Jan 30, 2021

Day 6 of Super7 teasers is partly merch partly toys

 Silverhawks merch is now available. Toys to be revealed later. My guesses:First we'll see ReAction toys with rhe Ultimates to be revealed at a later time. Maybe a Shogun Warriors type Mon*Star figure. You know he lends himself for that.

This announcement was a bit of a dick move. No toys to show, especially when they've been teasing Silverhawks for nearly a year!
Power Rangers was a curveball, so the lack of figures is justified... but this is BULLSHIT!!
Wonder what tomorrow's reveal will be.

Jan 29, 2021

Ultimate Power Rangers hopes and Super7 spreading themselves too thin!!

 I'm afraid... that Super7 is spreading themselves too thin: current Ultimates lines:
-Conan
-Thundercats
-Disney
-TMNT
-Random Musicians
-Random US Wrestlers and Neo Japan Wrestlers
To that now we add
-Power Rangers
-Transformers
-Silverhawks (not yet officially announced)
-Godzilla

Plus random one-off figures like Toxie.
With 10 lines running concurrently in the nearby future, the output will be reduced to 1 wave per year. Remember how Club Grayskull was left hanging and we didn't get all the core characters? Multiply that by 10. With all these things going on at the same time,  it kinda feels like S7 is trying to bite more than they can chew. Too many lines at boutique prices could drive away collectors.

Now that I gotten the negative out of my system...

Wave 1 are Green Tommy, Goldar, Putty Patroller, and Yellow Ranger. Since these are likely to be $45 I expect the following:
-Plenty of extra hands. Green Tommy needs flute playing hands!
-Alternate heads in Tommy's case an angry "Green with Evil" Head and a good Green Tommy Head. In Yellow's case BOTH TRINI AND AISHA SHOULD GET A HEAD. When we get to Pink, both Kim and Kat should get a head, same for Zack and Adam, or for Jason and Rocky. Billy could get 2 heads one with glasses and one without.
-sidearm blaster in both gun and sword modes.
-Power weapons
-Removable Dragon Shield for Tommy.

For Goldar, both sets of wings and 2 heads should be a starting point as well as the extra hands.

Day 5 of Super7 teasers is Morphinomenal!

 Before I go in with a Power Rangers news, we have a picture of the Transformers ultimates wave 1. 


 They look good but I think I will be able to skip them with no issues. I have my reasons...

Now that we got Transformers out of the way It's morphin time!
We're getting the weird foot tall figures with removable torso to see the inside... Sadly it's  only Megazord... No Kimberly, Kat, Trini or Aisha figures in this scale...
We're getting gacha stuff... ReAction figures...
Ultimates... and some non-toy items.

We're getting Ultimates... right when I finished Mighty Morphin and started Dino Thunder... I guess this means no Thundertank for me.

I'm getting strong Storm Collectibles vibes right now... and not in a good way.

Jan 28, 2021

Theoretical Silverhawks ultimate non-figure items.

 I was going to wait until the official announcement of Silverhawks Ultimates figures and speculate on theoretical Hawk Haven, Maraj, Skyrunner, and Mon*Starr's Transformation Chamber. I even googled for the photos of the unmade Hawk Haven playset.

I had a whole rant simmering in my head on how the Toy playset looked NOTHING like the toon and how it would be IMPOSSIBLE to make a Toon Accurate Hawk Haven. Sadly, the Revelation of the Thundertank's measurements and cost have forced my hand.

We should start discarding the notion of playsets for the theoretical Silverhawks ultimates line. *IF* we get a single non-figure item, it's going to be The Maraj. The vintage toy was roughly 20 inches by 25 inches and the figures were roughly 5 inches. I may be off in my measurements. Going by second hand experience here.
So, in Ultimates they'd be around 7 inches.
The Maraj Toy would be roughly 28 inches in width and 35 inches in length. Probably about 7 inches in height. But Super7 ignores Toy Scale on vehicles and goes for Toon accuracy.


If they go by Toon Accurate size, the Maraj might be bigger and probably more expensive than Snake Mountain.
And let's be honest here: Super7 might not have the same faith in Thundercats as they did with MOTU. Add to this the fact that the silverhawks fan audience is much smaller than ThunderCats. Now here comes the curveball: if you have to choose, as a fan of the Rankin Bass Hero Trilogy, what would you choose? Silverhawks figures, or Thundertank? Hopefully Silverhawks preorders for the theoretical Silverhawks ultimate line will begin in 2022, otherwise, S7 is spreading us too thin.

Thundertank is gonna rape you!!!

 It fits 6 Thundercats. 17 inches wide and 27 inches long.

It will be $450 + shipping and handling (+ taxes, VAT, etc.)

What?

Day 4 ReAction boldly goes where no ReAction has gone before...

 Sarkeesian ass kisser Hwil Hweaton will become a ReAction Figure. Worf, Piccard, Data, a Borg, and Guinan will be the figures...

Kinda lame announcement  

Also, not a teaser, but Ultimates is getting Transformers... I might get Optimus, Megatron, Soundwave, and Starscream... Bumblebee better be smaller... but it's highly unlikely I go for any of these.

Jan 27, 2021

Day 3 of Teasers will lose to a Giant Harambe

 Godzilla, the King of all Monsters (except Kong) is a huge favorite of B-Flynn and a huge part of Super7's origins. Well, B-Flynn is getting his dreans come true. He will make Godzilla toys... but not likely ultimates due to Playmates getting the license for Godzilla toys after NECA lost it.

I'm guessing ReAction, MUSCLE, and Gashapon styled items... which is Super7's bread and butter.

Honestly, I don't think the Ultimates Model would work for Godzilla. They would require INSANE AMOUNTS OF NON-REUSABLE TOOLING and it would hike up the cost of the items. If people complain about $45 TMNT, imagine the amount of bitching for a $75+ Godzilla that will arrive at your doorstep over 1 year later.

