychangers" which is sometimes retroactively applied as the name for the same toys as they appeared in Generation 2, although technically the term "spychanger" was not coined until either Takara's Car Robots 2000 or Hasbro's Robots in Disguise toyline (RID for short circa 2001). In generation 2 the cars were called "Go-bots" as Hasbro had acquired the name "Go-bots" from Tonka when it was absorbed into the Big H. These cars were clearly Hot Wheels sized and touted as having high speed racing axles. Although I have never botherd to try, I believe the cars actually fit onto Hot Wheels Tracks.
I managed to sweep up some great auctions a few months ago, and I got some toys from Generation 2, Machine Wars, and Takara's Robot Masters. For your purusal today is the two MOSC examples I purchased: Ironhide and Sideswipe. Both names came from Generation One, and I think were intended to help existing fans relate to these diminutive Transformers. I really don't have much more to say about these characters today, I mainly felt like showing off. Although in conclusion, it is neat that Sideswipe and Optimus Prime share molds and one is red while the other is blue, the complimentary colors of old 3D glasses.
As you are well aware by this point I have a Transformers collection focus, namely "spychangers" which is sometimes retroactively applied as the name for the same toys as they appeared in Generation 2, although technically the term "spychanger" was not coined until either Takara's Car Robots 2000 or Hasbro's Robots in Disguise toyline (RID for short circa 2001). In generation 2 the cars were called "Go-bots" as Hasbro had acquired the name "Go-bots" from Tonka when it was absorbed into the Big H. These cars were clearly Hot Wheels sized and touted as having high speed racing axles. Although I have never botherd to try, I believe the cars actually fit onto Hot Wheels Tracks.
I managed to sweep up some great auctions a few months ago, and I got some toys from Generation 2, Machine Wars, and Takara's Robot Masters. For your purusal today is the two MOSC examples I purchased: Ironhide and Sideswipe. Both names came from Generation One, and I think were intended to help existing fans relate to these diminutive Transformers. I really don't have much more to say about these characters today, I mainly felt like showing off. Although in conclusion, it is neat that Sideswipe and Optimus Prime share molds and one is red while the other is blue, the complimentary colors of old 3D glasses.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Abbey & Toralei sold out lightning quick, see ya later girls.
I hope to get more of these gals in stock before the holiday. Want to stay up to the minute on Monster High dolls, then visit Monsterhighdolls.com
Monday, November 7, 2011
Why so serious, about action figures?
This picture doesn't do the Heath Ledger likeness on this figure justice, but rest assured it is fantastic. If Mattel can keep up the level of quality we see on this figure in future releases then I think I'm hooked. The Dark Knight figures are a far cry from the Kenner/Hasbro figures we saw for the other movies throughout the 1990's. Pose-ability and sculpt are the two things I look for in action figures and I think this character is on the high end of the scale for likeness, with a fair amount of non distracting articulation to boot. We plan to carry more stellar DC action figures in the coming months.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Honey I shrunk Generation One
This week I was able to get ahold of the Transformers Reveal the Shield legends class Generation One wave. Even though I have an affinity for the matchbox sized spychangers, I haven't paid the similar scaled legends class much mind, until now. The set of six diminutive Transformers are a fun lot with Megatron finally returning to his gun form in a safe pint sized edition. The set also includes Optimus Prime in original snub nosed cab form, Starscream, Prowl, Gold Bumblebee AKA Goldbug, & Trailcutter AKA Trailbreaker. The toys also include an update of the original thermal rub insignias from our youth. This is a definite tip of the hat from Hasbro to long time Transformers enthusiasts. The whole wave is considered "tail-enders" as they were on the end of the 2nd movies merchandise run and did not see wide distribution. Check them out if you get a chance.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Keiper's Comics, Games, & More 34 W Main Street Down, Madison, OH 44057
I'm sure anyone following my blog may be wondering what I have been up to these past couple of months. Well here's the official announcement, I have been working on a collaboration with my friend Alex on the opening of a hobby store. This opportunity has been a long time in the making. As an avid collector of many things, namely action figures, comics, & the like, a store just seemed like the natural evolution of the hobby. I had been in the planning stages of a store several times in the past, but it never came together. I am thankful for the time and energy other parties like Dave Z. and Cameron put previously into the attempts to start up a store. Now I am directly involved with Keiper's Comics, Games, and More located in Madison, Ohio at 34 West Main Street Down. I really appreciate all the support from friends and family alike on this endeavor. Along with the store I continue to do auctions on Ebay and on Crave.com I look forward to continuing my lifelong obsession with collectables through this hobby shop venue. I am more than happy to shoot the shit on all topics of nerddom with anyone who cares to drop by.
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