Poisunday Ivy :: Countdown to Halloween Eve

Countdown to Halloween 2012 is happening, Batman, and there's nothing you can do to stop it! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!!

Random Toy Pic :: These aren't the droids you are looking for.

No, I mean it, these totally are not the droids you are looking for. Really. I'm not kidding. Seriously. Look at your notes. Now look at these droids. See? Not the ones you are looking for. Toldya. Bye.

Strike first, strike fast, strike hard.

From Cliffjumper's original Tech Specs:

"Let me at 'em," is Cliffjumper's motto. His eagerness and daring have no equal. He's driven by a desire to win the battle against the Decepticons. Finds Earth terrain a hindrance. One of the fastest Autobots. Often uses his speed to draw fire away from others. Shoots "glass gas" which makes metal as brittle as glass. His recklessness often leads to actual blow-outs and situations too dangerous for him to handle."

When I first discovered that there would be a new Cliffjumper in the Transformers Prime toyline I was ecstatic. The toy looked great in vehicle and robot mode and was not, I repeat WAS NOT a Bumblebee repaint. As a Cliffjumper fan from day one (he was my first Transformer, and you never forget your first!) that sort of BS pisses me off. Don't get me wrong, I love G1 Bumblebee too, but he and Cliffjumper are NOT twins!

Anyways, my joy quickly led to disappointment when the nice looking Cliffjumper turned into a limited release and the standard Transformers Prime Cliffjumper that hit the shelves en masse was clearly sub-par.

Then I discovered they were going to re-release the good Cliffjumper body with a G1 head! Even better!

Then I discovered it would be an Asia only exclusive. Dammit.

Then I discovered that the Asia exclusives are now Toys R Us exclusives in the US! Yippee, if I can find one!

Then something really strange happened - I found one!

Cliffjumper's robot mode is a perfect update to his G1 self. I love him!

He doesn't come with any weapons, buthis hands do rotate into gattling guns, which is pretty damn neat!

A solid toy in robot mode, Cliffjumper is well built and well designed. He stands and poses easily and holds his shape just fine.

The piping for the eyes as well as translucent headlights make for a nice effect.

The blue tinted windows look really nice in robot mode too.

"I'm Casey Kase...umm...I mean Cliffjumper"

Although not remotely a Porsche 924, Cliffjumper's car mode is pretty hot. The Plymouth-esque 70's hot rod design (he'll look great displayed next to Big Daddy), along with his name, invoke some Dukes of Hazzard influences...

...not to mention the Boss Hoggish horns up front, which also reflect Cliffjumper's horns on his G1 head.

YEEEHHHAAAAWWWW!!!!

Sadly, while it was simple enough to get from car to robot, this thing is a bear to transform back from robot to car. I'm sure it just takes a while to get the joinst mushy enough to go where they should, but after about 30 minutes of trying Cliffjumper still looks like he hit a tree and the tree hit back. Or he jumped one too many cliffs.

And he's only labeled as a difficulty level of 2! I can't imagine too many kids being able to Transform this guy, although kids do have small hands and good eyes.

As for now, I may have to leave him in robot mode indefinitely, which is sad but I'll get over it.

UPDATE: I figured out the place where I was not bending the proper joints, well, properly; all is well now and Cliffjumper is safely back in automobile mode!

Catwoman Purrrsday :: Comic Book Zen

Herbs? Your only hope of survival? Why? Do you have Cat-aracts? HAHAHAHA!

Looks like Batman has already been sampling your...ahem..."herbs," Catwoman!

From Batman #324 June 1980

Transform and poopy pants! :: League of Extraordinary Bloggers

I admit, I'm a bit of a fair-weather Leaguer. I do the League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignments I like and skip over those I don't. Which means I haven't done one in a while. Oops!

I don't know if that's 'ok' according to League by-laws, but whatyagonnado?

This week's assignment, which I could not pass up: "Young Guns"

In the spirit of Young Indiana Jones, Young Frankenstein, or Young Einstein, come up with a “Young ___” prequel or series.

It seems like it's all been done before (to death) though, right? We've seen toddler turtles and Smallville and Young Sherlock Holmes - but what haven't we seen?

I decided to go with Transformers. Not just 'young' Transformers, because we've seen that already too (Wheelie, anyone?) but Transformers that Transform into kid's ride-on and pre-school toys!

Toddlerformers!

Imagine Optimus Prime as a Bigwheel towing a Radio Flyer wagon! Soundwave as a 'See-and-Say'! Megatron as a Super-Soaker! The ideas are endless, as would be the merchandising blitz!

