Donatello 2012

I haven’t anticipated a toy line like this in a very long time.  As you should be able to tell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of my all-time favorite toy lines.  I got into the toys and the cartoon series early, and moved to the older Mirage comics in my early teens.  And though there has been quite a few carnations of the Turtles in the past, this incarnation looks interesting.  It’s almost like a mix of the original Turtles from the comics, mixed with the ones we knew as kids.

I stopped at Toy R Us this past weekend, and they had every other scale in stock, except the ones I was looking for!  They even had the Classics.  I was about to purchase the Classics Donatello(he is my favorite), when I figured I would check out the nearby Target.  My plan was, if Target didn’t have any Turtles, I would go back to TRU and buy the Classics Donatello.

And as they have in the past, Target came through!  They had at least one of every figure in this scale, except for Krang(I know, I know, he’s now Kraang).  I already knew I would get Donatello.  But at $8.99 each, I bought two(you’ll see him in a few days).  I love the new look of the Turtles, and think that the figures(so far), are prety nice to look at.  I always get nervous when new incarnations of shows and characters I grew up with go into production.  But just like Thundercats, this line will get my money(and of course I’ll be watching the series).

The other 3 Turtles all have their teeth showing, but not Donnie.  From the back of the card, we can see that Donnie has gap-teeth.  While this seems a bit weird, I’m curious to see how it fits in to his personality.  The articulation is better than the old-school figures, and it works.  Besides his trademark Bo, he also came with a weapon rack(similar to the ones we got with the originals).

I will have all four of them.  In my opinion, you need to have all four Turtles.

I’m not going to have any time to write this weekend, so, we’ll see the next one in a few days(I may have a few more by that time though 🙂 ).

Transformers Animated : Oil Slick

I have a few MOC figures that I have had for some time.  I think this is the one that I’ve had the longest(from the ones that I plan on opening).  So this guy has been waiting to be opened since last tax season.

Oil slick here was found at Toys “R” Us on clearance for less than 4 bucks around February or March of last year.  My choices were either Oil Slick(the only one), or Cybertron Mode Ratchet(which there were three of).  Now, I am a fan of the Transformers Animated style.  I was only able to catch a handful of episodes when it was on tv, but the animation style was very pleasing to my eyes.  And with these figures, I feel that Hasbro hit their mark in conveying the look into action figure form.  I only wish I started buying them sooner, because there are a few more I would really love to have(Starscream, Bulkhead, Blurr, Lugnut etc.).  He looks cool in both robot and vehicle mode.

The only thing I don’t like is how the front tire doesn’t look like a single tire.  But I do like that ram skull that is on the front, as well as the barrels under the saddle bags(the barrels turn into weapons).  I also like the color scheme, which is reminiscent of military(in color only, not pattern).  So there is more right than wrong with this figure.

You’ll notice that the chain is not exactly what is pictured on the back of the card.  Now I understand that the product may vary from the depiction on the package – – but the chain on the back is black and has many small links.  What you actually get is a gray, shorter chain with larger links.  This looks terrible when compared to the back of the card(so much better).

But there was one other reason for buying this figure(besides being a fan of the style), and that is the domed head.  I find that to be extremely aesthetically pleasing.  There would be only one thing that could make this figure any better…and that’s if the dome was clear, and almost completely filled with green liquid(and if we were in the eighties, it may have very well happened).

TMNT Days #1

For the next few posts(four to be exact), I will be spotlighting some TMNT figures from my collection.  The figures that will be featured share 2 things in common.

1.)- They are all from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe.

2.)- They are all still(and will remain), in their packages.

I remember finding one peg of these 25th anniversary figures at Toys R Us in the summer of 2009.  My choices were Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Rocksteady.  I originally chose Raphael, because I never had him as a kid, and, at the time, he was absent from my collection.  On my way to the registers, I decided to go with Donatello, as he always been my favorite(for a short time, at the beginning, Mikey was my favorite).

The only differences that I’ve noticed(without opening the figure), is the included dvd(these only came with the 4 Turtles, and each featured one of the first four episodes), and slightly different artwork.

I also find it funny that Playmates went with the “naked” Shredder for this release.  You can bet, that if I see any more of these, I’ll be sure to snatch them up(no extreme mark-ups), as the only time I saw these was at the time I bought this figure.

Another Package From Jboypacman, and Wilykat

A few days ago, I received another care package from Jboypacman.  And if you have ever gotten a package from Jboy, you know that it’s going to be awesome!

I was only expecting the Double Dragon figures, but Jboy always sends some extras.  I seem to be getting a lot of toys these days, and sometimes I get stuff that doesn’t fit my collecting habits.  So I will be contacting some of you guys, to share the wealth.

Besides the Garbage Pail Kids cards and the MOTU mini-comic, here’s what else I will be keeping for my personal collection.

