#72: Transformers Revenge of The Fallen Sideswipe

I did say that there were only three movie Transformers that I wanted to get. Sideswipe wasn't one of them, but after seeing him reviewed a few different places online, I decided that he looked cool enough to get. Seeing him in the movie didn't really help, since he was barely in it. If I remember correctly, he only had one line. Just like Ratchet!

Apparently in the movie version of Transformers, if you're going to be a sports car and you're not Bumblebee, you have to get a silver paint job. The first movie had Jazz, and the second one has Sideswipe and Sideways. All silver sports cars.

The film version of Sideswipe has wheels instead of feet. That wouldn't really work well for a toy, so this version has heels that he can balance on, and from the right angle it does look like he has just wheels for feet. There is this odd little gimmick (it's called Mech Alive) that when you bend his knees, these blue plates slide out from his leg. I'm not sure what that's supposed to be, but it's kind of cool, I guess. The big crazy scissor blades on his arms are probably my favorite thing about him. He turns into some sort of concept Corvette which looks quite snazzy.

#71: Transformers Revenge of The Fallen Ravage

Ravage is one of my favorite Transformers, and this is my second version of him this year. Even though it's a movie style version that looks like something painted by H.R. Giger, he is still recognizable: a black robot cat with weapons on its hips. Since it's no longer the 80s, he doesn't turn into a micro-cassette anymore. Now he turns into... well... on the packaging, his alt form is referred to as "reentry mode." Basically he just fold his arms up and tucks his tail in. That is the least impressive aspect of this toy. Everything else is aces, though. He's pretty well articulated, and like another alternate version of Ravage, I posed this one waving. There's an action feature that when you push a lever on his back, his head lunges forward and chomps the jaws, and the ears move. I'm glad to have another Ravage, even if he didn't get as much screen time as I would have liked. For those keeping track, I now have two of the three movie toys that I planned on getting.

#70: DC Universe Infinite Heroes Batman

All of the DC figures that I have bought so far (aside from Bizarro) are all part of the Batman area of the DC universe. So mostly I have members of Batman's rogues gallery and Batman himself. So if I'm going to get any of these Infinite Heroes figures, I have to get Batman as well. Like a lot of other figures in this line, he suffers from giant hand syndrome as well as not having enough articulation for my tastes. Would it kill Mattel to throw in some accessories? Batman should have a batarang, at least. It is some consolation that I only paid 3 dollars for him. Aside from that, he has problems standing. Fortunately the stands from the Bizarro set save the day. Otherwise, it's a decent figure. It's hard to tell from the picture but his boots, gloves, cape, and cowl are all dark blue rather than black. Until they start giving these figures more articulation, this will be the last Infinite Heroes figure I buy.

#69: DC Universe Infinite Heroes Wonder Girl, Bizarro, and Supergirl

Up until this point, I have not been buying any of the DC Universe Infinite Heroes largely because I think the sculpts are not that great, and they are lacking in articulation. But when I found this set for seven dollars, I figured that was a good enough deal to get one of my favorite DC characters, Bizarro. Also included are two stands. Fortunately, none of these figures need a stand, so there's no worry about only being able to have two at a time standing up.

I really couldn't care less about having Wonder Girl or Supergirl (although this is my second Supergirl, my first also came with a Bizarro). They both look scrawny and have frighteningly thin waists, but I suppose that is in line with how comic book women are drawn. They both have these weird swivel hip joints that I haven't seen in any recent action figures. It's enough articulation that I can balance them to stand on their tiny feet, at least. It seems to be standard for this line that the women are lacking elbow articulation, which is in addition to the standard lack of wrist or ankle articulation. Their six inch cousins are so well articulated that it is disappointing the level of articulation this line has.

Like I said, Bizarro is the real reason I got this set. He suffers from the weird proportions of this line (look at those giant hands!), but since it is Bizarro, being ill proportioned isn't too big of a problem. Also, his face his a sort of quizzical lost expression that I think was meant to be something a little more fierce. It would be cool if he had the "Bizarro #1" necklace, but I guess I can learn to live without it (at least until they do a re-release with one). Aside from that, hey, it's still Bizarro, so I'm glad I got him. Until next time, hello!

#68: Terminator 2 Minimates T-800 and Endoskeleton

This was a birthday gift from my friend James. I'm not sure if they made Minimates for the new movie, but T2 is the best in the series, and that's what these are from. There's the T-800, which has a couple of guns it can use, an alternate ungloved pair of hands, and an alternate hairpiece without the attached sunglasses. I haven't been able to pry the hair off yet, so I'm not sure how it looks. I seem to recall the Terminator wearing black pants in the movie, but the Minimate version is wearing brown. Odd.

The other half of this set is the endoskeleton, which is pretty cool. For those keeping track, this is the third version of the Terminator endoskeleton in my collection. This one is definitely the cutest Terminator. The torso is molded from clear plastic with some details painted on, then with a separate chest piece over that. This is all to give it the appearance of the narrow waist that the endoskeletons have, and it is a pretty decent effort. The hands and the feet are unique pieces, they even captured the detail of the little heel on it. Nice attention to detail!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday, and I have an entry coming up soon because of it.

