I Am Iron Man, Too.

I guess we should just keep the Iron Man theme rolling here at ToyRiffic. My daughter is beside herself that her "favorite superhero" movie is being released on DVD today (although she will probably have to wait a few more days to get it.)

So today we'll take a look at the Target exclusive "Repulsor Red Prototype" Iron Man action figure.

The figure, while merely a repaint of the Mark-III movie action figure, is very cool because it is representative of the Silver Centurion armor from the comics.

The simple silver and red color scheme is very nice and quite flattering to the sculpt. The silver is applied in all the right places.

The sculpt itself is great - based of course on the excellent designs of the movie which were the perfect blend of comic book and movie magic in my opinion.

These Iron Man figures are some of the best movie based figures I've ever seen, and the awesome thing about Iron Man is that the repaints actually make sense from a story telling perspective (unlike BMX Batman and Part-Time-Job Robin.)

This Iron-Man came with a rocket launcher that attaches to his wrist. It too is just a repainted accessory from the standard Iron-Man action figure.

There's a surprising amount of articulation on these figures as well, with double elbow joints, knees, ankles, wrists, torso, shoulder, hips and head joints. The huge range of motion is probably due to the fact that it is based on a real suit that had to allow a decent range of movement for Mr. Downey, and adds to the realism and playability of the figure.

These Target exclusives have long dried out (unless they see another wave due to the DVD release) but the standard Mark-III Iron Man can still be easily found at retail, and if you don't already have one I highly recommend you get one when you toss the movie into your cart...starting today!

Can He Walk At All...

...or if he moves, will he fall?

In honor of tomorrow's (9/30) release of Iron Man on DVD and Blueray, ToyRiffic presents the Mark-I armored Iron Man movie action figure!

This action figure, based on the movie design of Tony Stark's first Iron Man armor, is simply gorgeous.

The design is a perfect blend of the original comic book concept, believable "real-life" components, and the steam-punk feel of a war suit put together in a middle eastern cave.

Details abound, and the figure is at least as mobile as the real deal, so you can get some realistic, lumbering poses.

His head doesn't move (or at least mine doesn't) but that's fine, the guy is a mess of metal plates, gears and drive belts...he won't be doing yoga any time soon.

He also comes with a little "fire" projectile that shoots from his wrist.

Mark-I Iron Man was part of the first release of movie action figures that came out before the film hit theaters, but you can probably still find him in some stores.

I know this figure will soon be released as a re-paint in yellow/gold as an homage to the comic books, but any fan of the movie and Iron Man in general needs this movie accurate version.

Flight of the Bumblebees

One of the best little Transformers ever is Bumblebee. He's undeniably a fan favorite character, who can resist a cute little yellow Beetle that transforms into a cute little robot?

Personally, I've always been fonder of his "brother" Cliffjumper. Probably because Cliffjumper was my first transformer ever...

...and because he was voiced by Casey Kasem. Just like Shaggy and Robin. And the American Top 40.

I remember getting Cliffjumper as a gift before the cartoon or commercials began (or at least before I saw any of them.)

I was in awe, a toy car that was also a toy robot! Two great tastes that taste great together! Pure, unadulterated genius!

I couldn't wait to get over to my cousin's house and start playing Hot Wheels. I was planning on whipping ol' CJ out and nonchalantly rolling him around like a regular toy car, only to suddenly transform him into a robot and blow my cousin's mind!

When I arrived at my cousin's house, I readied my plan. We grabbed our Hot Wheels cases and headed out to the sand box.

I pulled out my Cliffjumper...and to my chagrin my cousin pulled out HIS Cliffjumper!

DOH!

Bumblebee however proved to be a very elusive toy. I remember having a hard time trying to get him. People talk about toy hunting today as if it's tough, but in the days before the internet it was even tougher. You got what you saw on the shelves if and when you saw it, and that was that.

After years of searching, I finally got him on an out-of-state trip to Grandma's house. I think we were in a drug store or grocery store when I spotted his yellowy goodness, and I was elated.

Fortunately I also had a few bucks vacation spending money. Bumblebee was better than any lame souvenir I could have picked up, and that specific trip is now and forever etched upon my mind.

"...misty water colored memories..."

I always preferred Bumblebee's toy face over his cartoon face. He has a more robotic, Optimus Prime like look to him, and it's a nice contrast to Cliffjumper's more human face. There was a comic book published a few years back that approached the concept, showing this to be a battle mask, and that Bumblebee's human-like face is underneath. A similar concept was shown in the live action Transformers movie as well.

Even later in the line, Bumblebee was reformatted into Goldbug. These cars were a bit bigger and had a pullback feature.

The vehicles in this sub-set, called the Throttlebots, were very simplistic and had none of the charm of the earlier mini-cars.

Sadly the Throttlebot phase was not Bumblebee's finest hour. But maybe it wasn't his darkest hour either, depending upon your stance on mute Camaros.

So which do you prefer? Bumblebee as a mini-car VW, Bumblebee as the Throttlebot Goldbug, or Bumblebee as either of his movie Camaro incarnations (seventies and modern?)

We Be Jamina

Godzilla style!
"CHOMP!"

This here is an unlicensed "Godzilla" toy from Jamina World Corp.

On his foot it says "Your lovely pet from Jamina" and he is dated 1987 and was made in China.


I found him at a local thrift shop.

He is supposed to walk, and his arms and jaw are supposed to move. His eyes are also supposed to light up. Mine does none of these things. But he still looks cute.

