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Frustration With Blind Boxes – The Loyal Subjects MMPR and TMNT

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Walt

I’m not a huge fan of "blind box" things…I’d rather know exactly what I’m buying. But sometimes they can be kinda fun, especially when the odds of getting at least one that I want from a line is pretty good.

I recently bought one each of the Loyal Subjects‘ "Action VInyls" blindboxes TMNT and MIghty Morphin’ Power Rangers lines.

loyal_subjects_tmnt_01

Overall, there’s a 50% chance of getting one of the turtles themselves in the TMNT line, as all 4 are each 2/16 for a total of 8/16 rarities…

loyal_subjects_tmnt_02

I’m still missing Casey from the Funko Mystery Minis line, so at least having this version would be cool. And thanks to some NON-blind keychains, I know Splinter and Shredder would be cool to have…withOUT a chain coming from the back of their heads.

loyal_subjects_MMPR_01

On the Power Rangers side, though I’d prefer Green or Red, Blue or Pink wouldn’t be bad, and even Yellow would be cool for at least being one of the Rangers.

loyal_subjects_MMPR_02

Goldar would be cool as well…at least in appearance…and Lord Zedd would be quite cool, as far as I’m concerned.

For the MMPR line, the Black Ranger is 1/24, with a 1/48 White Ranger, and a 1/96 Red Ranger with Green Ranger gold shield. The odds certainly would not be in my favor whatsoever to get those (of those I’d want the White Ranger.

For the TMNT line, I believe there are also "chase" rare figures, but with the higher-than-1/16 rarity, again with the odds not being at all in my favor so not really a consideration.

Of all of the 2/16 figures for TMNT, the only one I really would not be interested in having as a lone/single figure is Karai.

And of all of the 2/16 figures for MMPR, the only one I really would not be interested in (lone/single or otherwise) is Rita.

I bought one single box from each line.

loyal_subjects_rita_and_karai

I should have just bought the TMNT Party Wagon or Batman ’66 Batmobile from the Funko Pops line, for the money I spent on these.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Total ($5!) Heroes

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Walt

I went into Walmart to get a frame for a puzzle (sadly, they had a slot marked for the exact size I wanted, but out of stock).

And me being me, I wandered by the toys, curious if they’d have any cool Power Rangers figures I’ve ignored (they didn’t). I decided to browse the clearance aisle, as there was a lot of open space in the action figure aisle, and I’ve noticed the stores resetting for summer and Jurassic World and such.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_front

I happened across this Total Heroes three-pack that I’ve seen several times before. It didn’t have a clearance sticker on it, but I did see where it had a stickered spot on the shelf…seeing the price, I went straight to a price scanner…the price had to be wrong.

The Total Heroes figures seem to be basically $9.99 at Walmart and Meijer (and I don’t think I’ve seen them at all at Target)…and $14.99 at Toys R Us. So this pack being a $29.99 thing was a reasonable price (but I already had Superman and a different-costumed Batman). $30 for Luthor was never on the table.

At the price-scanner, the price was confirmed as correct! $5.00. For this 3-pack. So even though the Superman is a flat-out dupe, the Batman is a different costume than the one I have so technically new, and Luthor is wholly original to my Total Heroes collection…

And $5.00 for Luthor is a price I would’ve paid anyway.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_back

These join Superman, Batman, Sinestro, Flash, Steel, and Hawkman…leaving me all the more interested now in tracking down Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Mr. Freeze.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_profiles

I’m not a HUGE fan of the line compared to some others…but even with stuff like Marvel Legends I never cared for the hyper-poseable nature…I just like having the characters at all, and in scale with each other.

And when stuff like Marvel Legends are $20+ and even the little 3.75″ figures are upwards of $9.99 to $12.99+ these days…I’m all for bigger, somewhat less poseable yet cheaper figures.

Of course, getting 3 figures for $5 is gonna make it a BIT challenging to mentally “justify” $10/1 with any others.

While it’s not what I went into the store for, with only inflated online prices and no sign of Legacy Dragonzord or Legacy Megazord on shelves anywhere (only Legacy White Tigerzord)…I’ll content myself with this as an amazing random bargain find!

