Owner: Toy Bender URL:http://www.toybender.com Join Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:19:20 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Toy Bender is a blog dedicated towards toy collecting, but more than that it covers anything fun or funny from the world of toys. Site statistics:Click here
Toy Ads That Time Forgot Tuesday: 02-05-07 2007-02-06 10:00:50 Let’s bust out an old Star Wars ad from a cartoon that I fondly remember:
That’s right this is for Droids, one of the two Star Wars Saturday morning cartoons. Both Droids and it’s sister cartoon Ewoks first aired at the very end of Star Wars original popularity, so naturally toys made from these licenses are some of the rarest ones in the crazy world Star Wars collecting. In fact, in Brian’s Toys latest buy list they were offering two grand for a loose Vlix. Good luck searching for one at yard sales to get rich quick, Vlix was more common in Brazil and was basically nonexistent in the states.
Who knew that those kids in the ad are playing with a small fortune worth of toys, or that those very toys went on clearance racks in the 80s?
Toys, toy collecting, Star Wars, action figure, Kenner, Droids, cartoon, advertisement, Brian’s Toys, Vlix Read more:Toy Ads
, Tuesday
Show Hasbro Your Lightsaber 2007-02-06 10:00:48 Hasbro is really pushing its new spring loaded lightsabers in a big way and they’re currently running a fantastic contest to try to move some of these suckers. The prize? How’s about a trip for four to Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles and a one-of-a-kind chrome Force Action Lightsaber
? As a Star Wars Convention veteran, the trip alone is a hell of a prize if you’re a Star Wars fan.
To enter, all you have to do is make a video of yourself using said lightsaber in some creative manner. For the boring official rules go to StarWars.com. Here’s the YouTube promotion video for the contest:
If you enter and win the contest, let me know. I plan on getting some Toy Bender representation at the con. Maybe we can document some of your big pimping lifestyle and make all the lesser nerds jealous… like me.
toys, toy collecting, Lightsaber, Star Wars, Contest, Star Wars Celebration IV, YouTube Read more:Hasbro
Possible New Lego Set in Germany? 2007-02-05 22:05:05 Over on the RebelScum.com forums, a user has posted a picture of a Lego TIE tank set with a Shadow Trooper mini-fig on display at the German toy fair.
Now if this real, this marks a big step into the mucky suckitude of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The TIE tank, or Crawler as it is officially known, has got to be one of the dumbest of all the E.U. vehicles. Really, how brilliant is it to have an assault vehicle with almost no armor and no rotating gun turret? The damn thing would have to have the pilot facing the enemy, which means he’d be completely exposed to enemy fire. Hell, he couldn’t even see anything besides what was in front of him. Those treads are so big and exposed that they are just asking for a Wookie with a wooden missile launcher to blow them apart. Don’t even get me started on the source of the TIE tank either, which is the comic book series Dark Empire that features Palpatine being resurrected as a clone. Talk about crapping on Vader’s tri Read more:Germany
, Possible
Halo Heroclix? WizKids Announces Collectable Halo Game 2007-02-05 12:56:52 If you’re a Halo fan and need an excuse to play with some Halo toys, WizKids has got the answer for you. The gaming company is releasing a Halo tabletop miniatures game in the style of Heroclix. There aren’t too many details released so far, but a few of the main differences between this game and Heroclix are some game mechanics that include weapon swaps, figure respawning, and most importantly the addition of vehicular combat. These additions to the gameplay will definitely make it feel more like the videogame, but I’m not too sure if that’s something I’d want in a table top game. Time will tell how these rules work out in a gaming session.
Please note that the little Master Chief in the picture is for size reference only and he’s not striking a Jesus Christ pose or in the middle of a jumping jack.
I’m wondering how these figures will be able to fit into the vehicles considering if it is a true “clix” type figure, then they will
Big Arse Gundam! 2007-02-05 12:00:24 While cruising around the web this weekend I found a rather interesting Japanese toy. It seems like you can buy a gigantic ass Gundam figure measuring a little over four feet tall.
