Beast Saga: Kingdom of Land Gloria BS-01

I've already talked about a few single packaged Beast Saga figures, but now I'm going back to the beginning. Over the next week or so I'll be starting w/ BS-01 and going in numerical order, taking a look at the different Beast Saga releases.

Beast Saga is basically the spiritual successor to Beastformers, or Battle Beasts as most people remember them.  Gone are the fire, water & wood rub symbols and paper/rock/scissors "game play".   In their place are three different kingdoms, land, sea & sky.  The sub symbols are now dice that can be launched from the chest of the figure.  There is a whole game associated with the figures, but with Beast Saga being a Japanese toy line I'm unable to read the game play directions.

The BS-01 set is called Kingdom of Land Gloria.  It features 3 characters from the land subgroup, one of which is the leader of the Kingdom, Raioga.  Initially there were three different 3 packs, one for each Kingdom.  These retailed for around $20-25 at various online retailers.  While they still can be found, the prices I've noticed have creeped up a little.

The packaging of these 3 packs is beautiful.  The Kingdom of Land Gloria's primary color is red and you'll notice that red is integrated into the packaging.  Here on the back of the box you can see a play mat and what appears to be stats for the different characters.

From left to right:  Raioga, Big Serow and Jidamu

  

One end of the box shows the box's contents, while the other end of the box showcases the abilities along with the strength and weaknesses of each character.

Inside the box you'll find two items.  The colored one on the left folds out to be a play mat if you want to play the game that is associated with the figures.  The black and white paper is a set of instructions.

If Raioga looks familiar to you, he should.  1) I've already reviewed the single packaged version of this figure and 2) he is loosely based off of White Leo / Pirate Line from the original Beastformers / Battle Beasts line.  I should also mention that Raioga is the only character in any of the multi-packs that also received a single release.  While the figure is the same, his accessories in the 3 pack are different.  The single packaged version comes with a generic sword and shield, while the 3 pack version comes with a set of unique weapons.

Raioga early on was one of my favorite sculpts, but as the line progressed and the selection of characters was more diversified he sorta just blended in with the masses.  That's not to say though that this isn't a nice figure.  From the sculpted brown fur to the red bits of armor and the great head/face sculpt...he's pretty fierce looking.  His arch nemesis would end up being Killer Shark from the BS-02 Kingdom of Death Sea set.

Big Serow I believe is a fairly high ranking officer in the Land Gloria's army.  He is based off the character of the same name in the original line.  I love his look - regal, yet someone I wouldn't want to tangle with.  The dark green armor meshes well with the brown skin and the gold accents on the armor are the icing on the cake.  I'm not sure I ever noticed this feature initially, but on his back he has a set of what appears to be exhaust pipes.  I'll have to tune into the anime and see if he uses these in combat.  His weapon is a nice spear that again homages his original weapon.  If I have anything negative to say about this figure is his antlers are cast in a very soft plastic.  This causes them to easily be warped...as you can see on my figure.  Outside of that small bit, this is a great figure and one of the larger Kingdom of Land figures released (at the time).

Jidamu is one of the smallest Beast Saga figures in the whole line.  If you didn't guess correctly, Jidamu is a hamster all armored up and ready for battle.  The dice gimmick in the chest is fairly large and most of the figure's mass hides this well, but on a small figure like this one it's painfully obvious as Jidamu looks like a box with a hamster head stuck on top.  His arms and legs are relatively tiny.  I don't know if this issue is confined to my figure or if it's a widespread issue, but his right leg is slightly bent out making it harder to stand him up without added support.  Jidamu's weapons include a gun and small shield.  Most of the Beast Saga characters feature swords or other melee type weapons.  This makes him stand out a bit since he gets to wield a gun.

This is a great starter set for the Kingdom of Land Gloria as you get the leader, a high ranking officer and a adorable hamster wearing a suit of armor.  I really wish I had bought this set earlier, but I knew I wanted all the figures in the series so it was just a matter of time before this set would be mine.

Featured eBay auction of the week - 2001 Botcon Arcee & 2004 OTFCC Sentinel Maximus w/ Ape-Linq

Back before the days of Fun Publications, Botcon was a smaller, more affordable Transformers experience.  Originally the brainchild of the Hartman brothers, they later took on a 3rd person (Glen Hallit) and 3H Enterprises was formed.