My guess is that the next announcement will be Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ReAction figures...


Update

They are going to make Ultimates for 2022... Let the whining begin!

Mattel seems to hate MOTU

 How can I say this when they have Origins, MOTU Minis, Megabloks, Little People, and the Upcoming Masterverse line? Quite easily: They got and "artist" to make some He-Man "art"... that Mattel will sell or is selling for $450.

This is the so-called piece of "art" a slightly oversized reproduction of Vintage He-Man and Battle Cat with spray painted clown face make up.

THAT IS MATTEL APPROVED HE-MAN ART!

Can you believe this bullshit? I could understand if this was a one-off exhibit kind of thing. I wouldn't like it, because this "Transformative media trend" is nothing more than pretentious hipsters taking other people's work and making a shallow critique through vandalism. Where's the talent in spraying He-Man's face with paint and have it drip?

I've seen far better graffiti with oodles of talent and far much better than whatever this Madsucky did to He-Man.

Why Mattel? Why are you supporting this mockery of your child? Do you hate He-Man? This is the kind of thing that perpetuates He-Man's status as a joke... Whoever approved this should be beaten with a sock full of butter.


Jan 26, 2021

The second teaser by Super7 is still a mystery...

 It might be Music themed. There is a Papa  Emeritus Ultimate Figure being sold.

ReAction figures of Run DMC are most likely a thing... then there's this:

Super7 is either flashing gang signs or they just don't know how to ask for sex emoji...
👉👌 that's how you do it Super7.
 I'm aware that this is something for a hip hop Duo... Run Bejeweled or something. As you may have guessed my knowledge of English rap and hip hop is literally: Hammer, Fresh Prince, Vanilla Ice, Eminem...
I'd say that all three announcements from Tuesday fall in the category of Hipster crap that S7 specializes on.

But right now I need to make this rant more palatable to my taste. My Snake Mountain is bound to arrive in February... I'll have to pay VAT, customs, or Tariffs... First time I get a call informing me about it. Then again, this is the first time I get an item sent via commercial freight forwarder. Mom, it's almost here!! Promise kept... you ended up getting me Snake Mountain from beyond the grave... I'm nervicited... on one hand, it's Snake freaking Mountain, which completes MOTUC as a line... on the other hand, it's a reminder of my orphanhood... bittersweet ain't it?

But that's not all... The Sorry we screwed up Panthro and Jackalman pack has been revealed.
Panthro's second head, new pants, Jackalman's Neckpiece and extra accessories 
I might need a new X-acto blade because Nefty wants that Cloud-like Pauldron...

Jan 25, 2021

Thundercats teaser by Super7... was expected

 And the worst part is that we don't know if it's going to be a ReAction Thundertank or an Ultimates Thundertank.

This is Super7's teaser pic. If one were to dick around with the picture's values, you get this:

It could be bigger than the Talon Fighter (sans wings) IF Ultimates gets it and I smell a $200+ Price tag easily... Guess we'll find out on February 2... please have a payment plan.

I was ordering pizza online when this image dropped. An Ultimates Lion-O atop the Thundertank that looks like it has a 2-seat cockpit. B-Flynn, you crazy son of a bitch, you did it!! You just gave me the biggest Thundercats hard-on ever... sorry naked Cheetara from the first episode, this has you beat.

Theoretical Mumm-Ra's Tomb Fortress: a rant

 Something I noticed about the Rankin Bass Hero Trio is that they aren't as toyetic as say, Masters of the Universe. Sure, you could make the basic figures, but playsets and vehicles are a much harder thing. I had trouble trying to figure out a Cat's Lair and ended up straight up copying LJN's with an added back piece.

Mumm-Ra's Tomb Fortress is the second Playset and it shows the non-toyetic nature of Thundercats. 
The only time we get to something close to a toyetic Black Pyramid is on Lion-O's annointment trials. Other than that, the Black Pyramid is just Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus, viewing pool and the Ancient Spirits of Evil statues that sometimes move.

There is also Castle Plundarr, but aside the cool exterior, nothing really happened there to warrant a playset. Which brings us to the LJN playset.
In the Cartoon, Mumm-Ra's Tomb Fortress looks like this. The Playset, well, not so much.
 

 As you can see the playset is very underwhelming. It's bordering in mini diorama territory. Well, my idea is to take the toy as a base, but make it closer to toon accurate. 4 pillars for all 4 ASoE with articulated statues... no, I'm not asking for Ultimates level of articulation. They should have ReAction level of Articulation.
In a way it's kind of emulates the old action feature, in addition to being cartoon accurate. The viewing pool is the most important piece here. The "water" should be translucent plastic so if one were to put a smartphone under the viewing pool, one could see the images displayed on the phone on the viewing pool. The Sarcophagus cpuld work like the vintage one where you could "Transform your Mumm-Ra".   if super7 wanted to be cute they could add the infamous Snarf-Ra shown above as a figure exclusive to the Playset... or if they wanted to be dicks about it, add NORMAL Snarf in order to force you to get the tomb.

The reason I'm sticking to the diorama is that the Black Pyramid is not very toyetic:

And even if I stuck to the LJN Tomb Fortress of only 2 ASoE, the tomb would eat up Half of the Pyramid's play space. Not to mention that the shape doesn't help playability in any way... 

At least their playsets are doable unlike...






Odds and ends 1/25/21: JoJo, Snake, and other stuff...

 The Speedwagon Foundation will support JoJo's newest adventures outside the Closet...
I am of course talking about the youngest member of the Joestar family, JoJo Siwa...
Wait! She's NOT A JOESTAR!? 

Yes,   Nickelodeon's hairbow Wearing singer is gay. Good for her. The only reason she was picked by my radar was that I thought she was going to fight some Mesoamerican Vampire Bodybuilders...

