Titanium goodness

I started to make a list of possiblilites for my Top Ten Favorite Action Figures Of All Time post, and it's getting kind of huge. So in the event I don't get to it today, I thought I'd slap up some overdue posts that I took pictures for ages ago.

Here you see the Titanium Series Naboo Royal Cruiser, which is probably still on the shelves right now. This is one of my favorite ships from the prequels, and despite the small size I decided to pick it up.

Well I couldn't be happier with it. It embodies a wonderful combination of design sensibilities: it's got a WWII bomber feel that works perfectly with the "older, better days" feeling the prequels evoked at their best. And it's better than a WWII bomber, it's a spaceship! What's better than that?

Boosted by this purchasing victory, I looked at Rebelscum's Titanium Series photo archive list to see what else I might have missed. I recommend clicking on it just to see the staggering amount of stuff this series has generated. I'm bummed that the TS has pretty much replaced my beloved Action Fleet (run into the ground by the glut of Ep 1 merch, in my assumption), because I don't think ships this size are as fun to play with. But I have to admire the thoroughness, especially since some of these ships don't exist in any other toy form.

I decided to pick up Amidala's Star Skiff pictured above, and got it on eBay for the unbeatable price of one cent plus shipping. That's right, a penny. Shipping was seven bucks, so considering the toy came out in 2006 and I only dropped an extra buck or two on it, I did pretty well.

Ultimately, however, I wasn't as charmed by the Skiff as I was by the Cruiser. I thought the snappier, more hot-roddy lines would make it even cooler, but no. I tossed it my box of vehicles while the Cruiser enjoys a spot on my desk. I'm still glad I have it, since it is a damn cool ship, but not cool enough to make the cut for active display (that cut is very difficult for non-Lego toys to make in my house. Limited space.)

I'd picked up the Naboo Royal Starship when it came out, and had I been more charmed by the Skiff I probably would've gone ahead and sought out the Titanium version of the Naboo Yacht from Ep 2, so I'd have the entire compliment of silvery Naboo starships.

Imagine my surprise this afternoon when I couldn't find a picture of the TS Naboo Yacht, because they never made one. So I guess I do have all the silvery Naboo starships, even though I decided I didn't care to.

In other Titanium Series news, I opted to not pick up this here Venator class Star Destroyer (or whatever it's called). It's a great ship, and I'd like a good toy of one, but this is a time when the size of the toy let me down.

However, this puppy here might be a future purchase. The Royal Guard TIE interceptor is delightfully red, so unlike most Star Wars vehicles. Prices on eBay are reasonable to just-above reasonable, so I might snag one someday.

Beware!

Here's my Clone Wars R2 D2 almost completely removed from his packaging. Only the back bit of blister pack remains to be pulled away -- but wait!

Looks like some idiot thought it would be a good idea to raise the ol' sensor scope for dramatic effect, even though it puts said sensor scope in danger of being wrenched off as your average little kid yanks out his new toy. If you get one of these, make sure you put the scope down before getting him out. And speaking of...

Look what happened to Superman! Granted, he was the repeat in my Sand/Star Sapphire 3-pack, and as such I probably didn't use the usual care, but jeez. Cheap!

Woman Gets Confusing Box Of LEGO Parts

So Jenny, The Bloggess, got a box in the mail from LEGO to celebrate their anniversary or a new line or something. But when she opened the box and pieced together the parts they formed....an army of trannies! Despite a plethora of the pink dress tops and female haircuts, not a single head lacked that handsome red mustache perched suggestively over a frown. What did LEGO have to say about this?

Each kit was supposed to contain an assortment of random parts; however, it looks like yours somehow consisted only of angry mustache faces. Please know that this was not at all done intentionally or to freak anyone out in any way.
First of all, where the fuck was my box of trannies, LEGO? And secondly, I'm not so much "freaked out" as much as intrigued as to what LEGO is secretly doing. Are they trying to teach children an important lesson about diversity and acceptance? Because that would be awesome. And as a guy who's no stranger to trying on his girlfriend's panties while she's at work, I've got to admit: thongs make me feel so sexy!

Grown Man Builds LEGO Boba Fett Costume

From geekology, Simon, a grown-ass man, went and built himself a full Boba Fett costume out of LEGO pieces. As you can see, it's pretty damn impressive. Right up there with that little kid's cardboard Halo arsenal. Hit the jump for a bunch more of Simon and his costume, along with a Vader version he made as well. Uh-oh -- I just had the most brilliant idea ever.

Introducing the First Annual Geekologie LEGO Leia's Golden Bikini Contest! Full rules follow.

1. Contestants must construct and model a LEGO Golden Bikini
2. Digital photo required in entry
3. Must be holding a sign that reads "Geekologie" or "I Love You Geekologie Writer, I Want To Have Your Babies But Know You Don't Want Kids Right Now And I'm Totally Cool With That" or something similar so I know it's for the contest
4. No dudes
5. Hey you -- the guy that thought it would be funny to still enter anyways: stop.
6. LEGO pieces optional
7. Bikini optional
8. Naked photos only

Contest ends when I feel like it. Winners will be notified by personal stripper-gram. Your choice: fireman or police officer, I play both equally well.

