July hauls

[onslaught86]

Woo, stuff!

- ROTF Voyager Megatron. I agree with JT that the figure should've been more complex, looks especially simplistic compared to overcomplex wavemate Mixmaster, yet both modes feel like legit modes rather than half-assed rearrangements, and there are plenty of display options. All of his gimmicks are unintrusive. Could stand to lock together better with the backpack and legs, minor niggles tho. The green's grown on me a lot, worlds better than horrid grey. This really is the best Megatron toy in recent years, although that's really more an indication of how awful the Movie Megses have been. I genuinely like this one a lot, though, and he grows on me further the more I fiddle with him. Extending claw-hand's great, especially with the soft ratchet meaning you can extend and retract it for display.

- Jungle Bonecrusher. I really liked Bonecrusher from the first movie line, and intended to get his repaint, but it..didn't come out here. Until, randomly enough, one small chain got them in months after the fact. And only one per case, too. I'd not seen one in person until today, yet there he was, just in time for a sale. Woo. Nifty colours, feels mouldworn tho', some loose joints, and a part cracked when I transformed him, grr.

- SWTF V-19 Torrent. I'd held off on the Torrent for the longest time. Prices have increased stupidly for SWTF, bumping them up by a whopping ten bucks NZD, they're just not worth it, especially without pilots. I recall, of all people, Dom saying the Torrent was good. I'd passed it up many times, yet finally caved, since I discovered Kmart hadn't increased the prices at all. Turns out I'd put off getting one of the best figures in the line, yay. Only a few joints should be tighter, and for being an unorthodox vehicle style, it's very well done. Articulated wings, great colours, neat transformation, some very surprising parts - in a line that rarely ever includes dedicated joints, we've got a waist for a waist's sake, arms that collapse and parts that move just to allow the arms a normal range of motion. Nothing falls off, there're cool shoulder guns, too. This is a good toy and the best SWTF since the delta Starfighter first came out.

Hasbro Star Wars TX-130 Republic Fighter Tank - unweathered deco stalls this, but a fun design and holds 3 figures inside quite nicely. Has cool GI Joe factor, fun, but could be better too.

Saw that for the first time today, appreciated that it didn't have any boring missile launchers, looked a surprisingly decent vehicle, cockpits were cool. Seems to me that it's one of those ones that really should include a figure, though, it may boost the pricetag but it sure boosts play value.

[Onslaught Six]

What TFwiki were you looking at, O6? tfwiki.net says the trade came out on July 9th. Which is when I got it (it'd been on the release schedule for a while up 'til that point too).

That's what I was looking at, but back on the 9th (and up to a few days afterward) it said it was scheduled for the 26th or something.

You'll actually understand AHM better having read this.

Well, that's kinda debatable. Honestly, AHM is pretty straightforward in its reading--all you need to know is that Sunstreaker used to have a fleshy as his head, and now he doesn't. Mostly, anyway.

Must get this book. Maybe one will be at Otakon.

[onslaught86]

So I got one of the coolest pieces of TF merchandise in recent history.

It's rare that I'll want something that's not a toy, especially with the tons of movie merch around these days, and most of it being awful. Yet one thing really grabbed me in '07, and due to it not being released here, I never got one.

I speak, of course, of the Barricade Logo Jacket. it's a nifty track jacket with an embroidered Movie Decepticon logo on the front, and Barricade's fantastic police shield on the back, along with To Punish And Enslave. It is worlds of awesome, and I heart it so.

[Dominic]

Maximum Dinobots compilation:

various other comics

Black Lantern power ring


Dom
-amazed at how bad "Blackest Night" is coming out to be.

[BWprowl]

Black Lantern power ring


Dom
-amazed at how bad "Blackest Night" is coming out to be.

Heh, I got one of those too.

I don't think Blackest Night is that bad yet. Sure, you could make the derogatory "DC Zombies" comparison, but in my opinion it's being handled...better. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like what they're heading towards is making death more permanent in the DCU. Good intentionts and so forth, but we'll see how much of it sticks. At least it's doing okay at being consistent with the 'death' theme. My main complaint is the portrayal of the zombies. The Black Rings bring dead guys back to life, I can buy that. But why do they automatically come back evil? If Elongated Man is any indication, the resurrected characters maintain some elements of their personality, so why is the first thing they do to descend on their former allies in a fit of murderous fury?

