Reveal the Shield – Trailcutter (Legends Class)

Of the toys I found this past weekend, this was the first one that I found.  But before we get to the pictures, I would like you to take a look at the price I found him for.

Unbelievable!!  When I spotted this, I was hoping that I would find a few more!  This was the only real Transformer among the knockoffs that the store had.

Trailcutter(his name was Trailbreaker back in the day) is a “Legends Class” figure.  This means that he’s small and has a simple transformation, as well as limited articulation.

The vehicle mode is actually pretty good looking(and reminiscent of his G1 counterpart).   The only thing I would’ve done differently, is I would have painted the rear windows silver.  And the robot mode is just as similar to the original look.

For their size, I think they’re pretty decent toys.  I would like to find more, especially the “Deluxe Class”, but I know my chances are pretty much zero.  The only other one in this scale that I want is Starscream(I have to act quickly, before it costs me a fortune).

Reveal the Shield – Optimus Prime (Legends Class)

This is the lone action figure I received for Christmas(from the wife).

Like Megatron, Optimus is one of three legends class figures that I wanted from this line(the third is Starscream).  Of the few Optimi(that’s plural, right?), that I own, this is the most reminiscent of our beloved G1 Optimus.  That’s one of the big reasons why I want the three that I do.  Let me tell you a story…

When I was a child, my younger brother and I could not like the same toys.  Now, we could both like the good guys or bad guys, but we couldn’t like the same characters(I’m sure this was the reason my brother and I never had that many conflicts when it came to choosing toys on the fly).  Well, for Transformers, my brother was the first to claim Optimus Prime as his favorite(and as such, we would always refer to ourselves as our favorite  characters, i.e.- “That’s me, Optimus Prime”).  This meant that I could never own an Optimus Prime figure(now my brother and I never discussed this, but we just knew).  To this day, it is a figure that I long to have in my collection(some day!*shakes fist*).  And, c’mon, who doesn’t like old-school Optimus Prime?

This one looks just as good in vehicle mode as it does in robot mode(I tend to lean to the robot side when it comes to Transformers).

He also looks great in robot mode.

I’m actually torn between the two.

Christmas Fallout 2011

I hope that everyone had a merry Christmas!  I must have been good, because I did very well this year!  Here’s everything(minus gift cards and cash).

I was like my kid-self this past Christmas.  I love opening presents, and I’m sure a lot of you can relate to that.  I got most everything I wanted, and some other stuff that wasn’t on my list, that I’m happy to have received.  Let’s look a little closer.

I finally got a Wii!!  This was the big gift from my wife.  This Wii is black and came with New Super Mario Bros.(as well as a music cd, which I haven’t checked out yet).  My wife also got me Punch-Out!!, and her parents got me (The Legend of Zelda) Skyward Sword.  My friend Mike got me the Genesis games you see, as well as Kung-Fu for the NES.  It looks like I’ll be busy for a while!  🙂

In the clothing department, I also did well.  But most of these items were things that I needed.  I got a pair of Dearfoams moccasins(slippers), driving gloves, socks(you can never have too many socks), sweat pants and a couple of t-shirts( one from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and a really sweet “Facts You Need to Know About Chuck Norris” shirt).  Although clothes weren’t really appreciated(you all know what I’m talking about) on Christmas during my childhood, they are greatly appreciated now!

The Walking Dead, Book 2, was my secret Santa gift from the X-Entertainment gift exchange(thank you so much velouria_78!) that a few of us who post  on X-E took part in.  This is the hard cover edition, and I can’t wait to start reading it!  While I’m up to date with the tv show, I have only read the first collection(Book 1).  Next to that is a Reveal the Shield, Legends Class, Optimus Prime.  This line has been scarce in my parts, but my wife, somehow, found a place that still had some.

And here’s everything else.  We have a case of Saranac “24 Beers of Winter”, of which I am on my second Chocolate Lager as we speak(it’s pretty good, not too chocolatey or sweet, it’s quite strong though).  I also got a nice Old Spice gift set.  This has everything to keep me clean and smelling good for a little while, plus maybe it’ll turn me into that cool guy in their commercials(and I’m not talking about Ray Lewis either).  My wife(she’s so awesome!), also got me a Remington(they don’t make just guns), grooming kit(I hinted that I wanted this, but didn’t think I’d get it).  You’ll also notice some Slim Jims, a head massager, Werther’s Originals, a few rubber bracelets, some car air-fresheners, some vhs Transformers episodes, Paul Mitchell shampoo/conditioner and a Snoopy toothbrush holder and rinse cup(which is in my bathroom right now, but will end up going into storage with the rest of the Christams decorations in a week or so).