Hall of Justice Playset by Mego - 1976

From aquamanshrine.blogspo, See? I told you it'd be something cool for today...

This is of course Mego's uber-cool Hall of Justice playset. While not techincally Aquaman merchandise, this piece does feature gorgeous Neal Adams art on the front and back, and who's in the center of the action? Aquaman!! Let's face it--the scenario on the box looks like the coolest DC comic never published. This is Mego Playset ne plus ultra.

The HOJ features some really oddly endearing stuff, which is Classic Mego. The "transporter" (where you put a Mego doll in, slide the door, and it magically disappears) works only about a quarter of the time, leaving your Mego Green Arrow or Mego Robin standing there looking stupid. Also, it has a "Disaster Locator Map" type thingy, which tells you where trouble is happening. According to the coordinates Mego gives you, Gotham City is on the West Coast. Huh?

I had this playset as a kid, but like all my other Mego items over the years they somehow disappeared during my rocky road to Adolescence. On my first trip to the great Toyrareum toy store in Ocean City around 1997, I was practically knocked over by how many cool items the owner managed to cram into the tiny space. There were so many things I wanted, I couldn't decide what to pick...until I saw, sitting on an overhead shelf, the Hall of Justice. Still in the box, no pieces missing (not even the Mego promo sheet), essentially mint condition.

I looked at the price, and felt that pain all collectors have felt at least once in their collecting lives. At that time, I was working at Kinko's, still struggling to get my artwork noticed and get my career (not that I had one at the moment) off the ground. Working at Kinko's was a demoralizing, numbing experience, and just to make the situation worse, paid me hardly any money. There was no way I could justify what would've been more than two weeks' salary on a toy. But I wanted it sooo bad.

I decided to risk sounding stupid, and asked the owner, could I put this on layaway? To my delight, he said sure, and even though I didn't walk out with anything that day, I felt good that this baby would be mine eventually.

It took me a few months, but I eventually scrimped and saved and brought my baby home. And even though it probably extended my Kinko's sentence by a few weeks, I never regretted buying this--it's a gorgeous piece, one of my favorites. I'm so glad I learned another lesson every collector learns at some point--when you see something you really, really want, grab it.

Disturbance at Lars Homestead playset is lame, lame, lame!

Yet another attempt by Hasbro to repack 3 old figures. I don't think that the homestead facade is enough of a draw for me. Christ, at least throw in some charred bodies or a new droid or something. Sigh.

The answer to your question about C3PO's arms

God, was there anything worse than Total Justice figures?

It just makes me appreciate Super Powers figures all the more...

The Spirit action figures

I'm not a big fan of "blowing" plastic clothing or ties, but The Spirit himself might look cool sitting on a shelf. I'm not interested in any of the other pieces.

See more here

IG86

Clone Wars 3PO rocks!

I'm happy I'm no longer a completest!

I like FX-6

I don't usually dig Extended Universe product but I'm a sucker for robots. What do you think?

Taj Mahal: Largest LEGO Set Ever Created

From geekology, Dwarfing even the 5,195 piece Millennium Falcon, comes LEGO's newest, and largest, set ever: The Taj Mahal. Weighing in at 5,922 pieces, the $300 set ships mid September. But the thing that gets me is that it's only 20" wide and 16" tall. That's not very big.

The famous Taj Mahal palace of India is known all over the globe for its incredible beauty and elegance. Now you can recreate this modern wonder of the world for yourself! Designed for experienced builders, the LEGO Taj Mahal model features advanced building techniques, rare elements and colors, and realistic details of architecture. With over 5,900 pieces, the Taj Mahal makes an awesome addition to any LEGO collection!

As I'm sure many of you know, Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum built by Indian Emperor Shah Jahan for his favorite wife. Touching, I may build this set in remembrance of a favored pet. But the wife -- Pfft -- she'll be lucky to get a DUPLO grave marker.

See more pictures here

Puzzle Zoo

I completely forgot to mention this, but shortly before Zack was born Julie attended a baby shower in Santa Monica. While it's not too far from our house (a half hour drive or so), Jules was very pregnant and I didn't like the idea of her being out there alone. Since these shower affairs are usually chicks-only, it was a perfect opportunity to go to Puzzle Zoo, which we'd been drooling over since seeing the regular ads in AFNTR.

Well, in most ways it wasn't so great. It was smaller than I'd hoped, and a lot of space was dedicated to regular kid's toys that don't capture our nerdly interest. Any given acton fig category, say TMNT for example, had maybe two or three pegs on the racks -- where at Toy Vault they'd have 2 or 3 times that amount. There were no Justice League figs I hadn't had for a long time already. While the vintage toy prices were acceptable to high, the store is located in the Third Street Promenade, which has Quincy Market style price inflation going on. All the new Lego sets that you could find at any TRU were bumped up considerably.

BUT, I will say that they have a very good selection of Star Wars figures (pictured above). Probably about one-third to one-half of their total action figure display space was taken up by this long, tasty rack, satisfyingly organized into the various sub-eras/blister card colors. I didn't buy anything that day, but if I get a hankering for something StarWarzy, that would be a great place to look.

