Yay, shopping

I found a Sky-Lynx at a Japanese Grocery store on sale. Because why not?

Dinobot Slug

I'm suddenly interested in Hero Mashers now that they're making figures of the G1 Dinobots. Unlike all the other Hero Masher Transformers the Dinobots only appear in their dinosaur modes, which is smart because that's the part everyone loves.

Since the triceratops was always my favorite, I picked him up. It's pretty awesome. Now instead of having a robot triceratops that turns into a robot but which I will never transform into a robot because I prefer the look of a robot triceratops I instead have a robot triceratops.

One whose mouth is jointed like in the original toy. Actually most of his joints are ball joints so you get a surprising amount of possibility here. And his limbs are designed to be interchangable with Spider-Man figures, so they're pretty versatile too.

The arms leave a little to be desired.

He comes with a stegosaurus tail so you can try out the Masher/interchangable body part feature, but for me that's kinda an after thought. 

Grimlock

Let's face it, Constructbots are the bionicle of the Kre-o world. But I do love me some robot dinosaurs, so I picked up Grimlock.

And I was pleasently surprised to find out that unlike the Kre-o Transformers, Constructbots can transform without disassembling them. You just twist some joints and insert a few tabs and the robot transforms into a robot dinosaur.

It's an actual Transforming Transformer construction set. This is the kind of thing I was hoping for when Kre-o first started! And for $10! I might have to get one of those $6 sets to see if they all work like this.

Cosmos and Payload

Screw Payload, the minicon that turns into a space shuttle and a gun, this is all about Cosmos: the Transfromer that decided to blend in on Earth by turning into a UFO. I never had this figure as a kid, and truthfully I never wanted it. But now, with my ability to appreciate irony and how ridiculous this character is... and a love of UFOs thanks to a sci-fi adolescence... I really wanted it.

Starscream

Starscream Potato Head?! STARSCREAM POTATO HEAD?! 

Trypticon

Trypticon was originally a robot dinosaur that transformed into a city. They've since made some versions where he's just a robot who transforms into a dinosaur, which is lame, but considering people mostly remember him as a robot dinosaur, it makes sense. Sadly the Kre-O Trypticon Kreon minifigure doesn't transform into a city, just a robot, but I'm slightly okay with that because tiny robot dinosaur.

The Kreons that have been released in anticipation of the Transformers 4 movie, what with the dinobots and such, have been pretty interesting. They actually get new sculpted parts to help in the transformation, and some of them actually look vaguely like the animals they're supposed to transform into. And even cooler, some of them actually use all the same pieces so the figures actually are transforming, not just putting on a new costume and being pushed onto their sides.

Crankstart and Galvatron

I decided to give the Kre-O transformer minifigs another chance, mostly because there was a two for one sale and Galvatron sort of impressed me when I read other people's look at the figure. I had hopes that Crankstart, who turns into a four wheeled vehicle, would look a lot better than the other minifigures.

Sadly I was wrong. He looks exactly as I feared, a figure tipped on its side. Just one that has wheels attached to his feet.

Meanwhile Galvatron was actually pretty good. And best of all, his transformation was more than just disassembling him and reassembling him in a different way. He actually sort of transformed without removing that many parts. And best of all, he doesn't look like someone just tipped him on his side.

And they did a damn good job with his robot mode. A friend happened to see it and could recognize him immediately.

The Sacramento GI Joe show was taken over by a local toy store this year. I went to the show for the last hour. Oddly enough, I'm glad I went in that hour because I was able to pick up some free toys people were trying to get rid of. Here you can see some of the free toys I picked up. They include a knock-off Leo Convoy figure, a broken Phantom Stranger DC Direct figure (neck peg is broken), a gobot, a plastic airplane model kit, a poor condition GI Joe vehicle, a couple Green Lantern McDonalds toys and most impressively, two plastic assemblable Transformers statues.

This one is Terrorsaurus.

And I have no idea who this is. But the hard plastic with the pointy bits made trying to get the pegs to snap into the corresponding holes a pain in the ass.

So what did I actually pay cash for? Well I picked up a Puppet Master 12" figure and the guy threw in a Jackie Chan figure for free because he couldn't give it away. Except he did give it away. I'm actually interested in seeing what it can do. It boasts triple jointed arms and legs so I wonder what that really means. I also picked up a base bbi 1/6  scale figure to see if the brand is any good.

Also, I got a Black Widow figure because I put in a bid in an auction to get Mario a Nick Fury figure.

Oh, and hey, my Big Bad Toy Store order came in. 6 months of toy orders, finally here!

We'll go over that another day.

