Building a Better Man (At-Arms)

During the first official year of the Master of the Universe Classics toy line, a new Man-At-Arms figure was pretty much expected. The only question was exactly which version of Duncan would we end up getting.  Vintage?  Filmation? 2002? or something completely different?

Duncan Donuts

When I got my first two Masters of the Universe figures, I did what every kid instinctively does when he gets a new toy, look at the back of the packaging to see what other figures were available in the line. Unsurprisingly, my eyes didn’t navigate to the scantily clad muscle man in furry briefs and instead focused on the guy next to him.

Twelve for Twelve...Point Two

I’m back with the second installment of my Twelve for Twelve. This is where it gets a little tricky as a waffled back and forth with the placement order of the final three or four entries. I also wasn't quite sure if a couple of toys I was set on placing on this list were actually bought in 2012 so in the end I decided to just leave them out. Oh and in case some people may be wondering, a bunch of these entries aren't actually individual toys but a groups or pairs. I decided not to be so strict with that…anyway my list, my rules and all that…Anyway so let’s continue with the countdown shall we?

Twelve for Twelve....Point One

My original intention was to finish off December with one more Ewok entry…unfortunately, the holidays got in the way and before I knew it, December was over. I’ll eventually get to that last Ewok entry but in the meantime, I figured I’d do what many bloggers do or have done to properly cap off their 2012. At the end of every year, It seems almost obligatory and expected to look back at the year and recall all the significant events that happened. So I’d like to join the trend and present to you my top 12 toy purchases of 2012.

Village Ewoks

As my ewok collection started growing, I started thinking of ways to properly display them. I thought about getting them a vintage ewok playset and headed over to eBay just to see exactly how much those playsets were going for. The average going rate for a second hand complete set turned out to be more than I was willing to spend, about a 100 dollars or even more if it included the original box. So I left it at that. Until I came upon this one auction that was ending in a few hours, whose current bid was around 20 dollars. I figured what the hell? I placed a max bid of $50 and went to bed thinking I’d never win…..then the next morning received a pleasant surprise….turned out $50 was just right…I won.

Ewok To Remember

Since I got the ball rolling in my last entry, I have decided to keep it rolling by dedicating the whole month of December to writing about my favourite posse from the Star Wars Universe, the Ewoks. As you may have guessed, Wicket didn’t remain the only ewok on my toy shelf for long. Since their debut in ROTJ, and after two straight-to-television ewok movies and a cartoon, quite a number of other ewoks not named wicket have been introduced and “immortalized” in toy form. And towards the later part of 2012, as I have rekindled my love for these little furry dudes, I have tracked down & purchased as many “modern sculpted” ewoks as I could find to add to my ever growing collection.

Something Wicket This Way Comes

Return of the Jedi usually doesn’t come out on top when it comes to people’s ranking of Star Wars movies. There would be a lot who would say that of the 3 original films, it is clearly the weakest. I for one would never rank it above The Empire Strikes Back, but against A New Hope, it’s really a toss-up for me.

Koo Koo Kachoo Mrs. Robinson

Ok time for something a little different. One afternoon, my girlfriend Caren & I were at one of our local Toys R’Us to kill some time (ok, ok I dragged her in with me cuz I wanted to see if I would luck out and actually find the ever elusive Toys R’Us exclusive Masterpiece Optimus Prime available on the shelves). Anyway, no luck on the Prime, but something else caught Caren’s eye….

The AirBorne Identity

When the first wave of G.I.Joe A Real American Hero figures first came out in 1982, there really weren't too many uniform variations from character to character.  Aside from a few exceptions, almost the entire team was decked out in varying shades of green. The next wave of Joes that came out in 1983 was a little bit more creative & unique, with more branches of the military being represented as well as more specific environments & designations filled out.  We got ourselves a navy SEAL, an arctic trooper, a mine detector (EOD), a medic and even a marine that inexplicably looked like he stepped out of the Village People.

I Did It, Myyyyyyyyyyyy Wave

If you asked anyone who’s watched the original G1 Transformers cartoon who was one of the most memorable & unique character in the series, I’m pretty sure Soundwave’s name would come up quite a lot.  Yup the Decepticon’s original communications officer has a lot going for him.  He’s got that cool monotonous effects rich processed voice, he’s bigger than your typical Autobot and as seen in the first episode, can beat up multiple bots at the same time, and of course, he’s got his little private army residing in his chest.

A Hunting We Will Go...

Writing this blog has done 2 major things for me.  One, it has given me a better appreciation of the stuff I collect.  Usually after a few days or weeks of messing around with a toy, that toy is usually placed on the shelf to make room for a new one.  So getting myself to write about certain toys gives me an opportunity to take a toy down and mess with it again.  And two...well, I’m not sure if this is a completely good thing, but it has gotten me to buy more toys….