Sideshow 12" Governator Action Figure is coming!

"Politically damaged!!

Visit Sideshow for more info!

Guardians of the Galaxy Promo Poster remade with Marvel Legends

Yes, this is exactly what the title says. We've known about the upcoming Marvel Legends versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while. These characters have already been done by Hasbro in their comic book versions, but that was in the 4 inch line. This time it's for the 6 inch Marvel Legends, and in the style of the upcoming movie. And they look awesome!

The pose we see here is meant to resemble the promo poster we saw a little while ago. And they have nailed it. A little more detail on Peter Quill's costume, but other than that I think they are amazing representations of the movie designs.

As a long time reader of Guardians - and almost anything in Marvel's "cosmic" catalog, I'm excited. Obviously for the movie, but I have to be honest, I'm also tempted by these action figures. Marvel Legends is an awesome toy line these days.

More Minecraft Action Figure Pictures

Just a few more from Tuesdays photo/filming session.

Minecraft Action Figures - A review...?

I reluctantly call it a review, because I feel I know far too little about Minecraft to do them justice. I can call it like I see it, and I can try to put it into context as an action figure collector. But the thing is, with the constant and seemingly endless amount of Minecraft spinoff effects, I'm not sure these action figures are a big deal.

They would have been to me, had I played even a minute of Minecraft, because these are great toys.

Read on for a closer look, or check out the video reviews on youtube of both Steve and the Creeper.

The Top 10 Greatest Toy Lines Ever!

This is a list I've been thinking of for a good while, and now is as good a time as ever. If you read my stuff, you would think this list could be named "Top ten action figure lines", but that would actually not work. Sure, it's mostly dominated by action figures, but there may be a few entries that just happens to fall in a different category.

I have collected, played with - and ultimately considered a huge selection of toys for this list. Some of the toy lines were rather difficult to leave out, and I feel like mentioning a few of them (but not all, because that would ruin eventual surprises).

 I did consider the original, 1/6 scaled G.I. Joe, for historical reasons, and the great variety of accessories. They were before my time, but I enjoy them whenever I see them today. In the opposite category, when talking about toys that predate the 80s, are the Mego dolls. I just can't see understand attraction. 

A powerful contender was the Real Ghostbusters line. Creative monsters, solid build quality, all over fun toys. There have also been many great superhero lines, like Toy Biz' X-Men, and the various DC Direct lines. I'm also impressed with many of the contemporary toys, whether they're based on movies, like the Avengers figures, or the toys from the smaller, more independent toy companies, like Four Horsemen.

Japanese toys I considered included the various Valkyries based off the Macross shows (like the Bandai VF-25 in my banner), and the range of anime robots in the mighty Soul of Chogokin line.

While the top ten may be familiar to most of you, and in many ways be "obvious" choices, they were the toys that has impressed me the most and given me the most joy.  Essentially, these are my top ten toy lines. 

Agree, disagree, want to share your own list? Leave a comment below!

High End Toy Lines

Collecting toys can be expensive, or more affordable, depending what you actually collect, and how you vision your collecting. Of course, constantly going for boxed, vintage toys, you can imagine it quickly becomes expensive. But at the other end, you may just pick up huge lots of loose, opened figures, and go for quantity over toys in mint condition.

Hot Toys: Amazing and expensive

It almost the same if you're into contemporary general-release action figures, you usually don't have to ruin your wallet. Usually.

Let us say that you're into superheroes, and have $200 to use on toys. Among your options is to go for a nice double-digit amount of Marvel Legends. You'll get several, durable toys of good quality. 

But should you be interested in the high-end superhero toys, you more or less have to consider the Hot Toys action figures. They are roughly $200 for a single figure. Worth it? Many think so because gorgeous face sculpts, a size that demands attention, and and extreme details on their costume. Oh, and they're also as articulated as any action figure. 

I tend to chose quantity, as I have far too many interests to be able to spend $200 on a single figure. From time to time, I regret the decision of not picking up Black Widow, Thor and the other Avengers, because these are the best looking toys I have seen, and isn't that the whole idea of collecting? To actually appreciate the designs and quality of the toys?

