Tag Archives: review

G.I.Joe con Carded Lady Jaye pic and thoughts

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My carded Lady Jaye is SIGNED by HAMA and Bozigian, and soon by Lady J herself! okay, now after that fan boy moment, I know most Joe fans have already seen the figures  but I wanted to put a shot of each (these aren’t getting taken out of the package) and give a small breakdown of the figures. (please keep in mind the pics are from prior to having LJ signed.)

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When the voice actor Mary McDonald Lewis was announced for  con many correctly guessed we would get a figure of LJ for her to sign, I’m glad they were right. Unfortunately as of this writing they have sold out and I was limited one, and no bagged versions were available !

Even without taking her out of the card I can tell you that it’s not exactly the concept case figure from last year. The torso here is from the 25th version which differs from the concept case. The legs are baggy in look, and originate from the POC shock trooper, arms appear to be from the 25th 2nd two pack Lady Jaye.

It’s worth noting her that the head is new, doesn’t have a removable hat but still looks great.  Her gold eagle is unpainted, and the card art differs in look by removing the knee pads, showing the emblem painted, and showing tighter pants.  Her gray is a very green gray which would almost make her work as a standard LJ but the NF logo on the hat makes it clear she is representing her sub unit here.

I’d rate it 7 out of 10 and if it was at retail I’d buy two.

Was hoping to get up more but I’m out of time, Iceberg at least and hopefully chuckles later tonight! Remember to click on our Forums to discuss the news as it rolls in.

-Sears

 

 

 

2013 Con Exlusive NF Steeler and Flak Cannon Review

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I’m starting off my con reviews with the most pleasant surprise from con. Remember to check back often, and specifically the joecon2013 tag. Steeler was one of the con attendee exclusives this year, meaning even if you got a home front heroes package (ordering the con set by mail) you couldn’t buy this guy unless you came to the show (or hit up ebay!)

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Cyclops wishes he was this Bad A

Steeler comes with an impressive night force flak cannon. Action Force Expert and WOJM UK correspondent Dave Tree said it was similar to a Z-force edition of the flak cannon.

Steeler was one of the original thirteen (013) ARAH G.I.Joes but  his inclusion was surprising as he wasn’t previously a member of night force.

NFsteeler1He is a fairly plain looking figure, yet that only makes him more aesthetically pleasing. The drab green, black and earth town brown makes him fit in with night force, but the lack of teal helps him fit in with the regular Joes as well. While simply, he isn’t overly simply, his buttons are painted as is holster which makes him pop more.

The parts including Retaliation Firefly’s torso, POC shock trooper arms and POC wave 3 Snake-Eyes Legs with 25th Steeler head. The Holster is a tight fit for him and I’ll probably place that and the cool but somewhat dated helmet aside.

NFsteelerfilecardThere is not really a lot of additional information or pictures necessary, he is what is, and thankfully that is a good update of one of the original and often neglected ARAH Joes.

NFflakcannon1The flak cannon he comes with is surprisingly nice. It’s mostly black with shades of green, both G.I.Joe and the Night Force team logos, a single star, as well as  4 Cobra’s that have be slashed out to display his kills/vehicles destroyed.

NFflakcannon2My only real complaint about the cannon is the green pant here, that appears to be a a scope or camera, is not painted well at the seem of the plastic and it is very noticeable.

Scoring these two together I’d give them an 9 out of 10.

I also can’t help but think his inclusion as given away who the mystery 13 figure is, if NF falcon is in FFS 2, and NF crazy legs is the one not left with a figure, i think he is a good candidate.

Remember to check back often, I hope to have at least one other review up tonight.

-Sears

a review of: RAHC Guide by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr.

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The RAHC Guide is written by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr. which you may know from the excellent What’s On Joe Mind podcast.

It’s obvious this work is a labor of love. it covers an era of  figures often looked down upon in a thorough manner. This is a guide for every figure and vehicle released from 1997 to 2007 and details their parts, what the came with, variants, and some trivia information. It isn’t a price guide, but it doesn’t need to be. Despite books like this including price guides, toy prices fluctuate enough that they can only be close to accurate briefly, and with this particular set of toys, sadly most of them are not as desired as the classic 12″ or ARAH figures, or even the more recent 25th to current style figures.

