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So just back from the Dark Knight Rises, and I don’t know what to think other than I liked it despite itself. Really it was when Bane came into view in Gotham that the movie started to come together, the previous 30 - 45 minutes seemingly oddly rough, choppy and not the smoothest of acting.

But even then, there are about ten things that stick in my craw, so at risk of leaving spoilers, I give you ten plot problems with the Dark Knight Rises:

1. Eight years of moping - okay, I get it. Bruce put a lot of bank behind a perpetual motion machine and it turned out to be the mother of all bombs. And his girlfriend’s dead and his parents are still in the front yard. So he’s going to go away and sulk for eight years. Beyond this not being the promise at the end of the Dark Knight - I had imagined the first scene of Rises to be Batman fighting out some villain and wearing himself out after continuous clashes with police and villains, not hunkering down in Wayne pantry in the golden age of peace. But more importantly, you don’t just put back on the cowl after eight years of your muscles atrophying and there was no indication that he was really doing much more than working the cane before he decided to take on Bane.
2. No organized crime - really? Eight years later and no organized crime in Gotham? And yet Blackgate prison seemed simply filled with thugs and goons. I can scarcely believe a single law would rid a cesspool like Gotham. Unless the real architect wasn’t the Dent law at all but the Joker killing off all the competition, which is a bit of irony.
3. Election for life - which brings me to the mayor. Now it’s probably a minor point, but seriously, the mayor is still in office? I thought Americans had something like term limits or, you know, aspirations for higher office…
4. Non-venomous Bane - Speaking of aspirations, I didn’t expect Bane to really be pumping venom into his veins and I like the use of the mask and lack of costume, but seriously, no human male is going to be able to shatter concrete with a single blow. Which Bane does in the city hall fight with Batman. Shatters cement. Venom-powered Bane, I can believe doing this. Morphined-up Bane, not so much…
5. The speech - and while we are talking shattering stories, why would Gordon write a full speech that tells all of Gotham the truth about the cult of Harvey Dent, that he decides not to give at the last second, and then leave in his jacket to be discovered by Bane’s henchmen to be used later on to moralize Bane’s crusade. Pretty sloppy way of getting to the point really. Does Gordon not change?
6. Don’t feed the cops - and then there is the pile of cops kept alive underground for why? So that Batman can lead them in a triumphant campaign against Bane’s forces? If you are gunning cops on the street down in cold blood, why not get rid of the thousands buried below ground?
7. Don’t pet the cat - Selina Kyle. Aiming to get out of Gotham as quick as possible because she is so afraid of Bane. And then she promptly manages to remain unharmed for five months in a marshal-law controlled Gotham? Really, she had very little to worry about in the first place…
8. Down and out in Afghanistan - so while Selina seems to be have no problem in Gotham, Bane seems to have no trouble in dropping a broken Bruce Wayne into unknowastan into a little prison there to nurse his wounds. And Bruce, penniless and recovering from back alley surgery on his back, seems to be able to get back to Gotham with little trouble and with time for a shave to boot! Really? You couldn’t have just locked him in Arkham down the street and kept a better eye on him?
9. Every second counts - So Batman is back with just hours to spare. On a device that Bane seems to think, based on nothing really, will detonate in 5 months, give or take. Really? Really??? Do I need to say more here? Yes there was a clock on it but I don’t buy that it is related to the timing issue. I mean a device not intended as a time nuclear weapon really has no use for a timer of five months.
10. Daddy issues - lastly, why does Talia want to blow up Gotham? The Joker wanted to show Batman that there was no goodness worth fighting for. Ra’s al Ghul wanted to show to destroy a city of decadence and decay. And Talia wanted to avenge her daddy who didn’t like her choice of Bane?

One of the things I like to do when I have projects is make a visual list so that I can have a tangible reminder of what I actually have to do. Otherwise - forget until I’m lying in bed and I remember like a punch in the face.

Without a list, I get distracted, which usually means to a “hurry up and rush” or disappointment. May is rapidly becoming a month of that.

Allow me to elaborate by way of extended unrelated story. Last weekend was Botcon weekend. Which meant much toy excitement. Which meant a renewed pushed to tackle the basement and start freeing the many collectibles therein, laying dormant in boxes oh these many years. It’s a particular concern, the basement, because I’ve longed for the proper space to display the collection and, without movement, I will be stuck looking at box after unopened box that crowds out perfectly good living space.

But while the basement is finished, it isn’t toy ready. There are shelves to go up, but more importantly a design is needed to maximize space, while incorporating future advances in the space. Like a television so there is another reason to hang out in the basement than just the toys. And it needs a freshening up with paint to get away from the pre-existing Senators colours.

So in amongst everything, I’ve been working to get to a point where, six plus months later, shelves can appear and host toys. It’s taken a lot. Working around the toy boxes (because where else can they really be stored) I’ve had to remove decorative wall moulding, crack fill, prime once, let dry, prime again, let dry, paint once and dry and again, and then two coat the ceiling. It’s a lot. But as of Sunday night the last coat of paint went on the main part of the ceiling. So while there is still work to do, particularly at the foot of the stairs, half the basement is ready.

