Robot Heroes Toy Review- Predaking
I. R. Caughn
Austalian dude. Three weeks later, the bad boys finally showed up on
my doorstep. Fairly non-plussed about Ricochet (although it is kinda
nifty to have someone to represent the Nebulan era, even though
Nightstick is, of course, absent), but I was so pleasantly surprised
by Predaking I'm compelled to say a few words...
Robot Mode- The first thing that strikes me about this guy, that puts
him head and shoulders (and knees) above most other Robot Heroes, is
that they actually went the extra mile and molded individual heads for
all five Predacons, complete with red paint on all the limb dude heads
to highlight that fact. I was totally not expecting that level of
detail-- they even gave Tantrum a little ring in his nose! I usually
have only a passing interest in the whole Chibi/SuperDeformed genre (I
was more driven to complete my G1 RH collection by the curious mix of
cartoon-based versus toyetic details they throw in, and the style's a
lot more cohesive than the three-inch Titanium guys were... 'course I
bought all of them, too), but I'll be damned if that ain't the most
ridiculously cute thing I ever did see.
Both of Razorclaw's weapons are fairly well-represented here, although
the colour's a bit off. The greeny tint is still in the right ballpark
for the sonic sword, but the x-ray laser cannon is totally wrong.
However, given that I'm sure there's a max limit as to how many
different colours of paint you can feasibly use on a toy of this size,
I'm willing to concede that it's a worthy compromise.
It amuses me that they put a black tampographed 'Con symbol in such a
random out-of-the-way place as the back of Divebomb's backpack-- where
you'd normally expect to see a copyright stamp, or some other legally
mandated but deliberately downplayed greebly. I guess there was some
mandate that all of these guys needed a faction symbol stamped
somewhere, and that was just the only flat spot.
My only real complaint here is the oversized cannons that protrude
skyward from behind the shoulders. Their unpainted orangeness makes
them a little innocuous and homely, but more damning is the fact that
the come out of the package horribly bent at a 50-60 degree angle.
Really makes Big Pred look a lot cruddier than he otherwise is.
Manually straightening can fix the soft plastic into something
approaching straightness, but it never stays put. It also occurs to me
that I actually don't know what those cannons are supposed to
correspond to on the toy. I know that long, thin black back/shoulder-
mounted mortar cannons were a staple of the animation model, but I
never really twigged to the fact that there doesn't really seem to be
anything like that on the toy. Granted, I've only got Razorclaw and
Divebomb to work with, so I may be missing something (I dragged my
feet when it came to completing my G1 Pred collection back in my
collecting heyday, and now it just doesn't look all that feasible,
unless I sell a kidney and/or firstborn child). But judging from
various photos, I remain befuddled-- Are they supposed to be laughably
elongated versions of the black cannons molded into Razorclaw's
shoulders? Creatively placed Divebomb wing cannons? Inadvertant
donation from Bruticus' animation model?
Articulation- Some nicely functional shoulder articulation, compared
to some of the wacky gestures some the other RH toys get up to. For
one thing, Big Pred can convincingly aim his x-ray cannon straight
ahead, whilst looking right down the barrel, which has always been my
personal favourite Decepticon pose (the ol' "Heroic Nonsense"/"Prepare
for Oblivion" look). And you got yer solid sword-chopping trajectory
on the right arm, for those who dig that sort of thing.
One slight quibble is that he is technically molded in more of a
hunched-over pose than I would have preferred, so that's he's staring
at the ground for most of the head rotation. Not an issue for the
aforementioned "barrel-stare special", but it does restrict the number
of poses he can assume where he doesn't look like he's just sleeping
on the job.
Also, the feet are lamentably molded so that they're not quite flat on
the ground. I've noticed this with a couple other RH dudes, and have
always wondered if it's just a case of the soft plastic warping a
little in certain specific individuals, or if every copy of the mold
would have the defect. Never bought more than one of the same mold, so
really can't be sure.
Packaging- I'm glad I splurged for an MOSC version of these guys,
since I wasn't aware that the co-sell on the back actually features
the totally unreleased Super Optimus Prime/Megatron [RiD] and Prowl/
Laserbeak [G1] molds (in addition to this set and Inferno/Tigatron
[BW], which were evidently released in Europe/Asia/Australia). Has
this ever happened before? Co-sells on actual packaging representing
stuff that's never going to be available (I know that some of the
unreleased G2 Auto-Rollers showed up in publicity materials somewhere
[Sears catalog?], but I don't think they were actually on any
packaging)?
The RiD stuff I could take or leave, but I truly am bummed that Prowl
never hit shelves. Laserbeak... less so. The pose seems a little out
of character, to be honest, even for this line. Looks like somebody
took a photo of 'Beak right after he flew into a screen door. I likes
my Laserbeak toys a little more stoic and dignified, thank yew very
much. He was, after all, the only 'Con that actually managed to
complete his missions on a regular basis (lest we forget he very
nearly killed Prime in only the sixth episode!), so I reckon he
deserves a little more respect that this taudry slapstick
abomination...
Man, really wish Hasbro didn't have to pull the plug on these guys.
Hate to say, but I think the Beast Wars toys might have been a major
contributor to their drop in sales-- most of the G1 two-packs sold
through reasonably quickly in my neck of the woods (in two or three
months, anyway), but the BW guys are still haunting the pegs
(especially Cheetor/BA-- I guess kids just really didn't know what to
make of that one).
Full disclosure-- I passed on the BW sets myself. They just looked
kinda fugly next to the G1 sets, like the whole RH style just lends
itself better to the blockier G1 designs. So I guess I'm just as much
to blame for the line's demise as anyone. I've almost picked up a
Cheetor/BA out of guilt (and a RH Black Arachnia sounds sweet in
theory... it's just the actual toy is substantially less hot than she
oughta be), but I've never been able to follow through with such pity
purchases (just ask Manterror or Injector).
That said, I've never considered picking up any of the Bayverse RHs,
though I'm sure thier pegwarming is also a major contribution to my
Prowlessness. Such shameless market-flooding deserves to be punished
with ambivalence.
J (plus the whole Robot Heroes concept only really works when you make
guys that are actually *characters*... rather than just
interchangeable CGI models... [Prime, Starscream, Jetfire, Wheelie and
the twins excepted, but otherwise-- *yawn*])
Onslaught Six
> Man, really wish Hasbro didn't have to pull the plug on these guys.
> Hate to say, but I think the Beast Wars toys might have been a major
> contributor to their drop in sales-- most of the G1 two-packs sold
> through reasonably quickly in my neck of the woods (in two or three
> months, anyway), but the BW guys are still haunting the pegs
> (especially Cheetor/BA-- I guess kids just really didn't know what to
> make of that one).
Don't forget we never got Deathsaurus/Star Saber, either. Damnit.
