| Journal Archives from February 2008 |
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Indy-a-Thon
Being, as we are, so in an Indiana Jones mood these days around the Preserve, what with all the great products that are soon to be released thanks to the new movie, we decided that it was time for an Indy-a-Thon! While much shorter than the standard Tremors-a-Thon it differs in that we're watching the best of the best, instead of the best of the worst. And, it's always a treat to spend six hours with Dr. Jones! After tonight we will be even more excited about the upcoming toy release, as I know all of the Preserve readers are as well! Posted by charlie on February 29th 2008, 07:14 PM Leave Comment 
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Mezco Heroes contest
We have another press release, this time from Mezco with some info on a contest based on their new Heroes line! If you feel like doing a little cosplay and sending them a picture of it, you could net some sweet prizes. Click the link to learn more. Read More Posted by charlie on February 29th 2008, 01:42 PM Leave Comment
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Organic Product Press Release
Organic Products is re-introducing one of their most popular figures from last year, "Motoko Kusanagi", from Ghost in the Shell. For the full press release and images of the figure, click the 'read more' link. Read More Posted by charlie on February 29th 2008, 12:40 PM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Diamond Select
Toy Fair 2008 marches on at the Preserve, today with two sets of photos from Diamond Select.
These three Transformers busts are beautiful, and as was mentioned here before, we're all suckers for Arcee so that really fits the bill! Also on display was a festive and delightful set of Domo figures, bringing joy and prosperity to the citizens of Toy Fair! 
Finally, everyone loves some force lightning, especially when it's shooting out of the Emperor! 
Posted by charlie on February 29th 2008, 06:59 AM Leave Comment
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Organic Product Press Release
Organic Products has just released the next two figures in their ongoing series of excellent products. For the full press release and images of the new figures, click the 'read more' link. Read More Posted by charlie on February 28th 2008, 07:06 PM Leave Comment
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Captain Power on G4 tv
This evening on G4 tv, their program 'Attack of the Show' will have a short segment about Captain Power! Amazingly they'll even have Tim Dunigan, Captain Power himself, via phone for the discussion. I'm hoping that they treat the line with the respect and admiration that it is due - if you get this channel be sure to check it out at 7pm! Posted by charlie on February 28th 2008, 07:45 AM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Playmates
Our Toy Fair 2008 galleries continue today, so check out some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We had a chance to stop in at the Playmates booth for a private tour, and learned that their TMNT line is going strong, and meeting with good sales figures. This assures that we'll keep seeing more figures produced in this series for 2008, which isn't a bad thing! The real exciting news from their booth, however, was that they have gotten the Star Trek license and will be making figures for the new movie! A little further investigation even turned up the possibility that they would be making old figures as well as figures for the new movie - bring 'em on! Here's a shot of one of their Raphael 'Shell Shifters' figure in transforming exo-suit. 
We also have a small gallery of Hasbro's new Star Wars offerings. We didn't spend as much time on them as we perhaps could have, but in the future expect to see individual shots of just about everything. Today you can check out a few close up shots of the more interesting figures, and a general overview of what their display looked like. The AT-TE six legged walker is a great piece that everyone should see. 
Posted by charlie on February 28th 2008, 12:17 AM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Pound Puppies and Warbles
Coverage of Toy Fair 2008 continues with these additional galleries!
The dancing 6' puppy was pretty cool, and they had some neat figures just ready to be 'adopted' on display in their booth. Also visited on the final day of the show was a small start-up company developing a product called 'Warbles'. They are laser etched marbles, each featuring a highly detailed and well designed figure in the center. In a smart move, they have written bios and backstories for each figure, and structured a competition system for use in their world. There is also a website with special content that you can access through codes that come with each of the Warbles, allowing for further battles and competition online. It seems like a neat product, and I hope that they get noticed! 
Finally we have an 11 image update to the Dark Horse gallery. Check out some more of their fantastic products, like this Spirit statue - what great feeling of motion that piece captures! 
Ok folks, a short posting for now, but stay tuned for galleries from Diamond Select, Underground Toys and K'Nex! Posted by charlie on February 27th 2008, 12:15 AM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Kaiyodo
Our gallery posts continue from the fantastic 2008 Toy Fair! Today we bring you two excellent galleries that are under the same mighty header of Kaiyodo - the Revoltech and Organic products. The staff at their booth were very friendly, and took a great deal of time to explain every single product they had on display, and to discuss their release plans for the first few months of 2008. It's definitely worth checking out some of the great pictures in this line, starting out with a group shot of their new Fraulein figures. 
Also let's take a look at the small group of really good looking and amazingly posable Transformers figures they have released, and are releasing further this March. 
And because all of us here at the Preserve are huge Mazinger-Z fans, in all of his incarnations, check out this great set of figures from those lines. 
Now it is time to track down some of the fantastic new releases they will be gracing us all with in this next year! Posted by charlie on February 26th 2008, 07:29 AM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair - Tonner and more
Welcome to the latest update of Toy Fair 2008 galleries!
Down the hall from Tonner, in the urban alley, Toy Vault was showing off a fantastic array of offbeat and delightful products which all immediately made it onto our want-lists. To spare our more sensitive readers I'll not post a pic of Crayon Shin Chan here on the front page, but encourage people to check out the gallery. What I will highlight are their great plush Cthulhu figures, in a variety of maddening shapes and sizes. 
Lastly we have several supporting pictures of Mezco's Living Dead doll line, so as to make sure there is enough imagery in support of the article that The Uncle wrote about these products. 
They are distressing little suckers, and very well done. Seems that they'd look pretty great in a collection along with some Teddy Scares - that's a shelf no one will mess with. Posted by charlie on February 25th 2008, 01:22 AM Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Teddy Scares
Check out the new Toy Fair 2008 galleries for today!
For those looking for a cuddly addition to their zombified playthings collection, or the perfect thing for your loved one around Halloween, look no further than Teddy Scares! 
These dead and rotting former playthings are looking to make your acquaintance, so won't you take them home? The Uncle will weigh in with a more detailed article about this great product line in the coming days. Lastly, I'd be remiss in my duties as curator of the Preserve if I let slip the fabulous opportunity to introduce any who are still without this great knowledge, to the Mr. T *in van* bobblehead! 
That's right - Funko continues to provide a vital public service by granting a little sunshine into all our lives, when they are able to produce something of such joy and perfection! Posted by charlie on February 24th 2008, 02:12 AM Comments(1) Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Corgi gallery is live
Here are the latest galleries in the Preserve's coverage of Toy Fair 2008:
The giant Corgi gallery has been posted, go check it out for an overview of most of their fantastic new products as displayed at Toy Fair 2008! Also, a gallery from a small French producer of 'soft toys' is up - go see what Delingos are all about! Here's an example of one of their cool products: 
Also featured today is the company Brickadoo, who produces a colorful and creative line of building kits, designed to stimulate hands on construction creativity in kids with authentic building materials like bricks, mortar and wooden windows and doors. When it's time to build something new, the mortar will dissolve in water, leaving the bricks intact to use again! Check out the view of their town, which is several sets joined together. 
And finally, because Corgi has just done such a masterfun job with their new line of life size (1:1 scale) Muppets figures, I really want to make sure that everyone sees their Gonzo, because he's amazing. 
That red velvet suit alone would be a triumph, but then add in the perfect face and hands, the expression is just right, and the materials seem to have just arrived from 1979 - it's astonishing. Visit our Corgi gallery for pictures of Kermit and Animal! Posted by charlie on February 23rd 2008 Leave Comment
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NKOK and Corgi tease
Check out the new Toy Fair pictures that have been added to the running feature at the Preserve.
Next is a great entry from overseas company Joy Champion, from their highly detailed line of figures. 
Finally I wanted to put up a couple teaser images from the massive closed-door product display at Corgi. The gallery is still in the works here but should be up later today or tomorrow. In the mean time, marvel at their new life-sized replica of Fozzie Bear! 
Fozzie should be released later this year, to an adoring public. Wakka Wakka! Now to finish things up we have the Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda. 
I know - pretty cool. Posted by charlie on February 22nd 2008 Comments(2) Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - Day 4
Well folks, Toy Fair 2008 has come and gone, and it was fantastic. It seemed that every booth that I spoke with was feeling very good about their showing at the Fair this year, and felt that there had been good interest in their product. As you are probably noticing from the updates, I did not constrain myself to just the large action figure producers (though did try to hit them all) but rather made sure to see a large variety of companies. What is exciting in particular is that it indicates a strong overall toy industry, even in the face of the economic troubles that the country is currently facing. The quality and level of design that is being applied to products large and small, mass market and boutique, is helping to spur this growth, and I strongly hope that the resulting economic success will allow that trend to continue. There is a new gallery up of the fine products from Toynami - I wanted to feature several in this update because they are pretty cool. 
The Predator statue is amazingly impressive. It stands at least 2 feet tall, and the detail is astonishing. 
They are doing Voltron! A newly redone golion figure, as well as other products including nicely done bookends. Always good to see additions to the Voltron catalog! It even looks as if the Voltron figure comes with a blazing sword - fantastic! Please note that the Voltron products are still pending final approval. While we're at it, here is a picture of the pirate ship from joojoo. 
Ahoy there plush matey! We're hard at work sorting through all the content that we gathered over the last four days, and additional galleries will continue to come online everyday as quickly as possible. Posted by charlie on February 21st 2008 Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - day 3
Update (10:30pm): Check out the Toynami gallery - they had some amazing stuff!
Today is day four of Toy Fair, and also the day when it comes to an end. Being that this is the first time the Preserve has covered this event, we'll have to see how this day plays out. There is still a lot of coverage we'd like to get to, in terms of products left to see and folks left to talk to, so hopefully cleanup doesn't start too early. If things go as planned, you'll see even more updates later in the evening on Wednesday! To make sure that no one misses what we feel are really great items, we wanted to bump a few more things to the front page. First is "The Revenge of Cobra" battle pack. 