Also, between my wife and myself, we got $160 in cash, a $25 Applebee’s gift card and a $25 Regal Cinemas gift card.

I hope you all got what you wanted, and had a great time as well!  Please feel free to discuss your Christmas in the comments, as I love to hear about stuff like this.

Albany Comic-Con 2011

So, about a week and a half ago, I attended the Albany Comic-Con(this was my wife’s anniversary gift to me 🙂 ).  I’m not sure if this was it’s inaugural event or if it’s an annual thing.  This year was the first time in the 8 years I’ve lived here, that I have heard about it.

I’ve been to a few conventions in NYC before, and they were a pretty decent size.  This one was smaller, but it definitely had it’s charm.  To give you an idea, it was held in a Holiday Inn, and had two dealer and guest rooms.  There were a few different panels as well.  I attended the panel discussing action figure sculpting and creating.

There was a pretty big turnout, and there were many deals to be had(every dealer I met with was friendly and reasonable).  I won’t bore you to death with all the details, so we’ll get to the pictures.  Most of them are Star Wars related, but I’m pretty sure that’s okay with most of you.

All of the Star Wars costumes were top notch, and made up 60%-70% of the cosplaying crowd.  The Tusken Raider(or Sand Person) above, was one of two who even had sound effects and music playing(concealed within their costume and accessories) that were related to their character.

Now to the loot!

But before we get to that…I just want to show a few games that came in the mail around the same time I went to the convention.

Ultima isn’t a great game, but it’s an RPG that I have fond memories of.  I already have this game in my collection, but I got a great deal on a complete copy(the box is mint).  Wario Land:Super Mario Land III, is one of my all-time favorite Game Boy games.  This was another great deal that also included the game case and instruction manual.  I only realized that it was a foreign language manual when I got it in the mail.  Game Boy games are region-free, so it works fine on my Game Boy.  And the manual is not necessary for me to play this game.

And now to the Comic-Con loot!

That Punisher comic is one of my favorite comic book covers, and it was also the very first back issue I bought when I first got into comics.  The Marvel Universe is part of a series of of pages with pre-punched holes to be put into a 3 ring binder as a sort of reference book.  Both of those were 50 cents each.  The Jason goes to Hell was a bargain at 50 cents, considering it still has the cards in the sealed bag.  I don’t mean this to sound like it’s worth much.  I’m just a huge Friday the 13th fan, and getting a comic book and trading cards of Jason for 50 cents is great!  I have no idea about the Redfox comic.  But it was 50 cents, and I thought the cover looked pretty neat, so I took a chance.

The New Warriors was one of the titles I was heavily into when I first got into comics(along with The Punisher, Avengers West Coast and Marvel Comics Presents).  I couldn’t pas up the first issue for a dollar.  In my current collection, I don’t have any other New Warriors books.  I’m hoping I’ll like it as much as I did back then.  What The..?! is a parody of Marvel characters by Marvel.  It was done by Hilary Barta, who I have mentioned before.  I love his cartoony style and at 50 cents, I promptly snatched it up.  The 2 G.I. Joe and the Transformers comics were a buck a piece.  The first one is a Marvel one from the eighties, and the second one is an Image one from 2003(this one is actually G.I. Joe vs. Transformers).  It’ll be great to read all of these.

One seller had a bunch of polybagged issues of Wizard from the early days of the now-defunct “guide to comics”.  I picked out a fairly early issue that included some pretty cool premiums.  To the right, we have a press kit for the movie The Crow.  This is my all-time favorite movie.  This is a very cool find!  It has black and white 8×10 photos, 5 film stills and a press release about the movie, the actors and various other things pertaining to the movie.  I had no problem dropping the ten dollars the seller was asking for it.  Also pictures are 3 packs of trading cards.  The seller was selling certain packs of trading cards at 3 packs for $1.00.  The 3 packs I chose were The Worst From MAD, The Valiant Era and Adventures in Toon World.  I’ll be saving these packs, and may do a post where I open them and see what they contain.

And here is the star of  my purchases.

The Reveal the Shield line of Transformers has been virtually non-existent in my area.  I’ve barely see any of this line with in an hour’s drive of me.  And this was the first time that I saw any of the “Legends Class’ figures.   The dealer I bought this from had all of the Legends Class figures from this line, and if money wasn’t an object I would’ve bought them all.  Starscream is the next on my list if I can find him at a decent price.  Megatron cost me 7 bucks(not too bad), and Starscream was the same.  I just didn’t have the disposable cash at the time.

I think the figure looks great, and is a great representation of the G1 Megatron that we all love.  But I do have a few gripes about this figure.  The first will be apparent in the next photo.