The weekend push has been inspired by the toys themselves, as Botcon left me salivating for past exclusives that have, until now for the most part, come home to live in a box. So case fresh toys are being freed and put out adding to the urgency of the shelving.

Early this morning, the first five shelves were installed. Not without controversy though as I fear I should have put four brackets up instead of three, which may, given the positioning of those brackets either necessitate TWO brackets to correct (one at each far end) or a take down and redo. Neither is a top notch option but neither end of the world either. But toys are found and toys are freed while I decide what course of action.

So, exciting. But coming back to the origin point of this post, you can’t undertake work without making choices. And by choosing the basement I’ve put aside (or forgotten) other projects. Small things like catalog scans for a new Visionaries wiki. And bigger things like an entry for this year’s Munnyworld contest (now open and for which the design I need to do has literally haunted me, begging to be done, since summer 2008). To say nothing of a possible costume for ComicCon in Ottawa next weekend.

In the end it is good ithat, after six consecutive botcon’s, I sat this one out. I’d have never gotten my entry ready and that would really haunt me.

So anyway, I’m back to the joy of lists. I need to refresh mine and post it somewhere where it will serve as constant reminder. Because there is so much to do. With more things coming. Like using the toy unpacking for another attempt at a toy of the day exercise. Which is really how grown men “play” with their toys.

In an interesting turn of events, Ms. Cheung and I are swapping custom toys. I’m working up a Munny-ized version of Transformers: Prime Ratchet, and she’s working up a Plush Tigatron for me. So I’m using the website to provide her with the best source material I can.

And here are some more screen grabs here!

This league assignment is subtitled “the one that doesn’t involve collecting humans.”

Allowed back for the third installment of the series, this week Cool & Collected asks: The 80s and 90s were filled with kids and teens in the movies. Which movie would you like to see a sequel made in 2012 with the original cast members, who have aged the same as you and me.

This might get me kicked out of the league, but I’m turning the premise around. Instead of looking back with nostalgia, let’s look ahead with hunger.

I want to see Kick-Ass 2034.

Yes, I know there is talk of a sequel, but here me out. Imagine, if you will, that it becomes a one-off movie. Twenty-two years down the road, Hit Girl is 34 years old. Perhaps she’s a cop like her dad (and adopted father), maybe she’s hung up the guns and the cape, or maybe she’s a mess, the realization of what’s she done catching up with her. Kick Ass is 40 years old. Perhaps the last adventure was the last adventure and he does settle down with his high school sweetheart, raising a couple of kids and finding himself behind a desk reliving past glories in his head. Or he’s been unmasked and forced undercover to protect himself and those around him. And Red Mist? Has the now 40 year old has consolidated his hold on the New York Crime families?  Or been dethroned and seeking vengeance against all comers?

And some catalyst to bring them together, as allies or adversaries, anew.

Now that’s a movie worth waiting for. Because the sequel of any movie that makes Nicolas Cage this cool is worth waiting for.

A sampling of what other members of the league had to say:

• To come….

Well, Brian certainly has a way of getting me back into the blogging game. Here I return again to the next contribution to the League of Extraordinary Bloggers!

You have an unlimited budget and space is not a problem. What piece of Hollywood memorabilia would you want hanging around in your batcave?

You would think this would be an easy question. I can already hear the cries of “just pick one of the Transformers from the Bay films and be done with it!” And in fact that can pretty easy be done. It was only recently that there was an auction to buy Arcee from her brief appearance in Revenge of the Fallen for a mere $17,000.

But y’all know what I think of the Bay films. And anyway, it’s Ratchet that I would want anyway.

But we’re talking about unlimited budget and space.  An original colonial viper? The bridge of the Enterprise? The original Batmobile? A hoverboard? (Actually, this just about became the item in question but it would have to work, dammit!, to bypass all contenders into the core of my heart…) The TARDIS? My god, the mind reels!

Anyway, I could not could not COULD NOT narrow it down to one. So here are my top three in no particular order:

The Dewback (Star Wars: A New Hope)

Here’s a dirty little secret: I was never really into Star Wars toys and figures. Oh I loved the movie (still jealous all these years later that my friend Philip got to see Star Wars in the theatre for the first time while I can only claim that honour for the Empire Strikes Back). But although there were some cool toys - the imperial troop transport, the Death Star (which I only came to appreciate more recently), and the AT-AT - I never went after memorability for the movie like I have for other areas of nostalgia.

But this isn’t a figure we’re talking about. This is the REAL DEAL. So what is worthy of such a place in my collection? While there would be full size mock-ups of the x-wing fighter and possibly for the Snow Speeder (two definite short listed candidates), I suspect (though don’t know for sure) that a lot of the bigger vehicles were scale models.

But I know for sure that one item was real: the Dewback that was lovingly created for Star Wars and ultimately didn’t work as intended. It’s always been one of the cooler toy, so the idea of having the real thing in my collection is just too cool for skool.

Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)

Is it wrong to add a person to the list, making her into a mere object to adorn a toy shrine? Probably. Dammit I’m going to do it anyway. I liked G.I. Joe (surprisingly) in the end. Oh I winced at the dialogue, and Snake-Eye’s mouth, the choice of characters, the weird triangle of Duke-Baroness-Cobra Commander, and most everything to do with the Commander, but given all this, it really could have been a lot worse. And it did have some good stuff going for it. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Christopher Eccleston. Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Storm Shadow. A silent Snake-Eyes. Zartan. The Villains Win!

And it gave us Scarlett.

I though Ms. Nichols did a decent job in the role. I also thought she looked like Scarlett. And I’m saddened to hear that she’s not a part of G.I. Joe: Retaliation (while Channing Tatum will be). Anyway, if the skies the limit, I think having the real Scarlett as part of the collection is a go.

V.I.N.Cent (The Black Hole)

So I started this post with the contention that I couldn’t decide on simply one artifact, and then added a giant thunder lizard and an actress to my list. Really, how can you possess a person, let alone a thunder lizard. But a droid? Very possessable.

And while I think R2 is a fine droid and all, I love the style and flair of V.I.N.Cent. He talks. He hovers. He has cool legs and gismos. And he’s under appreciated. And really, what more does one want in their collection than an under appreciated robot from and under appreciated film?

V.I.N.Cent for the win.

A sampling of what other members of the league had to say:

• That Figures brings infinite space to the equation with the TARDIS - after all, it is bigger on the inside…
• AEIOUWHY talks about stuff a light cycle that shouldn’t take up any space at all.
• Branded in the 80s says the best thing for one’s backyard is a two legged AT-ST.
• The Sexy Geek reminds us that, with the 1966 Batmobile, not every cool is from a galaxy far far away.
  
• And Geek and Chunks tells us that sometimes the house is better with an ED-209 on guard.

“Oh the year was 1776
How I wish I was in Sherbrooke now…”

Wait a minute… The year is 2012, I’m not Stan Rogers, and this is not a folk blog. But you wouldn’t know it from my most recent absence. After a smattering of blogginess at the beginning of the year primarily concerning the event called Botcon, I disappeared again, the victim of work assignments, training and extracurricular activities of a non-toy variety. I extend (again) my apologies to you, regular and faithful readers.

But let’s put my absence aside. This is a a toy blog after all - open, dammit, open! - so let’s get back to it.

Recently, I had the opportunity to make another appearance on my friend Steve’s Roboplastic Podcastalypse  to discuss Robotix, a construction toy of the mid-1980s that tried (and failed) to contort itself into the action figure toy premise so common at the time. For a bit of a nostalgia walk down Skaloor lane, and to hear Steve’s latest revelations of the fate of the proposed second year run on Roboforce, go get the postcast here.

In other news, as you may know from a more active twitter feed, I’ve recently joined The League of Extraordinary Bloggers. I mean, how could I refuse the call to arms of Brian at Cool and Collected to assemble a group of dedicated bloggers who would discuss, muse and debate a variety of topics on a regular basis. Like livejournal’s writers’ block, except way less lame.

Forced inspiration - just what an infrequent toy blogger needs! So here I am for the first installment.

What movie is, or was, your “go to” Saturday matinee — the comfort movie you always popped into the VCR on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the movie you watched over and over again, driving your parents crazy while you recited the lines along with the characters on the screen?

Of course, we’d have to start with a subject on which I do not have a ready response.

Strange as it may sound, I really don’t have a “comfort” movie. Sure, I have a list of favourite films, and films for multiple viewings, but there isn’t (or wasn’t) a film that I completely destroyed with multiple viewings. Honestly, there are so many new (or old) programs that I want to see (hello Doctor!), it almost feels reckless to spent time on multiple repeats. Currently, we going through Star Trek: The Next Generation, episode by episode, and hope to get to the second series of the new V and the (finally!) officially released Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future soon. I’d also like to go back and watch through the recent Battlestar: Galactica (at least until the middle of season four) and Buffy.

What I do throw in when I am at a loss are old episodes of Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge G1 fan and the dialogue and stories hit me in the old nostalgic part of my brain (in a way that most of GIJoe cannot). But Beast Wars and Beast Machines are both visually beautiful and tremendously well written that it’s hard not to be drawn back to them. Strangely the collected serialized Robotics that I have for my Region 2 player can also get thrown into the mix. But even if it is marketed as a movie, it really isn’t quite as advertised.

I doubt that on my list of favourite movies, I’ve sat through any of them more than a dozen times. Strangely, the single film I went to see on more than two occasions was Michael Bay’s 2007 Transformers. I say strangely because, as regular readers of this blog know, I was (putting it mildly) not enamored with its sequels, Revenge of the Suck or Suck of the Moon. And despite these viewing, Transformers does not have a place on my 10 ten list.