The big lesson of the day yesterday is that Tuesday Morning is a good place to buy DCIH figures. We stopped in there on a lark, and I bought a couple.

The Crystal Skeleton watch continues!

#67: Star Wars Legacy Collection HK-47

This is it, the reason I got those last six Star Wars figures. All those meatbags came with the parts to assemble HK-47, my favorite misanthropic assassin droid. As far as I know, HK-47 is the third figure to be made from Knights of the Old Republic, including Darths Revan and Malak. I would have preferred it if HK-47 had been released by himself on a single card, but I'm glad to have him, he was definitely worth it.

#66: Star Wars Legacy Collection Tarados Gon

Tarados Gon was apparently one of the Jedi that storm the Geonosis arena at the end of Attack of the Clones. I'm taking Hasbro's word on it, since I don't recognize him. Next time I watch, I'll have to keep an eye out for him. I didn't recognize him as a Klatooinian until I read the package, because the only other Klatooinian I can think of is one of Jabba's skiff guards and he has some headgear on. But now I recognize that canine countenance.

Anyway, this is your basic unrobed Jedi figure, with the added bonus of a soft goods "skirt." It's always nice to have another Jedi to add to my collection, especially one that's not a random boring human. They are still hopelessly outnumbered by the clone army, though.

#65: X-Men Origins Wolverine Comic Series Iceman

It has been a couple months since I last bought a comic book based toy, and I finally found Iceman, which I've been trying to find for a while. Back in the early 90s, I had the Toy Biz Iceman figure, which is part of why I wanted to get this version. This one is more of a blue than the older one, but it's still pretty cool. It actually reminds me of the holographic figures from Star Wars. He comes with an ice slide, which is pretty cool, although some ice blasts for his hands would be nice too. Speaking of his hands, my only complaint is that his wrists are unarticulated. Overall, it's a cool figure, and I'm glad I finally found it.

#64: Star Wars Legacy Collection Episode III Concept Art Anakin Skywalker

Back during the 30th Anniversary Collection, there were a few figures based on the concept art of Ralph McQuarrie, one of the artists responsible for much of how the classic trilogy looked. For the Legacy Collection, we get this concept version of Anakin based on artwork by Sang Jun Lee. Basically it's Anakin in black clothes with a cap, and no facial scars. It is certainly more Vader-esque than his darker Jedi outfit, and is also somewhat reminiscent of Luke's similarly all black outfit in Return of the Jedi. Although he comes with his blue lightsaber, the picture on the back of the box shows him holding the red Vader lightsaber. As a sort of alternate universe Anakin, I like this figure. Maybe it's what Vader would have looked like had he defeated Obi-Wan on Mustafar. If I only had one Anakin, I wouldn't want it to be this one, but it does stick out nicely from other versions of him.

#63: Star Wars Legacy Collection Captain Typho

Because this is Star Wars, eventually every character that was shown on screen will probably eventually get a figure. I'm sure Captain Typho has had a figure before since despite not being very useful he had some lines. He doesn't have the best danger instincts for a bodyguard: right after he comments on the safe trip to Coruscant, the Senator's ship is blown up. Good thing they were still using the decoy strategy.

Captain Typho may not be the most exciting figure, but Hasbro did a good job and made a surprisingly cool figure for him. He has a fairly distinctive look (metal eyepatch!), and he is articulated as well as any other figure in the line. The commlink and the blaster that are hanging off his side are both detachable, and his hat is removable. Accessories are always cool, but if the figure can't hold them, then they seem like a waste of plastic, which is why I like it when they can be stowed on the figure itself like this.

#62: Star Wars Legacy Collection Owen Lars

The companion to yesterday's Beru, here's Uncle Owen before he was an uncle. Like Beru, it's not the most exciting figure. He comes with some crazy blaster rifle. I'm not sure if that ever was shown in the Lars homestead, but it's better than nothing. The robe is pretty cool, though. It seems to be a different material than the usual soft goods they use for capes or other robes. This robe is thicker and has a different texture, I think it turned out rather well.

#61: Star Wars Legacy Collection Beru Whitesun

It's Aunt Beru, before she was an aunt. She had less to do in Attack of the Clones than she did in A New Hope, so this isn't the most exciting character to have a figure for. Fortunately, she is well articulated and looks pretty good, although she doesn't bear the greatest facial likeness. I wonder if she and Owen will be slow sellers like the Bail Organa and Queen Breha from the recent Revenge of the Sith wave.

She comes with a pitcher which I assume contains blue milk. It does a body good!

#60: Star Wars Legacy Collection Obi-Wan Kenobi

I didn't get back into collecting Star Wars toys until Revenge of the Sith came out, so although I have a couple of clone war Obi-Wans this is my first Obi-Wan from any of the earlier movies, in all his Jedi mullet glory. Until I got this figure, I assumed that Obi-Wan's outfit was the same throughout the movies, but comparing it to a Revenge of the Sith version reveals that there are differences, although not immediately glaring.

