Everything Old Is New Again...

I have seen a few episodes of the new Transformers Animated series. It's pretty good. As good, if not better, than the original. Which in all seriousness, isn't saying much (hey, I love it too, but it ain't high art.)






The best part about the new cartoon is the re-imaginings and re-introductions of all the G1 characters. The show features pretty much all the characters we've grown to love, true to their original incarnations, with a modern twist. They've done very good to continue to introduce fan favorite characters throughout the series, like Ultra Magnus, Wreck-Gar, Blitzwing, and three of the Dinobots.



The only character I don't like is Prowl, as he is too far removed in his robot/vehicle mode from the G1 Prowl to even be recognizable as Prowl.

But back to the topic at hand. The toys!


"The Eighties were not good to you."


The toys are way too cool! For Father's day I received the Cybertronian Megatron from my oldest daughter. I like this one a lot, for a couple reasons. First, it's his Cybertronian version, so he pretty much can transform into anything and I'm okay with that, because we all know there are no Walther P-38s on Cybertron.

Second, he looks so much like his G1 version (but with Cybertronian attributes) that I can accept in my cartoon addled mind that this is the definitive version of a pre-Earth Megatron.



There is an Earth Megatron coming soon, and his robot version is even more in step with that of the G1 Megatron. He converts into a Helicopter, which is acceptable, and I will probably buy him.


"Touche."


Next up is Grimlock. I only found out that this guy was available in toy form recently, when folks at other toy blogs started finding him. I usually know about upcoming toys years in advance, and as Tom Petty says, the waiting is the hardest part.

So I was glad to only hunt for this guy for about a week or two before finding him. I waited longer for a G1 Grimlock, which I first acquired only a couple years ago.


"Me Grimlock coolest Autobot EVER!"


Let me just say this new Grimlock is un-freaking-believable. He is everything the original version is and more. He's the perfect melding of old and new. He's cool in both modes, and a solid figure in each version too (as opposed to the G1 which is kind of cumbersome in robot mode.)


"Me Grimlock STILL coolest Autobot EVER! Me should be king of Autobots!"

He transforms in almost the exact same fashion as his G1 counterpart too. Groovy.

There are a bunch of new figures out now, and tons more in the works. And coming soon is another Dinobot, the Triceratops Slag (now known as Snarl for some reason or another.)

Cue Tom Petty.

Da da da daaaa...Imperial!

ROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



My little post about an Imperial dinosaur I found inspired fellow toy nut "Chunky B" of Eclectorama to post about his Imperial Godzilla. Which in turn inspired me to post my Imperial King Kong.

I recently bought this guy off eBay because he was part of an auction that included a 6" Imperial Godzilla that I was after. I believe King Kong came out in 1985 or so, at the same time Imperial was producing Godzilla.

He's a pretty good likeness of King Kong...better than the Godzilla offerings from Imperial. His arms move, and I added a little plastic car for him to toss through the air in a fit of primal fury!


Uh Oh...while roaming the forest Kong has crossed paths with the monstrous SmallZilla!


Run, Kong, Run! Don't just stand there...she's likely to....


SMOOOOCH!

Yech...cat germs!

I yam what I yam...

...and what I yam is a huge Popeye fan.



The Mezco series of Popeye figures from 2001 was one of the best action figure series of all time, as well as being the best Popeye toy set EVER!

Faithful, playable, chock full of great action features and accessories, these figures were awesome.

Sadly, they only made it to series three. Awesomely, they squeezed out folks like Poopdeck Pappy and Alice the Goon in the series' short lifespan. I was able to get everyone (besides re-paints) except Deep sea Popeye and Scuba Bluto. I'll cover them all soon.


Here's Peacoat Popeye - an homage to the beginning scene of the live action Popeye starring Robin Williams. He came with a muscle that you can add to his arm (making it appear his muscle is tearing through his coat,) a duffle bag, a can of spinach, a picture frame that says "Pappy," removable beanie, removable pipe (God bless you Mezco for taking the artistic high ground and not taking the moral high ground!) and a treasure map! He also has a "twisker fisk" action feature - wind up his fist, push the button, and watch it spin! Take THAT Bluto!



What's at the end of your treasure map Popeye? A true treasure...your first animated appearance:

Bat bikes bat bikes bat bikes!

I just picked up the Hotwheels Bat-Pod yesterday. Woohoo - what a groovy little bike! It is a great little representation of the upcoming Bat-Pod (at least from what little I've seen so far.)

The two pack set comes with an older Hot Wheels casting of an armored truck, painted up with a Joker theme. Cool, but not nearly as cool as the never-before-released Bat-Pod!



It's technically part of Hotwheels' standard 1:64 scale series, but looks to be closer to a true 1:50 scale. When I get the upcoming 1:50 Tumbler we'll see how they look next to each other, but I hope they are pretty close to the same scale.

I add the Bat-Pod to my humble die-cast Batcycle collection. Here's my Corgi Bat Bike, dated 1978:


Next up is a Hot Wheel designed Bat Bike put out in conjunction with Batman Begins. The bike is clearly based on the Dodge Tomahawk. There were two versions of the Batman figurine that this bike came with, one of him standing and this one with him riding the bike:







Finally, this animated Bat bike first came out during the animated series heyday in the nineties. The second release came with a Batgirl figure, which is pretty cool! From Hasbro, dated 1997 (although the Batgirl version came out a couple years after that if I remember correctly.)




Everyone dug the Bat-Pod. They all wanted to take it out for a little spin: