What a Feeling!

Happy belated birthday America!!!

Only 52 days to my citizenship test!!! Now how many Amendments are there again?

Buffy Cancelled for a Third Time!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the (best) TV show (ever) ended in May 2003 after Sarah Michelle Geller decided not to renew her contract. Just months later then license holder Moore Action Collectibles cancelled their line of action figures, claiming lack of retailer support. Fan support however was rabid, ultimately resulting in Diamond Select Toys' decision to take over the line and produce a 100 or so figures (as well as some superb plush and prop replicas) over the next four years.

Last week, on August 22nd 2007 to be precise, Chuck Terceira, Director of Diamond Select Toys, announced the cancellation of all upcoming Buffy figure releases, most notably the "build-a-figure" Judge wave which was due in stores at the end of the month, a wave which was first announced as far back as last November.

The fans have again rallied to take action. In hopes of securing a release for said figures, Philip M, administrator of SlayAlive and BtVSFigs, has organized the Save BUFFY Figures campaign. On August 29th, 2007 supporters will purchase at least one figure directly from DST. Polls on both sites will determine which currently available figure should be purchased, the goal being to buy up all of Diamond's stock in that item and show consumer interest in the line. I'm sure everyone reading this will do their part!

As much as I wanted a 6" vampire Dru, I suppose this sad news allows me to focus my collecting attentions on the Harry Potter and Doctor Who lines. Hmmmm!

Countdown to Celebration: Another One?

Yes, Hasbro has revealed a third exclusive figure to be sold alongside R2 and 3PO at the upcoming Celebration IV here in LA and Celebration Europe in London.

Though already rumoured to be one of the McQuarrie Signature Series figures accompanying Hasbro's regular waves of figures, Luke Skywalker, formerly known as Luke Starkiller, joins the growing ranks of characters from Ralph McQuarrie's concept illustrations to be immortalized in plastic.

Over at Sideshow the've just released images of one of their convention exclusives, the 12" version of Luke Skywalker dressed in his I've-just-blown-up-the-Death Star finery. Priority pre-ordering for these beauties begin Thursday, April 12th at 10AM (Pacific Time). Unfortunately I think I'll be passing on this one.

Countdown to Celebration: Exclusive Figures

As expected, Hasbro's action figure exclusive(s) for Celebration IV here in LA (and July's Celebration Europe at the ExCeL exhibition center in London) are 3¾" versions of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie's original illustrations of those iconic bickering droids C-3PO and R2-D2.

McQuarrie concept figures accompany each wave of the new 30th Anniversary figures (with versions of the Stormtrooper, Boba Fett and Chewbacca already previewed). This signature series will continue throughout the year with Darth, Luke and Han amongst others already rumoured. R2 and 3PO's conspicuous absence from the rumour list made them highly likely candidates for this year's convention exclusive.

Limited to one set per convention day pass purchased (which means if you've purchased a 4-day pass you’re lucky enough to be able to buy 4 sets – one to keep MIB, one to open, and 2 to ebay - sadly I only have a day pass) these figures will quickly become hot commodities!!!

May the Force be with you!

WTF TFAW?

Saturday night Joe and I ventured over the hill to Universal City Walk to experience the true awesomeness of 300 on an IMAX. While I thoroughly loved the movie, marvelling at the seamless CGI and bluescreen work, and gazing in awe at the wonderfully chiseled warriors, it never really felt like there were 300 Spartans (but rather maybe 30 at best), while the accompanying score (and editing) just couldn't match the dramatic intensity of the original stunning trailer. 300 however truly is a movie that should be seen on the big BIG screen.


City Walk itself was an entirely different matter. My first and only other excursion to the Walk was back in 2004 during an exploratory trip to LA! At that time I hadn't noticed the gaudiness of the place, purchasing my board shorts, souvenirs and paying way too much for way average food like a good little consumer.

One of the fond memories I had from that visit was of Things From Another World (the TFAW in the title). This time around, though still impressed by the wide range of geeky collectibles, I was horrified at the extortionate prices being charged, particularly for Star Wars figures, Wal-Mart exclusive figures to be precise. You know some jackass is plundering the Wal-Mart shelves on shipment day, buying them cheap ($5.99), then jacking up the price ($24.99). This figure scalping is just plain criminal!

So other than the overpriced stores and restaurants, Saturday evening at Citywalk was overrun with tourists from the park; littered with parents who had entirely too many kids; and we were bombarded on all sides by people who had little sense of direction and no spacial awareness.

I don't think we'll be heading back on a Saturday night anytime soon, even for the IMAX (I should note however that exiting the parking structure was a much quicker and easier experience than I've ever had leaving The Grove or the hell that is Arclight).

The Force Unleashed at Toy Fair

The most important event in February, more important than the Grammys, the Ironman Pro, and the Oscars combined, is the American International Toy Fair, held last week in New York City.

Geeks around the world look to Toy Fair for news (and pictures) from their favourite toy lines. Avid fans clamor for sneak peaks of upcoming action figures from such lines as Hasbro's Marvel Legends, McFarlane's Spawn, JAKKS' WWE series, even My Little Pony. It's the anticipation of new Star Wars toys that really makes me moist however, and with this being the 30th anniversary of Episode IV: A New Hope, 2007's product is going to be one bumper crop!

A couple of the upcoming Gentle Giant animated maquettes will look great on my shelves (hint hint Joe), and those 12" Sideshow Collectibles, Galactic Heroes and Nerf Blasters all have their place (and fans) I suppose, but it's Hasbro's classic line of 3¾" figures that I most look forward to adding to my collection.

This year's line will consist of at least 60 basic figures, in brand-spanking-new specially designed 30th anniversary packaging, complete with a collectible coin (a homage to Kenner's 1985 Power of the Force line).

Future goodies include the likes of M'iiyoom Onith, Hermi Odle and Umpass-Stay, and a series of figures based on Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art, all mixed in with new renditions of the core characters (like Luke, Leia and R2). The most exciting news however is that Hasbro will finally embrace the Expanded Universe with characters from the Lucas Arts' upcoming The Force Unleashed (a video game for the "next generation" platforms, where you play Vader's secret Sith apprentice) along with versions of Darth Revan, Darth Malak and Roron Corobb.

And so with the prospect of all these wonderful new toys on the horizon, I passed up the one remaining Betrayal of Felucia battle pack I found at Target this morning. It could end up being one expensive year with many storage challenges!