But back in 2007, when I first saw the film in Providence, Rhode Island with 500+ Transformers fan, I completely fell in love with it. It was to me what Transformers fans claim its two sequels were - a beloved popcorn film. It really was a classic example of a film that divided its three acts into very distinct styles:

1. Suspense / horror - the weird artifacts, the building mystery of strange vehicles and machines and the initial confrontations with the Decepticons, there was a sense that Bay was actually capturing how the world would interpret giant changing robots from another world - with fear and apprehension.
2. Comedy - almost from the moment that Optimus Prime begins introducing his teammates, right up until the unfreezing of MBE 1, the whole film plays almost like a juvenile comedy. Sex jokes, fire hydrants, oblivious parents, urine - it’s like these thousands of year old machines arrived to turn the planet into animal house. And the film would have been damaged had things not changed gears again.
3. Action / adventure - once Megatron is loose, we get back to a semblance of a movie. These autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron were not wisecracking friends, they were galactic gladiators whose arrival heralded a terrible threat to all existence and our chance for survival.

Five years ago, how could anyone know that this film would be followed by two sequels, each of which would be the second highest grossing films for their year of release? Or that Bay would take the “comedy” style from the second act of the first film, already sprinkled lightly throughout the other parts of the film, and decide that gay jokes and dog humping should trump subtlety every time? Or that the subsequent films would muddle the identities of both Prime and Megatron to the point that they were no longer recognizable - the hero a cold blooded killer, the villain a pathetic second banana. Or that he would take the somewhat problematic but completely understandable premise of the first film - Optimus Prime and Megatron were shared guardians of their home world until a quest for power led Megatron and his followers to try and seize the soul of their world - and then add contradiction after contradiction into Revenge of the Fallen (the arrival on earth of the Prime and their betrayal by the Fallen millions of years after the war for Cybertron had begun and the Prime were already extinct) and Dark of the Moon (the crash on the moon in the early 1960s of Sentinel Prime in league with a Megatron who had disappeared from Cybertron millions of years before in a vain attempt to retrieve the All-Spark from space). Or that despair and disgust at the last two films would lead me to question what I liked so much about the first one (to say nothing of leading to very very long sentences like the previous one?) At the time, given modest expectations and hopes, Transformers was a somewhat imperfect film that hit enough touchpoints to be worth eight separate viewings in the theatre. Eight.

I saw the second and third film a total of once each. Just enough to know how wrong things went.

So that’s my entry on the topic of “comfort” movies. Not exactly on topic. But an interesting chance to talk a bit about the first film for a change. And of course bash the sequels.

And, in case you are interested, this is my list of favourite films:

• Fight Club
• Shawn of the Dead
• John Carpenter’s The Thing
• Superman Returns
• 28 Days Later
• Usual Suspects
• Shawshank Redemption
• High Fidelity
• The Empire Strikes Back
• Run Lola Run

A sampling of what other members of the league had to say:

• Geek Show Ink on Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Shiftin’ on the tremendous Superman II
• General Joes talk about the live action Spider-Man show of the 1970s. Yes, it’s real!
• Geekchunks remember the first film for which I ever won a free pass, Weird Science!
• aieouwhy talks about one of the only great wars, the Star Wars trilogy
• doubledumbassonyou thinks the best lazy day film is in fact Transformers (the animated movie of course!)

So I promised in my last post that I would talk about my impressions of the 2012 Botcon set. Which was the plan until I remembered that I’d done this very thing before for a previous set. Having done some work, I thought I’d see if I could keep the flow of the new review consistent with the old.

I am pleased to (re)discover I’d created a value guide to impart my views on the toys. It’s a pretty good one (far simpler than the one I was running earlier last year with my toy of the day efforts) three years on, so I’m going to keep it for the purposes of the Botcon set.

For reference:

• Scalper Price (5) - “This toy is so insanely good - be it in terms of innovation, nostalgia or just plain coolness - that I will not think twice before being overcharged on a piece of plastic by someone who existence is satisfied by gouging.”
• Direct Market Price (4) - “This toy is too good to risk not finding on the store shelves of my local Zellers or Target, that I must pay more than traditional retail to a smaller comic/toy shop that carries the item.””
• Standard Retail Price (3) - “This toy is pretty good and I can’t wait to see it on the toy shelves so I make sure to get the best one going at the most affordable retail outlet.”
• Advertised Price (2) - “This toy is good enough that owning it will leave a bit of a hole in the collection but missing it won’t overburden me with guilt, so I can really take my chances.”
• Discount Price (1) - “I see that the toy is on sale but I still wonder whether it is good for my collection.”

• Occasionally an item will be beyond imagination and will register with an At Any Price (6). Conversely, sometimes an item will be so terrible that it will warrant an (At Any Price) (0).

So there you go. But I also discovered something else funny. I can’t comment on the post in question. And I really want to comment because, three years on, there are things we know now that we couldn’t know then. So our review of new toys is delayed while I wax on about older ones…

So let’s go back in time, to Botcon 2009, and relive the memories…

But It’s Not Animated!

Certainly the box set was hurt right out of the gate when it was discovered not to be new Transformers: Animated toys. My disappointment was palpable at the time (I even went so far as to develop a mold upon which to create the character) and little did I know that almost a full conventions worth of toys for Animated would arrive in 2011.