The cost? Only about 2,890.97 American dollars. What a bargain, I say! Unfortunately, really tiny, cute Japanese girls are NOT included.
toys, toy collecting, action figure, Japan, Gundam
Boredom Breaker Sunday 2007-02-04 20:57:02 The web sure slows down on the weekend doesn’t it? In an effort to keep both you and I entertained, I found some videos that I’d like to share in a new feature I like to call BoredomBreakerSunday
. Sit back, relax, and check out this video that is a take on Indiana Jones done with Legos, complete with a great twist at the end.
toys, toy collecting, Lego, Indiana Jones
Toys…. 2007-02-02 16:05:01 Here’s a funny commercial I found awhile ago in case you need an extra pick me up today:
Pee-Wee Herman Update 2007-02-02 11:30:40 For those of you eagerly waiting in breathless anticipation for images of the new Pee-Wee Herman
toys, you’re in luck.
Head on over to Toy News International for the rest of the pics. As previously reported, these puppies are reproductions of the orginal 80s line of figures. Brand new figures are expected to be released sometime in the fall.
toys, toy collecting, action figure, Pee-wee Herman Read more:Update
The Hunt: Clone Capture 2007-02-01 12:00:17 For those of you who don’t care about my personal toy hunts, please visit your favorite internet pornography site until my next update. For the rest of you, I’m proud to say that my clone-less toy hunt streak has finally ended with the capture of two new troopers.
Lately, I’ve had zero luck finding any of the new clones. Today I just happened to leave work early (as I am sick) and I went to Target to pick up the finest sinus medication that money could buy. When I spotted a lone Padme Amidala as I approached the toy section, I knew that a new assortment had arrived recently. Had I gotten there on time? A quick search revealed the truth. To my amazement, I found two clone troopers that I’d never seen waiting for me on the peg hooks and not in the hands of some other greasy, less deserving Star Wars nerd.
Pictured left is the Elite Corps Clone Trooper, who is most famous for fighting under Yoda and then failing to gun him down. Chumps. The Clone on the right is
Futurama Fans Rejoice 2007-01-31 13:00:31 Here’s a quick little news item that might get fans of the canceled (eventually to be uncancelled… if that’s a word) series Futurama
. Toynami is making some new toys based off the series and the first two figures I can’t be happier with:
You can’t beat Phillip J. Fry or Dr. Zoidberg. Zoidberg has a special place in my heart. He kind of reminds me of myself, if I was a lobster creature from outer space. It’s surprising that bad boy robot Bender* didn’t make this first cut, but hopefully there’s enough Zoidberg loving to make it worth the wait.
*Bender has no association with Toy Bender. It’s just an unfortunate coincidence.
Toys, toy collecting, Futurama, action figure, Toynami, Phillip J. Fry, Dr. Zoidberg, Bender
Easy-Bake Easy-Danger! Hasbro Recalls Easy Bake Ovens 2007-02-06 21:45:14 Hasbro
has recalled about 985,000 EZ-Bake Ovens
for repair due to some children getting burned. From the Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Hazard: Young children can insert their hands into the oven's opening and get their hands or fingers caught, posing an entrapment and burn hazard.
Ouch! Not only is this an immediate threat just think about what kind of effect this might have in the future for home baked tasty treats. Millions of adults may be too afraid to make a Hello Kitty cupcake because of the shear psychological trauma inflicted from their Easy Bake Oven. This is a problem that could lead up to a national crisis within a decade.