Don't worry - Roadblock will fight his way out...awesome. Next we have an overview shot of the new Transformers Animated initial wave of figures. 
You can see close-ups by going to the detailed page for this series. Now from the new Transformers Universe line - which is what the 'Classics' series from last year has been rolled into, we have two new Robot Heroes which are my favorite yet! 
That's right - I'm a total sucker for Arcee figures, and I think they did a great job on this mini version, as well as on the Rumble figure that she appears to be grouped with! Recently in Hasbro news the big announcement was their unveiling of the Cloverfield monster. Well, here is a picture of the full sized item, complete with 70 points of articulation, and our terrified showroom guide (who was really very friendly and helpful!) 
And of course, what day would be complete without a shot of The Uncle and Indiana....Spud? 
Yo Joe! Posted by charlie on February 20th 2008 Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - day 2
Update (4:05pm): New product galleries have been posted for your viewing enjoyment. Also, our Hasbro tour was this morning, so we will have the latest in GI Joe, Transformers and Indiana Jones posted for you soon! Check out the latest image galleries from Toy Fair! The second day of the show went even better than the first, as we have gotten the hang of things quickly and were able to hit up the booths of key companies early and get the latest pictures to bring to you! By way of tying up loose ends from the first day of the show, we have finished adding all 46 images to the playmobil coverage, and the NECA gallery is also up and live. Today we bring you a feature on Mezco. You can check out the gallery of their products, and also enjoy the following reflections from The Uncle! First off I’d like to talk about the new wave of Cinema of Fear Screen Grabs. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the cinema of fear screen grab features a diorama type environment with two static figures recreating a climactic movie scene. The first one on display was from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and features Leatherface sawing an unfortunate victim suspended from the ceiling in half. Very gory and unpleasant, this item might not be for everyone but the sculpting and attention to detail was top notch. The second Cinema of Fear Screen Grab consists of everyone’s favorite child killer Freddy Krueger along with Nancy Thompson. This screen grab recreates the stunning sequence from the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie where Nancy is in bed drifting off to sleep and Freddy comes through her solid bedroom wall nearly destroying the barrier between the waking world and the realm of dreams. If you have seen the movie even once you know the part that I am talking about, and if you still haven’t seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street, get off up your butt now and go watch it before Hollywood makes a lame remake starring Parris Hilton! 
The last Screen Grab, and my personal favorite, comes straight out of the climax of Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. This depicts the final battle between Jason and a grown up Tommy Jarvis (whom faithful Preserve readers will know as the character played by Corey Feldman in part IV) at the bottom of crystal lake! Both Jason and Tommy are floating above the base to give the illusion that they are floating underwater, and Tommy even has air bubbles coming out of his mouth as Jason’s gloved hands try to choke the life out of him! This set is also noteworthy because it is the first plastic incarnation of none other than Thom Mathews, star of the great Return of the Living Dead. This screen grab really hits on all cylinders, and makes me very eager to see what other surprises Mezco has in store. The next prominent display that quickly grabbed my attention were the Living Dead Dolls. If you didn’t already think regular porcelain dolls were creepy enough, you have got to see what Mezco has done. 
Each doll comes packed individually in a coffin shaped box complete with a certificate of death. Speaking of which, series 15 contains Death itself, complete with a large scythe and glow-in-the-dark paint applications. The remaining dolls in the wave are creepy, but nowhere near as awesome as death in my opinion. I must give Countess Bathory some praise for her blood covered appearance. As an added bonus, each of the 5 dolls comes with a quarter of a Ouija Board and the fifth comes with whatever that magnifying glass thing that tells you the letters is called. You can conduct your own séance and talk with the dead! Brave readers, let me know how that one works out for you. 
(NB: The Captain Spaulding doll on the right is not yet complete, and will be much more awesome in final draft! -charlie) Posted by charlie on February 19th 2008 Comments(2) Leave Comment
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Toy Fair 2008 - day one results
Check out the latest image galleries from Toy Fair!
Just in case it is hard to imagine what the scope and nature of this show is like, and how it might be seen as being overwhelming, I present the following: 
Now, realize that you see in that picture an incomplete view of a single room of the event, and that there are two other rooms like this one. It is really the most epic thing one can imagine, and it is an honor to be covering it as best as we can. In all of this madness we met a nice person who is working to get her company off the ground, so we wanted to give her a plug. Go check out Super You, where your child can create their own costume and super hero identity, which are then sent to them in a super cool package! It seems like an idea that is just about to take off, and we wish her the best of luck! Tuesday morning the Preserve has an appointment for a one-on-one meeting with Hasbro, and the pictures you are all waiting for will flood in at that point. In the meantime, entertain yourselves with a look at the entire new line of Lego product, and all of the other great companies covered over on our Toy Fair roundup page. I wanted to make sure that everyone sees the new Lego Indiana Jones sets - they are really fantastic! 