Hell, I didn't even comment in December about the Death of Ellen Page and the birth of Elliot Page... I wept for the death of Kitty Pryde as if I was Colossus... but back to gay JoJo... I hope that she'll now stop wearing the hairbows, because they are kinda causing her hairline to recede... and she's just 17.

In any case, good luck to JoJo in her not necessarily Bizarre Adventures... OK, that's enough JoJo references...

Last one... I swear!

David Hayter was on a Zoom Codec Call with a bunch of VAs from the Metal Gear Solid series. Cam Clarke, Debi Mae West, Robin Atkin Downes, Josh Keaton were among the people involved...
Notice that these cover MGS 1,2,3,4, and PW.

Then there's a rumor going on that Konami is considering making remakes of Metal Gear Solid games. This call could give credence to said rumor. Now that Konami is doing so little in the videogame department, this possible MGS Remake could be the booster shot that Konami needs. Even if it's another studio that makes it and Konami acts as a publisher... 

Still, let's wait for an official announcement before we get our hopes up... Konami has deceived us a couple of times before...

Super7 has some teasers for us this week:
Thundercats, Silverhawks, Star Trek, Godzilla, Power Rangers and others...

My guess is that Power Rangers, Star Trek, and maybe Godzilla will be getting ReAction figures. Thundercats could get a wave 5 teaser, or a non-wave teaser in addition to ReAction stuff. Silverhawks is likely to get an announcement for both Ultimates and ReAction... but we'll find out during the week.

Jan 23, 2021

Wait... they Rebooted Walker Texas Ranger?

 Remember Walker Texas Ranger? The show about Chuck Norris being Chuck Norris but not called Chuck Norris. Hell, Chuck Norris even sings the intro theme to Walker Texas Ranger starring Chuck Norris.


The show is pretty much what you would expect from a show starring Chuck Norris. Martial arts performed by Chuck Norris, chases and action scenes with Chuck Norris...

Well, the reboot stars one of the Supernatural brothers... No Chuck Norris in sight...

Yeah... no. This is almost as bad as the Magnum reboot with Ya te chingaste wey. Or MacGyver reboot with Havok. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't feel like Walker Texas Ranger starring Chuck Norris. I think that the show could've worked just as well WITHOUT the Walker name.

Which brings me to my main issue with many of these reboots. They try to reinvent the wheel so much that they lose sight of what made the original series so appealing. Personally, I'm avoiding the Chuckless Walker. No Chuck Norris no Walker.

Jan 22, 2021

Theoretical Cat's Lair: a rant

 

So there is a rumor about something "big" related to Thundercats and Super7. Odds are saying that it's the Thundertank.  I also believe that it'll be the Thundertank. Personally I don't think super7 will full of another playset after Snake Mountain... for now. Theoretically they could pursue a Thundercats cats lair. The real question is HOW SHOULD THEY DO THE PLAYSET?
It's decent in an 80s toy way...
But I want it to be better!!


Do they go full LJN reproduction but bigger and slightly more detailed? I mean there would be no electronics, based on the Snake Mountain skipping the voice changer feature from the original. Without electronics, the mutant attack sled is not needed. The play set doesn't have much going for it when you look at it from the back. There's a classic dungeon trap door. And a couple places that you can have figures ready for battle. That's pretty much it. That cat paws are too small to have the Thunder Tank come out of them.
I want it to look like this.


The Cartoon Cat's Lair is 165 feet tall. So a true 1:10 Cat's Lair would be over 10 feet tall... not to mention a logistical nightmare.
So, we'd have to obscenely shrink down the lair to fit a toyline.

So, based on the LJN playset measurements:
Height: 23 Inches
Width: 21 Inches
Depth: 15 inches

So, taking an average 5.5 inch thundercat as reference the dimensions are:
Height: 4.18 figures
Width:  3.82 figures
Depth: 2.73 figures

So, with those numbers, let's do some fancy mathematics and see how big an Ultimates Cat's Lair would be:
Height: 29.26 inches
Width: 26.74 inches
Depth 19.1 inches

 It would be slightly larger than Castle Grayskull but smaller than Snake Mountain.
Personally, I'd round up the measurements to 30, 27, 20. I'd go for a Cartoon colors look, but implementing Most of the LJN features (that are not Laser related.)
There isn't much to do
in here...


But I wouldn't just redo the LJN playset. Hear me out. In the cartoon, the lair is built into the side of a Mountain. How about using The Mountain as a way to expand on the playset. It would be a separate shell piece. Think of the Tim Mee Battle Mountain... but on its back you can connect some pieces to create two floors of the Cat's Lair. The Council Room and the Sword Chamber. The idea is that the front the new piece can be used for displaying the Cat's Lair as a backdrop item. 
This can be put in a smallish ledge that can hold two figures, namely Jaga and Lion-O.


For "gameplay" you turn it around and attach the necessary pieces and accessories for play.
Also, it would allow you to display the Cat's Lair on its own and have on a separete shelf the interior display.
This would be on the bottom floor.
I know it's not show accurate, but
no free standing ledge would hold the
weight of 6 Thundercats and Snarf.

I know that my additions might bump up the price. But as a bare minimum, I'd expect a "cartoon redeco of the LJN Playset"

If possible, I'd replace the Mutant Attack Sled with a Thunderpod... I know what you're thinking: Thunderpods weren't a thing in the vintage line. But my idea of a Thunderpod is a mini Thundertank that can fit a normal figure (Lion-O, Panthro, Tygra, Cheetara, Pumyra, Bengali, Lynx-O, or the Thunderkittens...) and can be launched from the paws... but between you and me, I'd prefer the expansion with interiors.

Jan 20, 2021

Crom! Wave 3 of Conan is awesome!

 Super7 past the third wave of Conan the Barbarian figures...

This is a small wave... wave 2 was literally the Schwarzenegger Conan I pre-ordered a while back. Wave 3 has face paint Conan and Serpwnt Thulsa Doom... I only ordered Ophid CNN voice, Darth Serpent, Mufassssssa. 


