Cool News
AICN Toys: STAR WARS 12" Hammerhead (hehehe), LORD OF THE RING Lego, KNIGHT RIDER Minimates, BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY Wave 2, And More!!
John Ary here with a quick look at a few action figure lines that are making headlines this week...
Black Suit Spider-Man from Hot Toys
Play Arts Kai Red and Blue Mark V Spartans from Square Enix
Lord of the Rings from Lego
Knight Rider Minimates from Diamond Select Toys
12-Inch Hammerhead (giggle) from Gentle Giant
Arkham City Wave 2 from DC Direct
And finally, to celebrate the holidays, we take a closer look at Mezco's "crappiest" figure from its third series of South Park toys...
That's it this week. For more toy updates and action figure reviews, you can follow me on ArticulationTimes.com, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Happy holidays and keep collecting!
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Dec 27, 2011 6:45:21 PM CST
Can we all agree that no grown man should ever type "giggle"
by zombie_fatigue
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it's a solid turd with no articulation and spindly limbs. probably can't stand on it's own weight.
and love or hate southpark, any man who displays a plastic turd on his shelf needs to grow the fuck up.
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Dec 27, 2011 6:54:26 PM CST
Love Lego but as a parent the price of it is becoming insane ... and the kids always want the BIG sets!
by ginge_muppet
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i collect a couple things... rarely.
vintage space toys and mid century furniture and accessories. because i appreciate the style of the 50's and the 'future that never was'.... i carry this love into my own art and design and therefore, my very small collection is inspirational, motivational and actually functional. it is truly a lifestyle. there are people that may even think this is sad or misguided or living in the past...perhaps to a degree.
but people who collect action figures (and i'm sure i'll offend a ton of people here that do) and line shelves with them only to collect dust, need to realize how much money- and life- they are wasting chasing their childhoods and that next toy fix.
i dunno, i don't need to be told to 'keep collecting', like it's healthy or something.
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Dec 27, 2011 6:56:25 PM CST
Seeing that little Maquire head resting on the floor by Spider-man disturbs me...
by linguo_is_dead
but he's still the only Spider-man for me! Screw the new movie and it's basketball Spider-Man suit!!!
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Dec 27, 2011 7:09:18 PM CST
I hate to nitpick but I really don't think Garthe Knight and K.A.R.R. were ever in the same episode together.
by cotton__mcknight
Garthe was in this episode where he had a giant truck that was made of the same alloy as KITT.
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I see what you did there.
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My kids play with him now.
I'm not sure why I would want a foot tall version of the character. Even when I was a kid, I didn't think the action figure actually looked much like the alien in the movie. -
Dec 27, 2011 7:39:58 PM CST
Adventure? Hardcore Pornography? A Jedi Cares Not For These Things
by orionsangels
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Look at Spidey's package. I don't remember seeing spidey's wedding tackle in the movie, or in the comics for that matter. Are you sure that this isn't a fan-fic doll?
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Are you saying you have a thing for big cocks? I mean, what else would make you giggle while typing 12" hammerhead?
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Dec 27, 2011 7:51:53 PM CST
Why do these companies turn out movie figures from years back?
by qweruiop
One would think that the perfect time to produce/sell said figure would have been when the movie first came out.
Otherwise where's the post-laden demand for this stuff?
For example if Sideshow Collectibles were to release new Marcus Wright figures from Terminator Salvation in 2015, doesn't that make bassackward sense?
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The prices for SW legos is insane and the stores' profit margins are razor thin. You'll get lucky if you find a 10% discount. Wish I would have kept some of mine in the 90's instead of giving them to my friend who had a kid. I have two boys and they're constantly clamoring for them. $$$$
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I concur about a grown man typing "giggle", as well.
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Harry, sorry for doing this but I'm a regular of many years and I've never done it before and i promise to never do it again. I'm broke and I have to get this out there in as many forums as possible
I know this isn't the proper forum for this but fuck it, I have my target costumers all perusing this site.
I am selling my action figure collection and have a few items I'm looking to get rid of quick.
