"A Rebellion Without a Cause"

When Phantom Menace came out in 1999, we were able to learn how things "really" began. Basically it was good guys vs. bad guys with the good guys winning, so not much had changed. But we did get to meet a lot of new characters and the birth of some old favourites. A concern that a lot of people had was that the first 3 movies didn't seem to capture the moment...or the magic...of the last 3. I think we have Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford to thank for that. Something about the two of them really added to our own personal enjoyment of their movies. Not that Phantom Menace was bad or anything. In fact it was rather enjoyable. Just not the same, ya know? Let's meet the good guys:

























Some of them you remember, others you had no idea even existed. Which is the way it should be...right?

"New Look...Same Attitude..."

To this day, I'm not sure what genus of Transformers this remake of Sideswipe belongs to. I think it's Machine Wars since I have a lot of other ones from that. If you remember, the Sideswipe from Gen One was red...very red...with a white missile on his shoulder. I'm pretty sure I have the missile but didn't bother looking for it when I took these pictures. Forgot about it I guess.

This is one of the very few ones I have opened as I have discovered they are worth a lot more if they remain in their original state.

"Merge...And Form..."

Well, a bunch of people actually. After the success of Devastator in the late 80's, Hasbro decided what's good for the goose is good for the gander and introduced a series of Transformers that could combine and form one super robot. Good idea? Ehh, maybe. I never did find the Combaticons that could form Menasour (great name eh?) but I did manage to round these guys up:

Aerialbots


Silverbolt Air Raid Fireflight Skydive Slingshot




Superion

Of my collection, these are probably the guys I would sell first. The little planes didn't seem to change much from plane to robot. Gotta love the 90's creativity right?

Bruticus




Swindle Blast Off Onslaught Vortex Brawl




Combaticons

These guys are my favourite I think. They were the first ones that I bought after I realized how much I missed the ones I had when I was a kid. Really makes me mad that I don't have them anymore. Ebay has them but will charge a pretty penny. One day...

Constructicons






Bonecrusher Longhaul Mixmaster Scrapper Scavenger Hook

I got these from a brother of an ex about 9 years ago. Don't have any of the attachments to form Devastator but seperate they're pretty cool. One cool thing about the movie was how I didn't even realize Bonecrusher was one of the Constructicons until after I had left the theater. Will get the newer one as soon as someone has it!

"MacFarlane's World!"

Sure, he created the Spawn comics and eventual movies that followed, but he has really made his name in the world by creating (or should I say re-creating) quite a few movie stars, athletes and cartoon characters to a striking resemblance but only a little smaller. Here are the three that I have managed to collect so far:

Neo



Alien vs. Predator

The Digger


I don't think we need any introductions as we all know who these guys are. Well, except for the Digger. Was he the one who dug Spawn out of his grave so he could be brought back to life? Heck if I know. But man did he look cool.

There have been some new Spawn characters under the Covenant line that I may invest in. What's great about them is they never seem to cost more then $10 so anyone can get them. Should I open them? Mmm...maybe one day.

"More Then Meets The Re-Inventions"

When Hasbro came out with all new characters (and a few old ones) for it's Transformers: Cybertron, no one was more excited then me. Well, maybe a few kids. But that's it. After the disappointing line that was released in the mid-90's not to mention "Beast Wars" (shudder), it was nice to see an original line of vehicles, plus a few surprises thrown in. Here are the three that I managed to snag:


If anyone saw the movie from 1986 (and I think a few did), Blurr was introduced and was able to move fast and talk faster. Annoying? Yeah, a bit. But as least he didn't do anything heroic. He definitely looks a lot better here.


There were a few others I would have liked to have had but this one is pretty cool I gotta admit. A giant claw for one of his hands is neat in theory, but I think it would weigh him down more then it would benefit him. I dunno.


My nephew Ethan has this one so I got to play with this one hands-on. As a robot he looks very menacing but as an armoured tank he can do the most damage.


This one is probably my favourite of them all simply because both cars look very cool plus they appear to be caught in some kind of race deathmatch, which is a little odd seeing as how they're on the same side (I think). Maybe the orange one is a Decepticon, who knows.

I finally saw the movie and man did it not disappoint. Going to go see it again Friday night with aforementioned nephew. Anything for him, right? ha ha. I think what impresses me most with Bay and Co. is that he stayed true to what most of us grew up knowing about them. Even if he changed Megatron from a gun to a spaceship we were more then willing to forgive that to see something we could really interact and connect with.

"Sa-Wing Battah Battah!"

Kenner introduced these guys back in...ohh, let's say the 80's...and kids just bought 'em up. Little did they know that after you got them home and opened them, they just kind of stood there. Hmm. Wow. Anyhoo...I bought eight of them and I'm kind of glad I did. They symbolize the kid in me that enjoys collectable things...which accounts for about 50% ha ha. Let's meet the starting lineup:

Catfish Hunter


Greg Maddux




Jim Palmer


Tom Seaver


Reggie Jackson


Mark McGwire


Ted Williams


Will I buy more? I doubt it. First of all, they don't make them this size anymore (I think). Someone makes bigger ones (MacFarlane I think) but of course no one anyone would be interested in. Bobby Abreu? Come on. Mark Mulder? Please. But I like these here.

"Simply Marvel-Ous!"

Way back in my younger days...1999 to be exact...I found a small but impressive collection of Marvel heroes past and present so of course I had to pick them up. I featured them on my regular site back in Feburary 2005 but the pictures weren't that great, so what better time then now to do some re-takes? Mmm...no better time then now!

Ironman


Jean Grey


Mysterio


Unknown


The Archer


The Birdman


Daredevil


Dr. Doom


Were there anymore out there? None that I saw. But I'm glad I picked these up when I did. The kingdom of the 12 inchers is eightfold thanks to these guys.