And I might even absorb them into MOTUC. 
I mean they will fit perfectly with a Masters of the Universe classics. Heck I'm even considering retiring the actual King Grayskull figure as King Grayskull and have Dolph Lundgren as King Grayskull. that way I can have Schwarzenegger as King Grayskull's brother who fell to the Snakemen. Thulsa Doom would be King Hssss's predecessor. Comic book Conan wpuld be a descendant of Arnie Conan that protected Eternia while He-Man was in Space. Marlena would grant Conan a  small village called Neo California for Conan to rule.

I have to wonder if we'll ever reach Conan the Destroyer because I really want a Mako figure...

It came from the Toy Chest: Mighty Morphin Black Ranger

 

This is it... Billy, true Green Tommy and Z-Putty is all I need to "kwit teh lien" and have an acceptable core roster. Zack is the original Black Ranger who was replaced by Adam (played by popular anime VA Johnny Yong Bosch...) and the actor who played Zack, Walter E. Jones ended up on a Nickelodeon show.



Articulation 
Reqmember Vanilla Jason? Since the body sculpt is exactly the same as Jason,  so the articulation range is pretty similar. He can easily pull off many Sentai poses. I'd say he's more articulated than most Spider-Man figures by Hasbro.
4.5



Paint and sculpt 
The Face sculpt on the MMPR figures is a stylized one out of respect for Thuy Trang, who passed away. Incredibly, Trini resembles Thuy Trang far more than this figure resembles Walter E. Jones. Luckily, we have the Walgreens head.


Other than that it's the same sculpt as Jason but black... in the color of the suit not the skin tone of the character, Zack... I'm not Zordon!!
4.5


Accessories 
Braided Zack head
Extra hands
Power Axe
Blast effect
Blaster
Blaster in blade mode... you sick bastards! The one accessory that all Rangers needed, but only one can have it!? Dick move Hasbro, dick move.
5.0

Overall 
Zack gets a 4.67 as his final score. The sculpt is the biggest problem here. That head looks nothing like 1990s Walter E. Jones. At least the Walgreens head is passable. Need to fill the BBTS Pile of Loot to get Billy. 
*Update* A friend who is a girl, but not a girlfriend acquired a Z-Putty and a Green with Evil Tommy for me.

Neil Druckmann wants to do a Punisher game

 Infamous Director, 'Nita asskisser, and trollish buffoon, Neil Druckmann wants to do a Punisher game. This is a double edged sword. From a gameplay perspective, Naughty Dog COULD make a kickass Punisher game. The problem lies in the Storytelling portion. His storytelling tends to have a huge disconnect with the gaming portion.  You can't have a "oacifist Frank" who worries about hos actiona as the Punisher,  but on gameplay, you're given tons of ways to assassinate criminals. 

Maybe I'm wrong and Druckmann COULD pull off a kickass Punisher game with a badass story and amazing gameplay. But would it be worth it to make a game that is a complete antithesis of his "magnum opus"? the very same people who praise His creative genius with crucify him...  or worse he could royally screw over Frank worse than he did Joel. The worst part of all this is that I am curious to see what could he do with the Punisher.

Sex Dolls: a rant

 A lifetime ago a sexdoll was a humanoid beachball where you could have sexual congress with it. It feels like humping a beachball unless you pay for a "higher end" doll... it still is a humanoid beachball, but with a soft plastic area for 👉👌... Technology has advanced to the point that sexdolls now look much more human-like.
Lucifer is carrying a 4'8" TPE Doll,
Asian non-anime videogame styled with standing feet option. (While not visible on the pic, her feet have holes for her to be screwed to a stand) IIRC, it's the D-Cup model... I've done some research. Haven't gone too deep into the SD Life.

 Even more expensive models have parts that can warm up on their own, or play audio... 
But I wasn't prepared for this...
I was searching for the Queen's Blade figures that I still do not own on eBay. Then eBay suggested me to check out some Queen's Blade statues. From there it took me two other Japanese statues that have removable clothes. I kept going deeper down the rabbit hole and it took me back to the sex toy action figure accessories that I bought two sets of many moons ago for Snake Mountain. And that led me to actual sex toys for human usage. Part of me is waiting for the Power Rangers Lightning Collection Tenga Warrior figure to be made so I can buy a Tenga egg.
The latter is a sex toy... The Tenga Warrior is named after the Tengu. Betting Hasbro will revert to the Tengu name to avoid any association with the sex toy.

OK back on topic, so I went down the rabbit hole and saw the usual dolls, but then one item drew my attention:

A Blue skinned Elf Sexdoll.  What in James Tiberius Kirk's name is going on here!?
A Blue Elf Sexdoll!? What would I do with one of those if I were to buy one.

Illumina was the first thing I thought when I saw this.  I literally thought of that doll dressed up like Illumina posed on the famous DX pose with the caption: "Hey Neitlich, I've got two words for you!"

Then my brain went on a perverse idea of getting Sexdolls and make a Great Rebellion harem. I managed to stop my mad fever dream when I reminded myself of the logistical nightmare a PoP Harem would be...

So I went to sleep. Had a weird dream about me being Tom Cruise playing the role of Pacman.

I woke up, began work and at break another thought hit me:
There are also Caucasian elves, so
her evil counterpart could be made as well...
 
Yes, that's the Mystical Elf from Yu-Gi-Oh! But this time instead of monsters my brain was yelling: Dude! Duelist Harem! Duelist Harem! Then I started arguing with myself because the only female duelists in the Original Yu-Gi-Oh! Are Mai and Ishizu... Téa, and Joey's Blind Sister are Not Duelists!

But yeah, Some of the "out there" fetishes are becoming more mainstream.

не волнуйтесь, друзья, Gadget Hackwrench скоро может стать куклой!


Jan 19, 2021

Thundercats.org interviewed B-Flynn... Silverhawks might be closer than we expect.

