In the wild, mouse at the ready, hunting down links
A photo of a Hasbro Beast Machines Mirage.
There were some stellar Vehicon designs in Beast Machines — Mega Tankorr and Deluxe Jetstorm are still among my favourite Transformers — but Mirage isn’t one of them.
This Basic-priced Vehicon had a decent Formula 1-ish vehicle mode with a satisfying transformation but the robot mode was decidedly odd. Strange proportions coupled with significant kibble on the forearms meant it was difficult to make out the robot mode.
Posted in Pix, Toys, Transformers.
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– Saturday, April 21, 2007
Singapore’s G.I. Joe collectors.
The article is on the Ministry of Defence’s site. Odd or entirely appropriate?
Kids sell toys for dad.
“Three brave youngsters are selling their favourite toys on the internet to send `the best dad in the world’ to America for medical treatment that could extend his life.”
The geek: the tastemakers of our generation.
“Hard-core fans represent a small piece of the viewing public, but they influence geek culture, journalists, Wall Street. You don’t want them to trash your project.”
Posted in Web.
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– Friday, April 20, 2007
The articulation is very impressive for its time. There’s a ball-joint for the head, swivel/hinge combos for the shoulders, swivel joints for the upper arms, hinge joints for the elbows, ball joints for the hips and hinge joints for the knees. The final articulation point is at the waist where there’s an O-ring that provides a range of motion roughly equivalent to a ball joint.
Although I’m a big fan of articulation, I would’ve preferred a simple swivel joint for the waist. The problem with O-rings is the rubber tends to disintegrate after a few years. It’s an easy enough fix, though. You should be able to get substitute rubber pieces at a hardware store.
I have no doubt the majority of G.I Joe: ARAH fans are Americans but there is a significant number of fans who aren’t residents of the US. How do the latter feel about the flag-waving aspect of the franchise? It wasn’t constant or flagrant but both the cartoon and the comic did give a nod to the “Real American” aspect of the line. It may not have mattered as a kid but as an adult you do have to wonder what impact it may have had.
I know the Europe markets dealt with this by turning Real American Heroes into International Heroes and changing the “Yo Joe!” battle cry (which was rather genial as battle cries go) to the slightly more bloodthirsty “Full Force!”
(Malaysians got the original US versions of the toyline and cartoon but it was possible to find Takara-packaged toys in some department stores and the UK version of the comic was serialised in the Transformers UK comic which was sold in newsstands here.)
My personal feeling is the values these G.I Joe characters exhibit and practise are universal. You don’t need to be American to appreciate G.I. Joe anymore than you need to be Cybertronian to appreciate Transformers.
Besides, the Real American Hero shown above was actually made in Hong Kong.
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– Friday, April 20, 2007
Busou Shinki wave 6. [via]
I’m passing on the full sets unless I see some fan-modes that appeal to me. The EX weapon set, on the other hand, is a must-get. All three are expected at the end of August.
Shockwave and awe.
Mark Bright’s cover for Marvel Transformers (vol 1) issue 5 remains the best piece of Transformers art ever produced.
Optimus Prime for President.
“Sometimes Optimus Prime is a robot, other times a truck. Which is it, Mr. Prime? America deserves a leader that doesn’t transform whenever it’s convenient.” (Related.)
Posted in Web.
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– Friday, April 20, 2007
A photo of Busou Shinki Angel Arnval in flight mode.
The figure can’t stand on its own because of the heavy backpack and the tiny feet-stumps but thankfully, Konami included a spiffy stand with each full set.
Posted in Busou Shinki, Pix, Toys.
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– Friday, April 20, 2007