OK, so then what is OTFCC?  Well that's an interesting story.  At some point the Hartman brothers had falling out with their business partner, Glen.  The Hartmans owned the Botcon name and took their property elsewhere.  Glen was left to his own devices and carried on the annual Transformers convention w/ Hasbro's help.  Dubbed OTFCC, this was an acronym that stood for Official TransFormers Collector's Convention.  Yeah, doesn't exactly run off your tongue as easily as Botcon, does it?

click on the picture to see the eBay auction

I was fortunate enough to attend the annual Botcon/OTFCC convention from 2000-2004 and 2006-2007.  2001 will always be special to me as it was held in Durham, NC...just a few hours drive north of where I was living in NC at the time.  Back then it wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg to attend the show and buy the exclusives.  Admission was reasonable and there were only two exclusive toys to buy.  That's it.  In 2001 fans were treated to Beast Wars Tigertron and Arcee.  The packaging on these guys is a sight to behold.  Blue Olive Studios was contracted to design the packaging and they hit a major home run in my opinion.  There were actually two versions of Arcee made available, though you can't tell just by looking at the packaging.  Pre-registered attendees were treated to a surprise when they opened the front window flap on box.  They were greated by Susan Blu's voice saying, "Arcee, Maximize!"  Yup, the voice director of Beast Wars and the voice of Arcee from the G1 cartoon recorded a few phrases on a chip.  This was embedded inside the box.  Pretty cool.  Only downside is when the battery dies, you have to open up the package in order to change the battery.

While I love the overall presentation of this toy, I never cared much for the actual mold the toy uses...Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia.  I debated whether or not to keep Arcee and in the end decided she was better off in someone else's collection.  After all she had been stored in my closet for several years.  Trying to find a fair asking price wasn't easy as not many have sold in the last 6 months on eBay.  My price may be a little high, but we'll see what happens.

click on the picture to see the eBay auction

After the fall out with the Hartmans, Glen Hallit marched on with OTFCC.  In 2004 the show was held again in Chicago, IL.  I could only attend to go one day that year, so I flew in early that Saturday and flew home later that evening.  I was hoping to go home with this awesome piece, but due to circumstances beyond Glen's control, Sentinel Maximus wasn't available at the show.  In fact, Hasbro had to step in and mail the toy out to those that had pre-registered several months after the actual convention.  Some people never even got their toy due to old, outdated mailing lists that 3H provided Hasbro.  Thankfully, I got mine.

Sentinel Maximus is a remolded, recolored Armada Overload.  His Mini-Con, Ape-Linq features two new head sculpts.  It's a beautiful toy, but the time has come where he just doesn't "fit" into my collection.  I had a hard time finding a fair asking price for him as well, but we'll see how he fairs on eBay.

GameGavel.com

GameGavel has changed a lot since I first registered on the site back in 2009.  Today it's one of the better alternatives to eBay when it comes to selling and buying video games.  While it's hard for anyone to complete head to head w/ the juggernaut that is known as eBay, GameGavel has done a good job creating a niche video game auction website.

I've mentioned before that I've been getting more and more (back) into retro gaming.  This has lead me to combing through my game collection and pulling out a few titles I had duplicates of, or just no longer wanted.  Some of these titles came in lots I bought and others just haven't aged well.  Some of the games I'm letting go of are being sacrificed due to space restrictions.  I love the clamshell cases that Sega Master System and Genesis games come in, but they take up more room on a shelf than say a loose NES or SNES cart.

While I already sell a lot of the toys on eBay that you see reviewed here on the blog, I'm trying my hand at selling my unwanted games on GameGavel.  The site seems to be getting more traffic these days so we'll see what happens.

I've added a link to the upper right corner of the blog.  This link will take you directly to my page with all of my current listings.  The same can be said for the eBay link.  

That's it. Just a little plug for the auction website.  More great toy reviews will be on their way soon!

Transformers Arms Micron: Shadow Gora (Promotional Micron)

During the Arms Micron series in Japan, several Micron toys were made available as promotional items. Megatron's packed in Micron, Gora, was redone in black and released as Shadow Gora. Released exclusively at participating Joshin and Bic Camera stores, Shadow Gora could be had for free with a purchase of Transformers Arms Micron / Prime toys totalling 3,000 yen or more.

There was a time where I wanted to collect all the Arms Micron Microns, but ultimately I decided not to pursue that chase as it would turn out to be expensive and overall a headache I just didn't need. However I did acquire Shadow Gora before I decided to turn my efforts elsewhere.

