Team Building: The Black Order

One of the definitive highs in a toy collector’s hobby is being able to complete a certain team or lineup of characters. It can be a journey full of twists and turns and major frustration. But in the end, seeing a complete line up on the shelf makes it all worth it. With that in mind, I’m starting a new “sub series” of posts called “Team Building” where I’ll write about how I completed specific sets or teams in my collection. So let's get started on how I finally got to complete The Black Order.

I'm A Huffer Puff

When you look at the original crew of the Autobot Ark, you’d find quite the mixed bag of characters and personalities. Sure you have the typical good guys, like the noble leader Optimus Prime or the courageous Bumblebee. But peppered in as well are a few more nuanced characters such as the cranky Gears, the narcissistic Sunstreaker and the self doubting Trailbreaker. And then you had Huffer.

The Best Of 2021: First Quarter Part 2

As if making up for lost time, the first Quarter of 2021 has been pretty busy. There are a lot of cool new additions on the toy shelf to talk about. So let's get started on finishing up the quarter.

The Best Of 2021: First Quarter Part 1

Well it's a new year and time to get cracking at another series of “Top Ten” installments for 2021. Unlike last year, which started out pretty slow, this year has been more business as usual with quite a lot of new stuff coming in these past few months. So we're gonna go back to the four quarter format.  Anyway, let’s get started on the first quarter list for 2021.

Oh Captain! Not My Captain!

Marvel or DC? It’s the age old question that has long been debated back and forth between comic book readers. For over 80 years, both DC and Marvel have introduced iconic superheroes to the world and are deserving of their places in the pop cultural landscape. While there are a lot of overlapping ideas and concepts that exist in both comic universes, I do think that there are some elements that DC does better than Marvel and vice-versa.

Seek And You Shall Find

My very first “Transformer” was a blue jet that my dad brought home from a business trip in Japan. Actually, the toy was from the Japanese toy line Diaclone, one of the main precursors of the Transformers. That blue jet made its debut in the new line as the Decepticon Thundercracker. And although he was one of the bad guys, he has remained to this day one of my favorite characters in the franchise.

Rebel Yell

When it comes to Star Wars, the Stormtrooper is probably one of the most iconic characters and designs that come to mind. Whether it was because of their striking white armor or their apparent inability to hit their targets, they were one of the most memorable parts of the original movie. While this is all and good for these soldiers of the Galactic Empire, the same couldn’t really be said of any of their Rebel counterparts.

All That Jazz

Of all the Autobots and Decepticons introduced in the 1984 Transformers cartoon, Jazz was one of the more memorable ones. Simply put, he was just so easy to like. Everything about him was just...cool. He transformed into a Martini Porsche 935 turbo, which was probably one of the most visually interesting cars in the Autobot fleet. And he had a uniquely distinct voice, done by actor and musician Scatman Crothers.

The Best Of 2020: Part 4

There weren’t that many toys being released at the start of 2020. For the most part I was just placing pre-orders for stuff scheduled to be released later in the year. So come September onwards all those pre orders started arriving and just like that I was overwhelmed with so many new toys. So much so that it took me one whole post to just write about my honorable mentions for the last third of the year. So now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to go over the final top 10 list for 2020.

The Best Of 2020: Part 3

Aaaaaaand we’re DONE with 2020! Now while the first few days of 2021 haven’t really proved to be any different, there is a stronger sense of hope in the air as the new year rolls in. There’s no doubt that 2020 was one of the toughest years we’ve all collectively had to go through. Which is why it’s even more important to try and look back and reflect on whatever good we all experienced in the past year; family, friends, new skills unlocked, and of course for collectors like myself, our favorite new toys. 

The Best Of 2020: Part 2

And just like we’re over halfway done with 2020 and it seems like 2021 still can’t come fast enough. First of all I’d like to apologize for the obvious lack of updates to this site. Adjusting to the “new normal” has definitely taken its toll on many of my usual extracurricular activities which unfortunately includes this blog. Still I have been getting “some” new stuff these past few months, so I figure it’s time once again to revisit my top ten list of the year for the second “third” of the year.