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Kai’s Fire Mech…Again

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Walt

While I’d bought and assembled one of these awhile back, kicking off my love of Lego Mechs…I wanted to give it a second go, this time for my cube at work.

kais_fire_mech_pieces

Though I haven’t seen the set in Walmart or Target for awhile, I found it at a Barnes and Noble, and bought it.

A few days later, on a lunch break I opened it and managed to get it completely assembled.

kais_fire_mech_assembled

I now have two Ninjago mechs and a Mixel on my cube as well as a couple of mini Chima mechs…and think I may want some more…

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

White Ranger Tiger Power…

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Walt

white_tigerzord_box_top

Though it’s been several years since the “return” of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, when I finally got myself a Megazord…a number of factors brought the toys back to my attention, and I learned of this Legacy line. And while I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord, this is the only one I could find at a quasi-sorta-reasonable price, and pulled the trigger on buying it.

white_tigerzord_box_front

I really like the front of the box, spotlighting the mighty White Tigerzord in Tiger Mode, though we get a little inset of the thing in Fighter Mode. The photo doesn’t do the box justice–the shiny gold of the logo lettering is nicely offset from the sparking green background.

white_tigerzord_box_side1   white_tigerzord_box_side2

The sides are also nicely designed with the White Ranger himself on one side, and a small diagram of the White Tigerzord’s ability to “play nicely” with the Megazord. This is a bit out of continuity, though–as the Tigerzord didn’t come onto the scene until after the original Zords were done, though it worked with the Thunderzords. Still…if I get the Legacy Megazord, you won’t find me complaining about its compatibility here!

white_tigerzord_box_back

The back of the box shows the two primary modes of the zord, with a snippet of information about Tommy and the zord.

white_tigerzord_packaging

The packaging is nice and simple–a tray to hold the zord, the sword/tail, and the folder paper instructions. No fancy ties, no rubber bands, no tape to cut, no real HASSLE (unlike many toys nowadays!)

white_tigerzord_instructions

A single sheet of paper shows a diagram of how to switch the model between its primary modes…as well as how to connect it to other Zords (sold separately). I had some slight trouble with the legs and a heart-stopping moment thinking I’d broken the thing before realizing how great the combination of plastic and metal parts could be.

white_tigerzord_profile_front

The Warrior Mode of White Tigerzord (and truly, my favorite…as a fan of Mechs and giant robots…). View from the front…

white_tigerzord_profile_side1

View from the side…

white_tigerzord_profile_back

Continuing the rotation, view from the back…

white_tigerzord_profile_side2

…and view from the other side.

white_tigerzord_tigermode_front

Tiger Mode from the front…

white_tigerzord_tigermode_side1

…and Tiger Mode from the side.

white_tigerzord_with_megazord

And finally, White Tigerzord next to the 2010 edition of the Megazord.

While I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord at present, I’m going to have to wait as that one is well outside any sort of reasonable price range to me at the moment. I believe there’s a new version of the Megazord due out soon as part of the Legacy line, and I may try to get that at some point. That may be at least partially dependent upon finding the Legacy Dragonzord for a decent price. I know there’s also Titanus, but that is significantly further outside my price range, and though I do recall the occasional appearance and formation of the Ultrazord…I don’t care enough about that one.

This Legacy zord is a good bit heavier than the all-plastic Megazord, and definitely a higher quality by weight and feel, as well as the moving parts. This is easily one of the single most expensive toys I’ve bought, but it’s also one of the larger ones, which somewhat offsets things a bit.

While there’s a little bit of buyer’s remorse in how I’d so prefer the Dragonzord…ultimately I’m glad I did buy this, and it’s going to be a great addition to my collection.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Giving In: I Bought the Thanos Pop Vinyl

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Walt

I don’t think I even knew about the Thanos Pop vinyl previously; I happened across it in mid-March in a Hot Topic when I was walking at a local mall.

pop_thanos_vinyl

I was unwilling to pay the $18.99 or $19.99 or whatever the price was. In December 2014 I’d found one of these "oversized" Pop figures of Nicol Bolas (Magic: The Gathering) for about $16, which didn’t seem too bad for what it was. But I was not willing to pay a full $19/$20 for one of these.

Finding this one for about the price of Nicol Bolas and not finding other stuff I was interested in while visiting a comic shop, I decided to just get this before it became a way-expensive hunt later or I paid more including shipping buying online than just buying it and having it in-hand for the instant gratification.