I. R. Caughn
>
> Don't forget we never got Deathsaurus/Star Saber, either. Damnit.
I know, that would have been frigging *amazing*. IIRC, he was actually
going to be labelled Dezsaras, no? (Sorry about that one, Deathy...
for what it's worth, I also prefer "Deathsaurus", even if Hasbro
apparently doesn't)
I think that wave was also supposed to have Beast Machines Primal and
Jetstorm. I snagged the Cheetor/Tankor set a while back-- vastly
preferred the styling to the BW sets (not unlike the original toys and
animation models, come to think of it), so I was eagerly awaiting more
BM stuff. I'm dying to know what Jetstorm would've looked like.
Pictures of the Deszaras/Star Saber back were shown at Protoman's
unreleased toy panel at TFcon this year, but lamentably, no Jetstorm
pics. Has anyone ever seen this toy?
J (... Primal might've been kinda neat to see, too. Wonder if it
skewed more towards Blast Punch/Air Attack/animation model or the odd
duck Deluxe toy... though I can definitely make an educated guess that
it almost certainly would've been the former...)
Zobovor
> I know, that would have been frigging *amazing*. IIRC, he was actually
> going to be labelled Dezsaras, no?
The Hasbro spelling was "Dessaras," which strikes me as strange since
there was already a BotCon toy named Deathsaurus, so you'd think that
would have cemented it in Hasbro's trademark database. Perhaps not,
though.
> Pictures of the Deszaras/Star Saber back were shown at Protoman's
> unreleased toy panel at TFcon this year, but lamentably, no Jetstorm
> pics. Has anyone ever seen this toy?
Not the best image, but here's what I found:
http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/attachment.php?do=fullview&attachmentid=8306
Zob
Zobovor
> Managed to snag the Ricochet/Predaking 2-pack on eBay from some
> Austalian dude. Three weeks later, the bad boys finally showed up on
> my doorstep. Fairly non-plussed about Ricochet but I was so pleasantly
> surprised by Predaking I'm compelled to say a few words...
I started picking up some of the wayward Robot Heroes online when I
realized that they weren't getting released domestically. I'm about
as unimpressed with Ricochet as you are (he's certainly not a
character who's in high demand, so it just seems like a way of
amortizing the Jazz production mold and padding out the line a bit,
pretty much the same as what they did with Tigatron). I, like you, am
very pleased with Predaking. Congrats on your purchase!
> Robot Mode- The first thing that strikes me about this guy, that puts
> him head and shoulders (and knees) above most other Robot Heroes, is
> that they actually went the extra mile and molded individual heads for
> all five Predacons...I'll be damned if that ain't the most ridiculously
> cute thing I ever did see.
The way they're sticking out their little tongues is what made it for
me. They're like Littlest Pet Shop versions of the Predacons. So
adorable.
> Both of Razorclaw's weapons are fairly well-represented here, although
> the colour's a bit off. The greeny tint is still in the right ballpark
> for the sonic sword, but the x-ray laser cannon is totally wrong.
> However, given that I'm sure there's a max limit as to how many
> different colours of paint you can feasibly use on a toy of this size,
> I'm willing to concede that it's a worthy compromise.
It's a great sculpt, but I'm less impressed with the paint job. Not a
single one of the individual Predacons is the correct colors,
regardless of whether we're talking about the Hasbro toys or the
Sunbow animation models. By contrast, the small Titanium Series
figure is painted very accurately, so it's obviously possible for
Hasbro to get these things right (well, Galoob, technically) if they
put their minds to it. Also, since Predaking got packaged with a
recycled mold that didn't require any additional development, you'd
think they could have splurged for a few more paint applications.
> My only real complaint here is the oversized cannons that protrude
> skyward from behind the shoulders. Their unpainted orangeness makes
> them a little innocuous and homely, but more damning is the fact that
> the come out of the package horribly bent at a 50-60 degree angle.
Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you—there are actually two
versions of Predaking out there. The one that I got from the United
Kingdom is like yours, with the unpainted guns, but I have another one
from Singapore that has two additional paint applications—the second
one has guns that are painted gold, and side panels on his upper legs
(Razorclaw's shins) that are painted black. As far as I can tell,
they're both official production pieces, and aside from the colors,
their country of origin seems to be the only difference.
> It also occurs to me that I actually don't know what those cannons are
> supposed to correspond to on the toy. I know that long, thin black back/
> shoulder-mounted mortar cannons were a staple of the animation model, but I
> never really twigged to the fact that there doesn't really seem to be
> anything like that on the toy.
Razorclaw's got preposterously long shoulder cannons in both lion and
robot mode, so I always assumed that these guns are what turned into
Predaking's cannons. I can only assume that at one stage, Razorclaw's
toy had larger guns that were later turned into those pointless,
stubby little nubs, perhaps for safety reasons, that corresponded more
accurately to his portrayal in animation. We'll probably never know
for sure, though.
> I dragged my feet when it came to completing my G1 Pred collection back
> in my collecting heyday, and now it just doesn't look all that feasible,
> unless I sell a kidney and/or firstborn child).
I think eBay has a rule in place about selling off your children. Or,
at least, that's what they keep telling me when they suspend my
account.
In the meantime, there's another TakaraTomy reissue coming up soon, so
it's very possible he'll be more affordable than trying to complete
your vintage G1 collection. (Every time an encore reissue is
announced, it seems like collectors scramble to resell their original
reissues—now if that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is—to try to
recoup their investment before the inevitable price drop.)
> Also, the feet are lamentably molded so that they're not quite flat on
> the ground. I've noticed this with a couple other RH dudes, and have
> always wondered if it's just a case of the soft plastic warping a
> little in certain specific individuals, or if every copy of the mold
> would have the defect. Never bought more than one of the same mold, so
> really can't be sure.
I've noticed this phenomenon with some of the other Robot Heroes toys,
and I sometimes wonder if it's a result of stuffing them into the
plastic tray while the plastic is still warm and somewhat malleable.
If you dip him in hot water for a little bit, that should soften up
the plastic enough that you may have some success in de-warping him.
This might work for his shoulder guns, too. (I wouldn't go all the
way to boiling on the water, though, because I've noticed that this
can dissolve the glue they use to assemble these things.)
> Has this ever happened before? Co-sells on actual packaging representing
> stuff that's never going to be available?
It's rare, but it does happen. When I saw the cancelled-then-not
Titanium Series versions of War Within Prowl and War Within Grimlock,
they had cross-sells for the Titanium Series edition of Soundblaster,
which I'm given to understand is still quite firmly cancelled. One
supposes it wasn't worth Hasbro's time to scrap the packaging for the
sake of more accurate advertising. The Titanium Series version of G1
Ultra Magnus also came with a little catalog that mentioned some of
the three-inch "Robot Masters" Titanium Series figures that were never
available at retail, like Soundwave and Alternators Sunstreaker and
Shockwave and somebody called "Black RODIMUS" in all capital letters.