EVAC

So what did I buy on my vacation? Well I didn't want to pay $25 for an Evac figure, but I'm willing to pay $13 for a Legion Class figure. Since Evac is a character created for the Transformers Ride, I pretty much expect he'll never show up anywhere else, so that's kinda neat. In the ride he never transforms into a robot, he stays in vehicle mode the hole time, although you do see his hand jut out a couple times. So really, this robot mode is theoretical rather than a representation.

More accurate is his vehicle mode. While they claim it's a car, really it's a multi-person amusement park ride transport. Fits 8. I love that he's essentially a roller coaster car. It makes me laugh. And since I was on the ride, I can use this figure to remember that time when I rode inside him. Sitting next to some middle aged French tourist. Good times.

Yeah, as a Transformer: not worth $13. As a souvenir and memory inducer, well worth it.

Vacation window shopping

I went on vacation last week. Here's some of the stuff I didn't buy.

I was sorely tempted to get Elvis a Pegasus to ride, but I realized I could buy one of these sets any time. No need to waste precious luggage space by buying it on vacation.

Hey, they made a Hobo Superman costume.

They had Transformers at Universal Studios because of the Transformers 3D ride. They cost $10 more than they do in regular retail stores.

Although I was tempted to get the exclusive EVAC figure. Evac is a character created for the ride, he's basically the car you ride in. I love when they do figures for this kind of exclusive character, but $25 was too much to pay for a novelty.

I was tempted to get this POP! vinyl figure of Gonzo, but I just had to pass.

I also went to Downtown Disney (not Disneyland itself) and the Disney store there sold all the theme park exclusive figures. Of the "Disney Characters as Star Wars" figures they had, the one I considered getting was this 3 pack of the Duck Nephews as Jawas. They even come with pars of an R2 unit. But in the end I decided that it wasn't worth the $25 considering their insanely limited articulation. I dunno, maybe if they were in scale with regular Star Wars figures I'd be more interested, but the issue is moot.

Spinister (I swear I thought it said Spinster. I wish it was.)

Blind packed Transformers Kre-ons are out there. I got one at the toy show on Saturday. As suspected, they transform but not in an impressive fashion. Case in point: Spinister, who I thought was called Spinster until I checked again. I kinda wish it was Spinster. Not enough transformers are named after euphemisms for old ladies.

As you can see, Spinister comes with a big gun. Why is it so big? So you can then attack it to his torso, then push him over. And VOILA

 Helicopter. But only if you look at it at the right angle. If you don't look at it just right, it looks like your figure fell over.

TRANSFORMERS! MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE! You thought it was a tipped over robot?! NO! IT'S A HELICOPTER! FOOL!

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a big name character, like Galvatron, but they're blind packed and this was the only one the dealer had left. Still, at least the paint is done well. If that had sucked this would have been a horrible waste of money.

Cliffjumper (Robots in Disguise)

When the Transformers: Prime toys first hit my local Target a few months back, I’d thought I’d give the line a try -- being a hardcore TF fan, after all -- and decided to pick up a deluxe class figure.  Of the available offerings, I narrowed my choices down to the Prime versions of Cliffjumper and Wheeljack.  I ultimately went with Cliff because I had acquired the Generations Wheeljack not long before and, hey, The Rock voiced the character in the series.

Before even getting into the finer details of this particular figure, note that two factors make the Robots in Disguise subline less appealing than past Transformers deluxe assortments. Firstly, these figures are regularly retailing for about $15, a noted increase from just a few years back when 10 bucks was been the norm (and had been for over a decade). Secondly, these figures are noticeably smaller in robot mode than what buyers are typically used to for this scale. Those two factors can make it hard for buyers to rationalize picking up some Robots in Disguise deluxes on a whim.

Let's start the New Year off with a bang!

Get it, because Megatron turns into a gun. A tiny, tiny gun. Because it's a legend class figure that's smaller than 4 inches high.

Autobot Jazz

Sometimes I wonder if the reason everyone is reviewing the Jazz figure from Kre-O is because it's the cheapest one to come with a Jazz minifigure that isn't Mirage. Because who cares about Mirage? Jazz sounded like Scatman Crothers and everyone remembers him fondly. Me, I actually enjoyed the toys but I was never really into the cartoon. Or the comic. (Although the three issue Dinobot arc early on was AWESOME.) So I guess I liked the Transformers as a concept rather than as characters. So I got Jazz to try out the Kre-Os and to get a Transformer minifigure that isn't Mirage, because Mirage looks weird. If that means I follow the crowd then so be it.

As building blocks, the Kre-Os are the sturdiest non-Lego I've encountered. They're not quite as hardy as Legos, but they're the closest anyone has come yet.

As for the Car and Robot that you can build. They both look great. But I'm REALLY disappointed that both modes fail to use all the bricks that come with the set. When I finished the car mode I had six or seven pieces left over and when I finished Robot Mode I had sixteen completely different parts left over. And some of those parts were freaking huge. You know, like the windshield, and the doors, and two of the wheels. It's like every excuse Michael Bay had was true. You can't fit all the pieces of Vehicle mode into Robot mode.

