[Acquisitions] G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary Sgt. Stalker and Hazard-Viper

The first and second waves of the G.I. Joe 30th Anniversary figures had finally reached our shores several weeks back, cutting short the impervious Joe drought. The figures were made available at SRP via Playkit's distribution scheme that occured last September 3-4 at Robinson's Place Manila. It's nice to know that even though Playkit had long decided not to put Joes on the shelves any longer, they still cater to loyal Joe collectors by frequently staging those Joe distribution events. I've actually never benefited from any of those distribution events since I live very far from the metro and an open schedule is one luxury I don't really have, but I'm glad I can get my Joes from GreatToysOnline at the same price.

[Review] Captain America: The First Avenger Concept Series Desert Battle Captain America

I'm not sure where and when this Marvel "concept series" thing actually started, but I can fondly remember that my first encounter with it dates back to the release of the first Iron Man movie's toy line. Some people in the toy community say that the idea behind it was to take comic influences and mix them with the movie design to create new Iron Man armors, thus tying the Armored Avenger with the origin of this "concept series" phenomenon. That may really be the case, and I have to admit that as an Iron Man fan, I actually fell for it. But who didn't? What I'm trying to say is that this "concept series" stuff suits Iron Man perfectly because it fills a particular need, and I don't know if Hasbro understands that.

[Acquisitions] Captain America: The First Avenger Concept Series Desert Battle Captain America

 

I'm actually slowing down on 1:18 Marvel stuff while I'm still trying to complete my Autobot line-up, but this figure was pretty hard to pass up on and I just had to own one. Why? Because this is Desert Battle Captain America! So what? Well, to the casual toy fan, that may not sound too big of a deal, but to a true-blue G.I. Joe fan like me, there's more to the name than just cobbled-up words. You see, one of G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra's four themes is called Desert Battle, and there lies this figure's charm. Coincidence? I don't know, but for me, the Desert Battle tag officially ties Cap with my Joes, and that means trouble for Cobra!

[Acquisitions] McFarlane's Sports Picks NBA Basketball Series 19: LeBron James

This figure was released locally at the height of this year's NBA Playoffs, and with the Miami Heat being serious title-contenders back then, hoarders were quick to grab this figure off the shelves to the dismay of real fans and collectors. Originally retailing for 1000 bucks, prices on eBay and on other specialty stores soared to as high as 1900 Pesos. Since I hate patronizing those hoarders and scalpers, I decided not to immediately get this figure and waited for the NBA Playoffs to play out. The Miami Heat eventually lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, and LBJ got the blame for his poor showing throughout the series. 

[Acquisitions] Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Deluxe Class Jolt, Skids, and Mudflap

 

After acquiring some TF: Dark of the Moon (DOTM) Autobot figures from Toy Kingdom, I then began searching for Transformers (TFTM) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Autobot figures on eBay. Luckily, I was able to find some cheap ROTF figs from eBay seller tinker_avenue. Believe it or not, I got these figures MOC for only 700 Pesos each! Yup, it was pretty much like traveling back in time and buying these figs when they first came out in 2009!

 

[Acquisitions] Transformers: Dark of the Moon Deluxe Class Bumblebee, Roadbuster, Topspin, and Sideswipe

 

OK, I think I'm slowly getting my mojo back. It's pretty hard for me to talk about why I failed to post regularly the last month or so, but the truth is that I was in a month-long bout against depression. I don't really think that we need to discuss it here as this is a toy blog, and toy blogs are supposed to be fun, right? So, let's put it behind us, move on, and get to the fun stuff!