But I would have to say my assessments were pretty accurate. The 2009 set is possibly the least popular of the seven FunPub Botcon sets to date, as evidenced by how easy it was to get remainders from the “exclusives firesale” underway at Botcon 2011 (although it was a good way to get exclusives for my nephew without breaking the bank…)

Elite Guard Kup - Kup suffers from being the first character out of the gate, and proof positive that the entire set would not serve as a tribute to Animated. As such, he took a fair number of hits that may not have been entirely justified. To the good, he makes use of a terrific Cybertron Mode (Red Alert), a terrific head sculpt and an accurate blue shading for the body. Regardless of what I think of the toy mould, however, it doesn’t seem to suit Kup particularly well, particularly the cab. Failure to substitute a real left hand for the pre-existing laser seems to be a shortcoming.  And the orange striping is distracting. The result is that I’m conflicted and Kup ends up skating between Direct and Retail (3.5).

• (He would have been so good as a retooled Cybertron Mode Deluxe Optimus Prime.)

Time has both helped and hurt Kup. That mold is still amazing, and any toy that gets to use it as a base (be it Cybertron Red Alert, Cybertron Cannonball, or Classics Crankcase) gets a big thumbs up from me.

But Hasbro actually made a Kup for Classics 3.0. A good one too. And there is something wrong about Kup looking so young. Makes me feel a bit dirty. Only because of my love affair with this mold, I’d upgrade my estimate to a Direct (4.0) grade.

Elite Nemesis Scourge - Besides the fact that I have no idea how they are going to keep a story where Scourge is in the past in current continuity without trickery, Scourge fares better, and worse, than Kup. The negatives first - I pretty much universally hate this mold. It really doesn’t do a lot for me. The only time it worked for me was for Ratbat, and then because it looked so much like the War Within depiction of the character. That said, a decent paint application (including an excellent use of contrasting red) and a terrific head retool makes Scourge the winner in the set. Particularly if the “attendee-only” special is a slightly modified Huntsmen Sweep. A Direct (4) grade for Scourge in the final analysis.

• (Still, how cool would a modified Cybertron Mode Deluxe Megatron from the Optimus-Megatron two pack be?)

Of course, Scourge was worked into the story by telling the story of young Kup as flashback during the tumultuous escape from the Decepticons in Transformers: The Movie. And the attendee-only special was not, in the end, a Huntsman Sweep, but rather obscure Japanese character, Leozak. But we did get our Sweeps in the end, courtesy of a build-an-army set…

But more on that later. Scourge was and remains a strange one. While I confess to continued indifference to this mode, I might actually like the vehicle mode BETTER than the official Classics 3.0 release. (I’m probably in the minority and coloured by my love of the deluxe Titanium line, but Titanium Scourge is still my favourite rendering of the character.) The situation was not helped by Hasbro’s decision not to include a targetmaster for him, like they had for Cyclonus.

In any case, I’d leave Scourge with a Direct (4) grade.

Elite Guard Landshark - I have terribly conflicted feelings on Landshark. I want to like him but I just can’t bring myself to fall in love with him. While it is nice to see a new character, and a name that gives props to one of the molds predecessors, I’m still not sold on the character name. Why that matters in a world of Lugnut and Sixknight is beyond me, but it distracts me nonetheless. While the mould is first rate, I really hoped they would hold out the big bucks for Thunderclash, rather than spend it on the new guy. The paint application would have been really appealing if (a) he had been Roadbuster, (b) a perfectly acceptable Roadbuster hadn’t already been issued at retail, and (c) they had gone for some visor subtlety and used an orange or grey instead of that distracting blue. But I really like that mould, so he joins Kup in limbo between Direct and Retail (3.5).

• (I think I’ve have gone with an albino Deluxe Sentinel Prime in this case, or called him what he is (Roadbuster) and, resisting the urge to call for a repainted Voyager Bulkhead, kept the price point consistent for the set, saved cost for Thunderclash and deployed a repainted Deluxe Soundwave accordingly. At least he offers the possibility of treating Laserbeak as a repainted Buzzsaw to join with Scourge…)

Not sure where I was going there with the Animated Buzzsaw comment. I must have grander schemes than I alluded to here.

Anyway, I still like the mold, I’m less concerned about the “Landshark” moniker, and the colours are okay. But I can’t get worked up about him, so he goes down a half notch, to Retail (3.0).

Elite Guard Flak - They should call him Elite Guard Fail. Oh don’t mistake me, the fancy new face is pretty. But I’m not crazy about adding an upsized micromaster to this group, particularly when there are so many other Gen 1.5 Euroformers that could be up to the task (Scorch? Pyro? Where are you, Rotorstorm?). Moreover, like Roadbuster Landshark, we already have a slightly-flawed-but-perfectly-correctable Classics version pegwarming at a store near you in Decepticon Dropshop. Unlike Landshark, we now have a lot of the value of the set invested into an arctic rendering of Autobot Overload, also pegwarming in the next aisle over. Frankly, Flak loses a full retail grade based on the simple fact that two version of the two are currently accessible at retail, pretty face or no, bringing him to an Advertised (2) price point.