Just goes to show: we are really lucky to have Toy Vault at our disposal. I don't think I've ever encountered better.

This is just ridiculous

Bootlegs!

From x-entertainment, Just before leaving Coney Island, we spotted a vaguely defined souvenir shop, mixing the typical volley of local postcards and Coney-logo sportswear with a bunch of cheap, imported toys. Somewhere in the midst of all the battery-operated swimming frogs and chirping puppies, I found the greatest set of bootleg action figures ten bucks could possibly buy.

Painstakingly forged in China, it's the Super Hero Super Action Series action figure five-pack! This concentrated mass of trademark infringements features some of the most poorly constructed action figures I've ever held, even by bootleg standards.
Mixing the Marvel and DC universes is par for the course with sets of this type (and indeed there are hundreds of similar sets on the black market), but this one goes the extra mile with the randomly included Mr. Incredible figure. That's even better than the errant red Power Ranger who usually rounds out these collections.

I've seen enough of these sets to become desensitized to the poor translations littering the packaging, but it'd be criminal not to mention such gems as, "THIS IS BATMAN! HE WILL CATCH ALL BADDY!" Also, the back of the package proudly proclaims that "EACH SUPER HERO HAS HIS OWN SUPERFINE ACTION WEAPON," which is neither true nor even lied about using actual words.

I apologize for the glare, but cheap plastic is pretty reflective. The Hulk and Thing figures are the best in the set, looking at least moderately the way they should. If you were going to complain that Hulk's skimpy trunks are outside of his accepted costume canon, get a load of the rear view.
I can't make much sense of the Batman figure, which is permanently positioned to ride a horse. Not a motorcycle, mind you, because that'd almost make sense. With legs spread that wide, horse jockeying is the only plausible explanation. Since the set lacks a horse figure (and oh how I would love to see these particular toymakers take a stab at that…), Batman finds himself unable to stand without the support of his sworn enemies from Marvel.

Course, the inability to stand is nothing compared to the poor guy's face, which looks like the halfway point between zombie flesh and a wedge of aged Roquefort.

Despite Mr. Incredible's toothpick-thin ankles, he's somehow able to stand under his own power. This surprising plus is tempered by the package's claim of some kind of button-operated electronic action feature, which not only doesn't work, but actually doesn't even exist. Oh, there's a button all right, and there's even what appears to be a loose interpretation of a light bulb on Mr. Incredible's chest. But there's no inner mechanics to make it do anything. I knew these bootleggers liked to make their stuff on the cheap, but I never pegged them for outright liars.
Spider-Man is the worst offender of all. At first glance, he seems okay enough. He looks like Spider-Man, and he comes with a big rubber web. A closer inspection reveals that one leg is longer than the other, and that his wrists are flanked by what could only be considered web shooters if you were being really creative in your answers.

Obviously there's some demand for these shitty bootlegged figures, as they've been around forever. I still can't figure out how certain companies, even nameless companies, manage to pull off such an obvious scam. It's not like I expect government officials to start raiding potato chip stands in Coney Island, but toys like these are virtually everywhere, and you'd have to imagine that the trucks or boats or planes full of two-cent Batmans would've been caught by someone by now. On the other hand, I shouldn't complain, as there are so few avenues to satisfy anyone's morbid curiosity over what Hulk's ass actually looks like.

Kinda like fly eyes, I think.

The Clone War Happy Meals

Go to the official site and check out the dumbest promotion ever.

Lots and lots and lots and, oh yeah, lots of new Star Wars product

It's dizzying,really. Hasbro is pumping so much Star Wars product out right now that it's almost impossible to keep up. Fortunately, between repaints, repacks,and Clone Wars product, which really doesn't do much for me, I'm not getting overwhelmed. There are a few nice pieces in here, and I'd love to get all the droid parts without having to purchase all the figures, but for the most part there's not too much to get excited about.

Go here for lots of STAR WARS

Have you seen the new 3/34 figure line?

From playthings, Move over Batman—it’s time to share the spotlight with a legion of new superhero (and super villain) figures in 2008, as Mattel significantly expands its partnership with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to include all of the more than 3,000 additional characters in the DC Universe.

Mattel has been producing action figures and toys based on Superman and Batman since 2003; this new deal, which lets the El Segundo, Calif.-based toy maker court both adult action figure collectors as well as kids, now means many additional comic book characters will soon be hitting toy store shelves for the first time ever.

"The Mattel team is extremely excited about the entire DC collection," Scott Neitlich, Mattel’s associate brand manager for the DC Universe, tells Playthings. "The many different heroes and villains present a wonderful opportunity to add a variety of new and favorite characters to our new DC Universe Classics (DCU Classics), Justice League Unlimited (JLU) and upcoming Infinite Heroes lines."

Infinite Heroes are new 3¾-inch figures—a first for DC in that scale—from the biggest DC crossover events. There will be more than 40 figures in 2008, including the already revealed Adam Strange, Black Adam, Black Hand, Guy Gardner, Shazam, The Atom and Zoom; additional figures will be announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July. The line will be one of Mattel’s key DC Comics efforts in 2008, Neitlich says.