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gojira77

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Everything posted by gojira77

  1. According to DarthJoe's pic of the Wave 14 Card Back, it appears to be Night Force Falcon with Flint's gloves and new card art. See the comparison pic from YoJoe.com--
  2. I ordered just one figure, He-Man, using the economy shipping option, which I didn't think was any big deal since I was waiting until Christmas to open him (it's really a gift from my wife to me, but she was working the morning that these figures became available). Anyways, He-Man showed up in the mail today-- and his paint job was terrible. The reddish-brown plastic was showing in multiple places through the paint on his hair and especially his harness, which could be clearly seen without even removing him from the package. My wife even thought that it looked bad. Ironically, his card and bumble were crisp and perfectly mint! I'm fairly bummed. My wife still had the emotional clarity to call customer service and the rep was really nice. Mattycollector is sending a return label to my address through the mail and will send a replacement He-Man, already put on hold, as soon as they receive my return. I hope they pick out a better one-- In my experience, QC picks up after the first batch of figures, and I probably bought one of the very first figures. But... No He-Man for Christmas. At least I still have the religious aspects of the holiday to fall back on, and my wife and son will certainly like what I picked out for them. My 'MOTU Mojo' has taken a traumatic hit, though.
  3. All of 'em, any figure that I could get my hands on. Even Eco-Warriors. I did tend towards more land battles than sea or air, but that was because I didn't have much for vehicles. My collection also scewed towards the post '87 crew since I started collecting G.I. Joe pretty late. I loved the cartoon, but I tended to get MOTU and Transformers instead for awhile there.
  4. You're right that a different gun helps a lot, which is why my current default Roadblock is the Lime-Green vested one with the smaller M-60. He holds that pretty convincingly with one arm and then holds his ammo in the wide palm of his left. But an '84/'88 version RB would come with the old gun that he never held very well. Without new tooling, I just couldn't pick up another one. I actually prefer the paint job on the DVD Pack RB to the first one-- I think the face came out better that time. I really had two problems with a Tiger Force Roadblock w/o new tooling-- one is the "play-ability" of the figure as-is. The other is that the '88 figure was IMO one of the less-inspired repaints. Even if they tweak his colors a little, like they did with TF Flint and Duke, I don't see him as that appealing. Tiger Force had some really cool repaints, which is why anybody would forgive Hasbro for making Dusty into a jungle fighter (WTF-- that's almost as bad as Frostbite!). Roadblock just got some random stripes and a yellow helmet. I guess they made his shirt a solid green and his gloves a different color, too, but not much else. Show me the error of my ways if you can...
  5. So looking on the back of the Wave 13 cards, it looks like we're getting another RAH-style Roadblock along with what will most likely be an improved Falcon (no matter the arms they use this time). Some speculate that it will be a Tiger Force version to go along with Flint and Duke, since the image is clearly based on '84 Box Art as was '88 Tiger Force art. Maybe-- it sure would seem crazy if they re-released the same figure that we got in the Battle Pack and last year's Wave 4... Though I'm not sure Tiger Force Roadblock would be much better. Unlike Flint, Duke, Dusty, or really anybody else on the team, RB's new colors weren't that different from his old ones besides a loud yellow helmet and a few random stripes. The great thing about Tiger Force back in the day was that it gave you a second chance of picking up characters that you couldn't find in stores anymore, some like Duke and Trip-Wire for years. There have been plenty of opportunities to get the heavy machine gunner in this year alone and I don't think that I'd grab another one just to build up my Tiger Force-- and I love both RB and Tiger Force. I think what gets me the most about the last three RBs if that the basic mold was terrible to begin with. Many of fans have pointed out the short-cummings of the initial 10 figures from the 25th Anniversary line and Hasbro, for the most part, makes MUCH better figures now and has gone back and improved nearly every one. Except Roadblock, who still can't hold that giant gun well with his terrible arms. Really, next to Gung Ho, I'd say RB is the one figure that I've been most disappointed in and I don't like it when his parts are re-used even for the likes of Copperhead. I've come to accept his baby-face if it's painted well, but the awkward arms and shoulders kinda ruin him for me. I take my Joes out of the package and play with them, and his possibility is just too awkward, and he winds up back in the display case while TF Duke and Flint get all the glory. I think that I actually used Radio-active Snake-Eyes more than poor Marvin. I think that Hasbro would have to at least re-do his hands, if not the whole arms, before I'd get another one. What do you think?