This joins my 1990s Silver Surfer animated series Thanos, my Marvel 3.75" Thanos, and my Marvel Select Thanos…leaving me offhand still seeking the blind box "mystery mini" Thanos and the Mighty Muggs Thanos that was out some years back.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

TMNT (2012) Toys: Bebop and Rocksteady

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Walt

I was rather surprised several weeks ago to learn of these figures’ pending presence in Walmarts (something about being “exclusive” to Walmart and available “everywhere” in January or some such). Surprised for that exclusivity (ugh) and their very existence.

I have mixed feelings on ’em; I’ve been more than fine with a number of other characters having multiple iterations, but to me, These two don’t really have much need to exist. And yet though I say that…I bought ’em both first chance I could, and I’ll be interested in seeing them on the show whenever I (eventually) catch up.

Though the profiles suggest their being far different than the originals, and even the contemporary comics versions (which are probably my favorite iteration).

rocksteady_front

rockstead_profile

Rocksteady lacks much visually of what I’d expect of the character, given the popularity seems (to me, in my mind) to be based specifically on the character in the classic ’80s/’90s cartoon. Here he’s basically “just” a mutant rhino who happens to share the name with the original.

bebop_front

bebop_profile

Same with Bebop as said about Rocksteady above…though I do “see” a bit more of the classic Bebop in this version than I see of the similarities in versions of Rocksteady.

Those pencil-thin legs look really awkward to me, and I can’t say I’m particularly thrilled with the design.

The back of the card shows some new mutated version of Michelangelo, and a “serpent” version of Karai…two figures I have zero interest in. Having picked up Tiger Claw, Slash, the “original comics” turtles and whatnot, at the moment I think I’m pretty content on the TMNT toys.

Though one of these days I’m gonna (finally) bite the bullet and buy that darned van…

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT (2012) Toys: Tiger Claw & Robotic Foot Soldier

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Walt

I recently came across a couple more of the TMNT toys I hadn’t yet seen before. I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d come across Tiger Claw this year or not—I’d half figured I’d have to wait until sometime early in the New Year to find the figure. But I spotted him, and put him right into my cart with hardly an extra thought.

I flipped through other figures on the pegs, and noticed the Robotic Foot Soldier as well. Conceptually I was half interested in the figure, but on actually seeing it, decided I have no particular interest…so I left that one “in the wild” after photographing it.

tiger_claw_front

tiger_claw_profile

robotic_foot_soldier_front

robotic_foot_soldier_profile

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Hunter/Prey Superman/Doomsday and Vintage TMNT

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Walt

Over the weekend while visiting a friend, he took me to a local store that had a mix of toys (mostly vintage stuff), video games (lotta vintage stuff), comics (vintage back issues and 25-cent books and more recent graphic novels/collected volumes).

I was rather thrilled to see some vintage TMNT toys, and several hanging in “home-made” packaging.

I was awed when I spotted a very familiar but unseen-in-person-in-many-years action figure pack:

hunter_prey_superman_doomsday_double_pack_front

I distinctly remember having seen this and several of the other figures in the line “back in the day” while out shopping with my aunt and sister. But at the time I thought I was “out of” getting action figures and such, to say nothing of whatever this thing cost retail.

Seeing the $12 price tag on this, I took it off the peg and vowed to myself if I bought nothing else that night, I was buying this. At this scale, either one of the figures would be $10 or more, if not $12 individually.

Add in the fancy packaging with the comic book and either one would probably be $15 or more at Toys R Us or such present-day. But this is a vintage–or near-vintage–pack, of TWO figures…so $6/figure plus the comic still there? Awesome. (And I do have a loose copy of the comic somewhere, pulled from a quarter bin at some point in the last few years).

hunter_prey_superman_doomsday_double_pack_back

While I wouldn’t mind getting a couple of the other figures, I’m not too keen on yet another quasi-standard Superman just to get Massacre, and I still have hopes of someday tracking down DC Direct versions of Steel, Superboy, and the Eradicator.

The Hunter-Prey Superman with Doomsday is the gem of the bunch, to me, though…and one of the coolest purchases I’ve made recently.

vintage_metalhead_and_foot_ninja

For $5 apiece, I snagged this vintage Metalhead and Foot Ninja. I was already paying $9ish/ea for the “reprint” Foot, adding another to the mix for $5 is well worthwhile to me.