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Jump into the article for the full review. Continue reading →

So I saw Retaliation tonight…

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The theatre was almost empty, that does not bode well for the opening weekend. I saw it in max 3D, the small audience laughed a few times, my wife enjoyed it, compared it to expendables which she loves. Me? It was okay.  The Mt. Scene was amazing, but the exposition was so bad just before that it could have came from a motion comic written by 10 year old.

A few quick not spoiler thoughts for now, and i’ll post a full review later.

Stormshadow was the star of the film, and talked only a little more than snake-eyes! His character had the most obvious Arc, and his fight scenes were excellent.

There were several Easter eggs in the film i won’t spoil here, but they made me leap with excitement as i found them! (He did call him brother btw, a lot of people didn’t catch that!)

The action was ratcheted up. The fight choreography was good in places, a little too fast to follow in others, but the fights felt more quick here, and occasionally more brutal, but could have showed more strain from those involved at other times.

For being on the screen so briefly, i really thought Mouse was a good addition.

I was very disappointed in the need to add sex appeal, one of the best things about the last film was that it was more kid friendly than the TFs, while this one still is, it will be longer before my son can see this than I had hoped.

RZA is awful! Just awful.

as I said, full review coming soon, but prior to Joe Con I have several important non site obligations that will keep things slow. During Con, and then again shortly after, explosion of good things!

 

G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra Review (Yes the first one!)

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5by5nAs I gear up to see G.I.Joe Retaliation tomorrow (in IMAX 3D) i thought it appropriate to dig up a review I did of Rise of Cobra shortly after it came out. I have to say up front, that review was more of a long rant, and I’ve recently re watched the film so I tempered it quickly to arrive at this rough around the edges article.I wanted it out quickly in case someone had the chance to read it before the movie tonight. Warning, it’s long, and it could probably fit into that nerd rage category in a couple of points.

The first thing i want to do is list some positives, then I’ll look at the movie as just a film, then as a Joe film.

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1. A Few of the Positives:Christoper Ecceltson played a convincing Scottish Destro. Nods to it’s roots like “Yo Joe” and “Kung Fu Grip” are humorous and nice. It doesn’t take itself to seriously. It brought the name G.I.Joe to theaters. It felt more kid friendly and family appropriate than the Transformers movies, which i think is a big plus. My kid could see this well before i would let him see Bay’s sex obsessed explosion films. Continue reading →

MU (new) HULK review

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I was very excited when I first saw the sculpt for the hulk. The earlier sculpt from the marvel universe line was so terrible that I settled for a pair of hulks from past movie lines to fulfill the Jade Giants place on my display shelf. I picked up the red and grey versions (as you will see below) so I was familiar with the sculpt of the toy.

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The original mu hulk had lots of articulation but barley any of them worked. It was extra wide and mad while seem more squat and squished that brutish.

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Unfortunately This hulks is similarly full of barley functional joints, especially in the legs. While an improvement, I was hoping for more. I am also in sure why the my line continues to use high thigh swivels that don’t function, given hasbro’s recent move to reduced articulation I would think obviously non functioning joints would be the first to go to save money on parts. Continue reading →

Marvel Universe Kraven Review

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Thanks to my friend and Comic and Figure Addicts owner JJLecaros I got my hands on several hard to find Marvel universe figures. It seems like all Marvel universe are hard to find these days!

First up is famous Spider-Hunter Kraven.

kravenThis guy looks like Kraven. He is the ultimate hunter, who has taken down lions and  has a desire to hunt down truly dangerous prey like Spider-man. His sculpt is superb for a marvel universe figure which all too often feature the same molds and painted on details. It’s true is wrist and bicep wraps are painted on, but  the sculpting on his vest, belt, knees and wrapped boots more than make up for it.

The painting is done very well, I noticed no issues with unpainted areas or bleeding until reviewing the pics and noticed incredibly minor issues below the knee.  The way his eyes are painted make this head look truly villainous and unique to factory painted 1:18 scale heads of any line.

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Unfortunately, my Kraven’s left foot was fused together and broke off. his right foot feels very flimsy as well.  This only bothers me slightly as i had plans for this head to become my Major Bludd, but still disappointing.

kravenhandHis thumb is fused to his middle finger which will limit the accessories he can hold.

kravenspear

his spear is so wavy! how could he possibly through this?  If it’s important to you you can’t attempt a procedure to fix it, soften the  plastic in boiling water, straighten and reinforce till it softens. I haven’t had the time try this, but it is often used by G.I.Joe customizers to address warps in plastic.

kravenrenegadesbluddStyling in a suit! Even if you don’t want this guy for Kraven this head looks excellent on many bodies. This body being from the Men In Black III line.  If I can find more of these guys in the wild, I’ll be picking up two more, as I do want a Kraven as well as having some of the cool parts (head, skulls on knees) to customize with.

kravenonthehuntHere Kraven is perched and hunting the batman with his super wavey spear.

