The Best Thing From Toy Fair 2012

Hungover E.T.

Sure, the 1:1 replica of the BttF hoverboard, the full-sized Portal Gun (non-working), and the cavalcade of new minimates - including, but not limited to, a Composite Hulk, a Flash Thompson Venom, and a Brood - were pretty sweet, but nothing quite had the personality of ol'weekday morning drunky up there. I can't wait until he's mine.

Quality pictures of this awesomely horrible nightmare of a figure stolen from TNI

The Three Best Things At Toy Fair 2011

As any geek worth their salt knows, this past weekend was the annual event that makes all our bank accounts shudder in anticipation: The US Toy Fair. And really, what kind of geek blog would I be running here if I didn't at least mention my favorite reveals this year. So, without further ado, my top three...

3- A Zero Minimate.


As part of their upcoming, and newly announced, Marvel v. Capcom line, Art Asylum kind of sorta accidentally let this cat out of the bag a little early. You know how it goes. You get excited about something and write the blog post to get it out of you, but then end up accidentally posting it now as opposed to after the official announcement. Sucks for them, fantastic for us.

More to the point, of all the Capcom figures coming this one is the one that I can't wait for. As a huge Mega Man X fan, I never thought I'd own this iconic character in the toyline that I like. I mean, sure, it would have been nice to have a Mega Man as well, but I'll take a sweet looking Zero any day of the week.

Maybe next they can do a Proto Man...

2- Knight Rider Minimates!


Yes, more on the minimate front. What? I love'em.

Following up movie licenses like Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, it seems that Art Asylum got a hold of the classic Knight Rider license. Now, I know that this unpainted prototype doesn't look like much - and more than a bit deformed - but it's a means to an end that will get us quite possibly the most exciting minimate figure ever: David Hasslehoff.

Move over Michael J. Fox, I got a new celebrity to lord over like a god. Here's hoping the retailers bite on this, otherwise they'll have one sad Panda on their hands.

1- FUCKING DARKHAWK!!!


Out of nowhere, from a line that I have no real interest to collect, comes my newest obsession: DARKHAWK! I don't know how it happened, or why, but I don't care. THIS IS AWESOME! Do you realize that this is the first time this classic 90s character has ever been immortalized in plastic? That right there is a crime against culture that I'm so elated to see rectified.

Between this, a Scarlet Spider that looks like the one we should have gotten years ago, and an OG Power Man/Iron Fist pack, I might have to start getting these figures. Well, some of them at least. All bets are off if they end up making an 8-Ball or a Sleepwalker though...

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Finally, I'd like to end things with a spot of disappointment I had at the reveals. Namely, the character selection of the newest Marvel Minimate wave:



I really don't want to be 'that guy', but... ugh. Really? To date there have been two versions of the Silver Iron Man armor (and two more gold repaints!), two goblins that look exactly the same (but without a glider, so there is that), and don't even get me started on the Spider-Man.

I get the idea the need to have a heavy rotation of the big name characters (and honestly, the character selection for minimates has been pretty solid overall), but why these non-variants. How cool would it be to have a modern Ramos-inspired Goblin? Or even a hooded Clone Saga one? Or an Iron Man 2020, a Thorbuster (to go with the big Thor push), or any of a number of interesting Iron Man suits that aren't the boring ass original costume? Or... well, I'm sure you get the point, I'm just a little upset with this collection.

Here's hoping though, that after it's all said and done with the movie waves, that DST and Art Asylum get back to making great, unique characters again. Maybe a comic Captain America wave with Baron Zemo, Crossbones, Rikki Barnes, and Nomad. Or a Thor wave with Thunderstrike, Bloodaxe, and... uh... someone else involved with Thor.

Regardless of the minor disappointments I had, this wasn't such a bad Toy Fair. I can't wait to see more at San Diego this year.

GI Joe: Real American Nerds

I love GI Joe.

Where some kids where all about their Transformers, or their Thundercats, I was all about my PSA-spewing, snake-fighting, mostly-American crew of special force fighters.