And my recent fascination with having the various versions of TMNT figures through the years made Metalhead a no-brainer as well. While these purchases move me into new territory–buying actual vintage objects, “copies” of what I remember having had a different copy of in my youth–still a cool purchase…especially for the price!

vintage_foot_ninja

vintage_metalhead

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

TMNT Toys in the Wild: Original Comic Book Leonardo & Michelangelo

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Walt

It was just very recently I saw something about exclusive figure-and-comic Leo & Mikey “Original Comic Book” versions. Of course, those are to be “Exclusive” to Toys R Us.

However, I found the “basic” figures at Target recently for $1 cheaper than usual (on sale this week), and opted to go with these rather than waste time and money later trying to “hunt” them down.

TMNT_original_comic_book_leonardo_front

I definitely like the look, and glad they’re “colorized” rather than being a black and white figure. The original comics may have been black-and-white, but that’s a factor of the medium, not the characters.

TMNT_original_comic_book_leonardo_profile

I’m also glad for the variant color scheme both on the front and backing of the package, making it extremely simple to look for these without having to touch every single figure on a peg.

I nearly put these back…but they were just way too cool to me to pass up. I just hope finding Raph and Don won’t be too much hassle…!

TMNT_original_comic_book_michelangelo_front

Of course, given the turtles all originally wore red masks, I may actually have to use these photos to keep the characters straight later, if they’re separated from their weapons.

TMNT_original_comic_book_michelangelo_profile

It’s also interesting to see the various different art styles on the packaging…I’m almost surprised they didn’t change up the logo to the classic, for these…but they’re still part of the “current” overall line of TMNT toys.

But of all the “variant” turtles…the Original Comic Book versions seem the most distinct, and by far the most “worthy” “variants” of all…at least to me!

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Krang, Utroms, and the Kraang

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Walt

krang_utroms_kraang_thumbKrang is one element of the classic cartoon TMNT that in retrospect I’m not all that fond of. The toy, on the other hand, brings back some “fun memories.” “Nostalgia” might be a better word…I don’t know.

I recently posted about finding Classic Collection Krang at Toys R Us, and having that figure now adds a character to a small grouping that I own, that have appeared in some form across all three “main” TMNT toy lines (1980s, 2003, 2012).

While the pink brain itself has been missing from my collection for I-don’t-know-HOW-many-years, the Krang’s Android Body has been around my apartment for awhile…a cool (if incomplete) oversized “figure.”

krang_android_body_empty

The android body is about 2 1/2 times as tall as a basic Turtle, though the angle of my photo makes it look a bit bigger.

Krang’s walking contraption is–at top of the bubble–about as tall or only slightly shorter than one of the turtles.

krang_figure01

Of course, though it was the basis of the “main” figure itself for awhile, the bubble contraption I believe only appeared in the first handful of episodes of the cartoon before the android body was introduced.

krang_android_body_with

Though the idea of this creature essentially being a “brain in the stomach” was odd to me at first, back in the day. It wasn’t TOO long, though, before I discovered via the comics that Krang was based on an entire race of aliens from the comics…

utroms

…and part of what I so greatly enjoyed about the 2003 animated series was its adherence to the core elements of the Mirage comics. Here are three Utroms with android bodies from the 2003 line. They came with the little hover-platforms, so can fit either into the android body or as they’ve been shown to get around on the hover platforms without the bodies.

kraang

While Utroms were consolodated into the singular Krang character for the 1980s cartoon, they were introduced as generic villains in the 2012 series as a race called The Kraang…in OBVIOUS homage to the 1980s. These again are brains in the android bodies, though I haven’t bothered to pull enough to pop one out…they don’t come RIGHT out, and I don’t feel like tearing one if they’re really glued in there.

krang_utroms_kraang

So, as with the turtles themselves, I now have a full complement across all 3 “generations” of figures for a given character.

Of course, I’d love to find the “regular-size” figure that came out late in the 1980s run. Sadly I doubt I’d find one for a decent price…I’d be happy to find one “loose” for under $10. Still sounds a bit steep, recalling the turtle figures were once $3.49 apiece. But then, many modern figures are $10 anyway, and to get a vintage figure even without the card for that price isn’t horrible. I do remember seeing it once or twice, but had “outgrown” getting the turtle figures at that point (obviously I’ve grown back in).

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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