 I am excited about this and other things discussed. The replacement parts are coming.
Wave 5 for Thundercats (and possibly TMNT) might be on hold until Thundercats Wave 2 is in our hands... most likely after Chinese New Year.
Wave 3 might even arrive slightly before Wave 2, since Wave 3 is not using the "Mattel factory".


Silverhawks and Tigersharks may come up sooner than expected. I'd have to rewatch Tigersharks because aside the theme song, I don't remember much... aside there being a creature called Dragonstein...

So, assuming that a Silverhawks Wave 1 is announced sometime soon, the question is:
Who would be in Wave 1?
The problem with it Silverhawks is that the toyetic characters are mostly villains.
I can't see people paying $45 for a professor power or Seymour the cab driver if you know what I mean... without counting the back-up Hawks and Stargazer, the Mob outnumbers the Hawks 2-1. That's not counting minor villains like Timestopper, Zero the energy thief and others.
It can be done in 5 waves of 4... All SilverHawks, and all Core Members of the Mob including Melodia

So, my Theoretical Wave 1 of Silverhawls would be:

Mon*Starr: Weakened version:
He'd be a rather "Basic" Figure.
Extra hands, the ORGANIC form of Sky Shadow with cage. And last but not least a second Mon*Star head Mid transformation.
Basically, Depowered Mon*Star screaming, eye glowing and the horns from the transformed form poke out of his head. 
The idea is that this head CAN be used on both Bodies.

Melodia:
Like Mon*Star she's pretty "basic" and her main accessories would be extra hands, her weapon, maybe add an energt blast that plugs to the synthesizer gun. Maybe a second head.

Quicksilver:
Now we begin with the more Unique bodies due to the partly metal uh, parts. Like most Silverhawks, he'll require 2 sets of arms: One winged, one wingless. I went with  interchangeable arms, because removable wings would either leave unsightly holes on the arms when unused or would require bulkier straps not accurate to the source material. Then the other accessories would be extra hands, Tally Hawk, and the second head with the visor down.

Moonstryker:
He's another "unique" body. He would require extra hands, Tailspin, extra head.
He should come with an alternate Tornado legs. Like MOTUC Hsss or Extendar, he should pop off at the torso. I think he had wings, but I don't remember him ever using them. I remember the Tornado legs though.

While We're at it Let's do a Wave 2, just for kicks:

Mon*Star: Powered up:
Extra hands, sky shadow in cyborg form, his rifle. This one is a unique sculpt but he's the main villain and could use a "Moon Star Of Limbo red GITD transformation variant by combining parts from wave 1 Mon*Star and this one.

Mumbo Jumbo:
This guy would be kinda unique. MAYBE they COULD reuse some parts from Mumm-Ra's powered up form to save costs.

Bluegrass:
He could reuse a couple of parts depending on the line's direction. For him I think that Extra hands, Hotlicks, removable hat, Sideman, and an energy blast usable on both Hotlicks and Sideman would be enough for him.

Condor:
He gets in in order to get some parts that can be reused by Stargazer. Extra head, extra hands, grabbing gun, Jet pack, and Jet stream would be hos accessories.

So, Silverhawks is doable and possibly done faster than Thundercats. Hopefully they can go for Toon looks instead of toy looks.

Jan 17, 2021

It came from the Toy Chest: Tokka and Rahzar

 

Peter Laird, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hates Rocksteady and Bebop. That's why they didn't show up on The secret of the Ooze. We got these two as a poor man's substitute of the Moronic mutant duo.
Marty: This is heavy!!
Shredder: (What a wimp!)


They are mutated babies who fight the Turtles out of a desire to play and not malice or ill will. This just showcases the ruthlessness of Shredder. He would use super strong babies to destroy his enemies.
S7Bebop: I'm leaving these two alone...
They can easily defend themselves and
*I* would be the one getting raped!


Articulation 
Tokka and Rahzar are very articulated. Tokka being the most articulated of the two. He even has Articulated Eyebrows!!
Sadly, my Rahzar has an issue with his jaw. It seems to be moveable but it won't move. Not even with the NECA rituals performed... Also, he only has single joint knees.
Tokka: 5.0
Rahzar: 4.5
Eyebrow articulation...
Outside a Japanese import...
Smashing!!


Paint and sculpt 
The sculpt is very Henson Studios looking. The paintjob is superb, but to be fair, NECA excels at this. With the right backdrop and lighting/filters you cool fool casuals into believing that your Action Figure photography is a scene from the movie. I have no complaints here:
5.0
Nefty: I think I made a wrong turn...
T&R: NOT THE MOMMA!!
Nefty: Definitely wrong turn...


Accessories 
Tons of movie stuff like Rahzar's shield, wood piece, pipe, extinguisher, unbeatable Jelly Filled Donuts, Ooze filled Donut, Ooze canister, and lastly alternate hands for them.
5.0
Nefty: These donuts are great!
Nothing beats a Jelly-Filled Donut!
*Crack*
Nefty: Shit! They found the ooze cubes!
I mean if that didn't work in the 90s why should 
it work in 2021?


Overall
Tokka is a 5.0 and Rahzar is a 4.83 which makes these a 4.92 as their final score. The set is really great. My issue with the jaw on Rahzar was what dropped the score. I also might not be a fan of the cardboard donut box, but NECA went above and beyond in making this set an awesome representation of Tokka and Rahzar. Super7 might be able to make an excellent reproduction of the Vintage Toy, but NECA did the superior movie designs. So, what I'm teying to say is that it'll be tough for Super7 to surpass these two.
S7 Leo: Turtles fight with honor!!
Nefty: Kicking babies in the dick isn't honorable
S7 Raph: But these are NECAs, unless you have a Witcher, kicking them in the dick is the only solution.