Like I said, I tend to choose quantity, and  go for several different toys from several different toy lines, I fluctuate almost daily between preferring modern and vintage toys. Sometimes I wish I were more focused in my collecting, but that thought quickly passes when I spot something new, cool. 

All this is besides the point really, as I was planning to talk a bit about the robot counterparts of Hot Toys. 

SoC God Mars is impressive. 

I have mentioned the Masterpiece Transformers series, and I even own a couple of MP Transformers: Skywarp, Thundercracker, Optimus Prime. They cost at least five times that of a regular release Transformer, but are of course also more impressive in size and details. They tend to be a bit tricky to transform, but I guess that's a positive thing when it comes to the Transformers. 

Another toy line, similar to Masterpiece Transformers, is Soul of Chogokin. SoC is a toy line from Bandai that focuses on making robots from old anime shows. These robots have usually all had toys already, but with SoC, Bandai goes all out - sort of like what Hot Toys does. And they're absolutely gorgeous. Lots of metal parts, lots of intricate details, tons of play features, tons of added accessories. The display value for these toys are out of this world. 

I have never managed to actually pull the trigger on these mighty toys, even though the combining mecha God Mars, from an early 80s anime has tempted me. As has the monumental Ideon, from the tragic ending show Space Runaway Ideon. These are expensive toys, but if you check out a few reviews online, you may understand why. 

From a safe distance, I've let myself be impressed with Bandai's Soul of Chogokin releases, and one of their latest mechas has even made me laugh. This actually exists: 

Will the Disney Mecha be my first Soul of Chogokin, should I rather pick up some Hot Toys superheroes, or should I simply stick to quantity over quality? 

Marvel Legends Nick Fury

I'm almost to the point where I think that the coolest Marvel characters are those that lack super powers. I've written about Hawkeye in the past,and this time, it's the spy above all spies, Nick Fury's turn.

Read on!

A Different, but Similar Perspective on Nostalgia

Every once in a while, I go on various quasi-philosophical rants. I guess it comes with the territory of finally growing up. You see, there is nothing that says adults can't enjoy playing with toys just as much as kids. It's just that we play differently. One of my students (the same who made this one for me) asked me today how long it was since I last played with toys. I had to admit, I played with toys almost every day. When ever I pose my action figures, sort my collection, or even just look at my toys - am I not playing? And in the broader sense, am I not playing with toys when I goof around with my smart phone, installing various apps, playing candy crush, and so on. Is this not play? When I get together with friends to play board games or cards, can't this too be considered playing with toys? 

We play different than the kids, but we absolutely play. 

The biggest difference seems to be that kids dare to admit that they are playing, but adults tend to camouflage it behind fancy words. "Us, playing? No, we're just having an 80's theme party, and the He-Man cartoon looping in the background is just to be authentic". "Me? I'm not playing, I just had to get the Back to the Future Lego for my bookshelf". "These are not toys, these are expensive cars/porcelain dolls/model trains/bicycles/fishing poles/etc..." 

Another difference is of course that we tend to analyze our interests. I did that a month ago, in an article on nostalgia. I'm not sure I thoroughly got to express what I actually felt, but the essence of it is that the 80s were such special times for plastic toys that they more or less created the modern toy collector/pop culture nerd. 

One of my fellow enthusiasts, G.I. Jigsaw, wrote a comment that I felt was worth reposting in its entirety:

I often ask myself, why am I still collecting toys in my 40s. 

I was 6 when Star Wars and it’s Kenner lineup was released, 11 when GI Joe – ARAH was released. These were fantastic toys, and I spent many hours playing with them. A year or so later, I gave up on buying toys, though I still loved them, and eyed them at the store. 

I think you hit the nail on the head – it was a convergence of forces that make the 80s toys so beloved. Quality, story, sheer numbers, and technology. Though the 12 inch GI Joe is loved by many, the size of the Kenner Star Wars line really allowed kids to “buy them all!” As for GI Joe, I had read that the strategy of the first few waves was to allow families to get the entire series for under $100. It worked.
I do like the new as much as the vintage, mostly because they didn’t have those toys when the movies came out (Predator, Alien), but also like the creativity of new stories (Gears of War (left), Walking Dead).

I love the craftsmanship of toys. They are works of art in my opinion. The sculpting and detailing are phenomenal. I still enjoy the simplicity of the Star Wars Kenner line.

