Ever heard of insect politics?

Toy Binge of August 18-20, 2006

Item number two: Optimus Primal 10th Anniversary Action Figure. I've never been a major fan of Transformers. I liked them, but given the choice between a Star Wars figure and a Transformer, most of my younger years would have seen me going for Luke and friends. I bought Transformers every now and again, but ever since Hasbro started a 10th Anniversary line of their classic Beast Wars franchise, I've been buying them a lot more regularly. Beast Wars were way cooler than normal old Transformers. I bought maybe four or five total in my youth, which for me was a lot for a single line of toys. I've purchased every re-released Beast Wars figure I could find, missing only Cheetor, Waspinator, and, until Saturday, Optimus. Keen-eyed colectors will note that this version of Optimus is 100% brand-spanking new, unlike the previous six figures in this new line, but exactly like the new Megatron. Incorporating a little of this and a little of that from the various forms Primal took in the animated series, this new Optimus looks awesome. He also comes with a miniature of the Axalon, the Maximal ship, a hoverboard/really crappy-looking gun, and a cybertron key to turn said hoverboard into said crappy gun. I didn't bother taking a picture of Optimus using his weapon, since it just looks like he's carrying his hoverboard on his shoulder, only now it can shoot photon torpedoes, or something. I'm sort of miffed because the pegs in the board are meant for his ape form of all things, so when placing him on it in robot mode you have to carefully avoid the pegs.
In beast mode, Optimus looks like shit. Plain and simple. Luckily his robot mode makes up for it. I'm not sure the head designer at Hasbro knew that Optimus was a gorilla. Someone said either monkey or simian and through a game of telephone it came back as this monstrosity. I suppose I can give brownie points for actually hiding his robot bits quite well, unlike some other Beast Wars figures. I suppose.

Item(s) number three: Tranformers die-cast Optimus Prime and Optimus Primal. I got these two at different stores, but on the same day, and I could lie and say they came in a two pack and you'd be none the wiser, so I'm combining them into one "item." The poses you see them in now are pretty much the only ones you're going to get out of them, sans Optimus Prime's gun being pointed straight into the sky (the way he was packaged). Usually this would detract from the value in my eyes, but since they're miniatures, mostly metal, fairly detailed for their size, and come with stands, they earn back any points they may have lost in the posing department. At $4.99 a pop, they're not the easiest impulse buy, but they sort of give off a high-quality feel to them, which makes it feel like I got them for a bargain.

Item number four: Series one Donatello TMNT figure. I have a fair amount of TMNT toys, both old and new, but I only ever got around to getting Raphael and Leonardo until I bit the bullet and just bought Donatello. It's not that I don't like the character, but he's so... basic that it's like when you go to a video store and you know you have to get that video you've been renting for the past few months. You practically know it by heart, you're a member of a fansite dedicated to it-- it's your favorite movie! But why spend $20 on something you already know so well? It seems like a waste. Until you just buy the damn thing and realize the convienence of owning it was well worth the cost. Same with Don (and if I ever come across him, Mikey). They're necessities that seem to be put on hold endlessly as more and more cooler figures are released. Not much more to say other than I always thought Don drew the shortest straw when it came time to hand out weapons.

Item number five: Electronic Darth Vader with a swollen head: This thing was a bargain at K-Mart for $7. A bargain because the original price was $9.99, they had a 10% of sale on all Star Wars toys, and their cash registers are a little rusty on basic math skills. I wasn't one to correct the cashier when she asked me for 7 bucks knowing it should have been more like 8, for one because I saw 7 on the computer screen as well, and for two because it's a whole dollar!
This Vader figure makes noises and lights up when your hand touches both metal nubs on his underside. He's makes about five or six "authentic movie sounds", but only one of them is recognizable as his signature breathing. The rest sound like attempts at maybe lightsaber clashes, but either Vader was dropped on the ground a few too many times, or the Japanese (from which the package claims it originates from) don't know how to replicate the awesomeness that is Darth Vader. I didn't buy him for the sound anyway, but rather for a nifty desktop decoration. Vader brings any computer space a sense of security, comfort and nerdiness.

Item number six: 400 page pocket Pokedex. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a certain love for all things Pokemon, especially the video games. The grand total of catch-able Pokemon is now at a whopping 380, and when training, breeding, or leveling up on the go, finding internet access or lugging around a full-size Player's Guide isn't always so handy. This guide is small, arguably pocket-sized, and discrete for those of us who try to hide as much as possible the fact that they're in college and playing Pokemon.
The guide is pretty extensive for the size they were given to work with. They could easily tack on another 400 pages and still have a bit of ground left to cover, but as a bare-bones, no-nonsense trainers guide, it does its job. Also, unlike some Player's Guides, Prima took the time to find all the Pokemon art from the same series. You know it when you see it. It's categorized by the water color look to it, and apparently has updated all of the 151 original Pokemon. Some guides I've owned in the past would have half water color images, and half anime images, which just made the authors look lazy. The attention to even a minute detail such as that gives the "completed" feel to it.
At $12.99, this guide is well worth it. Especially since it's a book, and I don't think I've ever felt any remorse or embarrassment from buying a book, no matter the price I coughed up for it.

Well, that was this weekend's purchases. Tune in next time to see what shit I accumulate next week!