> The RiD stuff I could take or leave, but I truly am bummed that Prowl
> never hit shelves. Laserbeak... less so. The pose seems a little out
> of character, to be honest, even for this line.
I know what you mean about Laserbeak. I don't own him, but based on
the packaging photos I've seen, I never liked the pose they put him in—
or the fact that he got saddled with that square-shaped beak. It
makes him more of a reinterpretation of the original Hasbro toy,
rather than the cartoon character and his cute little triangular
shnozz. I guess they were trying for something that distanced him
from the SCF version that was perched on Megatron's shoulder, or the
MegaSCF accessory that also came with Megatron?
> Man, really wish Hasbro didn't have to pull the plug on these guys.
> Hate to say, but I think the Beast Wars toys might have been a major
> contributor to their drop in sales.
I totally agree. The Beast Wars sets just didn't perform anywhere
nearly as well as the sets based on characters from the movie, or even
the more obscure G1 characters. I liked them and I bought them, but
my collection seems woefully incomplete without Dinobot. I don't know
if they were just taking their sweet time getting around to him,
perhaps saving him for a planned future wave that never came, but it
seems so backwards to miss such an important and popular character.
> Full disclosure-- I passed on the BW sets myself. They just looked
> kinda fugly next to the G1 sets, like the whole RH style just lends
> itself better to the blockier G1 designs. So I guess I'm just as much
> to blame for the line's demise as anyone.
Well, at least now I have someone to direct my anger towards.
> That said, I've never considered picking up any of the Bayverse RHs,
> though I'm sure thier pegwarming is also a major contribution to my
> Prowlessness. Such shameless market-flooding deserves to be punished
> with ambivalence.
I bought a bunch of them when they were first released, but it took me
many weeks to finally getting around to opening them. You would think
that if the oversimplified G1 animation models looked so cute as Robot
Heroes, it should follow that the hyper-realisitc CGI models would
look even *more* cute, but for some reason some of them just don't
translate over too well.
I honestly think that Hasbro overextended their reach with these
things. It was a fun novelty when they were just doing Star Wars and
Transformers, but expanding the Heroes to include movie properties
like G.I. Joe and Indiana Jones and Spider-Man just seems to be
pushing it. There are still so many G1 characters I wanted to see in
this format and I'm so disappointed that we'll never get them. Sigh.
By the way, I also wanted to add that I love your writing. You're
eloquent and funny and your stuff is fun to read. You probably know
this already, but I felt like it needed to be said. (Now, the
Universe will be in balance the next time I verbally attack somebody.)
Zob
Craig Little
> On Aug 12, 8:33 am, Onslaught Six <onslaught...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Don't forget we never got Deathsaurus/Star Saber, either. Damnit.
>
> I know, that would have been frigging *amazing*. IIRC, he was actually
> going to be labelled Dezsaras, no? (Sorry about that one, Deathy...
> for what it's worth, I also prefer "Deathsaurus", even if Hasbro
> apparently doesn't)
>
> I think that wave was also supposed to have Beast Machines Primal and
> Jetstorm.
I missed out on Robot Heroes when they were about. I'm now trying
desperately to find Blaster/Thrust on Ebay for something resembling sane
prices and shipping. And of course, I'm still mad that there was never a
Robot Hero of my favoritest Predacon in all the world ever: RID Sky-Byte!
--
Craig (Pair him with X-Brawn)
Zobovor
> I missed out on Robot Heroes when they were about. I'm now trying
> desperately to find Blaster/Thrust on Ebay for something resembling sane
> prices and shipping.
Where do you live, Craig? If you have a Big Lots anywhere near you,
that might be a good place to look. The ones around here are still
swimming in Robot Heroes, particularly the Beast Wars sets. I'll
check next time I'm in town and see if they have the Blaster/Thrust set
—it seems like I've seen it recently.
Zob
Craig Little
>
>
I appreciate that Zob. I live in Richmond, Va, and I'm just down the street
from a Big Lots, didn't even think about it as an option for Robot Heroes.
--
Craig (I R Dumb)
Alden Bates
> I missed out on Robot Heroes when they were about. I'm now trying
> desperately to find Blaster/Thrust on Ebay for something resembling sane
> prices and shipping. And of course, I'm still mad that there was never a
> Robot Hero of my favoritest Predacon in all the world ever: RID Sky-Byte!
Word to that. I'm disappointed that we never got the Victory sets too.
I haven't yet been able to find a couple of the G1 sets either (my set
of Insecticons remains incomplete)
I. R. Caughn
> On Aug 12, 3:21 pm, "I. R. Caughn" <ia...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> > I know, that would have been frigging *amazing*. IIRC, he was actually
> > going to be labelled Dezsaras, no?
>
> The Hasbro spelling was "Dessaras," which strikes me as strange since
> there was already a BotCon toy named Deathsaurus, so you'd think that
> would have cemented it in Hasbro's trademark database. Perhaps not,
> though.
Huh... the fan panel had it with a "Z", but they may have just made a
mistake. Looks even stranger with the double "S".
Do Botcon toys need to be trademarked in the same way as mass
releases? I would've been surprised if Hasbro actually spent money on
trademarking stuff like Antagony or Apelinq ('specially since- all due
respect- they happen to be be some pretty dreadful names...).
> Not the best image, but here's what I found:
>
> http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/attachment.php?do=fullview&attachmen...
Wow, that's... unfortunate. Primal's actually not bad-- that
expression captures the wide-eyed psychopathy that was so often
depicting by the character (and is also frickin' *hi*larious. But
Jetstorm... dang. Just way too slight in frame. Sure, the animation
model was unusually slender, but it wasn't all spindly like that. Love
the eyebrow-raise though-- very true to the character.
Dare I take the existence of an in-package photo as a good sign that
these *may* have leaked into stores somewhere on the planet? If they
were unreleased prototypes, I would've expected a rougher looking mock-
up, but that package looks ready for retail, as far as I can tell.
J
I. R. Caughn
>
> I started picking up some of the wayward Robot Heroes online when I
> realized that they weren't getting released domestically. I'm about
> as unimpressed with Ricochet as you are
In theory, I dig the anglicization of Stepper. I just wish they'd
actually give us a reason to like the guy, instead of just relying on
his former glory as holy grail toy. I'm all for adding new G1
characters to the fiction (Sunstorm kinda bothered me, just 'cuz his
colour scheme was uncomfortably close to one of my fanfic characters,
but Drift intrigues me enough to actually pick up AHM one of these
days), but you *do* need to actually put him in the continuity at some
point. I know Dreamwave used him as an Easter Egg once, and I'm
unaware of IDW doing much with him, but there really should've been a
bit more fiction backing up the three American toys we've gotten for
him so far (with a Generations Jazz repaint on the horizon, I'd
wager...). I *still* don't even know if he's supposed to be a clone of
Jazz or a totally separate character.