There are no mold changes to this version of Gora. Other than the sticker underneath the red crystal, the figure is also free of stickers. Shadow Gora's alt mode is a gorilla type creature.

Shadow Gora still retains the flip out blades on each side on the weapon mode. Just like the regular version of Gora, these blades look more like butter knives. They are fat and have rounded tips. Without the silver chrome stickers that Gora sports, this just looks bland and silly.

I appreciate what Takara Tomy was trying to do w/ the majority of the Microns from the Arms Micron line, just they just don't fit into the scope of my collection any longer.

Transformers 2007 Botcon: Mirage

Botcon 2007 will always hold a special place with me.  1) It was the last Fun Publications ran Botcon I attended, 2) it was held in Providence, Rhode Island and was bundled in with a trip to my wife's family in the New England area and 3) it was the year of the Hasbro tour.

This particular year of Botcon also yielded a fairly nice freebie to all of the attendees that pre-registered for the show and made the trip.  The Classics series had recently been unleashed on the masses and Fun Publications decided to take the excellent Mirage mold and cast it in translucent blue plastic, effectively making him look invisible.

I know it's a simple idea, but it's one that really works well.  Pictures don't serve this toy the proper justice it deserves.  This piece looks much nicer in person.

If the Classics Mirage mold wasn't so beautiful in of itself, I'm sure a translucent version wouldn't make the toy that much more desirable.  Most readers should be familiar w/ this mold already and if you aren't, you really owe it to yourself and your collection to go out and buy the regular version of Mirage immediately.

In both formula one car mode and in robot mode this toy just oozes awesomeness.  Definitely one of the better translucent Transformers released.

Did I mention this guy is super articulated and poseable?  Mirage usually commands near $100 on the secondary market these days so that may make him unattainable for some collectors.  However the mold was also used in the first Movie line as a Walmart exclusive, Fracture, a homage to the Go-Bots character Crasher.  One way or another this mold needs to be in your collection.

Transformers 3rd Party: Justitoys - WST Dinorobots Commander (Dark Retribution)

It seems like long before the plethora of third party companies started making unofficial add-on kits and unofficial Transformers action figures, there was a company called Justitoys.  When Takara released their line of World's Smallest Transformers, they had a hit on their hands.  Well at least with a segment of the Transformers collecting community.  A lot of fans will say that Takara abandoned the line too early...enter Justitoys.  They decided to take the World's Smallest banner and run with it, starting off with the Dinobots...or Dinorobots as they are called for legal reasons.

Eventually the entire group would see release, alongside color variations that were exclusive to certain conventions or retail stores online.  Then in 2009 Justitoys created a box set of Dinorobots featuring black plastic and gold chrome bits.  They dubbed it Dark Retribution.  While I could afford to pick up the individually released regular Dinorobots, these new box set was a little pricey so I opted to sit this release out.  Later on I found a TFW2005.com board member selling a few of these Dark Retribution figures individually so I grabbed Grimlock and Snarl.

Justitoys did an excellent job with the scale of these WST Dinorobots.  They are larger than your standard Takara World's Smallest toy, yet right in scale with them.  After all the Dinobots were bigger than most of their Autobot friends.

The toy looks and transforms very much like the real G1 version of Grimlock.  I have to say the black and gold fits the toy nicely and I'm not always a fan of black repainted TFs.

Notice the blue waist piece?  Most TF collectors know that the G1 release of Grimlock featured a red waist, where as the pre-TF Diaclone version featured the waist piece in blue.  I'm not sure why Justitoys went with the blue over the red, but I actually prefer the blue.  It blends in well with the back whereas the red may have stood out too much.

Each figure in the Dark Retribution set came with their own G1 style instruction booklet, sticker sheet and a bag of weapons.  These weapons are smaller reproductions of the G1 weapons.  Rifle, sword and missile launcher w/ 3 missiles.

Justitoys did a great job with their WST Dinorobots...no matter what color they used.  They are built well and a fun to transform.  I can see how they may not fit into everyone's TF collection, but if you have a chance to pick one up for less than $20 I say buy it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Nickelodeon): Shredder (ver 2)

With everything else that I try to follow, the new Turtles cartoon and toy line isn't high on my list.  However if I had infinite time I'd love to sit down and watch every episode of new Nickelodeon series.  That said I was caught by surprise a few weeks before Christmas when I ran across a new version of Shredder hanging on the pegs at my local Walmart.