Cobra Kai: The Game: The Rant

 I got the game digitally... it was $40 for physical and $19 digitally on the Switch  (thank you Nintendo points and it being 50% off) and I've been playing it as I'm binging Power Rangers Dino Thunder. I've not gotten very far in the game, but I'm liking what I'm seeing.
Feels like a cross between Mighty Final Fight and River City Ransom. I'm still very early into the game to fully review it, but for a licensed game, especially one related to The Karate Kid, this one is good!!

Jan 16, 2021

Mortal Kombat reboot pics were revealed recently...

 And it looks like Mortal Kombat Annihilation but with a better budget. And we all know that MK: Annihilation sucked Motaro dick.
Steve Harvey gets Mechanical Arms in this Mortal Kombat reboot.
Johnny Cage is out and instead we have a washed out MMA fighter who will discover his heritage... kinda sounds like a lesser version of Cage, doesn't it?

We get Mech-arm Steve Harvey, Kabal, Mileena, Nitara, but Not Johnny Cage!? 

This just shows the lack of understanding of the MK lore. Johnny Cage, who is at times "the comedic relief" is the character who bridges the story and the audience. He's not "The Chosen One" or the "Mystic Ninja seeking revenge". He's the "Average Joe", the "everyman" who is tossed in this fate of the universe fighting tournament.

Before anyone mentions Sonya, remember that she's Army Special Forces chasing a terrorist Cyborg. Johnny Cage is the most Normal guy in MK... not counting Stryjer since he came later, or the whole Cage being descended from a race of warriors trained by the gods BS added in the 3D era. By removing Cage,  the people making the movie proved that they don't truly  the ESSENCE OF MORTAL KOMBAT.

No Johnny Cage?


Jan 15, 2021

It's official: Playmates Toys is incredibly lazy

 Yet another set of vintage TMNT reissues... Sorry 2 Sets of vintage reissues.


Sure they used the updated leg for Shredder, but still keep the eyebrows over the helmet mistake....
Sure the other set is slightly better, but aside Baxter, I think the others were reissued a couple years back (5-10 years ago-ish?) So, this retread feels like Al Bundy's 4 touchdowns 

I'm not ordering these. Paying  $190 + shipping for toys that should not cost more than $5 each is truly outrageous...
Unlike the "Mirage set", the prices for each figure is insane. Yes I'm aware that the comic said was overpriced compared to what I mentioned but the price difference wasn't as huge as it is with these sets. The price for figure on the Mirage set was roughly $6 and change per toy. On these sets it's closer to $15 per toy. 

The nostalgic part of me is a bit excited for them, but I got to listen to reason.

Jan 14, 2021

FFVII Spin-offs... Square Enix is dead serious on milking FFVII Dry

First SOLDIER was one of the recent trademarks by SE. What does it mean? It kind of reminds me of the whole Captain America first avenger thing. Of course we're talking about the Hot Topic raiding silver-haired mama's boy... Sephiroth!

I'm intrigued by this. A game from Sephiroth's perspective? I suppose it will start with the Wutai war and end up with the Nibelheim incident 5 years ago... because that's where Sephiroth dies. To be honest, the Wutai war era Sephiroth is what interests me the most.

The other Trademark was Ever Crisis... which worries me. I'm guessing this is the Reboot name for the new Compilation of Finaru Fantaji Sebun. Unlike in the original era compilation, now we have an incomplete Crisis... We only got out of Midgar and have roughly 56 hours of original game to go; but Square Enix is putting effort in Spin-offs without the complete main game... it's starting to smell like Xeno-prefix games in here... Fun fact: the Xenoblade series owes EVERYTHING to Final Fantasy VII. Xenogears was a rejected pitch for Final Fantasy VII, that became its own IP. After Square decided not to pursue more Xenogames, the team migrated to Namco and made Xenosaga. After Namco axed Xenosaga, team Monolith soft became a free agent and made Xenoblade series. So, if it wasn't for Final Fantasy VII, Xeno- wouldn't have existed.

Now this Xeno- talking brings me to my next point:
FFVIIR 2 should allow us to have multiple outfits for the characters. I'm going to suggest a Xenogears themed set of Secret Outfits for the characters:
Cloud is Fei
Aerith is Elly
Tifa is Emeralda
Yuffie is Maria
Cait Sith's Moogle is Chu-Chu
Vincent is Billy Lee Black
Cid is Bart
Barret is Rico Banderas
REDXIII would be the only one without a costume for obvious reasons.


I would also suggest a Lightning outfit for Cloud but that is not the main topic here.  I'm not against spin offs, I just want the main game to be the Principal Focus here. Once we get through the main game bring all the spin-offs.

Odds and ends Jan 14 2021: Screech and stuff...

 American Badass, Dustin Diamond is hospitalized for unknown reasons. The infamous cast member of Saved By The Bell is in the hospital, like I said for unknown reasons.
Hopefully, Cardigan Backyardigan is wrong. I mean, sure, Dustin is the kind of asshole who'd stab you with a pen for calling him Screech! But with that said, I do hope that whatever ails him is not dangerous.


Had Chuck Norris been there, the rioters would have gotten their asses kicked by Chuck Norris... Chuck Norris was in his ranch in Texas doing Chuck Norris things. The reason I'm mentioning Chuck Norris so much is because Chuck Norris was not in Washington DC... and in case Bryan Flynn of Super7 happens to be reading  my blog, unlike Chuck Norris, who doesn't read it... is that I want to see Chuck Norris in the Ultimates line because Chuck Norris. 

 ALL jokes aside, the idea that Chuck Norris would get involved in this kind of activity it's kind of Ludicrous. Having Chuck Norris' agent confirming that Chuck Norris was not present at the riots it's crazy enough as it is for me to notice. And in order to not make fun of the Dead I'm avoiding Sidekicks references.