I do not know how common the issues with the spear are, but both it and the leg hurt the figure greatly. If I Ignore the leg (surely not all of them are broken)  I’d give this guy an 8 out of 10 for excellent new parts and paint job.  If you can find him, grab him.

-Sears

 

 

 

 

 

Taco Bell Smothered burrito review

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I recently stopped at a different than my usual Taco Bell. I was pleased to discover that they still had the elusive smothered burrito that was exclusive to the Dayton Ohio area a few months ago. I had missed my earlier chance to eat one as their availability coincided with my sons birth.

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The burrito comes in 3 varieties; beef,chicken, and steak. The sauce is similar to an enchirito but the smothered burrito has less of an onion taste. The burrito contains rice sour cream and cheese as well as your choice of meat.

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This is a very sloppy burrito but I should state mine flew from my passengers seat to the floor as I avoided an idiot driver. But with an included spork but t doesn’t seem to messy.

I really enjoyed it and hope it will be picked up by Taco Bell at large, or at least ones closer to me!

And the Baja Blast Freeze in the pic that I had reported earlier ? It’s a very sweet version of the soda that reminds of an icee because of its foamy consistency.

Also if your wondering why there has been a serious lack of updates, I have been and still am sick with some sort of Martin death flu. This meal was an odd choice for my first solid food in awhile, I was only intending to grab the freeze. But I was glad I gave it a chance.

-revsears

as always, let me know your thoughts on the item, or the review on the forums HERE (Forum link updates 8/4/13)

Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture book review

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Geek-Wisdom

This book was edited by Stephen H. Segal and contains numerous commentaries on some of the most often said quotes from our favorite movies, cartoons and comics.  Everything from, Princess Bride the Bride of Frankenstein, or Doctor who, to Zelda even The Tick are covered in this book. While Nerd culture will hold these favorites the highest, and there are some quotes that are even obscure to me in the book, for the most part these quotes discussed have launched beyond just nerd culture to pop culture.   We nerds though, have a special attachment to many. “Ray, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!” –Winston on Ghostbusters.  I of course don’t agree with that statement theologically, but I can’t help but recognize that I have used in the past for humor, and a kind of grand version of the lie to cover your own but.  The authors take that idea and runs with it.

The book begins when the author is asked, “What was your religion when you were growing up?” he states that is answer was, “u, science fiction, pretty much.”   While the author goes on to admit about Isaac Asimov, “He was not, obviously, God. He didn’t create the universe, humanity and everything in between” He does still contrast himself with a catholic friend who studied the gospel, while he read I, Robot.

Each of the nerd sayings included in the book can teach a lesson, or have come to represent something to us as a culture.  He divides it into six sections: My name is Inigo Montoya (wisdom about the self), Form Feet and Legs (Wisdom about relationships), we are all individuals (wisdom about humankind) Knowing is half the battle (wisdom about conflict) Billions and Billions (wisdom about the universe) and In the Year 2525 (wisdom about the future.)  The overall affect is to make cannon of important Nerd Dogma.  To the author, this would be the road map to understanding philosophy, theology and metaphysics through the lens of nerd culture.

I’m not yet 30 (but darn close) and I can remember a time when being a nerd, meant being an outcast. In present day this is no longer true, the nerds indeed have had their revenge. With the age of technology and the internet nerd likes and views, are affecting the world around us. Nerds like Bill Gates now have the money. Comic book movies have saved Hollywood and continue to dominate the box office.  Comics themselves are no longer throw entertainment, but collectible treasures. Nerd t-shirts are no longer a way to get beat up at school, but are a popular way of expressing yourself, just like a band t-shirt.  I can see the author’s point clearly; the nerd’s have reached escaped velocity from being outcasts and are now their own culture with norms and folkways which are presented clearly in this book.

In short, pick up this book. Each quote is a trip down nostalgia lane, and a call to ponder about it’s deeper meanings.

 

As a believer, I had additional thoughts about this book I included in the original review over at Nerd 4 the Lord concerning how this relates to Christians who are nerds, as religion comes up in this book several times.  Click here to check out those additional comments.