First up, we have Snake Eyes, from the 25th Anniversary line of G.I. Joe.  He is the first loose figure from this line fro me.  I have Storm Shadow(v1), and Cobra Commander(helmet), from this line, but they’re still MOC.  Next to him, we have Billy Lee and Jimmy Lee of Double Dragon fame.  I know there was a horrible movie based on Double Dragon, but I think these figures tied into a short lived animated series.  Anything based on video games from my childhood(especially toys), is a win in my book!  If past failures are any indication, I bet the cartoon sucked.  And rounding out the group of keepers is Dirtbag from the old-school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.  It sucks that I have to type that out.  But in my mind, TMNT refers to the Turtles post-2000.  He is the latest addition to my ever-growing collection of the original line.  This is a most welcome addition, as I’m trying to avoid getting all the variations of the Turtles themselves.  Dirtbag is in the category of my current focus for this collection.  I have a few ideas of who I want to send the extras to, and I’ll get ahold of you guys soon.

Today my wife and I celebrated our1 year wedding anniversary.  But we wanted to go out for our anniversary.  So we went out Friday night, because a Friday is a lot more fun than a Sunday.  We went to Red Lobster, and guess what?  A Toys R Us was on the way.

In my last post, I raved about the new Thundercats line.  Well, on Friday night, I picked a few more up.

Here’s the first of them.

In my last post I told you that these 4 inch figures retailed for $7.99.  And while that’s true, you will notice a $8.99 price tag on the Wilykay above.  This is because I bought this from a Toys R Us Express in the mall.  If you are familiar withTRU Express, you know that these stores usually occupy the space that KB Toys used to.  Now, my guess would be that the prices are a little higher in the Express stores, because they have smaller amounts of inventory, and most people hit the stand alone stores.

I first saw this toy at The Toy Museum, and knew I had to add it to the collection.  I do plan on getting the complete set, but I’ll have to get one or two at a time, whenever I have a little extra cash.  But after reading Dan’s review, and checking out the photos, I knew he would be one of the first figures that I would purchase.

The only articulation is in his neck and shoulders.  Which isn’t too bad, considering that the originals had no articulation(the ones that came with Tyrga and Cheetarah).  I know that there were versions of Wilykat and Wilykit that were sold individually, that had more posability, but I never saw or knew of them in my youth.

Again, the likeness to the cartoon is great, and the accessories, while limited, are sufficient.  His board has hidden guns and, what looks to be a scissor-like apperatus in the front.  Also included, are two claw-type weapons.  I have to say that I am quite pleased with the line thus far.  I can say with certainty, that we will be seeing more of these guys in the future.

And here’s the team so far.

2011 Lion-O

I finally found them.  The new Thundercats toys.

I have been looking for these figures since I heard of their release.  It seems like Toys R Us is the only place stocked with them so far.  I’ve not seen them at Target or Wal-Mart.  This particular Toys R Us had at least one of every figure in different scales.  The only figure they did not have was the classic Lion-O(the one I wanted most).  They did have the classic Tygra(which I purchased), but we’re here to talk about the new figures.

It was a tough decision(I wanted them all), so I got the 4 inch Lion-O.

The scale of these figures are on par with G.I. Joe and Marvel Universe figures.  On the back of the card, you can see the other figures available in the series.

 I think they all look fantastic.  I wish I could’ve picked up the others, but these were $7.99(not bad), and the larger ones were $19.99(and the deluxe ones were $14.99).  The figures have nice detailing and they look just about identical to how they look in the cartoon.  I think the show is pretty good as well(when is there going to be a new episode?).

Lion-O comes with the claw shield, a dagger version of the Sword of Omens as well as a full length version of the legendary sword.  My only gripe is that you can’t store the claw shield on the figure’s side.  But at least you can store the dagger in the claw shield while Lion-O is wearing it.  While not in the new show, the Thundercats logo on the belt is a nice touch(could this be a nod to us old-school fans?).

 

I plan on getting the rest of these.  Hopefully they’ll be around for a little.  And if I’m fortunate enough, maybe I’ll get one of the many Cats Lairs they had(it’s awesome!).  If you’re a fan of Thundercats and the new show, you’ll be a fan of these figures.

A Great Weekend-Part II

This is the continuation of the little spending spree I had this past weekend.  Yesterday, I revealed my finds from non-retail establishments(thrift-type stores).  Today will showcase my retail findings(with reviews of some of the items soon).

I’m not going to list my finds in chronological order, but I will list the toys last.

I took the requisite trip to Wal-Mart on Saturday so we could do some grocery shopping, checked the toy section, and would you believe it?  There was nothing I really wanted.  So, I decided to see what graphic t-shirts they had.  There were quite a few more I’d like to pick up.  I had a black Bullet Bill shirt in my hand ready to go find my wife, until I looked down and saw this.

I had to get this shirt!  It exudes all types of awesome!  On a side note, I also needed new pajama pants, and they are of the Pac-Man variety as well(I’m wearing them right now).

On Friday, after exiting the movie theater, we decided to hit up the Barnes & Noble right next door(well, in between the movie and Barnes & Noble, we had a few drinks at The Cheesecake Factory on the other side of the theater.  We only had about 15-20 minutes, as it was around 10:40pm.  I stumbled across 2 books in the heavily marked down clearance racks.