Vintage Empire Strikes Back Snaggletooth, unpunched, MOMC
2002 Masters of the Universe Skeletor Chase Figure, MOMC. Not the gold variant, but the actual chase figure with the switched colors.
2004 Chicago Wizard World Exclusive Batman Unmasked
2004 Wizard World Exclusive Luke in Stormtrooper Disguise mini-bust
2004 Wizard World Exclusive Bowen Designs Fin-Fang-Foom mini-bust
Hamilton Collection Star Wars collector's plate
(A New Hope) First in a 3 plate series commemorating the original trilogy
5 Masters of the Unvierse figures from the Commemorative Edition from 1999-2000
26 figures from the 2002 MOTU line, including Skeletor, Orko, Trap Jaw, and Teela chase figures
Treasure Hunt Hot Wheels
Again, Harry, I apologize, but if those ads for fake Nikes and shit get to advertise on your talkbacks, I figured one of us should be allowed to do it once.
Email me at blockerjosh@yahoo.com if you are interested.
I have a ton of other shit too, email me and I'll send you lnks to my Craigslist posts.
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Dec 27, 2011 8:33:03 PM CST
Hammerhead should be followed by Maude, Harver Korman and Snaggletooth to round out the SW Holiday Special 100% certified geeknerd collector set.
by justmyluck
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wants a bust of Tobey Maguire?
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You see a genre film when your a 12 year old kid without a dime to his name.
Years later the film has reached cult status and has a fan base of now 20-30 something year olds with some real disposable income. That's one reason. -
I hope for the best for you, but like me you're stuck with a lot of stuff you thought would be worth a lot of money by now. Nope. I'm probably going to be dumping a lot of my figures too via eBay and I'm not hoping for a lot. Good luck though, dude.
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Dec 27, 2011 8:52:45 PM CST
Yeah, a grown ass man typing the word "giggle" is ridiculous.
by redmule
It just needs to stop.
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I wish you luck.
I have original Star Wars, Star Trek, GI Joe figures, etc. Some going back to the 60's (the JOES that is)
One thing I've found in this economy is some people want to low ball you on the price. The thinking seems to be, if you are selling them you must be desparate for cash and you'll take anything.
I've had people offer ridiculously low prices on MOC and MIB stuff. The hell with that. As much as I needed money at that time I wasn't going to give this stuff away.
So it's mostly stored away for my kid, except for a few favorites that are on display.
Hopefully by the time she is college aged, instead of working a crappy fast food job, she'll sit at a computer and sell this stuff on ebay for a healthy profit.
And if not, then she'll have a cool collection to hang onto until passing it on to her kids.
I hope you get your asking prices. If not, hopefully you get enough to hang onto your most valuable things for better times.
I once had to sell an autograph of Bruce Lee to pay my rent. I got a decent price at the time, but I hated to do it. So I know where you're coming from. -
My father-in-law apparently stored a 1978 Kenner radio control R2-D2 in his attic for the last 33 years.
Unopened. In the original box.
I got it as a late Xmas present.
Still in shock. -
Dec 27, 2011 9:19:19 PM CST
Sorry to be that guy, but most of these toys from the '80s and '90s won't be worth much in the future...
by prof. pop-cult
Why? Because the generation that grew up on them grow old and eventually -- as morbid and depressing as this is to point out -- die. The collecting audience for a particular toy line from a bygone era thins out over the years, and there is hardly any interest among the younger generation who did not grow up playing with these toys. You see this pattern in the collectible toy field all the time. If you are in your 30s or 40s age now, ask yourself this: do you care to buy and collect toys based on Davy Crockett, Lone Ranger or Hopalong Cassidy? Exactly.
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First, and probably most important (even though its also most disturbing), not everyone buys these things as investments. Some people actually open them, change out the including parts, move them around to check out the articulation, put them in different poses on the mantle, etc. etc. In fact, anyone who grew up in the collecting glut of the 90s should KNOW that only a very small fraction of these things will EVER be worth half of what they cost. And that's regardless of whether or not you keep them in "mint" condition.
