Here it comes…the obligatory Convention Exclusives Editorial.TM (more…)
Reviews archive is live
I’ve posted the Reviews Archive page. You can access it here or by clicking on Ray Fillet’s menu option in the sidebar.
The page is a compilation of all the toy reviews I’ve written since 2002. Click on the toy name to read the review. You can also click on the headers to sort by name, line, or manufacturer.
I’ll be adding new reviews to the page as I write them. Enjoy!
Wizarduniverse.com 2.0…? 3.0…? New!
Wizarduniverse.com has a long-overdue, spiffy new look.
Rather than going to a specific magazine, you click on the topic–comics, toys, anime and so forth. I’m not sure how effective this will be; without any explicit branding of Wizard, ToyFare and Anime Insider, the site may function as an alternative to buying those magazines for many fans, rather than a promotional tool. Perhaps that’s the intention…as a wise man once said, “Print is dead.”
Check out the set visit to The Dark Knight–there are some fun new details in there (spoiler warning, of course). And of course, be sure to check out ToyFare‘s first animated episode of Twisted ToyFare Theater. It’s like Robot Chicken, only it came first.
Odds ‘n Ends > Imperfect Edition
ODD: I spent some time putting together a page that will offer you, dear readers, a complete list of links to all the toy reviews I’ve written since 2002–for OAFE, Michael Crawford’s site, and even Epinions, as well as here. I’m just waiting for OB1 to give it his stamp of approval, since I actually tried to code the thing myself. (more…)
Cleatus gets beat(us)
I don’t want to write about, read about, or think about the game last night…ever again…but I did want to mention it was cool to see the Fox Sports Robot (who received a shiny new paint job for the event) throw down with the Terminator endoskeleton. Kudos for the marketing gimmick, Fox (especially if it was intended as a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment of the robot’s unpopularity with many viewers).
You can watch the three clips at http://www.myspace.com/superbowlads under the “Fox/NFL Promos” section.
Poe’s Figure Hall of Fame > Chogokin Mechagodzilla
I mentioned in an earlier post that one of my favorite toys was a die-cast Mechagodzilla figure. It occurred to me that I’ve never actually written up a review of this great piece.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) and its sequel, Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) were the last of the Showa-era Godzilla films–the campy monster-vs.-monster flicks we Ge-Xers grew up on, which led us to create things like Kaiju Big Battel. (more…)
The Saga of Shocker Toys
What is Shocker Toys?
The answer is hard to grasp. Just when you think you’ve got it, it slithers out of your fingers like an eel. (more…)
Poe’s Point > Captain…America?
So the all-new, all-different Captain America carries a gun now. Then what makes him any different from the Punisher? Especially since the Punisher recently went crazy and dressed up like Captain America for a while.
And it’s not a very impressive gun, either–looks like a plain old Colt .45 to me. Shouldn’t Captain America at least have a Magnum or something?
Mind you, I always thought it was a bit silly that Cap only carried a shield as a weapon. Even Batman has batarangs, gas pellets and explosives he can throw at people if need be. But a gun? To quote Mr. Furious, “That’s it? That’s your power? You have guns? Couldn’t you be a little more creative than that?” Again, the Marvel Universe already has a guy whose power is that he has guns.
I don’t know…I might check out this issue (Captain America #34). I wish Marvel had a $2 digital download option for their comics. More likely I’ll wait for the trade paperback, since a single issue of a modern comic reads like an excerpt from a novel these days.
To get on topic, how long until Hasbro releases a figure of the gun-toting Cap? I say he shows up within three waves.
Contest update
Just a quick note for those of you participating in the contest (for which entries are now closed, btw). (more…)
Odds ‘n Ends > Rambeaux edition
ODD: Saw Rambo last weekend. I’ve never seen any of the original three films in their entirety, so it was a little odd that I went to see this one; but it had been far too long since I’ve seen a 1980s action flick. Which is definitely what I got, with about twenty years’ worth of harder “R” violence.
Rambo takes a while to get going, but once it does, it’s like the opening ten minutes of Saving Private Ryan, except it’s forty minutes long and you don’t care about the guys who are being blown apart, since they’re bad guys. Utterly evil, irredeemable bad guys who, during the course of the film, engage in gang rape, pedophilia, mass murder and a particularly cruel variant of Russian roulette with their hostages. (more…)