But let's think about Gi Joe Headquarters for a minute: You have all these people working and living together, cliques are totally going to form, right? You'd have the Popular Kids (Duke, Flint, Lady Jaye, Cover girl, etc), the Jocks (Big-Lob, Capt. Grid Iron, Fridge, etc), the Ninjas (Snake Eyes, Nunchuck, Scarlett, etc.) and, of course, the nerds.

But who would those nerds be?

Never fear, dear reader, because I've done my research and figured out who would be sitting at that nerd table. So without further ado, here's my list of the Eight Nerds in GI Joe:


Lifeline
So you get picked for the super special forces and then you refuse to use a gun, you're not going to make a lot of friends that way. Lifeline would be that guy who was constantly nagging anyone around him about the merits of diplomacy versus using a laser rifle when it comes to fighting Cobra, which would quickly earn him a table with the nerds, the only table that would listen to his rants.


MainFrame
With a name like Mainframe, is it a wonder that he's on this list? An MIT grad who's all about computers, sounds like a huge geek to me. Something tells me he's be more concerned with how many Gigabites he has free, than the size of his hard drive. If you know what I mean.


Dial Tone
Popular belief would be that this beret'd communications officer would be all about gossip, but a quick check of his filecard shows uncharted depths of nerdosity. Making crystals at 14? A CB and Ham radio enthusiast by age 17? Can you say, Lost virginity at 23? I'm betting he had more long distance friends than actual physical friends.


Sparks
This newly-unretired communications officer would be the perfect foil for Dial Tone. Chances are they were friends from their past Ham Radio days. With his history in the media industry, he would probably finish off a mean A/V trio with Dialtone and Mainframe


Chuckles
Quietly rejected by the other cliques, Chuckles would become the silent, attractive mainstay of the nerd clique, not because he was nerdy in any way, but more because he didn't say anything to stop it from happening. He's a PSA waiting to happen.


Skidmark
A meticulously clean solider with a very unfortunate moniker. Am I wrong in assuming that those two things might be related? Maybe some kind of embarrassing reveal in the locker room as a new Joe recruit? I'm pretty convinced the 'drives real fast' story is just a cover the truth involving bad mexican food, some white boxers, and some incriminating pictures.


Tripwire
Of everyone listed, no one screams 'Bully Bait' more than Tripwire. I can totally see one of the popular kids (Probably Flint, that jerk) sneaking up behind Trip to force one of his spectacular spills. It probably takes all the willpower in the world to not spook him while he's messing with explosives.


Jinx
The token girl of the group. With her reputation of being a bad luck charm, she would surely be rejected by all the other cliques leaving her with this band of misfits. She would probably be pining for the dreamy Lt. Falcon to whisk her away while ignoring the awkward flirtations from her fellow misfit Tripwire. Girls can be so dumb sometimes.

And now you know. And knowing is half the battle. The other half involves picking the right table to sit at during lunch. Also lasers.

All images swiped from yojoe.com, which is an amazing site that you should totaly TOTALLY check out if you're interested in GI Joe at all.

Minimate Overload

I've kinda gone nuts in the past few days buying minimates.

What are minimates, you ask? Why, they're just Diamond Select's biggest mini moneymaker. With two inches and fourteen points of articulation, they're systematically creating the most comprehensive multi-license toyline since Mego in the 70s. Finally I can play out my fantasies of Hannibal Lector fighting a Terminator, or pair up drinking buddies like Saul Tigh and Tony Stark. Needlessly to say, I'm all about them.

Lately, as in this past week, I've been buying a ton of these guys to add to my already burgeoning collection. From Cowboys to Ghostbusters, here's what I got and what I think of'em:

A Fistful of Dollars

I honestly never expected to buy these, but seeing them at 50% off I just couldn't resist. Besides, how could you not like a mini Clint Eastwood?

The figures are pretty snazzy with, especially John Baxter with his fancy lookin' vest and commanding mustache. Also they come with great little accessories, like a specialty molded gun with a snake on the handle and the makeshift bulletproof vest.