If you own one of these ovens what should you do? Throw your hands up in the air and scream at the top of your lungs? No. The solution is:
Consumers should contact Easy-Bake between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET 7 days a week to receive a free retrofit kit with consumer warning at (800) 601-8418. Caregivers should keep the Easy Bake Oven away from ch Read more:Danger
G.I. Joe Collector's Club Figures Announced 2007-02-07 11:00:23 The G.I. Joe Collector
’s Club has announced their newest Club exclusive figures, and man is the 3 3/4ths scale a good one:
The 2007 3 3/4″ figure will be Copperhead…In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - We are following our tradition of revising the new sculpt figure designs, and offering this exclusive version of the Cobra swamp fighter/speedboat driver. He is presented in his original uniform colors along with a removable helmet. So this is your chance to see him "unmasked" and obtain another cool figure that Hasbro missed during the series. The figure includes classic weapons (M-203 rifle and machete) along with lenticular membership filecard!
Sweet chickens in heat, I like this figure. If you want to get your hands on one, just join the club. Information can be found here on how to do so. For the third class mail rate, the fee is only 35 bucks a year. Included in your membership is a newsletter and some other stuff to keep Read more:Figures
Medicom's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Solid Snake 2007-02-08 12:00:22 Medicom, maker of totally awesome toys, has created a SolidSnake
figure for the upcoming PS3 game, Metal
Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
. They’ve also caused me to write the longest post title ever. Click here to check out more of the story on Toy News International.
Apparently, Solid Snake here has got some sort of crazy exoskeleton that allows him to be posed and still look like a realistic person. Normally I’d file this under cool, but I got to think twice when the term exoskeleton comes up. Hopefully, Snake here won't be laying eggs in your ear while you sleep.
This figure is scheduled to ship in November and there’s no word on the cost. Since it's an imported Medicom figure, expect to shell out a bit of geld from your hard earned paycheck.
toys, toy collecting, action figure, Metal Gear
Solid, Guns of the Patriots, Solid Snake, PS3, Medicom Read more:Metal Gear Solid
Madman Preview Figure 2007-02-08 20:12:29 I’m most likely the only one that’s going to care about this figure, but EW.com has a nifty New York Toy Fair preview that includes a Madman
figure from the upcoming Marvel Legends style independent comic figures.
As I’ve said before on Toy Bender, this figure rocks simply because Madman was created by Mike Allred who is the cat’s ass. Please Hasbro, now that you have the Marvel license make some other figures drawn by Allred… like the X-Statix character Dead Girl! Wouldn’t Dead Girl and Madman make a great figure pairing?
If you want to find out more about Madman, check out this link.
toy, toy collecting, action figure, comic book, superhero, Marvel Legends, X-Statix, Dead Girl, Image, Madman Read more:Preview
Tickle Me Elmo…. On Fire! 2007-02-08 17:51:04 This video is hitting the net in pretty big way. It’s a video of someone setting Tickle
Me Elmo on fire, and boy is it disturbing. Elmo keeps laughing the whole time his entire tiny body is going up in flames. This is the dream of anyone who hates how he basically took over Sesame Street. What a jerk.
Edit: I just realized that this is why the robots will kill us all.
toys, Sesame Street, Muppets, Fire, horror, Tickle Me Elmo
The Venture Brothers Figure Wish List 2007-02-09 13:00:51 Here it is, the long awaited conclusion to the VentureBrothers
toy wish countdown… but wait a minute, you say. How could it possibly start at number 20? Well dear readers, I have made a mistake. When I made the list, I somehow came up a figure short when I got to the top ten. So, I’ve adjusted it to correct my errors and you come out the winner.
First off, let’s explore some possible special sets:
The Impossibles box set:
This super family examines what it might be like if Reed Richards was a controlling psychopath and the rest of the family were just as messed up. Like chocolate and peanut butter, they’d be best together in one nice box set.