And as a bit of a tease, because we haven't gotten the full NECA gallery up yet, here is the much talked about, excitedly awaited Dread Pirate Roberts! 
And...oh my lamb! Is that a prototype Machete (Danny Trejo!) figure??? It sure is! 
Lastly, The Uncle weighs in with his thoughts on the sights, sounds, and a great product from this first day of toy fair. I remember having several original Madballs back when I was very young. They seemed to be so popular that I actually remember getting knock off smaller versions of Madballs from the fifty cent plastic egg machines located on the way out of the local supermarket! It turns out that the original line of Madballs consisted of two series of eight balls each, along with 3 deluxe items. I distinctly remember owning a green madball (most likely from the second series) with a metal plate nailed over one of the eye sockets. Someone with a better handle of the Internets would be able to find a picture, but not me! Nearly 22 years have passed since Madballs graced the hallowed shelves of retail stores, and I am thrilled that they are back! The first series of six is currently available in what I like to call the “Nerf aisle,” and features five of the classic Madball designs along with one newcomer Repvile. Then there are 3 deluxe Madballs that have to be seen to be believed. These feature a hollow ball inside of the Madball exterior filled with various unpleasant items from spiders to worms to brains, that come gushing out when the deluxe item is squeezed! We have a couple of before and after pictures for you to get an idea of how these work. Super repulsive and super awesome, no child should be without one! 
The regular Madball that I picked up goes by the moniker Skull Face. Continue reading for his biography: “Life advice from Skull Face: 1) moving too fast may stretch your face and melt off your skin. 2) Staring directly at the sun may burn your retinas and discolor your eyes. Hmm…think that’s experience talking?” Skull Face sounds like my kind of guy, er ball, er grossly disfigured shrunken head. Charlie managed to pick up another character from series one, the aptly named Bash Brain. FUN FACT: Bash Brain’s original name was Crack Head, proving that even something with a clearly exposed Cerebrum is not immune to the cold hard fate of political correctness. Lastly, our contact let us know that Series 2 should be arriving sometime in March with the same spread as the first series with six regular Madballs (five classic designs plus one new member of the pack) and three new deluxes. Be sure to check out the clear marquis piece of the line complete with firing eyeball! They also revealed what looks to be an eyeball shooting cannon! Dust Brain, it’s been too long. Posted by charlie on February 18th 2008 Leave Comment
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Toy Fair day 1
Update: We are finally getting some of our great content from the first day of the show posted! Starting out is our coverage of the amazing new products from Lego, direct from their exclusive closed-door exhibit! Get a first look here at the new 3-in-1 sets, new Batman and Star Wars sets, and exclusive shots of all four new Indiana Jones playsets! Well loyal Preserve readers, we are in Manhattan now, and ready to see the ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow morning at 10am. There have been some early releases about Indiana Jones figures, and some GI Joe news, and today we hope to get pictures and info about all of these announcements and forthcoming sets! Yesterday was notable for a visit to Toy Tokyo, which is a magical place very worth visiting. In particular, the visit contributed some blind-packed Aliens figures from both Kubrick and Konami, a Portugese Thundercats figure of Slythe, and a shirtless fencing Sulu variant mini-mate to the Preserve. All of these items are fantastic, but we are still working on sorting out some key internet connectivity issues so will show you pictures soon! For sure, these issues need to be worked out by tomorrow when we have some actual news to display. We will not be able to upload images from the day of gathering until tomorrow evening, say after 6pm, but start watching then for the latest updates from Toy Fair, 2008! Posted by charlie on February 17th 2008 Leave Comment
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Toy Fair T minus 1
The 2008 New York Toy Fair begins in a matter of hours - the new products and updates are just about bursting forth from the wings! Today is a partial travel day for the Preserve, but we will hope to begin providing new updates soon! In case anyone missed the late update yesterday, be sure that you check out the Billy Zabka interview and amazing video - if you like The Karate Kid, you'll be glad you did. As we transition into Toy Fair, I will leave you with the following excellent piece. 