Second, my 7, 15 and 17 year old niece and nephews know far more about what happened pop culture wise in the 80s and 90s than I EVER did about the 60s and 70s. In fact, that 12" Hammerhead... *uhum*... would no doubt be more cool to my 7 year old nephew than it is to me. Little dude loves all the Star Wars movies. -
Dec 27, 2011 9:28:51 PM CST
re: depreciating toy value, have to agree - collectors have their own niche of the ultra rare, everything else has to be marked-down to sell to the great unwashed or, you guessed it, collectors.
by justmyluck
Toys listed with competitive collectors' prices will thus usually go stale, unless you have very scarce prototypes, a complete and mint collection line, etc. That's the way I've seen it on eBay for the last thirteen years, anyway.
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agree with everything being said
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Dec 27, 2011 10:06:09 PM CST
I've got a mint 1997 "Theater Edition" Jedi Luke Skywalker, the one they gave out during the ROTJ Special Edition . . .
by jmoe
How much is that worth to ya?
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You are correct, sir. I believe Garth Knight's
truck was called Goliath. -
You've got a very valuable piece there. Especially if it's unopened.
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Dec 27, 2011 10:55:13 PM CST
jmoe, I still have one of those Theater Luke Jedi figs
by inexplicable_nuclear_balls
Scored a couple when they were given out. I traded one for the 12" Han/Tauntaun that was in high demand at the time. Don't get too excited about sending your kids to college by selling the Luke... nowadays they go for about $30.
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Dec 27, 2011 11:07:39 PM CST
Is there a market for shit that comes out 5 years after the movie?
by paper
I'm talking about that black Spider-Man figure. Now the Jack Nicholson Joker figure from a year ago, I can understand. But this?
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Dec 27, 2011 11:28:58 PM CST
Many think they have a goldmine in their closet with old toys that were manufactured in the tens of thousands or more.
by justmyluck
Like, that remote R2-D2 goes for $25-$50 un-boxed. Let's say it cost $15 in the day, that's a potential $10-$35 profit, then factor inflation and today's $35 would have been $15 in 1978.
Manufacturers like Hasbro have begun intercepting, with toy lines like the SW Vintage Collection. Same action figure card face art, no faded yellowed cardboard, blister and glue. Same nostalgia.
In other words, for the bulk of people, hedge funds, derivatives, secured paper and other investment money markets would be a hell of a lot wiser than collecting toys. Unless you have an entire warehouse of them and a slim profit margin would yield a small fortune. But then, buying low and selling high involves little skill, beyond posting "In hand and ready to ship" on auction web sites like everybody else.
Myself, I collect a little, but I certainly don't make a big deal of it. It's more for nostalgia and retro-comfort-fuzzyness than ever expecting to profit significantly when selling things off. That may be when I'm ready for an old age home (hopefully!) and not matter at that point, anyway. I'd rather have my Darth Vader head filled with loose figures, looking played with and painted-on for memory's sake.
Let's say I would never trust a child's financial security to toys in storage.
Just an observation. -
Legos are way over priced. I would own more sets, but not at those prices, especially when you consider how much it cost to produce.
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Dec 28, 2011 12:07:29 AM CST
John Ary is an asshole prick moron that must be stopped. AICN already sucks balls enough!
by user897
John Ary.
Dude. Your "reports" are ALWAYS up to MONTHS behind everyone else. How you have been allowed to post, even here at this ridiculous site, is laughable at best. And the "giggle" thing? Seriously? How fucking old are you? Not that I really care, but those 12" figures by Gentle Giant are their best sellers. Simply put, nastalgia sells.
Postings from an underage retarded "giggle" box have no place at even this quickly sinking ship.
Fuck off already, and go do something with yourself other than post out-of-date "ooh look what I found!" garbage. -
at the ghostly.
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Yep, I did it. I giggled. I will giggle again.
*giggle*
Don't like it? Oh well. -
But I really wish they were not so pricey. Still want one.
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...not Hammerheads.