Original Team Venture:
If you want a super set full of action heroes, this would be it. You'd get Dr. Jonas Venture Sr., The Action Man, Colonel Horace Gentleman, Kano (with hands that are delicate enough to crush a butterfly), and Otto Aquarius. I'd prefer them to be in their younger ass kicking forms, but the old
McFarlane Toys: Lost, Simpsons, and Beowulf 2007-02-10 09:56:52 It looks like I need to do a little catch up work with Mr. McFarlane
and his toy company. This last week the company had three newsworthy announcements. The first was that they had the license for the upcoming Simpsons
post-mortem, shark jumping film. Since there are no pictures at this time, but here’s a representation of the shambling corpse the Simpsons has become:
Lost fans and the mainstream media will have their burning desire for incredibly ordinary looking people molded into unmoving pieces of plastic quenched with series two of the Lost action figure line, which is expected to be released sometime in July.
I can’t believe it's taken this long to make guy with beard and Hanes t-shirt!
McFarlane Toys also has the toy license for the upcoming film Beowulf (and I hope you know that the film is based off an 18th century epic poem).
Don’t worry McFarlane fans; I’ve already used up my snarky comments for the day. There’s no word on when these fi
New Toy Fair 2007: News In Brief (continued!) 2007-02-11 07:25:16
Let’s Transform and roll out the toy news.
Marvel
It looks like Spiderman is joining the ranks with Star Wars and Transformers in the trend of becoming a Mr. Potatohead. Spiderman is now Spider-Spud.
HeroScape, the game that lets you play a miniatures battle with teams made of Zombies, robots, Revolutionary War soldiers, and Vikings, ninjas, and the list goes on, is now adding Marvel heroes to its roster. Man, this is becoming the game to get if you’re a nerd.
Can’t get enough cute Superhero Squad action? Who can't? Check out this link for a few pics of new heroes.
DC
Mattel’s new corporate strategy? Rip off Hasbro. Two new Mattel DC superhero lines are startling similar to two Hasbro Marvel properties. First up is DC Super Friends, which falls into the Spiderman and Friends cutesy figure category. The other is Battleague, a game that reminds me of Hasbro’s Attackix. Good work R&D team.
G.I. Joe
The G.I. Joe line has come out swinging, and IR Read more:Brief
New Toy Fair 2007: News In Brief 2007-02-10 19:30:10
While I can’t be there in New York for the fabulous Toy Fair of 2007 (My Toy Bender travel budget is around .45 cents), and I’m a bad toy blogger and won’t be able to provide by the second updates. (I have to run to the airport to pick someone up, but the person in question is a hot female so forgive me) I will give you some quick news links as I can, so here are some highlights that I’ve found online thus far:
Transformers
The Transformers toys from the forthcoming new film were officially announced this weekend. If you want to check them out, head on over to here.
Marvel
Rejoice Marvel: Zombies fans, Diamond Select Toys is making a line of Marvel Zombies figures. Images will be released during Toy Fair, so stay tuned.
DC
Toy News International has all the DC figure news you desire. Head on over there for some cool pics of some really great figures.
Videogames
Kotobukiya has a nifty figure of Sora from Kingdom Hearts II at Toy Fair of the main character&# Read more:Brief
New Toy Fair 2007: News In Brief (continued!) 2007-02-11 20:15:26
Just when you thought I was done, kablam! More toy news on the internets.
Pirates of Caribbean at World’s End
Pirates! Here’s a whole pirate boatload of Pirates of the Caribbean toy pictures.
Transformers
If you thought the Chewbacca and Han Solo Transformers that combined into a Millennium Falcon was a dumb idea, how do you feel about a Darth Vader that turns into the Death Star?
Lego
Lego’s got something special for you Lego obsessed Star Wars fans out there. It’s a Millennium Falcon that’s in scale with the mini-figs. Awesome!
Battlestar Galactica
I last reported on Battlestar Galactica figures way back in January and we finally get some pictures of the series. Check out Six, she’s hotter than her real life counterpart!
Star Trek
Here’s some great pics of some sweet upcoming Star Trek figures, including my much loved Khan series of figs, some nifty Next Generation goodness, and some neat-o Mego style classic figures.