That is one hell of a paint error!  I wish I would’ve noticed this before I bought it, or else I would’ve bought the other available Megatron(as long as the paint was better).  My second gripe is the rub sign almost came off.  It’s a sticker, and it was moving when pressure was applied to it.  I may have to super glue it to the figure to make sure it’s not lost in the future.

And my final gripe…

Is the orange cap on the barrel necessary?!  The original G1 figure was made of die-cast metal and was a full size gun, so I can understand the confusion in mistaking it for a real gun.  But is there any chance that anyone would confuse this tiny, very plastic looking toy for a real gun?

Still, I’m happy to add this Megatron to the collection.  And I’d say he’s worth picking up if you can find him.

Spring Ahead, Fallback

I don’t need to tell you the back story on this.  If you missed it, here it is.

Any time I’m out and about, I always make sure to check out the toy selection at various establishments.  You guys know the situation about the “Reveal the Shield” line in my area.  So, my first stop is the action figure aisle, to see what’s new in the Transformers universe.  I wish I had a Target in my area, because this place does not seem to disappoint.  I don’t think that there has been a time where I have left any Target empty handed.  Target and Toys R Us always seem to have the best selection of action figures.  All I have is an area Wal-Mart, and they seem to be lacking in the toy department.  Then again, it could just be the location, because I’ve been to other Wal-Marts that have a decent selection.

This time there were two figures from the Reveal the Shield line, and this one spoke to me.

The only thing that would’ve made this figure better, is if he was the same colors as on the back of the card.  The toy itself is more of a cream and brown, instead of the olive and rust.  Like Jazz, I like both vehicle and robot modes.  In vehicle mode, he is reminiscent of the movie version Ironhide.

In robot mode, he has some kibble in the back, but it doesn’t affect the posability all that much.  I love the fact that he comes with 2 pistols, and the shoulder cannon is a nice touch.  His head is what I like best about him(kind of reminds me of the Mortal Kombat “ninjas”).

I’m really impressed with the figures I’ve gotten for this line so far!  If they were more readily available, I probably would try to collect the entire line.  And that’s saying something, because I haven’t seen a figure in this line that I wouldn’t mind having.  I found him on clearance as well, which is always a plus.  I would recommend picking him up if you see him, clearance or not.

So…..

So yesterday was my birthday.  But I treated myself to a few things on Sunday.  If there’s someone who knows exactly what to get you, it’s definitely yourself.

Here’s where we start.

On Sunday(after the MS walk), my wife’s parents treated me to a birthday meal.  On the way in, there were a few vending machines, with one that caught my eye.  There were your usual gumball and fake bling prizes, but I had my eye on one specific machine, and neither had to do with gum or jewelry.  They were stocked with things like this.  And I had to have one!

These ninjas were one of the best vending machine prizes when I was a kid.  It looks as though inflation catches up with everything though.  As this guy ran me 50 cents, instead of the usual quarter I was used to paying(and that was up until around 3 years ago).  Still, 50 cents is worth it for something I can display, rather than something I wouldn’t mind losing 5 minutes later.  And, I just want to point out that the capsule my ninja came in looks like the pod Elroy gets shipped off in during the intro to The Jetsons.

After we left the diner, my wife and I headed to the nearest Target.  Now, this was the day before my birthday, so I figured, if I saw anything I liked, I would consider it a birthday gift to myself.  Well, I saw a few things that I liked.  But I couldn’t go home with everything that caught my eye.  So, here’s what I decided on.

Finally!  I have had quite a hard time finding this thing!  Of course, it was the last one on the pegs at this specific Target.  But $1.09 was well worth it.  Now I have both of the Deloreans.But I was pining for the BTTF one, where I only wanted the regular one.  Very nice, very nice.

And there were a couple of different “Reveal the Shield” figures, and I took a shine to one of them.

It’s not one of the bigger names in the line, but I’ll take what I can get at this point!  This line is basically non-existant in my area, and this guy has one of the better looking robot modes.  I hope they keep this series going, as it’s been my recent favorite.  I’m pretty sure I’ll have my review of Fallback here, up tomorrow.

I did get some other gifts, they weren’t toys, but they were still just as awesome.

All That Jazz…And Some Other Stuff

Well, I guess that I have recovered from the laziness that caused my absence for this week.  But that means that I have a few things to share with you!

The “Jazz ” part of the title refers to this guy.

 I found this at a not so local Target.  The only sign of this line locally is the Battle in Space set that I picked up at Wal-Mart.  So, around 3 weeks ago, I’m perusing the toy aisles at the not so local Target and stumble upon a small selection of the Reveal the Shield figures.  There were one of each of the following…Special Ops Jazz, Perceptor, Turbo Tracks, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee.  So it was a tough choice, as I could only go home with one of them.  I narrowed it down to Perceptor and Jazz.  And while I thought Perceptor looked great in his robot mode, I thought Jazz looked more true to his G1 roots in both modes, this being the reason he was chosen.