Whew, needed to get that out. -
Dec 28, 2011 1:55:36 AM CST
They were Hammerheads before they got the EU name "Ithorians."
by user897
Dumbass.
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From the people that brought you 'The Dark Knight Rising.'
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Dec 28, 2011 6:27:21 AM CST
the giggle hate may be misplaced this time- i think he's mocking harry
by zombot
harry is the one true giggler here, and it's creepier when he does it...i think (even though 12" hammer head was a dick joke)he was more or less riding harry's creepfactor there.
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The Spider-Man figure is inaccurate. Toby Maguire's head needs a stupid emo haircut and a dumbass smirk in order to be faithful to Spider-Man 3.
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but who in the fucktopia spends $80 for a 70s call-back Hammerhead doll? How does weird shit like that even get the go-ahead?
And why not spend over $200 to commemorate a disappointing movie like Spidey 3?
I swear to fuck, is the notion here that like King Tut, geeks plan to be interred after death in a tomb surrounded by this shit so that they can take it with them into the afterlife? I can't conceive of any other rationale to waste this sort of money on dorky little toys. -
Did they use Eric Idle as their model for the Riddler?
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Damned sweet!
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Dec 28, 2011 8:59:22 AM CST
If the new bill passes in Ca I will become an on-set condom inspector to the porn industry.
by ultratron
until it inevitably moves to another state to avoid paying my salary. Until then I will spend all of my parasitic gains on hammerhead figures.
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... but there's only one "C.A.R.R.", and it's from "Stroker & Hoop" (kudos to the three people who got that one! Cancelled too soon, most likely to make way for some more godawful "Tim & Eric" shit! R.I.P.).
There was only ever one reason to buy the "Hammerhead" figure back in the Seventies, and that was to recreate the cantina scene in STAR WARS. Otherwise, he took his rightful place next to Walrus Man, Snaggle Tooth, the Jawas and the Ugnaughts in the bottom of that box you threw all your unplayed-with STAR WARS figures in while you recreated your favorite episode of "Han Solo Fights The Micronauts". -
I whip out my 12 inch hammerhead in front of a girl in an attempt to take the edge off her mounting terror. Mounting terror(giggle)
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Dec 28, 2011 9:33:29 AM CST
Yeah but baron karza would always win those battles with Han
by ultratron
because his magnetic joints allowed for even faster reflexes than Han was capable of. And we all know han can slide his head out of the way of a point blank blaster to the face. Han is apparently faster than lasers but still no match for Karza.
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Everyone needs a mancierge and d-pants to put it in.
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Dec 28, 2011 10:00:26 AM CST
When you guys see something with "Confidential" Splashed Across it ...
by matthooper
I'm rather sure you know you're not supposed to be putting that up on your web-site. Good luck with that impending legal action.
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Dec 28, 2011 10:43:40 AM CST
I wonder about the type of environment where Hammerhead-type being would evolve.
by greggers
I guess the inspiration behind the design was the hammerhead shark, or maybe they just wanted an alien that looked trippy. But in adaptive terms, what kind of environment would you have to be living in where eyes that are projected out from the body in such a dramatic swoop would be advantageous? And come to think of it, where's his mouth?
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Dec 28, 2011 10:52:59 AM CST
That man disturbs me in the same way the child catch did when i saw him for the first time. Grown men that play with toys.....wrong, so wrong on a variety of levels.
by drstrangerlove
But that's just my opinion.
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i think i've seen in the comic art anyway, the hammerheads have a kind of vertical, slit 'vaginal' mouth amidst the flaps under the neck stalk.
as far as the yes atop the stalk, at that angle, i'd say they evolved from some sort of shallow-water dwelling creature. swampy, fresh water. could stand and reside around the roots of large cyprus like trees where their trunk-like legs would blend in while they are under a rooty nook, with their heads popping out above the surface just outside of their nook (hence the bend) and their gill-mouth could still breath or filter water. watching the surface for prey or defense, keeping their bodies safe and hidden underwater.