I did some super quick doodles of vehicle modes to give you an idea. If I had more time I'd have done robot modes, but as I imagine it they're youthful looking G1esque robots, incorporating the elements of their new alt modes with design elements of their G1 looks and elements of young kids (ex: Bumblebee is most definitely clad in a striped onesie) to create a beautiful symmetry of design, form and concept. Or something like that.

Hey, it's better than anything Michael Bay has or ever will come up with, right?

Check out some other Leaguers and their youthful pursuits:

ShezCrafti reminds us how cute the aforementioned Toddler Turtles were
Cool and Collected wonders why Clark Griswold is so Vacation obsessed
and Lair of the Dork Horde ponders alone: Did Conan play with dollies too?

Harley Qwednesday :: Arkham City Harley Quinn Cosplay

This is simply an incredible shot. The smile is perfect as is the mischievous sideways glance, and I just love how the tips of her pony tails are lit!

I recently discovered these pics on Low Carb Media's Facebook page. Ravee Mac (check out her Facebook page) as Harley Quinn (Arkham City Edition.)

Awesome!

Model: Ravee Mac
Makeup: Ravee Mac
Location: Downtown San Diego
Pics: Low Carb Media

The New Crusaders

I just picked up and read issue one of The New Crusaders this past weekend. It had originally sold out at my LCS on the day it was released, but they were able to quickly get a copy in for me (big shout out to Atlantis Fantasyworld, the best comic shop I have ever had the pleasure to to business with.)

I originally wanted to get into this comic for my ten year old daughter. She loves superhero comic books, but it's hard to find new stuff that isn't either too extreme or too complex for her. Or just too crappy for that matter. I do buy a lot of older comics at the flea market etc that keep her busy, and I admit DC does have a few appropriate titles that she enjoys (Young Justice, Green Lantern Animated, The Superman Family etc.) but like any superhero fan worth their salt, she is always looking for more!

Of course she's a ten year old girl, so she loves Archie comics too, and I follow what they do to be able to get her cool stuff when I hear about it. So when I heard Archie Comics, under the 'Red Circle' brand, were dusting off their Mighty Crusaders for a new generation I figured this was just the thing for daddy and daughter to read together.

And boy was I right. the first issue is an intro issue, but it really ends with a bang! We meet a handful of the 'old guard,' as well as their protege who are set up by fate (or worse) to take over the mantles of their fore-bearers, ready or not...to be lead by original Mighty Crusader (and Captain America predecessor) The Shield!

My daughter read the comic first, and she enjoyed it, asking questions about who would become whom/who used to be whom etc. I enjoyed not knowing all the answers for a change, and had to go to Google for more than a few of them ;)

I read the issue myself and really enjoyed it, more than I expected to in fact. There's real drama that appears quickly, and I can't wait for issue 2 to see the real forming of the new team (in other words, costumes!)

The art is a little more anime influenced than I generally prefer, but it's clean and bold and very well done. There's even a few pages of 'history' in the back, giving the reader a little back story on The Shield and his origins.

I think I am going to really enjoy reading this one along with my daughter, and learning who these new heroes are along the way with her. I recommend fans of superhero comic books that don't talk down to you but also don't feel the need to titillate for titillation's sake to at least check out issue one and see if you don't agree. The issues are available first digitally at RedCircleComics.com but since I and my daughter are reading them together I prefer to wait for print.

Finally: Is it too soon to ask for action figures? I'd love an old Shield, and Fly Girl is just too cute!

Bot Shot through the heart, and you're to blame...

I finally jumped on the Bot Shots wagon! I've seen them all over the place for a while now and have thought one or two of them might be worth picking up, but I was always able to talk myself out of doing so.

Until I spotted Shockwave:

"Resistance is futile."

Shockwave is a 'Super Bot,' which means he's the chase figure for this wave. So I suppose I was lucky to find him.

Shockwave is also available in a three pack, but this chase version is made of translucent purple plastic, which makes for a neat looking figure/vehicle.

I'm also tempted by the newest Bumblebee in this wave because he has his G1 toy's face, a face I have always preferred over his G1 cartoon face.

This Shockwave is simple but fun. His size and simplicity remind me of the G1 mini-cars. His 'transformation' of course reminds me of Topspin/Twintwist or Runamuck/Runabout, toys I loved as a kid. And like his spring-loaded fore-bearers, he doesn't always land on his feet after transforming.

The game component is probably as fun as Battle Beasts were when we were kids, so I don't begrudge it. Basically, you set your dial, then turn your guy into a vehicle and smash your opponent head-on. Whoever has the higher points or 'gun beats sword' or whatever wins. I guess...I didn't read the instructions.