When the line was first released I bought all 4 turtles and Shredder.  While I loved the turtles, Shredder left a lot to be desired.  Thankfully Playmates has come to my rescue and released a much nicer looking version of the turtles arch nemesis.

His bio references a fight w/ Splinter that left his face burnt and scared.  I'm not sure when this fight took place or if it was ever shown in any form of media.  All I know is I have a much better Shredder figure standing opposite the Turtles and their allies.

The first thing I noticed about the new figure was the improved articulation.  On top of the articulation, the first is just posed better.  I wish the elbows and knees were articulated, but I'll take this new figure over the old one any day of the week.

His spiked armor bits are also larger and looks far more intimidating, especially on the wrists.  Shredder looks like he's ready to go toe to toe with Wolverine!

I don't always care for capes on my action figures, mostly because they are either fabric (which I hate) or the cape is just too cumbersome.  Playmates hit a home run here with Shredder's ripped and worn cape.  The plastic is soft enough that it's somewhat flexible and the length is just right.  It doesn't hinder the ability of the figure to stand on it's own.  Overall its a very nice touch.

Thats only ugly mug underneath that helmet!  Apparently in the world of TMNT burnt flesh turns a purple-ish pink.  The pupil on your eye also disappears.

When version 2 is stood beside the original Shredder from the line, there really should be no comparison.  The new figure is slightly larger, more poseable and looks much more menacing...you know like a villan should look.

If you are a fan of this series then you probably have already bought this figure.  If you are a casual fan like myself, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up...even if you have the originally figure.  There are upgrades, and then there are better figures like this one.

M.U.S.C.L.E.: #046 Robin Mask

Time for another M.U.S.C.L.E. entry.  This time around is #046 Robin Mask. I remember having this one as a kid too. Always liked the idea of a wrestler wearing a knight's helmet. In the japanese anime, Robin Mask was portrayed as one of the major villains. I can see that...he does look a little evil.

Featured eBay auction of the week - Fans Project Casuality "Stunticons" MISB lot

In between working my job, helping my wife around the house and with the kids and running this blog, I'm also trying to thin out some things from my collection.  I'm going to try and spotlight at least one of the auctions each week that I feel like some people may be interested in.

We'll start off w/ a sealed lot of four of Fans Project's Casuality "not-Stunticons".  I was super excited about these initially, but I'm not completely sold on the final images of Diesel (Motormaster) that I've seen online.  Plus that's another $100+ that I just don't have right now.  Menasor was never my favorite Decepticon combiner anyhow.  It's times like these that my procrastination has paid off (hopefully) since I never got around to opening these 4 toys.  I just listed the lot on eBay this morning to run for 7 days (ending Friday, 01-10-14) so we'll see what happens.

2013 - The Year In Review

Happy New Year everyone!  2013 was a great year for me and my hobbies.  Here's a brief summary of the year:

I obtained several Transformers that I previously thought would be unobtainable for me and my finances while in the same year made the tough decision to say good bye to one of my most prized TF possessions.  I help several fellow collectors and friends put on one of the best Transformers conventions ever, Charticon.  In the process I forged some great friendships with these guys along the way and that was way better than any of the TF loot I brought home from the dealer room.  I've also found several new blogs and forged "Facebook friendships" with many of these new bloggers.  That makes me want to keep on plugging away in 2014.

Even though I haven't yet fully revealed all of the Japanese G1 goodies I acquired in late 2013, I have shared a few items that I still can't believe sit on my shelves.  Rabbicrater has always been a piece that intrigued me, but due to his demand and high price I never really sought him out.  Even though the package contains a simple repainted Micromaster and a VHS cassette I'll never watch, I was psyched to not only find this piece in this condition, but even happier to add him to my collection.

Skygarry was an interesting purchase...more of a learning lesson.  Even season, veteran collectors like myself can easily get wrapped up in the excitement of finding a good deal.  I was so excited and pumped over this potentially great deal that I didn't do my due diligence and ended up with a toy that wasn't exactly as advertised.  While I don't consider myself a perfectionist, this was just one piece that I decided didn't live up to my collection specifications.  Little did I know the proceeds from the sale of his piece would end up funding a hard to find piece of video game hardware I would end up purchasing as a part of my other hobby.