Marvel
Want to see s Read more:Brief
Boredom Breaker Sunday 2007-02-11 14:00:53 For this week’s video, I’ve got something that is a fantastic street race involving Hot Wheels cars. There are some pretty impressive special effects and set pieces in this bad boy that have got to be seen to be believed.
I originally found this on a fellow 451 Press blog, Automotive Blogger. Let me just say right now that it’s a fantastic blog if you even have just the slightest interest in cars.
I have to warn you all that this video comes from MySpace. Don’t worry; it will not molest you in any way.
RoadRaceAdd to My Profile | More Videos
toy, toy collecting, Hot Wheels, race, chase, MySpace, video, car, automotive Read more:Boredom
, Breaker
, Sunday
Web Spotlight: Bat-Blog 2007-02-12 19:29:54 While wading through the internet looking for toy info and news, I found a great blog that I’d like to highlight. It is Bat -Blog, a Batman Toys and collectables blog. While I’m not the world’s number one Batman fan, I was completly and utterly obsessed with Tim Burton’s first Batman film as a kid, so old Bats has a special place in my heart. Bat - Blog is great, because it features some of the best, most interesting, and some times craziest Batman related items and happenings I’ve ever seen.
I don’t cover superhero toys as much as I’d like to and this blog covers Batman more than I’d ever hope to. If you’re a Batman fan head on over to Bat - Blog to catch up on tons of great Batman stuff.
Take for instance:
This nifty Batman serial poster with a rather inneudo filled line about Robin.
Or these guys:
European Club DJs that dress up like Batman and Robin.
Simply Bat-tastic.
Read more:Spotlight
, Web Spotlight
Toy Ads That Time Forgot Tuesday: 02-13-07 2007-02-13 18:38:27 This week’s high calorie, no fat serving of toy Ads That Time Forgot visits a small section of the 80s toy universe:
Starting with the basic scientific concept that dinosaurs rule, toy maker Tyco decided to build upon that foundation the only way that they knew how, by taking wicked cool dinosaurs and outfitting them with missiles and laser bazookas. This then created the wet dream of many a twelve year old boy in the form of Dino-Riders. Even before Dino-riders came out, I was up-armoring my plastic molded dinosaur toys with spring loaded missile launchers (otherwise known as pens). I’m guessing that this is some sort of stepping stone in nerd evolution.
If I was in the board room the day this concept was brought up, my head would have exploded. The only words the design team would have to say would be, “Dinosaurs with lasers” and I’d have had a heart attack and died a happy man. My friends would say, “He died doing what he loved, thinking abou Read more:Toy Ads
, Tuesday
Lego's Big Daddy Supreme: The Millennium Falcon 2007-02-14 13:00:44 One of the biggest bits of news to come out of the ‘07 New York Toy Fair is Lego’s new version of the iconic Star Wars craft, The MillenniumFalcon
. This time around this time it’s called the Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon, and for good reason as it is both ultimate and for serious collectors.
As you can see this sucker is big (click here for more pictures). This set is Lego’s biggest set ever coming in with 5,000 pieces. There is no way you’d be able to set yourself down and expect to be done building this sucker in an afternoon, unless you’re one of those globetrotting pro-builders that gets all the young Hollywood starlets. The official stats of the final build are, “33.1 inches long x 22.2 inches wide x 8.3 inches high.” In other words, this set is huge. The best part of this enormous set is that it is to scale with the mini-figures. Imagine the dioramas you could create with this beast. (Check out the full press rele Read more:Big Daddy
, Daddy
, Supreme
Starving for Some Goonies Action? Mezco's Got You Covered 2007-02-15 20:26:42 During the 2007 New York Toy Fair, Mezco announced a line from the hit 80s film Goonies
. Unfortunately, the only pictures available are on the Mezco forums, which you need to be a member to see. Here’s a direct link to the forum post if your salivating at the prospect of getting your hands on a Chunk figure.