• (Again, not that anybody asked, I’d skip Animated Flak and either (a) bring out Big Shot as a remolded Shockwave (now that’s a tank!), or (b) brake plastic continuity (for Megatron is too simple to work…) and used Cybertron Evac to create an Animated-style version of Whirl with a new head sculpt.)

Of course, we would get Pyro in 2010, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I was little surprised to find so many of the Flak, even with the new pretty head sculpt, littering the Botcon extra tables in 2011. There are those that love him, for sure, but he’s not flak. He’d have done better in his Japanese colours (as Powerbomb!) at least. As albino Flak, he stays at Advertised (2.0).

Elite Guard Thunderclash - I really want to love Thunderclash. I really do! I have a soft spot for a toy that landed on Canadian and not American toy shelves. I genuinely like the Energon Rodimus mould, even if I had hoped that the set would save some of its pricing bang earlier on and seriously upsized him to Cybertron Optimus Prime scale (as unrealistic as that might be to bring a Leader class into the mix) or even used the Energon Landmine mould here instead of with Landshark. I even respect the quality of the paint applications which make the best of what they can of transferring the original’s fluorescent colours onto a completely different body (even if I disagree with moving the Autobot symbol outside the eagle). All this going for him - desire, (compromise) mould, paint application - and in the end he looks like a weird prototype. Because he’s Thunderclash, he skirts the no man’s land between Retail and Advertised (2.5).

• (Who is Animated Thunderclash? I’m taking my coin I saved with Soundwave-repainted Roadbuster and bringing forward none other than Voyager Class Optimus Prime. Given now the axe looks nothing like the cartoon version but actually looks a bit like a trailer, the mould actually might look better as ‘Clash than as Prime.)

I finally understand the Buzzsaw comment now. Weird.

Thunderclash would also end up as Shattered Glass Thunderclash in the custom class, so some of us ended up with two versions of him. I even scooped up a sale version of him for a future Custom project. But he really is a Advertised (2.0) grade. Sorry.

Wings of Honour (Set) - Despite wanting to refer to the set as “Wings of Steel” (does that mean Scourge is “Screaming for Vengeance”), Wings of Honour comes out with an average of 3.1, and approaching retail land. Based on anticipated quality of the box (I know I know, but I like how they look…), I’m willing to put the whole set between Direct and Retail (3.5), and call it a night.

(And dream of perfecting digibashing so I can bring Animated Kup, Scourge, Thunderclash, Whirl and Roadbuster to a website near you…)

Oh man. When I retire, will I do anything but kitbashes? I love my ideas for the Wings of Honours Animated set. But on this set, the total score fell to Retail 3.0. Which is really where it belongs.

So Botcon 2012 is coming up in April and we’re counting down the SIX figures that constitute this year’s box set (with the theme of Shattered Glass comes to the Classicverse). I’m having a lot of mixed feeling though because of the toys, and because I’m not going.

Yes, ending a six year string, I’m not attending this year’s Con. It was not an easy decision actually:

• It is being held in Dallas, Texas, a city (and a state) I’ve not yet visited, so it would have been fun to see someplace new (and I could probably get there on points).
• The add-on set is Shattered Glass, which I have really really come to love, and showing up is still the best way to get the toys (and get excited about them).
• There is a better chance this year to get into the customizing course because of a doubling of places. Given the molds from 2010 (G2 Sideswipe) and 2011 (TF:A Minerva), you just know it is going to be something interesting (probably, with my luck, Sunstorm or Shattered Glass Dirge already molded in yellow…)
• And, selfishly, I really wanted to take a shot at a five-peat in the diarama competition. Since 2007, I have alternately placed first and second every year for the past four, and I have some great ideas to enter to continue the streak.

But these factors are outweighed by the Cons, so to speak.

To do the city right would require more vacation time than I am prepared to commit, particularly with a long-talked about vacation on the horizon. Having just bought the new house and just after Christmas, I’m feeling the bottom line much more than usual, so not attending will also save me several hundred dollars in food and accommodations and transportation, to say nothing of the sums I have been known to drop in the dealers’ room.

And while I want to try for a five-peat, the amount of time and effort that has gone into each presentation over the past four years has been exhaustive. Even last year’s nesting dolls took a long time, and in the case of the last three years, I was still working on the entry on site. But KidRobot has what appears to be annual munny contest (or at least one it has run for the past two years) in May and I really want to have the time to do a proper entry - getting street cred with them would be mind blowing and really good for my munny aspirations! (Also, I have the perfect idea, brewing for three years and needing to escape my head…)

Related to this is my planned attendance at TFCon in Toronto in July as a dealer. It certainly means I have access to a toy buying opportunity (with no customs or suitcase hassles). But it also allows me time to overcome the big challenge from 2009, namely having time to put forward Transformer munnies for sale. While I had about 20 for sale, most were non-TF, and I’m curious to know how I will do with an army of cute robots.

But lastly, my long-term Botcon friends aren’t going. Teresa, Toddmichael and Matt, “Crazy” Steve, Josh Miller, they are not going. And while I’m constantly making new friends at the event, I want to hang with at least some of my posse. So I’ll stay put and lure at least Teresa, and hopefully Toddmichael and Matt, up for TFCon in the land of gravy and cheese curds on french fries.