> By contrast, the small Titanium Series
> figure is painted very accurately, so it's obviously possible for
> Hasbro to get these things right (well, Galoob, technically) if they
> put their minds to it. Also, since Predaking got packaged with a
> recycled mold that didn't require any additional development, you'd
> think they could have splurged for a few more paint applications.
Interesting point, but I'm not sure it's fair to make that comparison.
Since the lines were technically produced by two different companies,
I'd imagine the budgets and/or techniques involved were a fair bit
different. For one thing, most of the little Titanium figs, possibly
due to the fact that they're metal, are literally completely covered
in paint (Predaking certainly is), whereas the plastic RH toys have a
lot more unpainted parts. Not saying it wouldn't have been totally
jawesome if they actually did manage to differentiate the individual
Predacon colours-- just saying I'd have been incredibly surprised if
they pulled it off without it turning into an unholy kaleidoscope of
crap.
> Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you—there are actually two
> versions of Predaking out there. The one that I got from the United
> Kingdom is like yours, with the unpainted guns, but I have another one
> from Singapore that has two additional paint applications—the second
> one has guns that are painted gold, and side panels on his upper legs
> (Razorclaw's shins) that are painted black. As far as I can tell,
> they're both official production pieces, and aside from the colors,
> their country of origin seems to be the only difference.
Hey, that would've have been pretty snazzy, actually (though not
technically accurate, in the case of the cannons, anyway). Almost
tempted to hunt the variant down... there actually were a few
Singapore-based auctions that I foolishly passed on... hmm...
> Razorclaw's got preposterously long shoulder cannons in both lion and
> robot mode, so I always assumed that these guns are what turned into
> Predaking's cannons. I can only assume that at one stage, Razorclaw's
> toy had larger guns that were later turned into those pointless,
> stubby little nubs, perhaps for safety reasons, that corresponded more
> accurately to his portrayal in animation. We'll probably never know
> for sure, though.
Guess I'll just throw it into the same category that contains the
reasons for why Superion's dinky gun magically became an arm-mounted
cannon or why the guy who created Defensor's animation model flipped
open First Aid's hood piece...
> > I dragged my feet when it came to completing my G1 Pred collection back
> > in my collecting heyday, and now it just doesn't look all that feasible,
> > unless I sell a kidney and/or firstborn child).
>
> I think eBay has a rule in place about selling off your children. Or,
> at least, that's what they keep telling me when they suspend my
> account.
It really is getting insane, even by most toy collecting standards.
Maybe it's just cause I went for about six years without checking the
prices of G1 stuff on eBay, but I can't help but be a little disgusted
by the prices things are fetching now. MIB toys I wouldn't have paid
more than $80 for, back at the turn of the millenium, are regularly
going for 2 - 3 hundred bucks. As a potential seller, I should be
thrilled, but I've just never had the heart to part with anything, so
the upside of this boom (or is it just a gradual value increase)
doesn't really apply to me.
> > Has this ever happened before? Co-sells on actual packaging representing
> > stuff that's never going to be available?
>
> It's rare, but it does happen. When I saw the cancelled-then-not
> Titanium Series versions of War Within Prowl and War Within Grimlock,
> they had cross-sells for the Titanium Series edition of Soundblaster,
> which I'm given to understand is still quite firmly cancelled. One
> supposes it wasn't worth Hasbro's time to scrap the packaging for the
> sake of more accurate advertising. The Titanium Series version of G1
> Ultra Magnus also came with a little catalog that mentioned some of
> the three-inch "Robot Masters" Titanium Series figures that were never
> available at retail, like Soundwave and Alternators Sunstreaker and
> Shockwave and somebody called "Black RODIMUS" in all capital letters.
Ah yes, of course. How could I have forgotten about Titanium? Although
I honestly thought that the Soundblaster repaint had come out in some
form or another. Really wasn't paying too much attention, though--
that Soundwave mold looked a bit too much like he was sporting a
freshly filled diaper for me to want another version of it.
> I know what you mean about Laserbeak. I don't own him, but based on
> the packaging photos I've seen, I never liked the pose they put him in—
> or the fact that he got saddled with that square-shaped beak. It
> makes him more of a reinterpretation of the original Hasbro toy,
> rather than the cartoon character and his cute little triangular
> shnozz.
Well, since a lot of the RH toys do add in toyetic details that
weren't in the animation model, which is a big reason for why I got
hooked on them, the square beak make sense, in theory. But yeah, the
actual end result does just look ugly and wrong. In general, they're
probably better off keeping the head designs as cartoon-accurate as
possible, since that is what defines the core "look" of the character,
in a lot of ways. They didn't do faceplate-Bumblebee of fugly-face-
Mirage, after all.
> I totally agree. The Beast Wars sets just didn't perform anywhere
> nearly as well as the sets based on characters from the movie, or even
> the more obscure G1 characters. I liked them and I bought them, but
> my collection seems woefully incomplete without Dinobot. I don't know
> if they were just taking their sweet time getting around to him,
> perhaps saving him for a planned future wave that never came, but it
> seems so backwards to miss such an important and popular character.
Switching out one of the Megatrons for Dinobot definitely would've
been a smart move. Probably the S1 version, just since the little
Golden Disc that came with the TM version is just too awesome to
delete.
> I bought a bunch of them when they were first released, but it took me
> many weeks to finally getting around to opening them. You would think
> that if the oversimplified G1 animation models looked so cute as Robot
> Heroes, it should follow that the hyper-realisitc CGI models would
> look even *more* cute, but for some reason some of them just don't
> translate over too well.
It seems like there's often so much detail that needs to be glossed
over that they often just get reduced to an amorphous glob of plastic
with a disconcertingly cheery insectoid face. Just not a whole lot of
curb appeal in that (and it looks like most kids agree with me, around
here, anyway). The G1 designs, by comparison, seem tailormade for the
conversion, since many of the Dery models (Ironhide, Perceptor etc.)
were already extremely "dumbed down", for lack of a better term.
> I honestly think that Hasbro overextended their reach with these
> things. It was a fun novelty when they were just doing Star Wars and
> Transformers, but expanding the Heroes to include movie properties
> like G.I. Joe and Indiana Jones and Spider-Man just seems to be
> pushing it.