Ray Fisher got kicked out of The Flash and is now blaming WB's Walter Hamada for it.
What a surprise, said no one ever. He tried to get the court of public opinion to cancel Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns, Jon Berg, and now Walter Hamada. He kept attacking WB for not caving to his demands, despite WB caving to them. He kept going, and going and going until WB simply chose to cancel Fisher instead. 

Sadly, this was Fisher's unintended endgame. His witch hunt ended up with him at the stake. He could have been an actual victim of real abuse and mistreatment, but the way Fisher did things made it look lile he was hellbent on revenge for getting most of his scenes cut on the studio mandated rewrite. To this day, I have no idea what the Hell was Whedon's alleged abusive behavior. All I know is that Whedon was removed from some Warner bros. Projects and despite this being a "Victory for Fisher", he kept going. Now both parties from the initial problem have been removed and no one won.

Instead of being a champion for those oppressed by the Hollywood machine, Fisher became a Toxic unprofessional diva, who thinks that he can Karen his way into... uh, something! and no studio would touch him with a 39 and a half foot pole.












Completely unrelated news: I have acquired a Mighty Morphin Zack figure. 

Jan 12, 2021

Rumors about WB using Joker as a template on how to move forward...

 They stink and I don't like them. I already stated why Joker sucks. Following its footsteps is a GRAVE MISTAKE. While yes The Joker was a good movie from a technical standpoint, the movie is not a movie about the Joker. So, taking a Batman villain and substracting Batman from the equation isn't a good idea. Because on one extreme, you get Catwoman: a movie that sucked due to bad script and directing, not to mention failing at being a "Batman story". On the other hand you get Joker: a soulless movie that fails at being a "Batman story" despite having great directing, writing, and acting.

IF only these movies were made as "Batman stories", maybe I'd be more excited for them. Problem is that they are not. Batman without Batman is just bad and wrong! Let me clarify my position on a "Batman story":
A Batman story is a story that can ONLY BE TOLD in a universe where Batman exists. This doesn't mean that the protagonist is Batman. Let's say the Victor Fries movie:
We have the Origin of Mr. Fries. The while relationship with Nora, her disease, the accident, his first heists/revenge kills before drawing Batman's attention. We don't need to SEE Batman but have his presence felt within the movie. The awful Harley Quinn movie had the right idea, just a horrible execution. If it had bothered to truly make Batman's presence being felt despite him not being available at the moment. Sadly, the writing and directing was bad with the exception of a few action scenes.

Let me get back to the theoretical Fries movie. On Freeze's "final heist" as Mr. Zero, he is hellbent on killing GothCorp's CEO Ferris Boyle, who caused the accident that changed Fries. Batman intervenes and takes Zero's men from the shadows. Would be cool to see these scenes partially in First person view from Batman's perspective. The idea is to have Batman without having A Batman. By that I mean have Batman be played by stuntmen and a voice actor. That way the character isn't tied to a big name actor. Kinda like how they did it on the Birds of Prey TV series.
This wouldn't extend to just Batman, this would also apply to members of the Bat Family. But I'm derailing. Let me go back to Fries. The idea is to tell a Batman story from a different perspective. Another crazy idea: 
A Saw-like Riddler movie where Nygma is playing a cat and mouse game with Batman who has to save hostages from a deadly Riddler trap. The only problem is that one of the hostages is Billionaire Philanthropist, Bruce Wayne. Can Robin figure out a way to trick the Riddler into believing that Batman is the one solving the puzzles  to rescue the hostages as Bruce Wayne is doing the sme but trying to avoid raising suspicion of his peculiar talents. 

This, when done right, could allow DC to build a Cinematic Universe differently from Marvel. Sadly, that will most likely NOT BE the approach. But what do I know? I'm just an asshole with a blog...

Hasbro is releasing a Green She-Hulk...

 Remember the Super Skrull wave She-Hulk? She is getting a proper Green repaint with a new head. My first complained about that She Hulk I said she was Grey. I recall seeing a couple of green repaints on eBay. So putting one plus one together it seems that Hasbro has been listening to customers and checking out custom customizers. This is a good thing and we've kind of seen it already happening. The single carded J. Jonah Jameson and  Kingpin are examples of that.

We could mention that the single carded classic colors repaint of monster Venom was something like that as well. I mean, some people did complain that the body was made for a monster Eddie Venom than the Gargan Venom we got. But going back to the main topic, it's cool that Hasbro is listening to customers, unlike other companies that won't be named, because we all know I mean Mattel and NECA. 
Now if Hasbro could rerelease Ms. Marvel (Warbird) with say a new Brotherhood Rogue, it would be cool...

Or a single carded Classic Rhino. Maybe with a new head with Rhino eyes missing from the BaF and maybe extra hands. Or make it a 2 pack with the new Spidey body but painted in Ben Reilly colors and webshooters. The 2 pack works in 3 ways: new Ben figure, extra chance at an older expensive BaF, and Ben is a nod to the Rhino wave, which had Ben Reilly as a character (scarlet spider Ben, but still Ben).

The thing is that Hasbro is listening. If you want to see, say, 90s Kaine to be made, keep mentioning him in your posts, reviews, etc. just to let Hasbro know that there is demand for, in this case, 90s Kaine... just don't be a bully like the Snyder Cult.

Marvel, WTF!? Miles Morales Clone Saga!?

 This is beyond stupid... a Clone Saga for Miles Morales... Someone should grab all the Spider-cide clone degeneration dust, put it ib a sock and beat the living crap out of whoever thought that redoing the third worst Spider-Man story with Miles was a great idea. (The Totemic arc including The Other is #4, Sins Past is #2, and the first spot goes to One Moronic Deal... whose aftermath gave us Satanic Harry Osborn... I mean Kindred)

First of all: Why clone Miles? He's not married and TPTB aren't in a need to dissolve the marriage without a divorce. Miles hasn't changed much since his addition to the 616... Unlike Peter who had "evolved" from his high school days.
We must remember that the Clone Saga was meant to retire Married Peter and soft reset Spider-Man with a brand new, SINGLE, Peter Parker. Does it make sense to give Miles a soft reset this early in his career? Hell no!