But having friends does have its advantages. Chip and Elizabeth are going and they’re getting the toys for me (and getting in the door with my pass!). So deep into my savings I go to line up payment for tomorrow’s registration. Even if it is not me doing the registering!

(Coming up: My thoughts on the toys! (Hopefully) with pictures!)

Happy 2012 everyone.

(For regular readers of my irregular musings, I’m still putting together a few posts on Green Lantern. I have no real excuse for not having undertaken my assignment - with the figures staring me in the face as I type. Rest assured, we’ll get back to this 2011 toy line soon.)

Instead, I want to talk about the 2012 Transformers action figure club. “But,” you correctly ask, “there is no such thing.” True enough. And yet, aren’t we agreed there should be one.

The New Golden Age of Toys

It really is a golden age for toy fans and the time to get our favourites has never been better. From the sheer volume of DC figures coming out of DCUC (wave 22 planned and counting) to Mattel’s recent foray into the Mego style figures (online and at retail) to the return of Marvel Legends and their impressive ongoing line of 4″ highly articulate Marvels, to new entries from classic Thundercats, the inclusion of classic Joes in the ongoing GIJoe line, and G1-inspired Reveal the Shield characters, there are just so many cool toys on the market and on our toy shelves.

This plastic proliferation has, over at MattyCollector.com, resulted in specialty toy lines aimed at collectors. There is a monthly Voltron and DCUC club starting in 2012, the ending of Club Ecto-1 devoted to all things Ghostbusters, and the long-running and particularly awesome and inspirational Club Eternity, with new and more wonderful figures (and now vehicles) every month!

In the Land that Hasbro Built, The Toys are Alright

But that’s Mattel. Over in Hasbro land, two of its biggest licenses (GIJoe & Transformers) have, for the purposes of fan clubs, been in the hands of FunPublications. Beginning life in 1997 aimed almost exclusively at the 12″ collector’s market, the GIJoe club modernized itself in 2002 by beginning to offer a second range of exclusives aimed at fans of the three-and-three-quarter scale figures. Having built up good credit with Hasbro and following the implosion of the Official Transformers Collectors’ Club in 2004, FunPublications resurrected the Botcon name and created the Transformers Club in 2005.

The Transformers club of FunPublications has proven itself to be much more successful and lucrative than its sister GIJoe club. While exclusive convention toy lines for both factions of the GIJoe club number in the hundred (500 for the smaller Joes, 400 for the larger Joes), 2011 is the first year where the main offering of figures sold out for the three-and-three-quarter inch Joes (with 2010, 2009 and 2008 sets still available for sale).

Compare this to the appetite of Transformers fan:

• The only convention boxset that lingered for more than 12 months was the very first offering in 2005; currently there are no Botcon toys across seven conventions that are available for sale at the club store.
• At FunPublications’ second Botcon in 2006 (and the last time numbers were readily available for the number of boxed toy sets), there were 750 sets of the main exclusives available. That is only 20% less than the numbers generated for GIJoeCon 2011, their most successful year.
• In 2007, the year of Thundercracker, Dirge and Thrust, FunPublications had to go back and get additional sets made because of demand, and stopped publishing the number of boxsets available (widely estimated to be in the range of 2000 box sets). Of the three convention add-on sets, numbering 1400 for each set, they were all snapped up easily at the Convention itself.
• At Botcon 2009, there were estimated to be 10,000 fans in attendence!
• In 2011, there were 1500 sets of add-ons available for each of the two animated-themed sets. For the Shattered Glass add-ons, there were 1800 available.
• In 2012, the number of loose sets that can be added to an attendees order is 500, the same amount as the packaged exclusives available for fans of the smaller Joes.

That is not to say everything is a big hit with the Transformers club. Animated Cheetor remains available in small numbers, as have the exclusive figure that comes with annual renewals. And it is only recently that the Club was able to get rid of, at great discount, Airrazor and Astrotrain from 2006. But given the exclusives that continue to linger (and in dramatically smaller numbers) from the GIJoe club, economics alone provides a rationale for more support for Transformers collectors.

With between two and four times the number of toys sold to Transformers fans compared to GIJoe collectors, more toys simply equals more revenue. And in challenged economic times, that’s a win for the bottom line.

Me Thinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much

So why go into details about economics and a comparison of the number of exclusives sold? Because Transformers fans still feel like we are the poor cousins to our GIJoe brethren, despite our overwhelming numbers and sales. Despite promises of yearly club only toys, it wasn’t until 2010 that this became a reality. To look at what is offered for GIJoe fans on a regular basis is to be overcome by toy envy, particularly as these exclusives linger.

In spite of the picture painted for GIJoe fans, it was recently announced FunPublications would start a figure-of-the-month club in 2012. 12 figures (two per month for six months) would be available as a group package to members of the Club, with a 13th figure thrown in as an incentive. Prices are not yet available although they are rumoured to be about 10-20% more than the cost of a 6″ He-Man figure.