For anyone who has been following the Marvel Legend 'Queen Brood' series, which is mostly on shelves currently, you may recognize this figure. Marvel Girl is, in regular form, commanding a premium on eBay. She also comes in a 'powered up' variant with black skin which is more valuable still. Then, to raise the stakes, she comes in her third form: *reverse packaged* variant color! According to Hasbro, supposedly only 500 of these figures were packaged so I was astonished to have such an amazing success with the morning Target run! There is some discussion that with the number of these reverse packaged variants that are showing up on eBay, perhaps the '500' number isn't entirely accurate. I have to imagine, though, that these figures are almost exclusively snagged by scalpers who then put them up on ebay. The best solution would have been a numbered run, but hey, that's asking too much for a variant. In any case, finding this highly sought after figure in the wild was the rush that keeps the 8am runs going! Posted by charlie on February 16th 2008 Leave Comment
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Comic 2-pack Capt. Ace vs. Wild Weasel
Update: Fans of The Karate Kid, one of the defining movies from The Greatest Decade, take notice. I discovered the most mind-blowingly awesome thing over at retrocrush.com today, and feel that it is a jewel that absolutely must be shared with everyone. Billy Zabka, known for his many roles playing the antagonist in '80s movies, is perhaps best known as the blonde haired Johnny Lawrence, of the Cobra Kai dojo! Well, my advice to you is to read the interview with Zabka, which is illuminating and thoughtful, and then watch the video...which is astonishing...by clicking here. You're welcome - and thank you to retrocrush and music group No More Kings!! The next comic 2-pack from wave 3 in the GI Joe 25th anniversary line is Capt. Ace and Wild Weasel! This is the only comic of the 3rd wave that is a reprint of an original comic (#115), rather than being an entirely new creation by Larry Hama. Again, feast your eyes on the detailed close-up pic of the two figures in this set - another strong entry! Click the image to go to a detail page about this set. 
As you have probably seen on other news outlets today, I feel compelled to also post a link to the new Indiana Jones trailer. Opinions vary widely about the trailer as they do about the entire movie, which is somewhat unfair given that no one has seen more than a few clips so far. I personally had been concerned that it would be some Batman Beyond action, where there was an old withered Indy in his ivory tower, who sent little LaBeouf around on adventures. Seeing this trailer, where Ford is swinging and whipping and crashing and fighting - it's somewhat reassuring, and makes me a little more likely to embrace the film until I'm proven otherwise. Posted by charlie on February 15th 2008 Comments(2) Leave Comment
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Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow, Wave 3
Since the Preserve was fortunate enough to find the entire GI Joe 25th Anniversary Comic 2-Pack wave 3 all in one go several days back, it is high time to begin featuring these rare items! Today let us begin with the second 2-pack to feature Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow...a common practice in this franchise to be sure. 
We're showing the close up of the figures rather than the full packaging because I think that Hasbro did a really fantastic job on these and it is worth featuring them up close. While we all might be getting tired of seeing Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes yet again, this is at least a nice treatment which makes them feel new again. The cloth cape on Stormy and the 'battle damage' on Snake are awesome touches, and of course the whole package is great with the new comic cover art and, inside that art, a brand new comic from Larry Hama! It's another fine entry into this growing and insanely popular series. Posted by charlie on February 14th 2008 Leave Comment
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Eccleston = Destro
Update: This just in! Mezco has just announced that they will again be producing Hellboy figures, this time to compliment the new movie Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Check out a larger group shot of these 6 new ultra articulated figures by clicking the image below! 
Around these parts we are quite large fans of the Doctor Who, and in particular we were delighted that the resurrection of the franchise several years ago was handled so brilliantly. The ninth doctor, as played by Christopher Eccleston, was a dark brooding delight, and a fantastic way to highlight the undercurrent of struggle and anger that was always just under that bubbly and easy going exterior. Over at hisstank.com today a surprising and awesome bit of news has just surfaced: it seems that the actor originally slated to play Destro in the new GI Joe live action movie has been unable to secure a work visa, so they have given the part to Eccleston! The stars are aligning to make this a film that we here will enjoy, and one hopes that it meets with the same critical and revenue success as the Transformers movie of last summer! Continuing on the GI Joe theme, the three comic packs from Wave 1 of the GI Joe 25th anniversary line have finally been posted, in all of their vintage and re-painted glory! Here's comic #1 with the Scarlett and Hawk figures. 
Scarlett has come a long way since her early representation in the '80s, though that original figure will always have a fond place in our collector hearts, I'm sure. This pack, along with five others from the first three waves, contributed a sticker to the Rescue Doc campaign - perhaps Hasbro has even received the ransom note by now - excellent! Also, as a followup to the Crispin Wonka post from earlier, here is an interesting podcast from late 2006 with Crispin talking about his roles in Beowulf and Epic Movie. Posted by charlie on February 13th 2008 Leave Comment
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GI Joe 25th - Stalker narrow crotch
Rounding out the variation collection of Stalker figures in the GI Joe 25th Anniversary line, today we feature the re-tooled crotch version, which was released late in the game by Hasbro, allowing Stalker to properly sit down! Click the image for a larger view. 
There are only five days, count 'em...5...until the start of Toy Fair! All of us here at the Preserve are very excited about everything that is in store for us and for you, the readers! We will begin posting images and text reviews starting on Sunday night and continuing as quickly as we can through the end of the convention on Wednesday, and I'm sure through the remainder of the week. Get ready, get psyched, it will be an epic event! Posted by charlie on February 12th 2008 Leave Comment
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Epic Crispin Glover
Update: Today in video game news, EA has announced the first handful of titles to result from their new partnership with the mighty Hasbro. For more information about these games, featuring Littlest Pet Shop, Nerf, Monopoly and Yahtzee, we will post a link to the official press release when it becomes available! It is entirely my own oversight, that I was not aware of the following fact, though I excuse it in part due to the total and complete lack of interest that most anyone should have in the film upon which this fact hinges. Finding that there was less than usual on the old TV tonight, Epic Movie snuck onto the screen after something more worthwhile had just finished. Mere moments before I was about to flee from the insipidness, I did a double-take. That can't be friend of the Preserve, Mr. Crispin Glover, playing the part of Willy Wonka? But, it is, and it is amazing. 