The questions I have are:
-Will this Clone Saga be a long-winded mess like Peter's 616 Clone Saga, or will it be a short mess that blew its load far too early like an anime fan being talked to by the hottest girl (or boy if gay) in class? Let's be honest here, the only reason the Ultimate universe had a Clone Saga was that 616 had one.

-We haven't gotten Peter Parker Clone Saga toys (aside Ben Reilly for 616 and J. Drew who was the "Ben Reilly" for the Ultimate universe); are we getting Miles Clone toys as well?

-Speaking of Miles Clones... I'm gonna call it right now: Miles will get a female clone for the sake of filling PC boxes more than anything else: Having a "Black Female Spider-Woman" will be far more imoortant than having a good character that happens to be black and female... (See Ironheart as an example of badly written character for the sake of filling PC boxes)

Gonzalo Davis... would be Miles' own Ben Reilly, if we follow the method of how Ben Reilly got his name. What would he look like? Miles has short hair in the comics for obvious reasons.
Gonzalo Davis 

What can they do to make Gonzalo not be Miles? He can't have the longer hair from the Into the Spider-Verse movie, because that won't fit in the skintight cloth mask he'd use as Spider-Man... Scarlet Spider is a moniker already used by BOTH Parker Clones... what will they do for Gonzalo? A Cobalt Spider? A Gold Spider? Then there's the whole "Misguided Anti-Hero bordering on Villain" clone aspect... Kaín (which is Cain in Spanish, but with a K for Mortal Kombat edginess)? Judas?  should I even mention Spider-cide? Will we get a thousand Miles clones?

Jan 10, 2021

Odds and ends Jan 9-10: Videogames, toys, and other stuff.

 Oh no... Cobra Kai creator claims that the series end is not on Season 4... from a storytelling perspective. This scares me, because as much as I'm enjoying the series, there isn't that much material left for the plot.
Season 4 is preparing the 2, er... 3 teams to face off in a controlled environment and prove which ideology prevails. Kreese's extremist views of Old Cobra Kai, Johnny's less murderous "Cobra Kai Light" Eagle Fang, or the pacifist self-defense style of Miyagi-Do? Then there's the battle for Robbie's soul between Johnny and Kreese.

Season 3 while good, it had some forced elements to draw nostalgia from us old farts. Okinawa, I'm looking at you... and it feels like this season is gonna be mistly training montage for a... let me quote Little Kuriboh's Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged episode:
Fantastic
Incredible
Legendary
League
Elite
Rare

Accolades
Regional 
Championship

And that scares me. This second under 18 All Valley karate tournament is already reeking of Karate Kid Part III. And despite ME LIKING KKp3, the movie was unnecessary... what's next, the All Valley under 18 karate tournament will make National News and force Julie-san to slap somesense into Daniel-san and Jonhhy!? The series must end on a high note long before it turns into a pathetic husk of what it used to be...
Not going to mention any shows...


The English voice actor of Yanglang has passed away... Brad Venable, who voiced the weird haired dude who kicks your ass in Bailu village but gets terrified of Shenhua, has been seen by Haley Joel Osment. I honestly had no clue to who he was so I had to imdb him and he was Additional Voices in FFVII: Sephiroth Kingdom Heartsed the game. My condolences to the family and friends... 

So, I got Resident Evil 4 on the Switch and I'm so out of practice (and without a Chicago Typewriter) as I've been playing it and getting my ass kicked before reaching the town. In my frustration, I decided to play the original MGS on PC using a PS1 emulator. Using my physical copy of the game, so put down the pitchforks, torches, and tell JJJ that I'm not a threat or menace. The game  kicked my ass way too much before reaching the Revolver Ocelot fight. The reason is quite simple: The controls. This is also ppart of the reason why I haven't finished OoT3D. O have gotten accustomed to modern 3D games and the older ones feel clunky, sluggish, and outdated from a 2021 perspective. 

Unlike 2D games, 3D games tend to have issues with controls the further back we go. These issues stem from how much gaming has evolved. The only way you can feel the same disconnect in the 2D era is going from Atari 2600 to the NES.

This will cause some delays on the Resident Evil 4 review... and Capcom's Beat 'em up collection isn't helping either. Already beat CAPtain COMmando and Final Fight.

I hate it when retailers don't send shipping notifications for online orders. Right now I'm in limbo regarding Snake Mountain. On the other hand, Tokka and Rahzar arrived Yesterday. They will come out the Toy Chest soon. As a small sneak peek, here is a pic that WON'T BE ON THE REVIEW.
Shredder: GO HAVE FUN MY BABIES!!
Tokka: *Kaiju noises*
Rahzar: *Howl*
Leonardo: I guess we have to fight!
Donatello: Should we? This situation looks
disadvantageous for us. Falling back strategically would be a better solution.
Raphael: *curses in Italian*
Michelangelo: *Having Super7 Bebop Vietnam flashbacks*
Marty: This is Heavy, Doc! Doc? DOC!?


There are some ambiguous areas, but it basically boils to:
No spoilers, no sharing of content unless you recorded it... game previews are SOL now.
No sharing of game music.  This one hurts me personally. Mainly because I use game music to make long drives shorter. Especially Capcom Music. Mega Man, Street Fighter, darkstalkers, even Ace Attorney are some soundtracks I jam to when driving. did I ever tell you about the time when a hooker tried to trick me into  soliciting sex while I was jamming to Guile's Theme? True story.

Then there's something about mods/art being made with the age group the game is made for... Roll R34 is evil... So are the R34 for Chun Li and Lilith... which is funny since Lilith is literally a SEX DEMON!! Erotic fan works MADE a lot of Capcom games into household names. This is very likely to receive a backlash in Capcom's home turf in Japan... Brace yourselves: Capcom R34 is coming...