On the downside, some of those neat little details really hinder the figures. Marisols dress and headscarf make her a figure that can only really watch the action, but never join it, while poor Clint almost suffers the same fate with his neat looking poncho that restricts the movement of one of his arms. Not to mention poor Ramon and his rifle that will never fit in his hands... Poor Ramon, now he'll never take a man's life...

On a scale of five, I'd give them a two and a half on the barking seal scale. They're sweet little figures, but mostly just for posing on the shelf, not for getting into epic cowboy dustups.


Back to the Future 2

I don't know what took me so long to get these awesome representations of one of the greatest series ever made. Sure, they lack a bit of the likeness factor, but they make up for it by being the only game in town.

While lighter in accessories than the previous boxset, they far succeed it in posability. The clunker of the bunch is probably Doc Brown, as his trenchcoat/shirt number does leave him in the pose options, but again, he's way better than what we had before (read:nothing). My personal favorite is Marty Jr and his super girlie, yet uber-awesome, hoverboard. It makes me yearn for the day when we have shoes with power laces and Jackets that dry themselves... just six more years...

As a bonus with these guys, because of their size it's easier to find size appropriate vehicles for them, like this 1:24 scale Delorean I had lying around the house:



With all of this greatness, it pains me to only give this set a 4 barking seals out of 5, as I'm really bothered by that Doc that can't use his legs.



Ghostbusters

So there's actually two series' of these floating around out there. The first is a boxset with Peter, Egon, Dana, and Louis (as a Terror Dog), which I have yet to find and it's driving me nuts! Ahem. The second is a group of five two packs available at Toys R Us, of which I bought two: Winston from Ghostbusters 2 with a Terror Dog (no Louis or Dana inside though...) and Peter from the courtroom scene in Ghostbusters 2 with a random yellow ghost.

Now let me tell you something, those proton packs are amazing, with fantastic sculpting and a great attention to detail. I'm gonna save showing you a picture of that until I get the box set (and learn how to take a non blurry pciture, dammit!), but until then, take a look at the weirdly veiny proton beam:


...Gross...

Anyway, that's neither here nor there, these figures are pretty cool too. Winston might look a little generic, but the detail work on his costume from the name on the chest to the Ghostbusters 2 logo on the arm are pretty awesome, while Peter, for being a guy in a suit with a crazy ray gun on his back, looks pretty snazzy if not a bit dull.

The saving grace of both sets are the ghosts. The giant yellow ghost looks pretty scary (for a two inch toy) and has great posability for those rumbles with the guys, while the Terror Dog looks like it stepped off the screen, if he was stylized and blocky. They're totally great, and I really hope the series continues long enough for me to get a crazy Janosz/Vigo two pack...

When it comes down to it, I'm giving these guys a 4 outta 5 seals too, because as great as they are the guys are just a bit dull which knocks it down just a peg.



Marvel

Ah yes, my bread and butter. Surprising no one, the Marvel Minimates were what got me in the habit in the first place. This is series 25 of the long running Marvel line, with a stellar lineup of: The New Captain America, The Red Skull, the Red Hulk, Skaar: Son of Hulk, Iron Man, and an AIM Goon. And I gotta say, they're all pretty sweet.

Tight designs, lots of accessories, and a great character selection (although I'll admit that Skaar is more than a headscratcher) make this one of the best series in a while, throw in the first foray into army building and I'm happy as a clam.

Army building, you ask? Yeah, see with these Marvel waves, they always tend to have a variant figure in the mix, which normally if you want to get results in having two of the exact same figure. It finally occured to the powers that be to make that 'exact same figure' a faceless goon, so you won't mind having more than one of them. So, I purchased my first variant set and got myself another AIM goon, and then promptly found a third set (at Toys R Us for cheaper!!) and got it too. Allowing me to do things like this:



I'm so all about these figures it's stupid, they get my newly patented Seal of Awesomeness on the barking seal scale.



And there it is, my dirty little obsession. I hope you weren't too bored because I'm planning to do the same kind of round up later this month with all the fantastic looking exclusives getting released at the San Diego Comic Con this year....