While I almost have to unconditionally insist that people avoid this movie on it's other merits, I have to instead just as strongly recommend it for the Crispin content. Most readers of the site, I hope, are fans of his, and this is just a total joy to see from an absurdist standpoint. Your best bet is to watch the first 10 minutes of the movie, and then the credits. That's worth the price of the DVD alone. Posted by charlie on February 11th 2008 Leave Comment
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Rescue Doc!
While the forums related to such things have led me to believe that not a small number of collectors were more than happy to purchase duplicates of the GI Joe 25th Anniversary comic 2-packs, in order to get their 6 proofs of purchase early, it was only with the discovery of wave 3 that the Preserve legitimately hit that mark. As was mentioned previously, Hasbro's release schedule of the comic packs was somewhat nefarious, with a total of 5 packs in the first two waves. In order to mail away to 'Rescue Doc' required either a duplicate purchase within those first two waves, or an inordinate amount of frugality and patience to tally up the required 6 stickers. The concern, of course, is that the Doc figures are limited, and all eyes are turned to this series lately. Well, in the mail today goes the victoriously completed form! 
Now, we wait. The best part of mail-aways is that it takes so long, you are almost guaranteed to have forgotten about it when it eventually arrives! The figure is not supposed to start shipping until the beginning of May, so with all that water under the bridge I'm quite certain that the mysterious, small Hasbro box which will hopefully arrive in early June will be met with initial surprise and wonderment, which rapidly transforms into excitement and photographic frenzy! A quick eBay watch for today - sadly the auction has ended, but looking at the pictures is like a treasure hunt! I think we all will identify different subsets of the figures present, and the mind reels at the potential in that set. While it's hard to see which figures might be complete, the mysterious bag of weapons and parts holds such promise for the winning bidder! Posted by charlie on February 10th 2008 Leave Comment
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Joe comic packs wave 3 and DC Universe Classics
Holy frijoles loyal Preserve readers! Today was an absurd day in the local toy isles! A ton of new product, as well as some hard to find January items all turned up in a cavalcade, and this, my friends, this is the result! 
The morning Target run saw fit to finally result in the Pandora's Purchase of the first four (out of five) figures in the new Mattel DC Universe Classics line. These figures are sculpted by The Four Horsemen, and are really beautiful to behold. The first wave of 2008, as well as being the first wave in this product line, features five figures, but unfortunately I waited until what is perhaps the most impressive figure in this wave, The Demon Etrigan, found it's way to another lucky home. This was enough to unleash the purchase of the remaining four, which I encourage you to check out. 
Having learned a little more about this line, I am astonished that the official plan from Mattel is to release five figures per wave, for five waves per year, for five years! That's 125 figures! To further raise the stakes, and make it a blasted near-necessity to purchase all figures in a wave if you purchase any, is that each wave will have it's own Build a Figure, with a part of the figure packed with each of the regular characters in the wave. Additionally, Mattel plans several character variants per wave, usually a 'classic' vs. 'modern' color scheme change, with the variants being fairly well short packed. Seems this is the start of a beautiful, though expensive, relationship with this gorgeous line! Hunting Tip: Red Tornado comes with yellow-striped pants or just plain red pants - good luck! Even more surprising, since I was not aware that these items were scheduled to land for a few more weeks and certainly not in my small town, the entire 3rd wave of the GI Joe 25th Anniversary comic packs were discovered today! 
What a fantastic rush it is to find something like this in the wild. That's really what drives the obsession week after week - the fruitless searches sometimes result in days like this, when everything just goes right. The four sets in this wave are truly spectacular. The coloring, the characters themselves, even the Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow pack is appealing - Stormy even has a superb cloth cloak! The runaway success of the hunt today in my small town encouraged The Uncle to embark on a hunt of his own, with fellow Preserve enthusiast Dan, all across the major metropolis where he lives. Amazingly, his efforts turned up nothing more than a cup of cheap soda and a helping of disappointment. All was not lost for him today, though, as I was also able to find both GI Joe comic packs from wave 2 (Destro vs. Breaker, Ripper and Torch). Of course the three packs from wave 1 continue to clog the shelves, so it was an amazing day where all three waves were found in their entirety - how rare! The really exciting upshot is that now the Rescue Doc mail away offer can be completed and submitted before the tremendous interest in this product line results in the figures selling out before the promotion has hardly gotten off the ground. When Doc is saved, you better believe you'll be seeing him on the Preserve! Oh, and if all that wasn't surprising enough, several fresh cases full of the new Transformers Voyager class Incinerator, most still packed full, were found at WalMart as well! 