Like you, “I collect vintage toys because I have potent, and delightful memories of playing with these toys as a kid.” My family didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but my parents somehow managed to get me some of the toys I loved, because they saw my brother and I playing with them all the time.

I even specifically remembering when and how I received most of them. Those memories carry over to the new Gentle Giant Jumbo Kenner figures (example to the right). The ones I loved as a kid (Death Squad Commander, Jawa) were the first ones I purchased. Interestingly, I never like Death Star Droid or Walrusman and to this day, I still haven’t purchased those GG equivalents. I remember going to Child World on a Friday night when my dad bought me the Kenner TaunTaun and Hoth Han. It is the reason I preordered the GG Hoth Han so quickly.

Around the time I was moving away from toys, I already had an Atari 2600. It didn’t overwhelm me but I can see how today, video games and the internet capture the attention of kids faster these days. They are also a great babysitter by parents, unfortunately. There are two years olds that can navigate an iPad better than me. 

I still think the quality is here today, the same as back then. I do think some of today’s toys are very original – but the larger figures (6 inch Gears of War) and cost of plastic puts a price tag on toys where parents couldn’t buy them all.


I am also “glad I was invited to the main show - as a child in the 80s - to experience it first hand, and I'm glad to be around now, for the after party.”

Make sure to check out G.I. Jigsaw's blog. He writes about toys, comic books, and has made some really cool dioramas. 

Thanks for the comment, G.I. Jigsaw.

Nostalgia and the Reason We Collect Toys

Let me apologize immediately for the pretentious title. I don't plan on writing a scientific article on nostalgia and toys, but I want to put into words something that has been on my mind. I've tried to figure out why I have this fascination for vintage toys, why modern toys fail to bring me the same excitement, and I'm not alone in asking these questions, and for the outsider, it can be very strange that grown men and women still purchase, store, display, and sometimes plays with toys for kids.

Basically it can be boiled down to "Why do we collect toys?", but it's not that simple either. Read on for a rather long article on collecting. Agree, disagree, additional thoughts, personal similar stories? Leave a comment below!

Figure Friday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A rare return for the Figure Friday article, it just worked that way this week. The brother of my girlfriend was eager to show me some of his old toys, and pulled out a nice little collection of 2003s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I grew up with the first wave of Turtles figures, the ones from the early 90s, and I vividly remember playing with an insane line-up of wacky toys.

These ones, which I guess can be considered the second wave, look to be similarly wacky. I like this. It's fun, cool, just like action figures should be.
What's even more cool is the impressive play set, the Sewer. The contemporary TMNT toy line also has a great looking playset, released last year, and it goes to show, we shouldn't have to pay $500 for a lackluster play set, when awesome ones are >$100.

Either way, hop on in for many pictures.

What about Playmobil's Future Planet? (part 1 of 2)

Well, what about it? Am I being unfair for neglecting this fantastic sub-line of these amazingly well-made toys?

Truth is... Yes. But then again, I don't collect Playmobil. Maybe I should, when I look at the quality of the sets. But as I've said before, I don't actually buy a lot of toys these days. It's limited to Lego Minifigures, the occasional Lego set, the MOTUCs (which I have an apparent love/hate relation to), and my summer splurges on big robots or sealed vintage G.I. Joe vehicles. I'm an enthusiast, yes. But I'm just not merely a toy collector. I have several other interests as well, some that even take precedence over the toy collecting.

So yes, sadly I have neglected Playmobil's Future Planet.
I instantly fell in love with this sub-line when I saw the sets in the shelves, but I didn't make the jump until I saw a set at a massive price reduction. This article is mostly thoughts, and pictures of the boxed set, I'll get to the opened product at a later point.

And you can make the jump into this article to read more.

Dino Riders Triceratops

Some may have been surprised by Tuesday's list, specially the top 3. Personally I never had a lot of Dino Riders, which is somewhat sad. Because it's an amazing toyline. The concept was ridiculous, as any other toy line. But the execution was flawless. In fact, the toys were of such amazing quality that they saw a life beyond the toy stores.

The dinosaurs were so well sculpted that the natural history museum at The Smithsonian ordered the dinosaurs from Tyco to be sold in their gift store. Obviously in new packaging, without the guns and humanoid insect warriors.