I’ve railed about the proposed club previously, particularly the need to join the main club first (a blatant cash grab if there ever was one) and the cost. And I’m not sold on all the characters. But the ones that have caught my eye just won’t let me go. Covergirl, TNT, Tan Grunt, Nano B.A.T.s, and particularly Quarrel and Iron KLAW make it really hard to resist despite my significant reservations to the contrary.

Which brings us, almost 1000 words later, to the crux of the argument. Transformers fans deserve a monthly club too.

What a Transformers Monthly Subscription Could Look Like

Transformers would certainly be more expensive to put together, but the numbers that could be generated from such a project would certainly make it worth it to the bottom line and for fan interest. A good indication of the success potential is Punch/Counterpunch. Offered in March 2010, the figure (with a run of 1800 and at a cost of $59 before shipping and handling) SOLD OUT in three days. A second limited run of an additional 300 likewise sold out in hours. That’s 2100 X $59 = $123,900 in gross revenue.

A significant amount of retooling wouldn’t even be required - in most cases a simple repaint would all that would be required.

So imagine a club offering between 1000 and 2000 sets of figures, at between a $50 to $60 per figure price, for 12 figures (with a thirteen thrown in for an incentive). To make calculations easier, let’s presume $55 per figure and 1500 sets, and you have gross revenue of just under one million dollars.

And who would you offer? Well, sticking primarily to repaints and not wanting to run afoul of Hasbro’s store, and keeping things to deluxe scale offerings, there is a lot on offer. South American exclusives. Proposed but never actualized Transformers: Animated. Shattered Glass. Diaclone. New characters.

For the benefit of argument, allow me to put forward 13 figures that offer some real punch:

1. Diaclone Bluestreak (Generations Silverstreak in Diaclone Bluestreak colours)
2. G1 Bumber (Reveal the Shield Bumblebee with new head) *
3. South American Camaro (Reveal the Shield Tracks with new head) *
4. Transformers: Animated Cliffjumper (recoloured Bumblebee with new head) *
5. Shattered Glass Hound (with Howlback) (from Generations Hound and Ravage)
6. Shattered Glass Ironhide (Black Diaclone colours of Generations Ironhide)
7. Shattered Glass Punch/Counterpunch (recoloured club tooling of Punch/Counterpunch)
8. Robots in Disguise Scourge (recoloured Reveal the Shield Optimus Prime)
9. UK Predator Snare (recoloured Terradive)
10. G1 Sunstorm (recoloured Starscream)
11. G1 Toxitron (recoloured Reveal the Shield G2 Optimus Prime)
12. Transformers: Animated Wasp (proposed TF:A unreleased figure with new head) *

Bonus Figure: Shattered Glass Frenzy and Rumble (repainted Generations Frenzy and Rumble)

So there you go. 13 figures, with only four retools that spans different lines. If the cost of retooling were a factor, substituting in an unreleased TF:A Mercenary Swindle or a Robots in Disguise Scourge would work well. And this doesn’t even touch on possible new toy molds that may lend themselves to other characters.

Really the skies the limit, so it most definitely can be done. And it should be done, given the potential appetite. If it can work for the GIJoe collector (and other toy fans) it can definitely work for one of the biggest toy fandoms in the world. The question is can we make this happen in 2012?

If you had told me even a half dozen years ago that there would be a live action Green Lantern film, I would not have believed you. Although rumours of another DC franchise had been swirling for some time, most notably in the form of a comedy starring Jack Black of all people as Hal Jordan, the whole thing seemed destined never to get off the ground.

Until it did.

Five plus months later of living in a world where Ryan Reynolds is the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, I can still scarcely believe that 2011 has been the year not only only of the Emerald Knight, but also a son of Odin, and a 1940s patriot, to say nothing of a prequel to a mutant movie and the third installment of the super car lifeform robot franchise. The inner 10 year old in me, who knew only the promise of the Empire Strikes Back and Superman II, is still in shock and awe.

He’s also in shock and awe at what these films bring to the toy shelves. Although somewhat heady times for comic book companies and the sale of individual issues (compared to today’s era of digital downloads and closing comic specialty stores), the early 1980s were not kind to those of us who longed for our favourite heroes to be translated to plastic. Speaking for myself, I was too young for the golden age of Mego’s Super Heroes, and would be too old for the silver age of Kenner’s Super Powers (DC) collection and Mattel’s Secret Wars (Marvel) line. The long march of the modern age of super hero figures, that began with ToyBiz’s Batman movie figures and early Marvel figures and now permeates the toy isles with the likes of Captain America and Thor, the DC Universe Collection and Retro-Action characters, and Marvel Universe, was a long, long way away.

It’s into this arena that Green Lantern and its license merchandise falls. And it’s not an insignificant question given the importance of licensed products to a film’s bottom line. But it’s surely not 1991 anymore. 20 years of steady progress in toy development has had an impact on the toys on the pegs, just as the tastes of toy collectors and aficionados have become refined. No longer is it enough to see simply a familiar costumed hero - that hero must be articulate and durable, peering out from the window of full colour, innovative packaging and at a friendly price point.

So how does Green Lantern stack up? That’s the subject of upcoming posts, as we look at both the Movie Masters and 4″ toy line in the week ahead.