Which sucks, because why the hell not?

But minifigures based on the Transformers? Awesome.

Toy Show Purchases (pt. 1)

So yeah, we went to the toy show on Saturday, so over the course of this week I'll be occasionally going over what I picked up. I've already mentioned Super Grover (so vote now!), so we'll skip that. Let's start with the big ole overview to get your attention piqued.

We'll start with the robot rabbit. It's a robot rabbit, why I bought it should be obvious. It's a robot that is also a rabbit. I'm pretty sure that he came with a Mad Hatter figure from the Batman Animated Series line. But who really cares one way or the other It's a rabbit robot.

Next up is one of Kevin Smith's inaction figures. This was in a box of loose figures that were being clearanced, which is the best part of any toy show. It's Ben Affleck as a killer angel, which explains why he has the blood stains. The wings are pretty impressive, they plug into peg holes in the back. Surprisingly, while the design is more impressive, I can't help but feel that killer angel Ben Affleck isn't as cool as Rabbit Robot. But it's still cool. (Especially for $1.)



Now we're going to move onto the stuff in that cardboard box. (Reference the picture at the top of this article.) I was looking at one of the figures in the box, which was labelled $2 each, when the dude who ran the table offered me the whole box for $5. I said sure. So what did I get? Well I found to my surprise that the box included a Magic the Gathering starter deck and a pack of basketball cards. But since those are cards and this is a toy blog, I'll instead show you this.

There were some Gashapon toys. Gashapon is Japanese for capsule toys, but in Japan they're more impressive than the crappy $1 minifigures they sell in the states. I only know one of those characters shown above. (Tsuraya from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya... Hey, spelled it right on my first try.) The other three I don't know at all, not even what series they're from, but they're adorably marketable. And how can you not love a little girl wearing a head-flashlight?

There were also a couple Gashapon figures that hadn't been opened and assembled. So that's cool. This one is Tsuraya in her maid outfit from that one episode where she worked at her class' cafe during the school festival. Oh those Japanese.

There was also a book. When I got a closer look at it I thought it was a Beast Wars manga. But when I opened it up I found that it was something amazingly better. It was in fact an episode and toy guide to Beast Wars. Page after page of illustrations, photos and screenshots of robots that transform into animals.

Of course it's all written in Japanese, so I have no idea what it says. It's also falling apart, but it's still kind of neat.

And finally:

Really badly preserved Ernie and Bert finger puppets. With real hair. Okay, that's it for today. The hair is freaking me out, as is the prospect of putting my fingers in those things. Dirty. Dirty.

We'll continue on another day.

Vote Super Grover!

Articulated Monster went over to the San Jose Toy Show this weekend. We'll have a special podcast up soon, but even more important: over the next week you get to vote which of our awesome toy purchases is the awesomest. To vote you can either comment on this post, e-mail us at articulatedmonster@yahoo.com, or by voting on the poll on the sidebar of the other James' blog All About Fett. Or do all 3 and vote thrice. THRICE!

You can vote for James (Fett)'s 2 Kevin Costner Robin Hoods that cost $1.

Mario's purple Transformers Animated Shockwave & Activators Bumblebee that cost $15.

Or you can vote for my Super Grover that cost $40.

Now I wasn't going to bring up the prices, but James already did. So I'd like to point out that while my nomination for most awesome of the awesome finds is the most expensive it is potentially also the hardest to get at a reasonable price. Seriously, on amazon the cheapest you can find it is for $165. Cinequest has one for $100. If you listen to the podcast I might have mentioned you can't find it on e-bay. That's no longer true, but I do see that the only one listed alone is $125.

But I got one for $40. There's a reason when the vendor mentioned the price I said, "Oh hell yeah."

Sometimes I'm not the best at bartering.

Why does this figure normally cost so much? Well back when Palisades had the Muppets license and were churning out amazing Muppet toys they announced that they were planning to do a line of Sesame Street figures in the same scale and with the same amazingly accurate style. The first figure they made was Super Grover and he was only made available in 2005 at conventions and through the Palisades online collector's club. The figure was a portent of great things to come...

Then Palisades went out of business and the Sesame Street figures was never happened. Now the prototypes for their accessories, like the bananna that Ernie could hold up, go for about $100.

So my Super Grover, for $40, was a pretty good deal.

It features a box with art by Alex Ross.

And inside you get Super Grover, a phone box for him to change into from his secret identity, and then you get an alternate head and a spare set of clothes to create that secret identity as a monster reporter.

So vote for Super Grover as the Awesomest purchase! VOTE THRICE! Vote in honor of those Sesame Street Figures that were never made!