only we see one chilling in the desert cantina, with no water around, so i guess they are pretty amphibious.
pulling all this out of my ass btw, based on their look. -
now there's too many dedicated pieces (this is the front of a car..and thats it!)..and kids seem to build the thing on the box and thats it....in my day my brother and i were legomaniacs...we'd each have a huge bag. we'd dump it out and start building. when we'd get a new set we'd build the thing then break it up and add it to the bag. we'd make amazingly complex shit. my brother is a CAD expert and I'm convinced it's honed my 3d thinking for all manner of life-tasks. kids dont do that anymore. i see kids all the time with lego sets all built in their rooms on display...no more creativity.
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Agreed...it's insane!
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Everything seems to be a movie, book, or tv tie-in. As a kid I remember the more bare bones Legos and tinker toys.
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the movie tie in sets are so slim on actual parts. lots of specific accessories and body parts (that are good for custom fig makers) but not much else. and the cost inflation on them is insane. i remember the old castle lego sets gave you enough to build a huge castle and then some- the castle sets now give you like 8 guys and enough bricks to maybe build a 'scene' wall.
i went to an actual lego store hoping i could buy assorted REAL bricks in bulk but was shocked by the limited selection. most of which are things you don't need...a bin full of dogs? a bin full of winsdshields? really? and the wall of lego bins is misleading- you see a wall to the ceiling but it repeats parts- only maybe the bottom 4 rows have parts- and they are shit parts.
i still love lego and what they inspire in kids but it's getting right up to the point where i want to write a letter to someone upstairs. -
fleshmachine - you're right. I had a pretty large collection of Lego when I was a kid and would build spaceships, monsters, haunted houses and stuff out of them.
I even built Little Phil from Heartbeeps(!) complete with wagon one time. I would buy Lego now but it's ridiculously expensive. -
- but now they are pulling the plug on it and parents of autistic children are worried what will happen to their child....
i don't know much about the game- but can it be played single player, or not online?
and perhaps it's a good time to introduce the kid into the real world physics of real lego, or even using the world around them in the same way.
but it is also kind of sad- they created and accidental awakening tool and they're ditching it. -
ultratron: as far as I was concerned, Baron Karza was obviously Darth Vader's Andre the Giant-style older brother. Also, considering he was about twice the mass of the regular Micronauts, I assume he regularly made them his prison bitches. I'll have to turn in my Nostalgia Nerd card, because I can't remember Baron Karza's "white" nemesis, though ...
Legos always had some sort of "playset", though I usually gave up on building stuff according to the instructions about a quarter of the way in and just built some bad-ass spaceship or car, instead. This was especially true of their old-school "Hospital" set, whose instructions read like the goddamn blueprints for the Houston Astrodome. Then, you had to build the ambulances. Instead, I just built a not-so-geometrically-sound ambulance ship for the Micronauts. -
Dec 28, 2011 1:15:40 PM CST
i can't begin to list the inventions i made with lego as a child
by zombot
working robotic hands with articulated fingers and tendons...shape-changing puzzle boxes...my own 'transformers', etc... from maybe like 3 sets combined.
there are not enough bricks in three sets now to build anything!
and while there are some good new flexible or hinged parts, i think for every new one-purpose piece they put out, they retire two or three GREAT multipurpose parts.
it's maddening. -
Never a good thing.
And I agree, zombot. For some of those old parts, I know some people who hit the garage sales and swap meets. -
Dec 28, 2011 2:34:01 PM CST
Yeah I'm off Legos now. Been livin up on Trick's rooftop. All stuck on a chick.
by ultratron
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Dec 28, 2011 2:41:36 PM CST
I just found my super Armatron and used it to place pez batman
by ultratron
on top of my monitor. It always confused me that there was no Armatron. When I saw Super Armatron I thought- holy shit when did I miss Armatron?! I need to collect them both so that I can still pull them out and mess with them in the year 2011.
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...is called Force Commander. I think we all know why he has handle bars on his helmet.
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Or at least their depiction on the paperback book-cover.