The Far Side is one of my all-time favorite comic strips(?).  I have about 4 other collections of The Far Side.  As you can see, this was released for the strip’ 10 year anniversary(published in 1989).  Inside tells you the story of how The Far Side came to be, as well as the short lived strip that Gary Larson did before The Far Side.  I think the cover is sweet looking.  I can’t decide which is cooler, the T-Rex skeleton or the 3-D rendering of Larson’s classic nerd kid.  I also picked up a new Bathroom Reader, as I recently finished reading the one I got for Christmas.  I had a different one in my hand when I saw this one.  But this one was marked down to $6.98.  This series has great facts as well as plenty of useless trivia, and is just a very interesting read.

Now we’ll get to see the toys I ended giving a home to.

Toys R Us was our first stop upon hitting Albany on Friday night.  I was disappointed with their selection and some of the prices.  The first one we’ll look at was purchased more because of it’s clearance tag, rather than being a toy I would purchase even at full price.

Jurassic Park must be a hot license if they’re making toys for them in 2009(that’s when these were released).  There was a good selection of this line, priced to go at $3.98.  You had the choice of getting a figure and a dinosaur, or getting a two-pack of dinosaurs.  This one has a launching projectile with it, and you can’t go wrong with a dinosaur and a shooting projectile in a toy(review coming soon).

The Toys R Us I went to still had a huge amount of figures from the Transformers-Revenge of the Fallen, and they were selling them at full price.  There were no recently released figures(Generations, Reveal the Shield), but I did manage to find a decent figure that was marked down.

Decepticon Bludgeon!  This guy(voyager class) was going for just about a dollar more than the deluxe class figures from the same line.  I couldn’t turn it down.  This will also be reviewed in the near future.  I hope my next trip to Toys R Us is a bit more fruitful.

We’ll end with the last find of the weekend.  I stopped by the local comic shop after we left Wal-Mart on Saturday, and picked this up.

It’s Landfill.  After I brought this home, I did a little research, and found out that I over paid for this, and the guns he came with aren’t correct.  He is clean and the stickers are in good shape, so I don’t mind, as this is for my collection anyway.

Stay tuned for another awesome acquisition post, as well as some toy reviews.

Friday

This past Friday, my wife and I ventured out to Albany to do our Christmas shopping.  We went to the mall and to Wal-Mart, which is where we’ll start the acquistions.

Last Friday, we had our annual Christmas lunch at work.  We have a sort of Secret Santa exchange of gifts(more like a Chinese auction), and I wound up receiving a $5 Wal-Mart gift card.  The first thing I thought about were the Legends Class Transformers that Wal-Mart routinely has for right around five bucks.  I had a choice of three, total.  Granted, they we’re all different, but I kinda felt let down.  But out of the three available, one sounded familiar.

Not only did his name sound familiar.  But, a green dump truck, meant this guy was a Constructicon!  He’s not very detailed and doesn’t have a great range of motion, but for five bucks, he’s a decent pocket sized toy.

While in the mall, I stopped in Hot Topic to see if they had any toys on clearance.  No luck.  But they did have a pretty good selection of candies.  I picked up 3 different ones, but only left with 1(I don’t think $4.99 is a fair price for candy in a collectible container).

So I paid $2.99 for Bob-omb here.  He has a Fun-Dip like, cola flavored candy dust, with a cherry flavored candy stick.  Sounds like a winner to me.

And next up is the great deal that I hyped in the previous post.

First off, I want to show you the receipt for the item purchased.

I had to show you the receipt, because there is an interesting story that goes with this.

I went to the Toys R Us Express in the mall, to check out their selection of Transformers.  And to my surprise, there was a decent selection to choose from.  I had to pass on a few figures that I would have purchased, if we we’re not in the midst of the holiday season.  But, there was a sign on the Transformers rack that more or less said, “Friday and Saturday only: Transformers Animated Deluxe Class figures $6.49.”.  Holy shit!!  The original price they had on these guys was 12 bucks.  The had Oil Slick, Cybertonian Mode Ratchet and 1 or 2 others, including this guy.

I brought him up to the register and he rung up at $18.49.  I explained the sign and showed that this indeed was a Voyager Class Transformers Animated figure.  They looked at the sign and brought over an Oil Slick figure to scan for comparison.  Oil Slick rang up at $6.49.  Oil Slick was also originally priced at $12.00, while Rodimus Minor was priced at $14.99.  And I wasn’t going to buy that figure at any price other than the advertised $6.49.  And that’s exactly what I paid for him.  My guess is that being that Rodimus and Cybertronian Mode Ratchet are Toys R Us exclusives and are priced higher.  I don’t know why they didn’t state an exclusion, but it worked out in my favor and I got this great figure for a penny more than seven dollars!

I love how the sculptors paid tribute to G1 Hot Rod.  It’s the styling of this car that drew me to the figure in the first place.  And in Robot mode, he looks great as well.

I don’t have a full blown review, but if you guys want one I can try.  I was just really happy with such a great Friday that I felt like sharing.

Here are the new guys.  The Batman in the picture was given to me on Saturday from my buddy Clark.  He found him on a beach when he was in Florida and gave him to me.  Now I have to figure out where I’m going to display my new additions.