Seems like I got a good deal.  Being that it only cost $8.38, on clearance from the original price of $11.99*cringe*.  It’s a fun enough toy, and looks very nice in either mode.

Nice, right?  I think so.

But my preference for display is always robot mode.  And this figure is a good reason why.

Very nice!

Now, onto the “other stuff”.

My friend Chris gave me a pack of these Garbage Pail Kids Flashback cards yesterday.  I’m thinking the pack must have been from one of those “Value” boxes they sell, as the pack only contained 4 cards(the pack I bought had 8 cards).  These are all classics I remember from the original releases.

Onward!

Last night my band played at a local bar(the show was great!).  And as everyone knows, McDonald’s breakfast is the perfect cure after a night of drinking.  But I’m not here to tell you about what I ate for breakfast.  I just wanted to give you a little background on how I came into possession of what I’m about to show you.

So anyway…

We were driving to our closest McDonald’s, when I noticed a tag sale at one of the town’s churches.  After we picked up our food, I made my wife stop at the tag sale.  I found one item I was interested in, and inquired how much they wanted for it, and was told the sale was based on however much I wanted to donate.  With this information, I decided to see if there was anything else of interest.  And there was!

Here’s what a $1.00 donation got me.

This was the item that I inquired about.  I totally forgot that there was an animated Ace Ventura series!  The cover art alone is what got me to pick it up(a great representation of Jim Carrey).  It’s just a bonus that it’s a published by Troll.(1997)

And there’s this.

From Mego, we have Pulsonic Baseball II, “The World Series of Deluxe Computerized Baseball”(was there stiff competition in the computerized baseball field?).  Chris was with us, and said he had this as a kid and remembered that it was fun.  I took his word for it and bundled it with the Ace Ventura book.  I’m probably going to sell it, so I tested it out to make sure that it worked.  It did, and Chris didn’t lie, it’s actually really fun to play!

This was everything that was in the box.  Looks like it’s missing the piece with the logo that prevents cheating when playing against a human opponent.  The other plus is that it is copyrighted 1979, which is the same year I was born.  Considering it’s age, it’s still quite fun(looks like we have something else in common 🙂 )

“Reveal the Shield” Revealed My Weakness

Since I started to keep track, I went 39 days without buying a toy, a comic book or video game.  The fortieth day happened to be a pay day, so I decided to hit up Wal-Mart to browse the toy selection.  I was hoping that I would find the Transformers Generations Wheeljack, but that didn’t happen.  It was the same sorry selection since after Christmas.  A couple of  Thrusts, Cybertronian Bumblebees, 1 Cybertronian Optimus Prime and about 3 pegs worth of the line that came before Generations. 

To tell you the truth, I would’ve bought Red Alert or Dirge, if they were available.  I NEEDED to buy a toy!  Right before I was going to admit defeat, I saw two of these on a lower shelf.

There was no thinking required.  I thought $19.97 was a good deal, and made my way to the checkout.  Actually, I stopped to check out the $5 DVD bin, grabbed National Lampoon’s Vacation(I don’t know why I didn’t own this already), and then made my way to the checkout.

I have been really looking forward to the Reveal the Shield line.  A majority of the older figures were equipped with this feature, which might have something to do with my anticipation of the line.  From what I have seen, the first wave looks to be very G1 oriented.  Here’s a few more shots of my new addtions.

The Reveal the Shield logo that you see behind the figures, is actually on the back cover of the comic book.  In the second shot, you’ll see more of the selection for this line, which I’m sure you’ve already seen on other sites.

Three figures and The Autobot Matrix of Leadership for $20.

The gimmick of this line is the rub signs(Battle Beasts used these as well) on the figures.  Rub the shield on the figure, to reveal the robot’s allegiance.

Before rubbing.

After rubbing.

First, we have Rodimus and The Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

He’s very reminiscent of G1 Hot Rod, which is a plus for me.  And The Autobot Matrix of Leadership is made of metal(die-cast?), and not plastic, another plus!  The transformation isn’t all that hard for a level 3(though Cyclonus was a little challenging).   And you get 2 choices of how he should look in his alternate mode.

This way…

Or, this way…

Just like the G1 figure, Cyclonus comes with his Mini-Con, Nightstick(who transforms into his weapon).

While Cyclonus looks great in his robot mode, I can’t say that I’m a fan of his alternate mode.

The light pipe eyes look nice(you can see an example in the “before rubbing” photo 6 pictures back).

I am very impressed with this release, and look forward to seeing what else Hasbro has in store, as well as looking forward to adding more of this line to my collection.