A lot of the time it does seem like Hasbro and other toy companies do
make those kind of errors, where it seems really obvious, to me
anyhow, that they're fundamentally wrong-headed. I really can't
imagine any kid wanted to collect a bunch of figures of all the
Indiana Jones characters. Collectors line, to be released at comic
shops, sure-- but mass-released toy line? Are young boys and girls
really chomping at the bit to get their hands on a little Nazi Cate
Blanchett? There's so much stuff I pass by on the way to the TF
section- Prince of Persia, Last Airbender, even Cameron's Avatar-
that's clogging the shelves, where I just think: "Well yeah, what'd
you think was gonna happen?!" (though in the case of Airbender, the
fact that the movie was allegedly a steaming pile of slag didn't help
matters). But that might just be me-- even as a kid, I had absolutely
no patience for little plastic men that didn't have a vehicle mode, or
holographic accessories, or, at the very least, had come into contact
with mutagenic ooze at some point. For example, even though I've
always enjoyed the movies, I've literally *never* purchased a Star
Wars figure. They just don't *do* anything.
> By the way, I also wanted to add that I love your writing. You're
> eloquent and funny and your stuff is fun to read. You probably know
> this already, but I felt like it needed to be said. (Now, the
> Universe will be in balance the next time I verbally attack somebody.)
Well that's mighty kind 'a you t' say. But I have to admit, when it
comes to comprehensive and insightful toy reviews, guys like you,
Domelen and Suspsy have cornered the market. The few that I've done
have typically degenerated into tangent-filled mish-mashes of the
random stuff that pops into my head. But it's good to know that the
end result can be entertaining.
J (I cringe whenever I read my old Beast Machines episode reviews...
just for the record, I officially have no grounds to be complaining
about the snide remarks muddling up the plot synopses on the TFWiki.
Yeesh...)
Zobovor
> In theory, I dig the anglicization of Stepper. I just wish they'd
> actually give us a reason to like the guy, instead of just relying on
> his former glory as holy grail toy.
It's so bitterly ironic that you could get the Hasbro "reissue" of
Ricochet for, like, six bucks at Toys "R" Us a few years ago.
> It really is getting insane, even by most toy collecting standards.
> Maybe it's just cause I went for about six years without checking the
> prices of G1 stuff on eBay, but I can't help but be a little disgusted
> by the prices things are fetching now.
Are people actually paying those ridiculous amounts, though, or are
people *creating* the perception of value with Buy It Now prices that
never get a nibble? I see a lot of stuff on eBay where I *know*
nobody in their right mind would ever pay that much, so I think I
mentally filter out those auctions altogether. The ones with bidding
activity are really the ones to look for, because they give you a much
better idea of what the current market value is (which is, of course,
defined here for our purposes as the prices people are actually
paying). You can even check the completed listings to get an idea of
what prices are making sales and which prices are too high for people
to have even considered bidding.
> A lot of the time it does seem like Hasbro and other toy companies do
> make those kind of errors, where it seems really obvious, to me
> anyhow, that they're fundamentally wrong-headed.
I almost think sometimes that the toy manufacturers must *know* that
this year's Big Summer Movie is going to bring a huge influx of toy
sales and then taper off very sharply, at which point all the current
stock ends up in the clearance bin. They must factor that in somehow,
you'd think. I guess as long as they make a ton of money early on, as
long as they've recouped their production costs and made a nifty
little profit besides, it doesn't really matter if the toy line
eventually tanks a few months later, does it? (Plus, something to
consider is that it's the retailer who actually takes the loss if they
mark the stuff down to get rid of it. They buy the stuff at
wholesale, so Hasbro or whoever makes the same amount of money
regardless of whether the stores get wiped out or if they get stuck
with pallets of overstock.)
> For example, even though I've always enjoyed the movies, I've literally *never*
> purchased a Star Wars figure. They just don't *do* anything.
There have been times when they've designed the action figures with
some bona fide action gimmicks—the toys from Attack of the Clones come
to mind, with all their spring-loaded lightsaber-swinging arms and
magnets permanently embedded in their palms. It almost always ruins
the toys at that scale, though—especially when they end up being
sculpted into a very specific pose to accomodate the gimmick. I don't
blame you for not finding the Star Wars toys very exciting, but I
think the best figures are the ones that have good articulation and
really capture the essence of the character. When I think of the
worst Star Wars toys, like that horrible R2-D2 with a gigantic vaccuum
cleaner for a middle leg, they're always the ones with some kind of
action feature.
> The few that I've done have typically degenerated into tangent-filled
> mish-mashes of the random stuff that pops into my head. But it's good
> to know that the end result can be entertaining.
This is just my opinion, of course, but reviews that focus on
describing the color scheme of the toy or its precise measurements or
its gimmicks are uninteresting to me. I mean, if it's a Voyager
version of Screwloose, we already know approximately how large it is,
because it's a Voyager, and we already know what color scheme it is
because it's a Screwloose homage. To me, it's much more fun to read
about how much the reviewer likes or dislikes the toy and why, how it
compares to previous versions of Screwloose, whether it's a fitting
tribute to the character, stuff like that.
(I'm still a little peeved that Hasbro went and took Mudflap, my
totally made-up, nobody-would-ever-actually-name-a-Transformer-this-
name name and actually named a Transformer that name. Several, in
fact. It's like a slap in the face, I tells ya.)
Zob
Uriel Ventris
> > It really is getting insane, even by most toy collecting standards.
> > Maybe it's just cause I went for about six years without checking the
> > prices of G1 stuff on eBay, but I can't help but be a little disgusted
> > by the prices things are fetching now.
>
> Are people actually paying those ridiculous amounts, though, or are
> people *creating* the perception of value with Buy It Now prices that
> never get a nibble? I see a lot of stuff on eBay where I *know*
> nobody in their right mind would ever pay that much, so I think I
> mentally filter out those auctions altogether. The ones with bidding
> activity are really the ones to look for, because they give you a much
> better idea of what the current market value is (which is, of course,
> defined here for our purposes as the prices people are actually
> paying). You can even check the completed listings to get an idea of
> what prices are making sales and which prices are too high for people
> to have even considered bidding.
But you do hear of folks selling off their entire collections for a
mint, and someone actually buying them, just so they can complete
their collections. Trouble with a global market is, chances are you
will find someone willing to pay for what you're selling.
> There have been times when they've designed the action figures with
> some bona fide action gimmicks—the toys from Attack of the Clones come
> to mind, with all their spring-loaded lightsaber-swinging arms and
> magnets permanently embedded in their palms. It almost always ruins
> the toys at that scale, though—especially when they end up being
> sculpted into a very specific pose to accomodate the gimmick. I don't
> blame you for not finding the Star Wars toys very exciting, but I
> think the best figures are the ones that have good articulation and
> really capture the essence of the character. When I think of the
> worst Star Wars toys, like that horrible R2-D2 with a gigantic vaccuum
> cleaner for a middle leg, they're always the ones with some kind of
> action feature.
A bit off-topic, but I always thought that the big sell of Star Wars
toys was how well the action figures and the vehicles could play
together, because it had been the first time that toys had actually
been designed that way. Apparently there had been this big hoo-ha
about how Star Wars action figures had been a few inches shorter than
the standard size for dolls, but everyone was okay with it because
that meant that any of your Luke Skywalkers could actually fit inside
your X-Wing.