If I could only get one Obi-Wan figure, this wouldn't be it, but it is a very good one. Like the more recent version of the RotS version, this Obi-Wan has the extra hip articulation that I wish Hasbro would use more often. He can do the splits! His accessories are an older style lightsaber and a communicator which can be attached to his belt. Now that I have this version, the only phase of Obi-Wan's life I'm missing is a padawan version. Conveniently, there is a new version coming later this year. I hope that one has a robe!

Still no skeleton, but I've got other new goodies

Over a week after crystal skeletons have supposedly started to be sent out, I am still waiting for mine. Maybe by next week.

In better news, I did just receive a package from Entertainment Earth, in spite of the post office's efforts to not deliver it. So that leads us into a Star Wars week, which will be officially kicking off when I update later today. Star Wars week will lead into my birthday, so yay.

#59: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Ransack

I finally got around to picking up Ransack, and I'm glad I did because I really like it. I've never had a Scout Class Transformer, so it is interesting to have one that is about the same size as my Star Wars figures. Obviously not the same scale, but about the same height. For me the big selling point here was that he turns into a bi-plane. For whatever reason, I've always thought bi-planes are cool, so as soon as I heard about Ransack, I decided to get one.

The bi-plane mode is pretty good looking, and the propeller spins. The Decepticon symbol on the wings is combined with an iron cross, which is a pretty snazzy piece of design. It seems appropriate that a WWI era Decepticon would take the form of a German piece of war machinery. It would be interesting to see more WWI style Transformers.

In robot mode, Ransack is a strange, gangly looking thing. I suppose he looks more old-fashioned or low-tech than other Transformer robots. He looks kind of skeletal, and his legs aren't symmetrical. I like the way his wings hang off his back, it's sort of like he has a cape.

This probably won't be the last Revenge of the Fallen toy I get, but if it is, I won't be too disappointed.

Second week of June

Since the postcard claimed that my crystal skeleton would be sent on the 10th, I am counting down the days until mine arrives. Today is day two, and so far, nothing. I'm not sure where they'll be shipping from exactly, but three days is what it usually takes for mail to arrive cross-country, so maybe it will arrive tomorrow.

Part of my one of my orders from Entertainment Earth shipped today, so I have that to look forward to sometime next week.

Speaking of Entertainment Earth, they had a Twitter based trivia contest today that I won. Yay, store credit!

#58: Hot Wheels '66 Batmobile

I know that some people shop at grocery stores with surprisingly good selections of toys, including action figures and the sorts of things that I collect. My local grocery stores tend not to carry things I'd want to buy, although I did buy an Optimus Prime and Megatron two pack last December at my usual grocery store. Today, I made my second toy purchase from a grocery store.

There was a display box of Hot Wheel cars on a shelf, and this was in front and immediately caught my attention with the Batman logo on the card. I have heard that Hot Wheels collectors are among the most dedicated, and I would assume that a Batmobile would be a hot item for them, so I guess they haven't started checking out this grocery store for their Hot Wheels fix. Counting myself lucky, I took it.

When I was young, I had a lot of Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, and the like. Most of the toys I collect these days reflect the toys I was into back then, but I haven't really been on any nostalgia trip for Hot Wheels. Because of this, the Batmobile will only have my Spam racing car for company.

Anyway, this is a cool little car. It's the Batmobile that Adam West drove, which will always have a fond spot in my memory. According to the Hot Wheels wiki, there have been previous versions of this, with more paint apps on the car. It does kind of look plain on the front end without them, but I'm not too broken up about it. My only real complaint is that the red stripe along the right side of the car is a little misaligned. I'll just have the other side face forward. I'm not hip to the world of Hot Wheels collecting, so I don't know if this is a rare car or not. Either way, I'm glad I found it, even if I didn't even know it existed until I saw it.

It's June!

At last we arrive at June. Do you know what that means? It means my birthday is in a few weeks.
Aside from that, it means that it is time to resume my Crystal Skeleton Watch. Back in April, I received a postcard informing me that the crystal skeletons would start shipping on June 10th. Assuming that things go on time, I may have my crystal skeleton sometime next week. Finally!

Now that the Revenge of the Fallen toys are out, I need to get over to Target so I can pick up a Ransack. Or if I'm feeling lazy, maybe I can find one at Rite Aid, for double the price.

I haven't seen any pictures of it, but Playmates will be releasing a Harvester as part of their Terminator Salvation line. It's going to be 16 inches high and in scale with the 3.75" line. This is a toy that is definitely tempting me. It's a giant, killer robot that's in scale with a lot of my toys, so it's pressing my buttons. I'm not sure if it will ever hit stores, or if I'll have to order online, though. I'm guessing the TS line doesn't have enough legs to last in stores too much longer. We'll see!