Some of you guys know that I my collecting isn't just fixated on Transformers.  While there are times I kinda wish I could just pick one hobby and let that be it, I can't.  Call me weak or whatever, but my tastes are so varied.  Why just order off the menu when you can visit the buffet?  Video games have always been something that I've really enjoyed, but I never considered myself a collector.  While that line is still a little blurry for me, I'm slowly starting to realize the fun of collecting games much like collecting toys is fun.  That said you may see more video game related content coming in the new year.  Earlier in the year I had picked up a copy of a UK retro video game magazine and the cover story on the Sega Master System really taught me some new things and eventually led to my acquisition of a completed, boxed Sega Mark III.  I still only have a few games, but so far I've really enjoyed the system and look forward to picking up more titles in the future.

While I still haven't crafted a proper post yet, I can't let this post come and go without sending out a huge "Thank you" to heroic_decepticon for hooking me up with one of my so called holy grails of TFs...Lander C-200.  One of these days I'll finally get a review posted for the toy and tell the full story, but I needed to squeeze this in as I'll forever be in debt to him.

Probably the biggest highlight of the year for me was Charticon.  It's one thing to attend a show, but to be a part of the show and help nurture it from a simple idea to a full fledge convention is entirely another thing.  Charticon was a success in the fact that a lot of people converged upon the Queen City (Charlotte, NC) and had a good time.  I was able to put some faces with some names (or shall I say discussion board handles) with faces while picking up some great toys.  Of course what great TF convention doesn't have an exclusive?  Charticon unvield a Classics themed G1 Targetmaster Quake figure, Aftershock!

The best part of being on the Charticon committee was being able to interact with so many other fans that would later become people I call my friends.  Huge shout out to Eric Warren, Roy Altherr, Scott Silver, David Cunningham, Chris 'Topher" Williams, Ronnie, Jacob Waller, DJ Short and Matt Steninger.

Just a few months ago I re-evaluated where I stand on my collecting habits.  Part of this new vision is focusing on quality in my collection versus quantity.  What that means is I've come to the conclusion that it's time to thin things out a bit.  With today's technology (i.e. social media) it's easy to get caught up w/ competing with your fellow collector...or at least I feel like that was something I suffered from at times.  However there have been times where I've felt honored to be able to share my collection and my story with the masses.  In 2012 I had that opportunity via a local television station's show called Carolina Camera.  The opportunity came knocking again in 2013 when TFSource's blogger, Maz asked if I'd like to be a part of their Collector Interview series.  Of course I said yes and I was thrilled with how Maz put all the words together.  I thought he did a great job conveying what it was like to be a collector on a budget and with a family.  I know I'm not the only one out there that collectors toys or whatever that is married with small children, but I'm glad to have been able to offer some variety to the Collector Interview segment of the blog.

I'm always searching for new blogs that interest me, whether they be Transformer related or not.  One of the better blogs I've found and one that is consistently updated with new content is Optimal Omega's blog. While I already knew about the blog it seemed as if he really stepped up his game in 2013.  When I made a Facebook page for my blog is when I really started to connect with the guy behind the blog (Alex Mendoza).  Throughout the year it's been fun reading what is going on in his collecting world and keeping tabs with him.  There have been a few other blogs and guys I discovered via Facebook as well and I hope 2014 proves to be just as entertaining as 2013 has been.

2013 was also great to my humble blog.  While I rarely look at the Statistics tab on my Blogger dashboard, I couldn't help but to be floored by what I saw.  For the year I exceeded 100,000 hits!  105,318 to be exact.  128 total posts - ranging from Transformers (of course) to LEGO to Marvel to Rock Lords and more.  I'm always honored when people not only take the time to read what I have to say, but also take the time to leave a comment.  I love toys.  Through this blog I have found new ways to appreciate those toys.  I thank everyone that has stopped by my corner of the web and I hope I can keep up the same level of quality in 2014, if not improve.  That said I did receive a nice light box/tent and a new digital camera for Christmas, so once I play with the settings and light configurations more I hope to have much better quality pictures in future reviews.  However I still have a huge backlog of things I've already photographed that I just need to edit and write up so hang in there.  While we wait for those new posts, I can finally open this ginormous stack of new toys I have sitting in the corner of my room.  Maybe I should take a poll to see what toy I should open / review first?  Hmmm...