This figure is a new mold, which is great to see at this late point in the movie/AllSpark line. It reminds me of a huge, fantastically detailed version of a later series Go-Bot which will help me enjoy the figure more than associating it with the movie. The Challenge of the AllSpark! Posted by charlie on February 9th 2008 Leave Comment
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Indiana Jones Adventure Heroes
An eBay listing from Hong Kong gives us our first look at the packaging for the soon to be released Indiana Jones Adventure Heroes! It will be fascinating to see where this sale ends, and I applaud the tenacity of the high bidder! Taking the slightly longer road, we will bring you full coverage of these figures the moment we find them in the wild. We continue today with another Star Wars figure from the brand new 2008 Wave 1. We featured a droid yesterday, so it's time to turn our fond gaze to an alien - the other cornerstone of the Star Wars universe! Click the image for more details about the Senator Po Nudo. 
A supporter of Palpatine's nefarious plans, he would later find himself betrayed, a common occurrence in the death throes of the former government. Posted by charlie on February 8th 2008 Leave Comment
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Star Wars Mustafar Panning Droid
From the first wave of Star Wars figures to be part of the 2008 line, today we feature figure #08, the Mustafar Panning Droid. Click the picture for details about this figure. 
As was mentioned yesterday, droids are always hard to pass up, and this one is multi-piece and well detailed! In particular it comes with the platform onto which Obi-Wan leaps, and the droid itself onto which VaderKin jumps during their final disfiguring battle at the end of the third movie. I definitely like the dark color palette they are using for this first wave, which is consistent with the feel they're going for with this entry in the franchise. Posted by charlie on February 7th 2008 Leave Comment
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Star Wars Wave 1 2008
It is a rare day, in my limited experience, when RebelScum.com has not updated their detailed figure listings before that same item is added to the Preserve. Well, it appears that providence has smiled upon my backwoods town, because while not the entire first wave of 2008 was discovered, a good chunk of it was. Sadly my continued revulsion of the three new movies caused me to leave both the Obi Wan and Anakin Vader on the shelves in this, the Revenge of the Sith wave, but I did not overcome the urge to pick up two excellent droids and an alien. Those classes get special immunity from any boycot, I will always insist - of course, since that will usually make up 60% or more of any Star Wars line, there is really no escape. What is also amusing to me is that Hasbro, who is collectively 'no dummy', has realized the runaway success of their 30th anniversary Star Wars collection in the same way as that of their 25th Anniversary GI Joe collection, and both are continuing for their second years. Funny stuff, mathematically. Here then, is a nice group shot of the three figures from this new wave of Star Wars figures. Click the image for a higher res view. 
Detailed views will be up soon! After some thought on the matter, it seems that the local WalMart may well need to provide the Preserve with those two additional figures from this first wave, since they still seem to be scarce! Posted by charlie on February 6th 2008 Leave Comment
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Robot Heroes Bumblebee vs. Soundwave
Let us continue our exploration of the Robot Heroes line, today featuring the bright primary color stylings of Bumblebee and Soundwave! 
Everyone loves Soundwave, and it's always delightful to see him in a new set. One of the biggest holes in my recent collection is the 6" Titanium Soundwave, as it came out shortly before the desire to get back up to speed with the fantastic new products on the market. As for the Bumblebee figure, it is nice to see him getting back to his roots, as a partially-transformed VW Beetle, but with a head in this set that more closely resembles the G1 cartoon rather than the best effort of the G1 toy. Of course, I love them both as I suspect do most of our readers! While I have found that I do not dislike the new Animated series, I am glad to be reminded, by this figure, that the original Bumblebee was a much more tolerable character than the new kid-friendly version. Well, much like the movie, as long as it holds the interest of a larger market and keeps the franchise strong, I can excuse a lot! Posted by charlie on February 5th 2008 Leave Comment
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Indy Lego
The two remaining Indiana Jones Lego sets, namely the two at the high end of the line, now have a couple pictures available from the Indy Lego section. Full reviews are still forthcoming, as time has not been available to assemble and properly appreciate these fantastic sets! Just to remind you exactly how great these products are, here's another look at the back of the 'Temple Escape' box - click the image for a *super large* view! 
Also noteworthy today are some further additions to the Transformers Robot Heroes series checklist. Waves 1-3 are finally posted, with detailed views for each, and waves 4 and 5, namely the movie waves, will be up in their entirety shortly. All of these figures are great, I feel, so I want to feature another one today - Grimlock vs. Shockwave! 
It's important to get these posted quickly as yet another wave of these great figures will soon be upon us! Also don't forget to check out the product code page, which serves as a quick index into the line, as well as providing a visual overview of Hasbro's numerical schemes for the series. Posted by charlie on February 4th 2008 Leave Comment
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GI Joe Comic 2Pack Wave 1
Somewhat backwards in the revelation, since the second wave of the GI Joe comic 2 packs was posted a while ago here at the Preserve, the first wave of three is now here to enjoy. It's a bit of a tease, though - just click the picture below for an enlarged view - details about each set will be posted soon. 