Another really cool feature was that the dinos were morw or less in scale with each other, and that they from the mid-size and up had battery driven mechanized movements.

I had the Triceratops, which easily was my favorite dino. Today, I couldn't find any of the armor or guns. The insect warrior I know is lying around somewhere, but I can't be more specific.

So here is the dinosaur in it's natural glory. A fantastic toy that when I play with it only makes me want to get more Dino Riders.

The Top 10 Female Action Figures of the 80s

I felt a bit like an outsider, because my peers certainly didn't share my opinions, but as a kid, I loved the female action figures. They were rare, they were something different, and most importantly, they were usually extremely pretty. I guess I was a victim of... biology.

Looking back at these toys now, as an adult toy collector, I realize three things: The female action figures were severely  under-represented, to the point where it's actually offensive. Secondly, the toy makers struggled to translate the characters' beauty from cartoons and movies. And lastly, I realize that I still absolutely love these action figures. So much that I want to share a list of the ten best female action figures of the 80s. Skip a lot of paragraphs for the list, or simply read on! Either way, click in to read more, and leave a comment if you feel like it. Agree, disagree, how would your list look like?

Bacon tip

Just a little tip on this Tuesday. I've previously mentioned a way to get the bacon extra crisp is to cook it in the oven, as opposed to the frying pan. And that's cool, but it really takes less time to fry it. Still, the excess fat makes it less crisp than it should be. Instead of just going straight from the pan onto the serving plate, I let it rest for a few seconds on a newspaper. The paper absorbs the fat, and the bacon ends up super crisp.

Also this Tuesday: WTF?

Trains

Have you noticed how many songs there are about trains? In every genre, there are several songs about trains. From jazz, with "Take the A-train", to metal, with Ozzy's Crazy Train. And it's not just the good genres that gets train songs. There's even an entire musical about trains. Of course, I'm not the only one to notice. Check this out. 

One of my favorites is of course Porcupine Tree's "Trains". A mighty song. It's obviously about something more than trains - the good ones usually are. And I strongly encourage you to check it out. 

But I don't write about music. Not on this blog anyway. What happened was that I was home with my parents this Christmas, and my father brought out his toys one evening: Model trains. He claims he's not a collector, but he still likes his toys. Now, I did take more pictures of this session, but I'll share the best ones today. 

These are N-Scale, which says something about the distance between the tracks more than it says something about the scale of the trains. Usually though, they are 1:144. Or to put it simple: They are tiny. 

I like it. It's almost like they are 1:18 to a 1:18 toy. Meaning that they would scale-wise be to a G.I. Joe as a G.I. Joe is to me. 

Uh.. Anyway.. I know almost nothing about trains, but I think I like the complexity behind the constructions, both the original trains, and these small models. Are they toys in the traditional fashion? Well, I wouldn't give these to a small kid, and it's definitely not for everyone. But they are toys. My father collects toys. 

Don't ask me about details on these. I see two black steam engines, one blue steam engine, one green electrical train, and one tiny red train. 

Enjoy the pictures, and give a thought to what your favorite train song is!

Sgt. Savage and His Screaming Eagles

Today we're all treated to a guest article from my good friend, Aaron.

An enthusiast like my self, Aaron has unique knowledge on several vintage toy lines. What's cool is that Aaron has very specific passions. He's an avid collector of anything Indiana Jones, for instance. He's also getting increasingly better at writing about his hobbies, which has led to him starting his own blog. It's absolutely worth checking out. Leave him comments, and encourage him to continue writing.

But like all good people, Aaron isn't a one-trick pony. It's not just the Indy toys. He knows a thing or two about more obscure toy lines as well.

Like Sgt. Savage. This is where I'm at an absolute blank. I believe I have a Sgt. Savage figure, I know the toys are slightly bigger than G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero figures. I know they were released sometime in the mid-90s. I know the story is set to World War 2. And that's it.
Luckily Aaron steps up to share his knowledge on Sgt. Savage!

Read on!

Girlfriend Cooks: Curry Chicken Soup

As the title says, it's nice to share the joy of cooking, and she's definitely not lost in the kitchen. Awesome chicken soup, spicy, healthy, and relatively easy to make.

