Packaged alongside the action figure Switch Gears, this figure appeals to fans of the original toy line, TV series, comic book, video game, or almost anything spawned from Hasbro's military toy line from the 1980s. And, of course, here's our review. A review of Switch Gears is in the works for a future article.

Cosmic Rust is reporting findings of an Armada Super-Sized Optimus Prime with the red components colored gold. This figure showed up earlier, but now it appears it may be a K-Mart exclusive. Visit their site for the full story.

Mask of Destiny is reporting that the Hollywood Reporter listed the recent direct-to-video Mask of Light feature bowed at #1 on VHS and #4 on DVD. It was beat out on DVD by The Two Towers, Anger Management, and Sleeping Beauty.

In addition to Cobra Commander, a review of Hasbro's Clone Wars Yoda action figure was added over at Galactic Hunter. Click here to check it out!

Frasier for senate? Apparently Hollywood is going Washington for a change. In this story, MSN reports that he has yet to lay out official plans, but is eyeing a seat on America's most elite and prestigious legislative body outside the voters for American Idol.

Wal-Mart stores have marked down this pair of 12" figures, which comes with the DVD of G.I. Joe Spy Troops: The Movie to $17.84. Not a bad deal.

Several gift sets, a few new sets from Playmobil, and some older sets are currently hitting TJ Maxx and Marshall's stores, as are a few LEGO sets and some other interesting items.

A LEGO enthusiast produced a pretty amazing set, a four-foot tall LEGO Homer Simpson. Containing over 10,000 pieces, he took a little initiative and went the extra mile to produce a second sculpture that's available for sale. The price? $4500.

Cosmic Rust, a fantastic little TransFormers page, has posted several shots of the upcoming Rodimus toy prototype. This unpainted sample from TransFormers: Energon appears to incorporate elements of the modern Hasbro design aesthetic alongside that of the second leader of the Autobots, Rodimus Prime. Its exact name and release date are unknown, but hey, get a load of those pictures.

Fry's Marketplace, a larger version of Fry's Food and Drug Stores that's owned by Kroger, has marked down their entire stock of video games for the three major consoles. Knights of the Old Republic, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and F-Zero are marked down to about $25 each. The duration of this sale is unknown, and it is unknown if this sale extends beyond Arizona's borders or in Kroger stores of a similar size.

PVP #4 Available. Image Comics shipped Scott Kurtz' latest this week, and it should be available at your local comic shop.

Prepare Thyself. Action Figure Xpress revealed numerous new Armies of Middle-earth toys, including the super-spiffy Osgoliath Ruins with Winged Nazgul set. If you don't scream with delight over this image, there is something wrong.

Wal-Mart is offering clamshell two-packs of two action figure two-packs or a set with one action figure two-pack and a small electronic vehicle with a figure for roughly $10. The figures are as recent as Series 7 of the new line, which includes the new chrome-headed Destro figure.

Wal-Mart is currently selling sets of two packs of Minicons in a large plastic clamshell for $9.99. Each set contains a total of six of the little TransFormers.

An auction on the Bay of E has surfaced with a redeco of each of these two He-Man villains. Trap Jaw appears shirtless with some recolored garments, but he's very similar to the previous release aside from those changes. Beast Man seems very tastefully done, with many non-hardcore fans unlikely to be able to tell there was a change. They're no Bling Bling Skeletor but still notable.

A review of Hasbro's Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker action figure was added over at Galactic Hunter by yours truly. Click here to check it out!

Bob Odenkirk to Co-Host Jimmy Kimmel Live. After next week's sting with Bobcat Goldthwait, Kimmel will be bringing in half of the team that fronts HBO's Mr. Show with Bob and David. David Cross co-hosted alongside Kimmel earlier this year.

Fans of Zoids are in for a continued treat. In addition to existing free VHS casette, free Z-Builders, and clearance promotions, it seems Kay-Bee is furthering its parade of cheap plastic by stocking new, large Zoids at clearance prices. Spotted so far is the Death Stinger, formerly a $30-$40 set, at $9.99.

Wal-Mart is not offering sets with a figure two-pack and a vehicle as previously reported, but rather is offering a set with a small vehicle with a driver packaged with a new (and seemingly) exclusive CD-ROM set. Figures like Firefly, Roadblock, Recondo, Dr. Mindbender, and more are packaged with the discs, and were not sold in such a manner before.

Back in 2001, Toy Biz surprised the world with its first series of Spider-Man Classics figures, with the webslingers sporting nearly three dozen points of articulation.