I discovered through some net research that there were two versions of this Jamina dinosaur. One had pointy felt scales on his back and there is then this one with the Godzilla like plates.

They also don't seem to be too hard to come by, nor is it too expensive to get a working one on places like eBay.

It would be cool to see him operate properly, and I may someday try to get into his inner workings and see what I can do. Until then he'll just have to look ominous on my Godzilla shelf!


UPDATE: This post inspired me to draw Godzilla for my art blog - if you haven't been over there lately check it out, I've been adding a lot of new stuff!

I Am The Knight Rider!

Premiering tonight on NBC is an all new Knight Rider television series. KITT is now a Mustang and has all sorts of fancy transforming features. The TV movie a couple months ago was okay, good enough for me to want to tune in tonight, but the original Trans Am KITT voiced by William Daniels will always hold a special spot in my heart.

As a kid I once saw KITT in person at a car show. I even got to sit in the driver's seat. The Polaroid is somewhere at my parent's house, and someday I'll dig it up and post it here. I also shook hands with Twiki from Buck Rogers, but sadly did not get a picture of that life altering event.

Anyways this KITT here is appx 1:64 and was released by Kenner in 1982. I had this one as a kid, although this is not my original. This one was given to me recently by a friend in trade for some art.

The set I had as a kid came with a launcher and a semi truck and trailer. You could launch KITT through the trailer and it would "smash" through. I don't remember KITT actually doing that on the show, but I do remember the cops trying it in the Blues Brothers.

"Right away, Michael."

I don't know why they added "Knight 2000" to the side. It would be more accurate to have nothing there (per the show) or at least accurate to the concept to say "Knight Industries 2000" or of course "KITT."
Here's hoping the new show is a success, and maybe we can get some more KITT merchandise old and new. I've always wanted a KARR toy too, I wonder if there will be a new Mustang KARR? that'd be groovy.

I Love Dick

Grayson.
Chunky B over at Eclectorama posted the Toybiz Flash today, and *gasp* had the audacity to say "I usually ditch Robin and Bats teams up with Flash."

How could he?!?! The Toybiz Robin is clearly superior to The Toybiz Flash in every way! Let's take a look a the facts.

First off, Robin has a COOL action feature, which allows him to do a karate chop! The Flash has epileptic seizures. Point: Robin.

The button to activate Robin's chop is hidden under his cape. The Flash has a wind up knob (or cancerous tumor) growing out of his back. And no cape to hide it. Bonus Point: Robin.

When not activated, Robin's karate chop feature reveals his friendly nature, as he reaches his hand out in friendship to fellow superheroes and citizens alike. The Flash has two balled-up fists and some anger issues to work out. Point: Robin.

Robin also has access to all of Batman's spiffy vehicles, including the Toybiz Batcycle from 1989. The Flash runs. For fun.

In the immortal words of Pat Buttram "Run for fun? What the hell kind of fun is that?"
Point: Robin.
Let's see the Flash do THAT!

Robin was in the circus. The Flash, I dunno if he even has a job, or hobbies. He runs for fun after all. Point: Robin.

Final tally: Robin: like, a bazillion points. Flash: Zero. No need to go on. So let's take a closer look at the 1989 Toybiz Batcycle. It has a kick stand!

When you push a button on the gas tank, the side panels flip down to make little wings. Why? Who knows, I don't think it's supposed to fly or anything.

The bike was designed to compliment the '89 Batmobile and it does a pretty good job. Simple, fluid lines and lots of black. I'm sure it's pretty fast too.

But not as fast as The Flash!

Okay okay, the Flash can have one point, just so he doesn't try and outrun his tears.

Panthor and Skeletor

Panthor is Skeletor's trusty feline steed. Basically he's just a purple flocked Battle Cat (which in turn was a panther borrowed from the earlier Mattel line, "Big Jim.")

Although I recently reacquired this specific one from a garage sale, I did have Panthor when I was a kid. My parents had gone to Vegas for a weekend trip and brought him back for me.

I always wondered if they just swung by the local toy store on the way home - "uh oh, we forgot to get the kids something!" - or if he was actually purchased while in Vegas, but I didn't really care. Panthor and Skeletor beat the "Mom and Dad went to Vegas and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt" shirt my sister and I usually got form my parents' trips to Vegas. Although I'm sure my parents got a big kick out of those shirts.

This is an original Skeletor, which also came in the garage sale lot I found this past summer.
He's missing his loin cloth or whatever you'd call that thing.

Seriously, what's cooler than a blue skinned, skull faced barbarian riding a purple Panther? In the eyes of a seven year old, not much.

Panthor's saddle is also just a green version of Battle Cat's saddle. I always wondered why they skimped out and didn't include a green helmet, but then again Panthor is evil, so he's not likely to adhere to the helmet laws of Eternia anyways.

I have a complete commemorative Skeletor figure from the early 2000s too...

...and you can see some differences, including the face sculpt (the original Skeletor is on the left.)

The plastic of the armor is also thinner/more translucent on the original Skeletor.

"I am the REAL Skeletor!"
Here's another shot of the commemorative Skeletor, with all his accessories.

"Greyskull shall be MINE! Haaahahahahhahaaaaaa!"

On a related note, a new era in Masters of the universe toys is about to begin with Mattel's online exclusive Masters of the Universe Classics series. I'm really looking forward to these new figures. Skeletor was recently previewed in ToyFare magazine and he looks great in the new/old style!