  6. I signed up for .Org message board awhile back with the email addy that I got from attending the University of Washington. It's free for me because I'm an alum, but not available to just anybody. He-Man.org seems to have a pretty controled message board (no double posts allowed), and the folks get along really well like a small close-knit community dispite drawing membership from all around the world. The forumns read to me like they have a slightly older and more knowledgeable membership than most toy fan sites-- but yeah, I'm more comfortable posting here. I wish the public could read what's posted there, even if you couldn't post yourself, since there is a lot of good info there and not just the usual fan speculation and b.s. But I also go to a couple blogs that are open to everyone and have tons of inside toy industry information, besides checking in @ TNI, of course.
  7. I agree with you... mostly. I never wanted a King Greyskull, nor would most of my toy collector friends. Convention exclusives sell out because they're convention exclusives-- they're limited and part of the whole convention experience where a lot of people go in part to shop. Many of my geek friends couldn't understand why I even bothered with MOTU2K-- it wasn't the 'real' He-Man in their eyes. MOTUC is something new for the franchise-- it's an approach that hasn't been done before in 20 years, going back to the roots and with the intension of making quality collectables this time around. Even if they only make three of these guys, it should be worthwhile to the collector that gets all of them. KG and MOTUC He-Man are apples and oranges.
  8. The '.Org didn't seem to like the Star Comics stuff as much as DC, except for the storyline from the last couple issues where Adam looses the Power Sword and Skeletor wins! I'd give my left pinky to read that story start to finish, but even the lesser comics would be fun nostalgia.
  9. I knew you'd be around, Arrow, so I was very careful about what I said concerning the Adventure Team. The 12" Joes seem like really fun, sturdy toys for their era-- at least compared to crappy Megos-- but, wow, Big Jim had some AWESOME adventures! Everything from camping to Pirates to Sci Fi adventures; I never knew... Trippy, man!
  10. Original painted artwork was a lot more common back in the day, but it's just too expensive in an age of photoshop and cookie-cutter graphic design. In the latter 20th century, commercial art was done primarily in acrylic-- which is cheap and dries fast-- and before that illustraters used a type of opaque watercolor called gouache, which is stilled used today in painted comics like the work of Alex Ross. MOTU had some of the most ellaborate stuff I've ever seen, but really what would G.I.Joe from the '60s, '70s, or '80s be without the painted character illustrations.
  11. Guess I'm not a fan then...But what are all these toys and comic books laying around my apartment-- weird! I don't like Wave 13 Duke at all, sorry. 25th Duke was fine for me, especially with the new arms-- if I wanted realistic military, I'd turn on the news.
  12. Yeah, they also have summaries of the plots to all the comics from DC, Star, and Image, along with little reviews. Apparently Prince Adam used a Cave of Power to transform into He-Man in the DC books, since he didn't have both halves of the Power Sword. He liked to drink and chase women, too! DC produced the first five comics and also wrote the second year of mini-comics, further developing the characters of He-Man, Teela, and the Sorceress from the first four pack-in books. The '.Org doesn't seem to have any downloads for the full comics, though, or any images beyond the covers. Which is a pity, really. The Sorceress still wore Teela's Snake headress (I don't think she was green-skinned anymore), but I would sure like to see a pre-Filmation Prince Adam. Does anybody know what he looked like? Besides-- you know-- just like He-Man...