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is loud as hell and moves forward at a snail's pace. I say, let your kid play with once or twice, then remove the batteries and store it away for another 30 years.
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Dec 28, 2011 3:19:26 PM CST
Speaking of Baron Karza, where's my Micronauts Movie Hollywood?!?
by stalkeye
Gale Anne Hurd (Aliens, Terminator) was down for this project eons ago. But it has been stuck in development hell ever since.
Yet we get to witness less promising IP based movies like Transformers and Green Lantern.
There is no Justice in the World, I tells ya. -
Dec 28, 2011 4:31:49 PM CST
I am NOT one of those "grown ups plays with toys?" assholes
by mugato5150
I have quite the collection myself. But Hammerhead? Really? I'm not up on the SW expanded universe. Is he a big deal in the video games or something?
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...does this mean that we'll see a Lego 'Lord of the Rings' video game? You know, the one with the exact same gameplay regardless of whether it's set in the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, or Harry Potter universe?
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Also do away with the "embiggen" and the endless phallic, arousal and ejaculation metaphors.
Then again, they would probably have to shut down the whole web site.
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Dec 28, 2011 7:12:41 PM CST
I with everyone on the whole "not understanding toy collection", "giggle-shit", "modern Lego is ridiculous" and "embiggen"!
by hanyoyo
I don't think I've ever agreed with so many people, but I'm glad to see there aren't too many fans of weird expressions, odd hobbies and the death of Lego as a creative toy.
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Dec 28, 2011 7:13:35 PM CST
I >AGREE< with everyone on the whole... etc, etc (ADD AN EDIT BUTTON!!!!)
by hanyoyo
...soon!
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As of 2009, the story appears to be that J.J. Abrams was going to do a Micronauts film, but who the hell knows what the deal is at this point in time... I enjoyed the shit out of the toys as a kid, and I think I'd go to the movie even if it looked like a dud, just out of curiosity and a certain level of nostalgia. Matinees are cheap.
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Always enjoy the ignorance of people who associate maturity with collecting toys. If you be so mature, perhaps you have more adult things to do in life than judge random strangers on a website. Hell there's drunks at my work that are 20 years my senior, who enjoy clogging toilets deliberately. But I guess they're mature because they waste their life at a bar every night and take out their frustrations on toilet stalls.
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Dec 29, 2011 2:53:43 AM CST
You do realize that grown men and women design
by bedknobs_and_boomsticks
and sell toys, don't you? The only part children have in their creation is possibly in the sweatshops that manufacture them in Asia.
Anyhow, a trailer for a docu on the beginnings of the Masters of the Universe toyline, and the argument over who created it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9USEtUDgydw -
I had hopes that they'd do something awesome with it (like a huge model of the Balrog!!), but the sets shown here aren't that great really.
Harry Potter and Star Wars have been really good; it looks very well like the Games Workshop range may be the final choice for avid Tolkien fans. -
Movies too.
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Dec 30, 2011 1:39:37 PM CST
I made my own Mr Hankey and will be displaying it above my fireplace suckers.
by johnwaynewasgay
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I recently took my daughter to a mall I'd never been to before and we stopped by the Lego shop. At the back, the whole wall is nothing but bins of Lego bricks of all shapes and sizes. You can buy a small or large bucket ($7.99, $14.99) and fill them up with whatever types of bricks you want.
I was happy to see a lot of kids choosing to go this route to make their own custom creations. Maybe there's hope after all. -
Jan 01, 2012 7:08:27 AM CST
@bedknobs_and_boomsticks KARR had the usual red colored scanner
by killik
as it was the original prototype before KITT.But then Michael Knight threw KARR in the sea where it got stuck for several months.As a result of the sea erosion,the scanner turned from red into yellow.
That is the official explanation not mine. -
Jan 01, 2012 3:35:56 PM CST
Nothing on the Transformers Prime series. They're good looking bots.
by mistergreen
Better than the movie.
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The Batman: Arkham City Catwoman figure looks like a drag queen or tranny. Can't decide...but she's definitely packin' some extra meat.
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