> > The few that I've done have typically degenerated into tangent-filled
> > mish-mashes of the random stuff that pops into my head. But it's good
> > to know that the end result can be entertaining.
>
> This is just my opinion, of course, but reviews that focus on
> describing the color scheme of the toy or its precise measurements or
> its gimmicks are uninteresting to me. I mean, if it's a Voyager
> version of Screwloose, we already know approximately how large it is,
> because it's a Voyager, and we already know what color scheme it is
> because it's a Screwloose homage. To me, it's much more fun to read
> about how much the reviewer likes or dislikes the toy and why, how it
> compares to previous versions of Screwloose, whether it's a fitting
> tribute to the character, stuff like that.
True dat. But I also like to see a few pictures so that we can enjoy
how the toy looks and how articulated it is. I usually find myself
skimming over the measurements because, really, in case of
Transformers, it's a question of which size category it is, and with
everyone else, well, everyone's usually the same size (unless stated
elsewhere).
Onslaught Six
> In theory, I dig the anglicization of Stepper. I just wish they'd
> actually give us a reason to like the guy, instead of just relying on
> his former glory as holy grail toy. I'm all for adding new G1
> characters to the fiction (Sunstorm kinda bothered me, just 'cuz his
> colour scheme was uncomfortably close to one of my fanfic characters,
> but Drift intrigues me enough to actually pick up AHM one of these
> days), but you *do* need to actually put him in the continuity at some
> point. I know Dreamwave used him as an Easter Egg once, and I'm
> unaware of IDW doing much with him, but there really should've been a
> bit more fiction backing up the three American toys we've gotten for
> him so far (with a Generations Jazz repaint on the horizon, I'd
> wager...). I *still* don't even know if he's supposed to be a clone of
> Jazz or a totally separate character.
Obviously a different character. Sunstorm was only ever a clone in the
DW comics and that was a retarded storyline anyway.
Also, if you're picking up AHM just to read about Drift...you'll
probably be disappointed because he actually doesn't really *do*
anything. But the rest of the book is great.
> It really is getting insane, even by most toy collecting standards.
> Maybe it's just cause I went for about six years without checking the
> prices of G1 stuff on eBay, but I can't help but be a little disgusted
> by the prices things are fetching now. MIB toys I wouldn't have paid
> more than $80 for, back at the turn of the millenium, are regularly
> going for 2 - 3 hundred bucks. As a potential seller, I should be
> thrilled, but I've just never had the heart to part with anything, so
> the upside of this boom (or is it just a gradual value increase)
> doesn't really apply to me.
Don't forget, this is also a post-Movie world.
> A lot of the time it does seem like Hasbro and other toy companies do
> make those kind of errors, where it seems really obvious, to me
> anyhow, that they're fundamentally wrong-headed. I really can't
> imagine any kid wanted to collect a bunch of figures of all the
> Indiana Jones characters. Collectors line, to be released at comic
> shops, sure-- but mass-released toy line? Are young boys and girls
> really chomping at the bit to get their hands on a little Nazi Cate
> Blanchett? There's so much stuff I pass by on the way to the TF
> section- Prince of Persia, Last Airbender, even Cameron's Avatar-
> that's clogging the shelves, where I just think: "Well yeah, what'd
> you think was gonna happen?!" (though in the case of Airbender, the
> fact that the movie was allegedly a steaming pile of slag didn't help
> matters). But that might just be me-- even as a kid, I had absolutely
> no patience for little plastic men that didn't have a vehicle mode, or
> holographic accessories, or, at the very least, had come into contact
> with mutagenic ooze at some point. For example, even though I've
> always enjoyed the movies, I've literally *never* purchased a Star
> Wars figure. They just don't *do* anything.
When I actually was a child, I occasionally bought (or had my parents
buy) all kinds of random toys from movie lines or lines I didn't have
any real attachment to. I had tons of Batman stuff but it was all
accumulated over several years of Occasionally Buying Batman Stuff.
Even now, I like to buy the occasional other figure if I have money
and I'm all caught up on other crap, or the store doesn't have
anything else new. I recently completed all six of my MMPR 2010 team,
for example. I'm still looking into getting a single Iron Man to
balance out against my IM2 Iron Monger I bought. And some day I'm
going to own the entire core Star Wars cast--as soon as they make new,
kickass figures of everybody I want. (They need to make a new, non-
suck Darth Maul mould. I spent like $7 on a toy that feels like it
came out in 2001.)
> J (I cringe whenever I read my old Beast Machines episode reviews...
> just for the record, I officially have no grounds to be complaining
> about the snide remarks muddling up the plot synopses on the TFWiki.
> Yeesh...)
The snark rarely gets into the plot summaries, actually.
Zobovor
wrote:
> But you do hear of folks selling off their entire collections for a
> mint, and someone actually buying them, just so they can complete
> their collections. Trouble with a global market is, chances are you
> will find someone willing to pay for what you're selling.
Sometimes I wonder how many people buy up those entire collections
just so they can turn around and resell the entire lot, perhaps minus
one or two items that they cherry-picked to keep for themselves. I
just can't imagine wanting to spend a huge chunk of cash on an Instant
Collection™—that's such a completely different way of acquiring toys
as opposed to buying them one by one over a period of many years. I
don't even know if I'd be able to enjoy that, especially if it was
somebody else's collection where all the toys had already been opened,
had their stickers applied, and so forth.
I think it would be really interesting if there were some way to track
specific toys as they pass from one owner to another, perhaps in a
similar manner to the website wheresgeorge.com that tracks dollar
bills. I would love to know, for example, how many people owned my
Bumblejumper before it came into my hands. (I have this theory that
all the Bumblejumpers on eBay are just the same twenty or thirty toys
constantly changing hands.)
> A bit off-topic, but I always thought that the big sell of Star Wars
> toys was how well the action figures and the vehicles could play
> together, because it had been the first time that toys had actually
> been designed that way.
I'm sure that was a big draw when the toys first came out in the
1970's, but it's probably not as much of a draw now, especially since
there are plenty of other toy lines that have done the same thing
since then (He-Man, G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, etc.) I think there have
probably been recent years when Hasbro wasn't offering any vehicles as
part of the Star Wars assortment, though I could be mistaken.
> True dat. But I also like to see a few pictures so that we can enjoy
> how the toy looks and how articulated it is. I usually find myself
> skimming over the measurements because, really, in case of
> Transformers, it's a question of which size category it is, and with
> everyone else, well, everyone's usually the same size (unless stated
> elsewhere).