  13. Double post-- sorry. I don't want to sound calloused, but I've got to say that it matters to me more when local, small businesses fail rather than specialty chains that have out-lived their niche. Terrible news for the employees though so close to the holidays, but I've been laid off right after Christmas myself-- it happens all the time in retail. They'll probably manage as well as I did.
  14. How exactly do they get away with filing for bankruptcy twice in four years-- you or I couldn't do that! Maybe the rules are different for businesses... Kaybee was never my favorite place to shop, but you could always find the darnedest things there-- like Machine Wars, or old MOTU figures years after either line was cancelled. I hope people can still find their Cyborg and Batman Beyond variants in all of this turmoil.
  15. I once hid my Hit & Run figure in a shrub in my best friend's front yard. That was back in 1989-- and I still haven't found him! Nobody could hide better than that guy!
  16. My Wal-Mart just got all of Wave 13 this week, but still no sign of Wave 12 or the rest of Wave 10. Wave 11 is pretty much everywhere-- Zartan is the Merriam Webster's Definition of Awesome, ski-doo and all, and my poor beloved Pilot Scarlett has already began to clog the pegs (if only I could give a good home to them all!). Of the two Fred Meyers in town, only one ever carried Wave 10, which never showed at Target at all. The troup builders from 10 were released in 11, so Target has had plenty of Bazooka Troopers and even Para-Vipers. But anybody wanting a Crock Master for less than Ebay prices is kinda out of luck. Apparently, Bellingham stores only stock odd-numbered waves. Before the re-issue wave, I could never find a Mass crystals CC or even a TF Flint, though wave 9 (minus the mythical Single Card BAT) arrived right on time. Some Mutts and even a couple TF Dukes have crept onto Walmart pegs, nothing else from Wave 10, and they came heavily mixed in with re-issue guys. Now I'm sorry that I passed on Crock Master when I first saw him. Following the local pattern, I should be seeing Wave 12 a few weeks after Wave 13, soooo... sometime in January, I guess. I really want those MASS elements, too. And the Single Card Tripwire that shoulda been Tiger Force. Oh well.
  17. Yeah, saw this guy at Wal-Mart today with Resolute CC and pretty much all of wave 13 except for Blowtorch-- apparently Wal-Marts and Targets are only allowed to get odd numbered waves! @grumpy@ I gotta say that he looked better to me in pics than in person. I walked away liking my Tiger Force Duke even more. Resolute CC had a fairly big head, too, kinda like a throwback to the '80s, though he was cooler than the Duke.
  18. I'm pretty excited to get a MOTUC He-Man for Christmas and I started to look for vintage MOTU comics on Ebay. Turns out that prices are pretty reasonable for both lots of the pack-in mini-comics and also the 1982 DC Comics miniseries. I didn't see any of the Star comics, though. Did you know that Prince Adam was a DC creation, not Filmation's? I foundly remember the mini-comics, especially the early ones that were more like picture books, but I didn't get into the licensed comics back in the day-- I wonder how the art and stories hold up. Though I could re-create my print collection without necessarily spending a fortune, I would really appreciate some kind of collected trade edition. Anybody else feel this way?
  19. Just discovered a great article here over at Retrojunk.com, further exploring the origins of the early MOTU toys. It's been reported before in places like Toyfare magazine that Mattel re-used molds and concepts from earlier toy lines like Big Jim, Tarzan... and Big Josh (seriously!). Big Jim was Mattel's answer to the awesome G.I.Joe Adventure Team in the '70s, and while Jim wasn't anything special, he sure had some incredible adventures with spacemen, ghost-pirates, and wannabe Bond-villains. They have plenty of comparison pics of Classic MOTU characters, creatures, and even a vehical along with their Big Jim predecessors, as well as He-Man knock-off lines and even a few brightly-hued Argentian variants. Check it out! Gojira AKA "Big Jim" 77
  20. More classic MOTU vehical illustrations from the He-Man.org archives-- Earl Norem Posters! BTW Stridor was a terrible brick of a robot-horsey toy, and I still find it strange that he's (along with his evil twin) the only horse we've gotten for a planet full of barbarians. I also think that Spydor is what that crappy Roton dreamed that it could be, if it just tried hard enough... And though it concept it seems like a pretty boring toy to me now, I remember actually playing a lot with the LaserBolt for some reason-- maybe it was a 'Tron' cycle thing? My next door neighbor had the Land Shark and I'm still overwhelmed with it's coolness to this day. I imagine that many, many Orkoes met their grissly end between its merciless jaws!