A less pressing question is just how the hell does Bruce Wayne's skull make Black Rings? Thing is, I figure (hope) that that'll be explained in due time.

-BW "Willpower, Avarice, Compassion, and Death are not emotions" prowl

[138 Scourge]

But why do they automatically come back evil? If Elongated Man is any indication, the resurrected characters maintain some elements of their personality, so why is the first thing they do to descend on their former allies in a fit of murderous fury?

A less pressing question is just how the hell does Bruce Wayne's skull make Black Rings? Thing is, I figure (hope) that that'll be explained in due time.

-BW "Willpower, Avarice, Compassion, and Death are not emotions" prowl

I think a pretty good question is "How the hell can that be Bruce Wayne's skull if he's over in Kamandi's future/world/whutevah.

As for why the dead guys automatically come back evil...the just do. Quick question, though...didn't Elongnated Man's spirit go off with Sue and become some kinda ghost detectives or something? Does that mean that Ralph's soul is back in his body, or that there's two undead Ralphs right now? Even when I was a lil' kid watching "Return of the Living Dead" I'd wonder, "Is the soul back in those bodies, or are the bodies just animated?" proving that I've clearly not had enough to occupy my time for years.

Lastly, Prowl, your post-signing cracked me right the hell on up.

138 "Marvel Zombies can be written well, just ask Fred Van Lente" Scourge

[Dominic]

I am pretty sure that "Blackest Night" is more about making death less permanent in DC. That would be broadly consistent with "Final Crisis", where it was explicitly stated that things had less meaning, Barry Allen's return, and the fact that Black Hand gripes where about the fluid nature of death. DC typically has the bad guys act as strawmen who argue against the editorial line.

DC writes comics that only exist to depict a lack of meaning.

Dom- at least Marvel sucks honestly.

[BWprowl]

Eh, the way I'm reading it is "Wow, it sure does suck that we have a revolving death-door here in the DCU, 'cuz now we've got all these damn zombies running around. Let's fix that my making dead people stay dead longer." Of course, it's really hard to say, since this is but the first of an eight(!) issue series, plus tie-ins. So who knows where it's going to end up. I can honestly say that I'm upset about their apparent plans to zombify Kal-L during these proceedings, since he was a favorite of mine (I have an odd affection for the alternate-Earth Supermen, it seems), and there is no way this can do good things for his character, who went out well, IMO.

But christ, eight issues? And I thought Final Crisis dragged on too long...

-BW "Oh, and Hope. Hope isn't an emotion either. What the hell is wrong with these people?" prowl

[138 Scourge]

Is Boston Brand a Black Lantern? 'Cause, y'know, if EVERYONE's coming back...

I like Marvel's take on why death is so hard to make stick over in Incredible Hercules. Dead people wind up in a kind of quantum there/not there state, until they're nudged one way or another by random chance. The way it's depicted in this case is in the form of Hades' casino, where deceased Marvel characters endlessly play slots or like that trying to win their way back into the world. Also, this is happening because Pluto is slacking on the whole "God of the Underworld" thing because, as it turns out, not as much fun as being a god in the criminal underworld.

The Legion of Superheroes had a story in the mid-90's (back when DC had the better writing) in which Mordru used a massive spell to reanimate all the dead people in the galaxy. Which, since, y'know, 30th century, was seriously everyone. Three or four issues long, self-contained, beautiful Stuart Immonen art. Ah, the olden days...

[Sparky Prime]

The Black Rings bring dead guys back to life, I can buy that. But why do they automatically come back evil?

Well the Black Rings don't actually bring the dead back to life.... The Black Lanterns are undead zombies after all. And I don't think it's so much that they come back evil, rather it's suggested some manifestation of Death itself is animating the Black Lantern bodies and controlling them.

amazed at how bad "Blackest Night" is coming out to be.

Can't say I'm surprised by that comment given you were pretty much condemning it even before the first issue was even out yet. Maybe you should give it more of a chance.