As of today there are just 2 weeks until Toy Fair! We are getting more and more excited about the event, and our impending coverage of the great announcements that it will contain. A serious effort will be made to bring you coverage both about the big releases, such as the new Indiana Jones line, and perhaps even a glimpse at the Hasbro Cloverfield monster, as well as looks into smaller companies, working hard to get their unique and fun products to a larger audience. A bit of Lego news for you today - they have recently acquired the rights to produce four Speed Racer sets which should show up in stores in April 2008, in anticipation of the release of the movie on May 9th. When the sets are available, you can find reviews of them here on the Preserve! Posted by charlie on February 3rd 2008 Leave Comment
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SMS - Tom and Jerry
We've gone a few days without bringing you any vintage content, so it's time to remedy that right away! Feast your eyes on another imported Sega Master System title, from relatively late in the life of the system. Again, since this console sold much more strongly overseas than it did in the U.S., it was able to enjoy a much larger library in other lands, as opposed to the just over 100 titles on these shores. As a result of it's extended longevity, we are able to get such absolute gems as what we see here, Tom and Jerry: The Movie! Click the picture for a detailed page and additional pictures. 
In this game you actually play Tom - or at least that's part of it, I can't claim to have carefully experienced every last ounce of thrilling excitement and adventure that it has to offer - but overall it's pretty fun. From a packaging standpoint, notice in the extended pictures that this game still had the original catalog with it, allowing for a fascinating glimpse into the overseas market at that time. Additionally, in terms of packaging nerdity, notice the small oval 'Sega' sticker placed on the rear of the box. During the time when this game was released, the boxes were sealed with a sticker placed over both halves of the long opening side. sometimes you see that they have been cut or ripped through, sometimes they are missing, but I like to think that some kid or collector carefully removed this sticker and jammed it back there for posterity. Nice of them to do so, and now it has found a home in the Preserve! 
Posted by charlie on February 2nd 2008 Leave Comment
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Cinematic Titanic update
Update: Here is a news story from December 7th (so, a little old, but news to us!) from Topps with a little more detail about their upcoming Heritage Indiana Jones card line! Also, an important bit of information that I failed to mention yesterday - each pack will even come with a stick of gum!! Is it 1985?? I think so!! Lastly, check out this beautiful promo ad they have for this line, complete with a look at some card designs and the packaging! Below is a fragment of the Topps ad, click through to see the whole thing! 
An email received yesterday from the folks over at CinematicTitanic.com pointed to a recent interview of Joel with the slashdot community - it's an interesting read, and maybe more revealing than some people are comfortable with judging by the reactionary reader replies. Overall I think it makes fine sense, and I wish them the best, and will lend my financial support to purchasing their DVD releases. Of greater interest is that the newsletter email clarifies the ominous and mysterious non-answer to the question put to Joel about his thoughts on Mike Nelson's RiffTrax service. Here at the Preserve we have speculated along similar lines, namely that there was some sort of falling out, and the former collaborators were now at odds, each attempting to be the first and best to cash in on their much loved franchise of yore. The email, delightfully, clarifies that Joel in fact bears the Mike Nelson group no ill-will, and claims to be on good terms. True or not, I'm glad that the issue was finally raised, and that there is an officially stated position to get behind! Indiana Jones news continues to be in the front of all our minds, as the onslaught of product that we will see in 2008 is almost audible in it's rumbling procession towards our stores, homes and hearts. Of particularly mind-blowing interest is a gem unearthed today by the Preserve research team. The inside cover of the February 2008 Previews comic magazine was a single, full-color, eye-catching advertisement for a 90 trading card series, to be released by Topps, in support of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull movie that will land in theatres May 22nd. A visit to the online companion to the Previews magazine provided some spectacular extra details, that in February, which happens to begin today, Topps will be releasing a Heritage collection of cards featuring the original three Indiana Jones movies!! Special inserts will include sketch cards, but more awesomely will also feature autograph cards from Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, John Rhys-Davies, Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan), and more! Personally I'd be thrilled with a 'German Mechanic' autograph. These cards will only be available in specialty stores, so ask your comic retailer to order you a box today. With one guaranteed autograph (or sketch) card per box, it's worth every penny! Finally, head on over to Hobby Link Japan and check out two short videos that they have posted of their coverage of the 2007 All Japan Plamodel & RadiCon Show. With Toy Fair fast approaching, I find coverage of other like minded shows to be more and more fascinating as a sample of how to approach our impending coverage. Check out their video 1 and video 2 about the event, and their main page for a bunch of still images all with good descriptive text. Let this be another appetizer in the feast of Toy Fair! Posted by charlie on February 1st 2008 Leave Comment
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