All the more reason why I dislike toy reviews that strive to describe
every last detail of the character—"In robot mode, Screwloose is six-
and-one-sixteenth inches tall, though at the tip of his back-mounted
wings he measures seven-and-three-quarters inches. He's got a red
chest, pelvis and guns; a black head, upper arms, fists, upper legs,
and feet; and a white midsection, lower legs, treads, and wings. His
cockpit window is blue and he's got blue eyes, a gold face, and some
silver stripes along the sides of his armor panels on his arms, legs,
and back." To me, this is either immensely redundant (because you're
already familiar with the toy and you know what it looks like) or
utterly pointless (because if you're not already familiar with the
toy, no amount of description, no matter how detailed, is going to
convey an accurate depiction of the toy in the reader's mind).
Really, it would be so much easier to snap a picture, upload it as
screwloose_robot.jpg and post the link. A picture really is worth a
thousand words. (As a caveat, I think a little more description is
warranted in Iacon's review, specifically, since Predaking hasn't seen
mass release so not everybody knows what the Robot Heroes toy looks
like—and even if you're familiar with the original Predaking, the
Robot Heroes toy is so different in styling and colors that a
description of the differences is one of the most significant things
about this iteration of the character. If you take an average review
and strip away all the measurements and color scheme identification,
though, so often there's nothing left to even bother with.)
Zob
I. R. Caughn
wrote:
>
> A bit off-topic, but I always thought that the big sell of Star Wars
> toys was how well the action figures and the vehicles could play
> together, because it had been the first time that toys had actually
> been designed that way. Apparently there had been this big hoo-ha
> about how Star Wars action figures had been a few inches shorter than
> the standard size for dolls, but everyone was okay with it because
> that meant that any of your Luke Skywalkers could actually fit inside
> your X-Wing.
That's a good point. I actually do remember being intrigued by that
very feature (I seem to recall being in some random kids' bedroom and
finding his SW collection kinda neat... but that feeling wore off
before my next toy-buying opportunity). But frankly, M.A.S.K. totally
had the edge in that department. The toys did a lot more and I was a
pretty big fan of the cartoon. By comparison, the only current media
Star Wars had at the time was "Droids" and "Ewoks", which were boring
and gay, respectively (that'd be my eight-year-old self talking,
natch).
As an adult, I considered getting into the Star Wars toy thing
briefly, when Phantom Menace came out, but... meh. Somehow, when you
haven't grown up collecting a massive franchise like that, it really
does seem like too much hassle to start. Plus, as an outsider looking
in, I seem more apt to just see it as an endless series of shameless
ploys to cash-in on an rabidly devoted fanbase.
J (I mean, it's not like the TF franchise is just a continual
remodeling, repackaging and reselling of the same dozen or so core...
charact... errrs... oh crap *facepalm*)
I. R. Caughn
> On Aug 14, 1:49 pm, "I. R. Caughn" <ia...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> > In theory, I dig the anglicization of Stepper. I just wish they'd
> > actually give us a reason to like the guy, instead of just relying on
> > his former glory as holy grail toy. I'm all for adding new G1
> > characters to the fiction (Sunstorm kinda bothered me, just 'cuz his
> > colour scheme was uncomfortably close to one of my fanfic characters,
> > but Drift intrigues me enough to actually pick up AHM one of these
> > days), but you *do* need to actually put him in the continuity at some
> > point. I know Dreamwave used him as an Easter Egg once, and I'm
> > unaware of IDW doing much with him, but there really should've been a
> > bit more fiction backing up the three American toys we've gotten for
> > him so far (with a Generations Jazz repaint on the horizon, I'd
> > wager...). I *still* don't even know if he's supposed to be a clone of
> > Jazz or a totally separate character.
>
> Obviously a different character. Sunstorm was only ever a clone in the
> DW comics and that was a retarded storyline anyway.
How is that obvious, though? Ricochet was depicted as a clone in the
Dreamwave comics, and as far as I know (and as far as TFWiki knows)
that's the only US fiction for the character. But for the record,
yeah, I was never a big fan of the whole uber-powerful-Sunstorm shtick
either.
Back in the day, I often wondered if Stepper and Artfire were actually
just supposed to be reformatted TM versions of Jazz and Inferno. I
reckon there's a good chance that's how Hasbro would've spun it if
there were released stateside back in '87. But I gather the Japanese
fiction refutes that possibility... or does it? Were Jazz and Stepper
ever seen in the same room together...?
> As a potential seller, I should be
> > thrilled, but I've just never had the heart to part with anything, so
> > the upside of this boom (or is it just a gradual value increase)
> > doesn't really apply to me.
>
> Don't forget, this is also a post-Movie world.
Indeed. And that's sort of the thing-- should we expect a downturn in
value once Bay stops churning out the blockbusters?
> > J (I cringe whenever I read my old Beast Machines episode reviews...
> > just for the record, I officially have no grounds to be complaining
> > about the snide remarks muddling up the plot synopses on the TFWiki.
> > Yeesh...)
>
> The snark rarely gets into the plot summaries, actually.
Fair enough. I'll concede that they generally are pretty good about
keeping the humour to the image blurbs and intro. Although, the intros
often bother me, not just due to the sometimes-over-the-top jokiness,
but also since it's often not really clear *which version* of the
character is actually being described or where the info's being taken
from (tech specs, Marvel/DW TFU bios etc.). It's like they just
prescribe to Hasbro's recent "everybody's more or less the same in
every continuity they show up in" policy, which couldn't be further
from the truth, if you're talking about guys like Shockwave or Blaster
or Grimlock etc.
J (or yes, even Unicron... "universal singularity", my ass! I likes my
chaos-bringers secular and my multiverse techno-babble on dreadful
'90s Star Trek episodes where it belongs, thankyewverymuch!)
Craig Little
> On Aug 17, 8:41 am, Onslaught Six <onslaught...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 14, 1:49 pm, "I. R. Caughn" <ia...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
Although, the intros
> often bother me, not just due to the sometimes-over-the-top jokiness,
> but also since it's often not really clear *which version* of the
> character is actually being described or where the info's being taken
> from (tech specs, Marvel/DW TFU bios etc.).
I believe the wki's official policy on intros is that they're only supposed
to contain info that applies to all the incarnations of that character
within the same continuity family as a synthesis.
--
Craig (Not sure that's reality)
Chad Rushing
wrote:
>
> A bit off-topic, but I always thought that the big sell of Star Wars
> toys was how well the action figures and the vehicles could play
> together, because it had been the first time that toys had actually
> been designed that way. Apparently there had been this big hoo-ha
> about how Star Wars action figures had been a few inches shorter than
> the standard size for dolls, but everyone was okay with it because
> that meant that any of your Luke Skywalkers could actually fit inside
> your X-Wing.