How would Chunk react to news that he’s getting his own figure? I think the answer is obvious:
toys, toy collecting, action figure, Goonies, Movie, Mezco Toyz, Toy Fair Read more:Action
, Covered
, Starving
Metal Gear Solid 4: Some Raiden Love'n 2007-02-15 18:26:18 I’ll admit it, I’m the world’s lamest gamer. I pretty much lost interest in Metal
Gear Solid
2 when I got to the fat guy on rollerblades with bombs strapped to him boss, so I never did get to all the stuff with Raiden
and ultra confusing plot nor did I play the last game. However, elements in Guns of the Patriots like the cyborg/ninja Raiden have started to peak some interest in the series again.
Check out this Raiden figure who is a perfect compliment to the previously reported MGS 4: Solid Snake figure by Medicom.
Apparently Raiden looks pale because his blood has been replaced by some white artificial blood. Poor bastard. At least the upswing is that he’s a hyper-cool ninja now so that’s got to count for something. Cyborg Ninja (below) was my favorite Metal Gear
Solid character, so it’s cool to see he’s sort of returning in some form.
toys, toy collecting, action figure, Metal Gear Solid
, Guns of the Patriots, Raiden, PS3, Med
Lego News Block: New Exo-Force on the Way 2007-02-17 03:24:08
During the New York 2007 Toy Fair, Lego had some groovy new Exo-Force
sets. It’s time to give the series the respect and I’ve been meaning to give for awhile now. Even though I detest nearly 99% of all anime, I do love giant robots and I ended up getting Stealth Hunter, Grand Titan, and the Toys R Us exclusive (and best mech so far) Supernova before I could stop myself. My roommate has the sweet looking tank, the Mobile Defense Tank and I have to say that I’m pretty envious.
If you don’t dig on the anime style pilots, but love giant robots like me, my solution was to ditch them in favor of some spare clone mini-figs I got laying around. Hey, if there can be 78 different planet destroying weapons in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, then clones can pilot mechs.
The last wave of figures was just as cool, the Shadow Crawler, which features a skeleton in a rear “prison pod.”
Prison pod my ass, that’s a vat of acid. Just look at that awesome ske
This Month in ToyFare: Issue #116 April 2007 2007-02-19 13:00:47 Is it me or has it taken too long for this month’s ToyFare
fix? Let’s get to this, there’s big, big things this month, especially for your favorite toy blogger guy! Uh… that would be me of course.
This issue marks a big change for our favorite toy mag as it’s now a more “standard” magazine size. That’s right, after years of being a small and compact Toy Fare can now stand shoulder to shoulder with your copies of Cat Fancy and Penthouse. I’ve got to admit that at first I was a little nervous about the new size. It’s hard to accept change, especially when ToyFare has been the same since I graduated high school. Now that it’s in my hands, this is a good look and a great direction for the magazine. Good work, Lords of ToyFare.
Page 6: I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce the new format than this Inside the Monkeyhouse. Like Jon Gutierrez, I too long for a rocketship of my own.
Page 9: The prospect of a Beth Read more:April
, Month
Toy Ads That Time Forgot Tuesday: The Zorcom Space Box 2007-02-20 13:15:28 There are a lot of toy ads I find in comics that make me wistful for the toys of my youth. There are still others, many more I’m afraid, that beg the question, “Just what in the hell is that?” The Zorcom Space
ship is just such a toy.
What a fabulous cardboard box… I mean spaceship! You know, it looks like someone took the old joke, “I just bought the kid an expensive toy and they only wanted to play with the box… ha ha ha I’m so funny and intellegent” to a whole other level. That or they thought that they’d cash in on that awesome market that refrigerator boxes have the corner on. Yes, I know I’m going to get an email from someone crying about how this was their favorite toy ever and that I’m completely wrong, but this thing has all the markings of cheap crap.
Example:
How fantastic, the box only has printing on one side so they turned the boring part into a super fantastic fantasy zone of boundless imagination just l Read more:Toy Ads
, Tuesday
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