Toys from the NEW Battlestar Galactica

According to Rebelscum,these tasty little numbers might already be hitting the stands. I tend to cherry-pick ships that are in this scale, but going by these pics I'm tempted by all threeWhat I really hope this means is that they're considering some larger scale versions of these guys. Action Fleet scale would be perfect, of course, but I fear those toys have gone the way of...well, all the other good toys. I'm sure if they start making BG figures, they'll suck.

Hey...

You know, that's actually a pretty cool figure. Marvel Legends, right? I say so because of the distinctive spherical thigh joints. Have you ever seen this?

The Lego Room bursts forth

In the past weeks I have been going nuts uploading pictures onto my Brickshelf page. Before I started I had around a dozen folders, now I'm up to sixty and I still have more to go. Check the action out here, or click "Octopunk's Brickshelf page" in the sidebar there. I have enough folders to warrant a second page, so scroll down and click "Next" to see the rest.

Hasbro Posts Wider 1st-Quarter Loss

Hasbro Inc., the nation's second biggest toy maker, on Monday reported a wider loss for the first quarter, and said the second quarter would be challenging as the company braces for a falloff in "Star Wars" merchandise.

The first quarter loss of $4.9 million, or 3 cents per share, for the three months ended April 2, was blamed largely on foreign currency fluctuation and new accounting rules for stock options. In the same quarter last year, Hasbro lost $3.7 million, or 2 cents per share.

Expenses related to stock-based compensation reduced results by 2 cents per share in the latest quarter. If similar expenses had been included a year ago, the loss for that period would have been 4 cents per share.

Revenue rose to $468.2 million from $454.9 million with a strong performance from Hasbro's North American operations. Currency fluctuations reduced revenue by about $9 million in the first quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting a loss of 1 cent per share, including stock-options expenses, on revenue of $430 million.

"While we feel good about the business for the full year, it's worth noting that the second quarter will be challenging," Alfred Verrecchia, president and chief executive of the Pawtucket-based company, said in a conference call Monday morning.

Verrecchia said the company expected a continued decline in merchandise sales linked to "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," which was released in theaters last year.

Hasbro's North American operations posted a 7 percent increase in revenue to $310.3 million, driven by board games and toy lines such as Nerf, Supersoaker and Littlest Pet Shop. Operating profit at the division rose by 3 percent to $4.77 billion.

Verrecchia said Candyland, Scrabble, Life and other board games had all performed well in the quarter.

"We've had good retail movement with the games business," he said.

Because of the changes in some foreign currencies versus the dollar, Hasbro's international segment saw revenue decline by 5 percent and its operating loss widen to $8.3 billion from $7.9 billion. On a constant-currency basis, international revenue rose 2 percent.

From Forbes, "Hasbro's toy brands include Mr. Potato Head, Milton Bradley games and Playskool. The company is the second-biggest toy maker in the United States behind Mattel Inc., which last week posted higher first-quarter earnings and reported sales of $793.3 million.

Verrechhia said the company expected to ship products later this year related to its licensing deal with Marvel Comics, which gives the company toy rights to characters including The Hulk, Captain America and Spider-Man.

He said the company was looking forward to the anticipated releases of the "Spider-Man 3" film and the live-action "Transformers" movie, both of which are due out in 2007.

Shares of Hasbro fell 27 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $20.66 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They have traded in a 52-week range of $17.75 to $22.35."

There's a Han Solo in Carbonite RIGHT THERE, Grab It You Moron!

JPX unearthed this picture he took of me in 1985. This is me a few weeks into being 17 years old. There's all kinds of things to make fun of here, but nothing that stings more than the fact that this was the first and LAST time we saw the Power of the Force collection of Star Wars figs on the shelves. Except maybe how thin I am. Was.

About three figures to the right of my head there is indeed a Han Solo in Carbonite figure, hanging there with its puny 4 dollar price tag. Maybe less, I don't remember. Anyway, if you assume four bucks then the carded figure has enjoyed a three thousand percent markup. Dang!

Lushros Dofine is a pretty good figure after you rip his arm off

While scouting unsuccessfully for Batman Legos the other day, I decided to pick this guy up. He doesn't have any dangling scarfy things on his outfit to bug me, and I've always liked the Nemoidians as aliens.

HOWEVER, when I got him out of the package I was annoyed to notice that the hanging sleeve of his right arm doesn't hang straight down. You can see it in this picture, and it can't be corrected by repositioning his arm. Fortunately I was able to pull off his forearm without any damage.*

I then took my trusty dremel and sliced at an angle into the spot where the forearm meets the upper arm. I haven't reglued it yet, but I can tell that the sleeve now looks like it obeys gravity AND the joint looks good, too. The obvious disadvantage is that the joint will be forever glued in place, but that doesn't really bother me.

*Unless you count that I pulled off his head in the same move, but it popped right back on. While that sounds like the typical "it's crap" complaint, I do like this method of mounting a hollow head on a spherical neck. It provides a good range of head movement.