  21. So if He-Man and company manage to succeed despite the current state of the economy, we might just get some retro-goodness as vehicals join the MOTUC line! Which got me wondering what other folks thought were the best of He-Man and Skeletor's vehicals throughout all the toy lines (Did anybody like Starship Eternia??). Was there a best one for you? I also would look forward to Mattel re-using the classic original artwork of the originals-- really, when was the last time you saw a mass-produced toy with such ridiculously awesome boxart?! My all-time favorite was the Attack Track but I had as much fun with the Road Ripper. Battle Ram and Wind Raider looked really cool and were featured heavily in the cartoon, but I was pretty disappointed as a kid with the WR's fragility. Vintage box art care of Mastersunbound.com:
  22. Keep in mind, with everything else, there's also a big difference between the economy now and what it was back in the summer-- it went from bad to absolutely tanking this fall right before Election Day. A convention exclusive is one thing, starting a new line right at Christmas is another. It's gonna be tough for anybody right now, including the Most Powerful Man in the Universe, and Mattel's sales are down everywhere. No wonder they went for the jugular all Rupert-Murdock-style in their recent suit against Bratz dolls! I'm just overjoyed that Toyguru is talking "2010" because I know that this line will be a success and may even get back to retail if only they give it time. Soooo... who's excited about the possibility of beasts and vehicals? MOTU2K had some awesome figures, especially among supporting characters, but I wasn't too overjoyed with their rides-- which were cool but didn't say much to my inner 7-year-old. I'd love a bigger Battle Cat with Retro Armor-- no port-holes or Extendo-Missile Launchers, a Sky Sled, and a Road Ripper! If they get any bigger-- Attack Track, Wind Raider, Land Shark, and Spydor!
  23. Well, things are especially tight this year since our son was born in March, and he should get the lion's share this time of year. It was only kosher for me to get He-Man in December if he went straight under the tree-- and that's where he's going. At least I get to make my wife wait for her gift, too, and have her sweat it out a little!
  24. This topic is way too pre-mature! I'm afraid we'll have to wait until after the holidays to know how well the MOTUC line does, and then we should wait to hear directly from Toyguru and MattyCollector. Internet rumors should fall on deaf ears because we know better not to trust everything we read in a message board. I put in my order, and now all I can do is hope for the best. Long Live He-Man! BTW Has anyone compared MOTUC's price-per-figure with other 6"-scale online-exclusives including the DCU guys on MattyCollector? They might give you a deal on two-packs or slight paint varients, but in general I think He-Man's quite reasonable at $20-- though collecting MOTUC would require a commitment from me not to get any other lines. MOTU like Transformers has a huge international following that might just surprise us, provided that Matty pays enough for advertising and gets the word out in time. The two full-page ads in Toyfare were really nice!
  25. Thor is still a comic book hero though based on Norse Mythology, so he has a weekness. Really most mythological characters do anyways. Go for the belt-- in Ultimates he's as weak as Adam without it! To take on gods I'll admit that He-Man will have to rely on his cunning and take advantage of their inherent arrogance. I think the best way to fight the Hulk might be to not fight him or take him out early before he's too angry. He-Man may just have to make Lobo suffer though for what he did to Santa Claus...
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