[Acquisitions] G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary Wave 3 Joes

My apologies for the long hiatus! We've been really busy at work as of late and sadly, I don't believe things will change anytime soon. But since I'm available today, let's check out some new toys and make the most out of this rare break.

The Renegades animated series was a huge hit among the G.I. Joe fandom and I must admit, I enjoyed it right from the get-go. It's definitely one of the best iterations in the history of the property and I'm glad that majority of the main cast have been immortalized in plastic form. Yes, the figures have been untooned but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We've already seen Duke (great) and Snake-Eyes (ho-hum) several months back and now we have the rest of the gang minus Roadblock.

[Acquisitions] Marvel Universe Iron Spider-Man & Iron Man and Spider-Woman Secret Wars Comic Pack

Yey! Cheap MUs! I really, really love cheap figures! Who doesn't, anyway? After buying most of my toys at suggested retail price (or even above SRP), markdowns are truly something I look forward to and cherish. Getting a few figures for cheap is like being rewarded for contributing to a company's (or retailer's) bottom line. Though the idea of hauling a ton of figures on sale seems fun, the sad part is that in reality, I have to keep my purchases in check due to an upcoming trip abroad. I would love to army-build some of those Marvel stuff on sale but I don't have the financial flexibility to do that right now and so, I have to limit my purchases to the figs that I actually need for my collection. Figs like these three.

[Acquisitions] Marvel Universe Modern Iron Fist

Whenever I see Iron Fist, I can't help but reminisce the good old Heroes for Hire days. I was a huge fan of the book during its short 19-issue run from 1997 to 1999 and the HfH team ranks second on my list of all-time favorite superhero teams, just behind the Avengers. There were a lot of reasons why I got hooked with Heroes for Hire but I think that the idea of having a team with a rotating cast of members was what really drew me in. The HfH crew was pretty much like the Avengers in that regard and it didn't hurt that the team featured a lot of former Avengers on their roster. And though the team was bannered by Luke Cage and Iron Fist, two heroes I wasn't deeply familiar with, I was quick to accept their roles and I easily learned to appreciate what the duo actually had to offer. When Iron Fist became part of the New Avengers in 2007, guess who the most stoked person on Earth was?

[Heads Up] Holidays by Hasbro: Transformers From Hell

I was supposed to post an entry about a new acquisition today but then I stumbled upon something disturbing. Apparently, Hasbro factory workers in China endure some pretty serious abuses just so we can get our usual action figure fix. The Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights released a report titled "Holidays by Hasbro: Transformers From Hell" last December and it's something that I failed to read immediately. OAFE.net has the lowdown on the said report and you can read that here. If you want to see and read the entire report, here's the link to the PDF file.

Well, to say that I'm disapponted and disgusted is an understatement. How about you, what's your take on this? I really want to boycott Hasbro's products as a sign of protest but it's something quite difficult to do since I really  love Hasbro's properties and licenses (G.I. Joe, Transformers, Marvel). I hope to hear from Hasbro regarding this issue and let's pray that this problem gets resolved soon.

[Acquisitions] G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary V.A.M.P. MK-II

 

I have a huge backlog of modern G.I. Joe vehicles that I still have to acquire and they're all from Cobra's side of the fence. As of this writing, the only POC Cobra vehicle that I own is the Doom Cycle. No, I don't have a HISS v.5 and I certainly don't have a Fury. What's even worse is that I also haven't bought a single Cobra vehicle from the 30th Anniversary line! I'm not sure why, but the Joe vehicles seem to appeal more to me than their Cobra counterparts do. Maybe it's because of the fact that the Joes' stuff are more military in nature but I can't really say for certain. Today, we've got the 30th Anniversary V.A.M.P. MK-II and it's here to show why I don't often miss out on Joe vehicles!

[Acquisitions] Super Hero Squad Proto Armor Iron Man

 

When I attended last December's Christmas Toy Fair, I was hoping to fill a large number of holes in my Marvel Universe Avengers collection. My list of Toy Fair targets was very simple, it was composed of a lot of MUs, five Joes, and two Iron Man figs. At the end of the day, I realized that I had spent my entire budget for the event but only managed to get ten figures off my list. How did that happen? Well, since there weren't a lot of MUs during the event, I decided to buy other figs on impulse. Surprisingly, my impulse shopping purchases didn't include a single Joe, but it certainly included a lot of Iron Man and Iron Man-related toys, including this cute Super Hero Squad figure.

[Acquisitions] Iron Man 2: Fury of Combat

 

Happy New Year, guys! Let's set the tone for 2012 by welcoming the year with a bunch of new toys! Come on!

I had been eyeing this Fury of Combat set for quite some time because of the exclusive Nick Fury figure that banners it but I wasn't willing to purchase it at SRP since I was only interested in one figure and paying for three other figures that I thought I didn't need seemed like a rip off. When I attended the Hasbro Toy Fair last December, the sets were already on sale for 1500 bucks (USD 35) but I decided not to grab one as I continued to hold out hope of finding a cheaper set at the Christmas Toy Fair being held simultaneously on a different level of the same venue. I eventually found one being sold for 1400 bucks and needless to say, that's the set that I bought. I was really happy with the purchase but I didn't realize that I would later be in for a rude awakening! Upon reaching home, I hurriedly set all of my new toys loose only to learn that one of my Ground Assault Drones came without the inner outrigger/stabilizer of its left foot! I double-checked the box to see if it had been opened before but it was definitely sealed when I bought it and that only meant one thing: the figure passed quality control despite the missing piece! Darn! I'm not a pathological cheapskate and although I can't be classified as a big spender either, I guess this time I just got what I paid for. Tough luck.