Read on for the Curry Chicken Soup!

Change is good and robots are cool

The world has changed, ever so slightly.

And change is good. Of course, this time (luckily, some would say), the change was not as dramatic as it could have been. And certainly not as dramatic as last time it the world changed. But it's still change. And change is good.

Change is a good thing, but for many it can be frightening. Familiarity, on the other hand, is a comfortable thing. Naturally, changed based on something familiar is something most people can tolerate.

The proposed Masters of the Universe Classics Castle Grayskull is familiar. But the size and cost is drastically increased over the toys we're used to from this toy line. Right now, the most expensive figures have been the Wind Raider and the Giants, at roughly $50. Castle Grayskull is $250.


I had several issues with CG a few weeks ago, and I even said that it was set up to fail. Now it looks like it may see release. Toyguru still says we're a few pre-orders away from the goal, and of course I encourage you to go order one. I did.

I like what we're being promised, and while I don't expect to be blown away*, I welcome the change - if you can call it that. It's been far too long since we saw a major playset in a contemporary toy line. Last I remember was The Pit from 2009's G.I Joe line. It wasn't all that great. In fact the best thing about it was that it came with a decent version of Hawk.

*Truth be told, I do expect to be blown away. The designers Four Horsemen have always done phenomenal with the budget they're given by Mattel. I can imagine they are just as excited as the fans to see a Classics Castle Grayskull.

I don't think I need to help Mattel sell the Castle Grayskull project, but should you be on the fence, read this thread from Toyguru, and head on over to Mattycollector and get your order in.

Now, on to something slightly different, yet relevant to the topic.

Writing a blog - you have to assume people are interested in what you're writing. Otherwise there wouldn't be a reason to write it. Sure, I can treat Toys and Bacon as a diary, and for all intents and purposes, it is. But I also know that it has a value to my readers.
Well.. at least most of the time.

My point is that even when I'm painfully irrelevant, the words here have value to someone. And I have to continue being me, writing like I do and keep doing this thing. I may change ever so slightly, and I plan to announce a small change to the way this blog is produced in the near future.

But the essence of the blog will still remain. It will be personal, and random, not scripted and fake. It will be a blog about humans, a blog by humans. It won't be automated, forced and mechanical. There's a reason for this. I truly believe people are more interested in people than they are in robots.


-_-


Wait a minute.. That's not right, is it?

Enjoy the day, people! Keep on changing!

Figure Friday: Weaponeers of Monkaa

I like being surprised.

While I did expect a certain amount of surprises from Spy Monkey Creations' new toy line Weaponeers of Monkaa, I had not expected to be blown away. And the surprise wasn't just that the toys were well made, and extremely versatile, but also that for an independent toy line, you're actually getting A LOT of toy for your money. 

I'd argue that when quality, price and play value are taking into consideration, this is the perfect Christmas gift for anyone and everyone. 

Read on for details and images. 

How to Display Toys cont.

Well, as I'm moving to a bigger place, I'm also faced with a problem. How to display my toys. Obviously I can't find room for all of them in the open. And while I have a lot more room to fill now, I still can't have for instance massive glass displays like the museum that borrowed my G.I. Joe collection.

I'm definitely going to pick up a few Ikea Detolf - the universally accepted go-to cabinet for anything collectible. I've shown how delicate it can be done, while still filling them to the brim with toys.

But I also had the idea of displaying my toys in a really classy fashion. Think cabinets where you would find expensive china and lead crystal glasses. Except it's filled with Transformers and Masters of the Universe.

And the first step towards something like that was obtaining the coffee table Liatorp, also from Ikea.
I've seen this been used in similar way, with anything from the more safe items like colorful stones and coffee-table books to actual interesting items like watches and archaeological artifacts. I wouldn't mind having watches in one of the compartments myself, but my collection of time pieces is tiny.

I'm definitely not done putting toys inside it, and as you can see, I still have spare compartments. But you may get the idea. What do you think?

Ikea's Liatorp series also contains a gorgeous bookshelf/cabinet that would suffice for the bigger robots and assembled Lego sets. But when I can get 6-7 Detolf for the same price, it's difficult to justify.

Anyway, this is a good start, I'm enjoying this way of displaying toys, instead of how it used to be, collecting dust on a shelf.