Fisher Price's Adventure People toyline had that full interaction
between vehicles and figures from any set a few years (1975) before
STAR WARS came out. Also, the Adventure People were approximately
3.5" in height with shoulder, hip, and neck articulation, so there was
already a precedent for smaller figures like that. My family had a
ton of them growing up. You can see some photos of them on the lower
half of this page from a 1977 catalog:
http://www.plaidstallions.com/fp/fp77.html
- Chad
Gustavo Wombat
> On Aug 16, 10:47 pm, Uriel Ventris <uv.ultramar...@googlemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > A bit off-topic, but I always thought that the big sell of Star Wars
> > toys was how well the action figures and the vehicles could play
> > together, because it had been the first time that toys had actually
> > been designed that way. Apparently there had been this big hoo-ha
> > about how Star Wars action figures had been a few inches shorter than
> > the standard size for dolls, but everyone was okay with it because
> > that meant that any of your Luke Skywalkers could actually fit inside
> > your X-Wing.
>
> very feature (I seem to recall being in some random kids' bedroom and
> finding his SW collection kinda neat... but that feeling wore off
> before my next toy-buying opportunity). But frankly, M.A.S.K. totally
> had the edge in that department. The toys did a lot more and I was a
> pretty big fan of the cartoon. By comparison, the only current media
> Star Wars had at the time was "Droids" and "Ewoks", which were boring
> and gay, respectively (that'd be my eight-year-old self talking,
> natch).
I would have gone with "Droids" being gay, and "Ewoks" being boring.
C-3PO has a very gay voice. Ewoks were at least Care Bears with sharp,
pointy sticks (and boring because they didn't do much with them...)
Am I the only would who would love to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The
Wookie Ewok War?
> As an adult, I considered getting into the Star Wars toy thing
> briefly, when Phantom Menace came out, but... meh. Somehow, when you
> haven't grown up collecting a massive franchise like that, it really
> does seem like too much hassle to start. Plus, as an outsider looking
> in, I seem more apt to just see it as an endless series of shameless
> ploys to cash-in on an rabidly devoted fanbase.
Do you know how they could really cash in? A reissue of the original
molds. Even if they had to recast them from existing figures, I think
there is enough of a hard-core geek contingent that would snatch them
up.
Of course, I think children would love an Abraham Lincoln Transformer
and a Baba Yaga Transformer, so what do I know?
Gustavo!
...Also Known As Thunder
> Do you know how they could really cash in? A reissue of the original
> molds. Even if they had to recast them from existing figures, I think
> there is enough of a hard-core geek contingent that would snatch them
> up.
Oh yes. Just look at those Masters of the Universe reissues Mattel did.
People couldn't snap them up fast enough.
t.k.
Scott
snip
> Am I the only would who would love to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The
> Wookie Ewok War?
I'd prefer a Gungan Ewok war of annihilation.
snip
SteveD
>All the more reason why I dislike toy reviews that strive to describe
>every last detail of the character—"In robot mode, Screwloose is six-
>and-one-sixteenth inches tall, though at the tip of his back-mounted
>wings he measures seven-and-three-quarters inches. He's got a red
>chest, pelvis and guns; a black head, upper arms, fists, upper legs,
>and feet; and a white midsection, lower legs, treads, and wings. His
>cockpit window is blue and he's got blue eyes, a gold face, and some
>silver stripes along the sides of his armor panels on his arms, legs,
>and back." To me, this is either immensely redundant (because you're
>already familiar with the toy and you know what it looks like) or
>utterly pointless (because if you're not already familiar with the
>toy, no amount of description, no matter how detailed, is going to
>convey an accurate depiction of the toy in the reader's mind).
Good for Google searches three months later when you can't remember
anything about the toy except "gold face" or "silver stripes", though.
-SteveD
Zobovor
> Am I the only would who would love to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The
> Wookie Ewok War?
WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO ENDOR, YOU STUPID WOOKIEE!
There were actually a couple of made-for-TV Ewok movies, Caravan of
Courage and Battle for Endor. I personally choose to pretend they
don't exist. (And I even have a copy of the Star Wars Holiday
Special, so that should tell you something right there.)
> Do you know how they could really cash in? A reissue of the original
> molds. Even if they had to recast them from existing figures, I think
> there is enough of a hard-core geek contingent that would snatch them
> up.
They did a commemorative four-pack at Toys "R" Us to kick off the
1990's toy line, but they had to cast them from existing toys, like
you said. I like the idea in theory, but the old toys are
surprisingly plentiful on the secondary market so I don't know if
there's that much of a demand. A year or two ago I started hunting
down all the vintage Star Wars figures I had when I was a kid, and I
managed to get pretty much all of them for, like, two or three bucks a
figure. They even came with reproduction weapons. (I seriously have
no memory of any of my old Star Wars toys coming with guns. I must
have lost them immediately after opening the packaging.)
I'd be concerned about price gouging, too. Retailers would charge,
like, ten bucks for reissue vintage figures, which is pretty
outrageous when it comes down to it. I saw myself collecting all the
TMNT reissues, but I never bought a single one just because Toys "R"
Us charged so much. And, again, the original TMNT toys are still
plentiful on the secondary market, too.
Zob
I. R. Caughn
>
> Am I the only would who would love to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The
> Wookie Ewok War?
You are not alone, sir. But only if the war was a completely realistic
and one-sided genocidal massacre, which ends with the Wookies
completely invading and colonizing Endor. Maybe a final scene with
Chewbacca, knee-deep in Ewok entrails and gazing across the brightly
burning treehouses, uttering a solemn: "Yeah, we... won."
... also, Chewbacca needs to learn English, preferably with a hippie
surfer-dude drawl. And if anybody steals my totally original
screenplay idea, I *will* kill you dead.
> Of course, I think children would love an Abraham Lincoln Transformer
> and a Baba Yaga Transformer, so what do I know?
I'm more looking forward to that Hitler/Panzer toy. Just for anyone
who found that the Nazi undertones of Megs' gun mode were too subtle.
J (oooh... you could call him "The Master" and make it a sweet Bionic
Commando tie-in...)
Zobovor
> You are not alone, sir. But only if the war was a completely realistic
> and one-sided genocidal massacre, which ends with the Wookies
> completely invading and colonizing Endor.
Ah, Gyumaoh found this but I couldn't think of a good use for it until
now:
http://www.starwars.com/games/playnow/crawl_creator/index.jsp?cs=abz28wmhba
Zob
I. R. Caughn
>
> Ah, Gyumaoh found this but I couldn't think of a good use for it until
> now:
>
Heh heh... nicely done. I especially like the part about the semi-
automatic machine guns...
... wait, Wicket had a full name? So Obiwan Kenobi has some bizarre
alien gibberish name, but some barely sentient jabbering furball on
some backwater moon has a middle initial?! George Lucas makes no
sense.
J (isn't Warrick even a real Anglo-Saxon name, too? Next you'll tell
me it was actually "Chewbacca J. McGillicuddy"...)
SteveD
<ia...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>So Obiwan Kenobi has some bizarre alien gibberish name
"Oobidoob Scooby-dooby Benubi?"