Shockwave transforms into a nifty little tank, which is certainly appropriate enough.

Small cheap simple Transformers. Just like old times.

I think I'll hunt down that Bumblebee and then we'll just have to see if my Bot Shots collection expands beyond that.

Heavy Metalhead Noise

I didn't know anything about Metalhead before I got this action figure, just that he's a robot ninja turtle and that's pretty slick.

Turns out he started as an evil construct built by Krang, and was later 'fixed' for the side of good by Donatello. Ooh, an evil robot ninja turtle...even cooler!

I received this guy sans accessories- well, he had his backpack but it had a broken strap so I tossed it out. But it turns out you can pop off Metalhead's forearms and pop in his robo-nunchucks ala Trap-Jaw, Pretty cool, I may need to find his accessories someday so I can do so!

Until then I'm just content having a robot ninja turtle because who wouldn't be?

Playmobil Fi?ures Series 3 Aeon Flux

My local educational store finally got in their first shipment of Playmobil's blind bagged Fi?ures series 3, and even though they were pretty picked over by the time I got to them, I was able to squeeze my way to Aeon Flux!

There's no mistaking the fact that Playmobil based this unnamed Fi?ure after Charlize Theron's appearance in the 2005 film Aeon Flux. The hair, the chest window, the gun, it's all there.

I have never seen the Aeon Flux movie, so I don't know if she also runs around with an orange stick, but I do know Charlize's Aeon has a gun holster between her shoulder blades and the gun does fit into this 'holster' just fine:

Once again Playmobil hits one out of the park with an extraordinary and absolutely unexpected nod to popular culture.

Lara Croft, meet Aeon Flux. Now go kick some butt, ladies!

I only picked up Aeon this time around, in keeping with my self imposed 'masked characters and/or girls who kick ass' Playmobil collecting restrictions.

No one was ever able to decipher a code break for these blind bagged Fi?ures in past series, but here's Aeon Flux's 'code' just in case:

187 12 0506
002498
5244 01

Break Bats a Little Longer...

...longer with Big Red!

This is Bane as imagined in 'The Batman' cartoon of a few years back. This was never my favorite version of Bane, in fact this was always my second least favorite version. My least favorite version being from the *coughchoke* movie Batman and Robin. Although I admit, a movie accurate action figure of that Bane would be kind of neat. Oh, the paradox!

The toy is nice though - bulky and huge, he's a formidable foe for any Batman! And the design isn't half bad, especially if you forget that in The Batman he started out as a scrawny guy in a gimp costume before bulking out and turning red...long before Red Hulk ever hit the scene.

Bane has the 'action feature' of raising his arms and smashing them back down when you push his torso back. Not too shabby, and at least he doesn't have some sort of handle or armature sticking out of him to do so.

I AM SUNBUUUURNED!

I do like the venom tubing on this guy - more than most Bane designs, this stuff pumps all over his body. The translucent rubber it is made of really makes for a nice effect in person.

All in all, this Bane is worth tracking down for your collection of bat villains, especially now that The Dark Knight Rises has brought a little more respect to the character.

Catwoman Purrrsday :: Post-it Scribble

Just a quickie Catwoman Post-it scribble by me.

Harley Qwednesday :: Random Cartoon Pic

...because, you know, if Arkham Asylum says you are sane there's just no disputing the fact!

In other news it's my older (and boy do I mean OLDER!) sister's birthday today. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to give her a 'sane' bill of health! Happy birthday sis!

For more 'safe and sane' Harley Qwednesday fun, check out these past posts:
Harleen Quinzel Lego coming soon!
Sideshow Collectibles Harley Quinn dolly.
Custom Playmobil cheerleader Harley Quinn.

Comic Book Zen :: Cube Lube...whatthehell?!?!

Did anyone ever actually buy this? I mean, even if you were a burgeoning Rubik's Cube speed champion you probably just used something from home or your local hardware store, right? Please tell me no one was stupid enoughto buy a tube of flippin' Cube Lube!

Ad found in Detective Comics 515, June 1982.

Angry Hot Wheels Birds

As I mentioned on my K'Nex Blind Bagged Angry Birds post, I was expecting the Hot Wheels Angry Bird to hit soon.

Well, it didn't take long for me to find one!

This is the Hot Wheels Red Bird (not to be confused with the Redbird,) a 2012 New Model - #47/50.

Red Bird is a nice solid, heavy car. The red part is all die-cast. I just might have to use this guy in the next family Pinks race, which will probably take place around Thanksgiving.

A minion pig car is due out soon as well. Perfect for those crash-up derbys, Hot Wheels and Angry Birds style!