Blockbuster Video stores now have at least two exclusive packs of Bionicle products. The first is the entire series of Toa Nuva, the heroic characters in can-like packages, and they're packed with the formerly Toys "R" Us/Legoland Billund copper Mask of Victory. The second item is a two-pack of the brand new Matoran sets, which are smaller figures of Bionicle "villagers." The two-pack includes a special, apparently exclusive, mask from the Mask of Light movie. Each of these promotional packs is $7.99.

Hasbro announced a mail-in Agent Faces figure a few months back on its Spy Troops figure packaging, but until just now, there were no photos of how he would look. Thankfully, Hasbro posted a page explaining the offer, complete with pictures showing Agent Faces in Crimson Guard armor, surely making this the hit of the season as far as mail-aways go. As it was one of very few, if not the only one, it wasn't especially hard to be the top offer of the season.

Cosmic Rust posted some fairly decent images of the now purple Unicron and the combined mode Optimus Prime. It appears the image provided to them of Unicron's planet mode was awkwardly transformed.

Reports around the Web of these new figures surfacing leaves this news editor befuddled, as figures from previous waves, namely Buzz-Off and Evil-Lyn, still have yet to hang for more than a few minutes in our neck of the woods. Regardless, start looking if you aren't already.

A line of bootleg TransFormers figures is popping up at US Big Lots stores. Included are knock-offs of:

Collectobil is reporting a new exclusive Apartment with Interior Lights set is being offered to a German store. Check out Collectobil for the scoop.

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly yet again.

Yo Joe! is reporting a tentative lineup of characters for the next two waves of figures in their Magazine section. While tentative, it appears Cobra Commander, Kamakura, Destro, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, the Baroness and many others will be making repeat appearances in these sets. Pictures were unavailable as of the moment.

BWTF.com has reviewed the upcoming/available Alternators/Binal Tech Smokescreen figure, and in both its Japanese configurations.

A number of online news outlets are reporting that the market is responding well to the new MSRP of the GameCube in the USA: $99.99. Apparently it's gone from roughly 15,000 units per week to over 60,000.

Previously, Albertson's grocery stores have partnered with the likes of Osco Drug Stores and Office Max to "power" certain areas of their store which had previously been lacking. Now, Toys "R" Us has a mini-aisle in Albertson's, which was a bit of a surprise. Their selection of action figures is decent, but the prices, sadly, are similar to those of Osco/Sav-On/Walgreen's. That is to say, high.

For your enjoyment, we continue to fill a much-needed void in Web reviews with a review of the Masters of the Universe villainess online, complete with pictures. Sure, she came out last summer, but as we just found her last week, she gets a review.

Coming later this week here at 16bit.com is a review of Buzz-Off from Masters of the Universe which, interestingly enough, was finally found at Albertson's. Also on tap for review in the near future: the recent G.I. Joe vs. Cobra 12" Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow set with exclusive Spy Troops The Movie DVD, a Japanese Zoid that was found in a Phoenix area gift shop... from 1986... in July 2003. All this and more, which should please/annoy the six of you who read this.

While not a popular kit, a classic kit, or even a cult kit, Geruder is one of the very first Zoids kits from the Imperial side of the toy's storyline. This kit from roughly 1986 was recently found, sealed in its original Japanese packaging, at a Phoenix gift shop. This review looks at the toy and the original packaging, which is worth a gander if you are unfamiliar with old Japanese toy boxes.

Lt. Dannl Faytonni is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. The figure has three accessories and a whopping 14 points of articulation and, to the right person, could be the start of several excellent custom figures. Check it out.

The Onion updated on Tuesday with its usual compliment of comedy and a review of Kill Bill.

Another old toy gets a look this week, but in this newer form. Buzz-Off is a great and fairly obscure member of the Masters of the Universe cast, but of course not the most obscure. With posable wings and an axe that can shoot, there's a lot he can do. Standing up, sadly, is not on this list. Check out the review for images and more!

Series 5 of Palisades' wildly popular plastic representations of these puppets has hit GameStop and EB Games stores. Now available are Janice, Gonzo with Camilla, the Muppet Newsman, and Pepe.

Dreamwave's latest foray into the early days of Optimus Prime is now in stores. Issue #1 follows Grimlock, Kup, Bludgeon, and others after Optimus and Megatron disappear. The series has a new artist but retains the existing character designs from The War Within and even addresses the notion of toys based on these designs.

As a result of a settlement against Kay-Bee Toy stores involving deceptive pricing practices, a 30% off sale is currently going on through October 14. If you spend $30 or more, you get 30% off. Considering the stores are getting in new shipments of old Zoids, and considering that this sale can be combined with existing sales, it might be a good time to buy TransFormers too, as they're already 25% off.

1. Sony announced pricing of its PSX console, which is a hybrid progressive scan DVD/TiVo clone/PS2/online set top box/DVD burner all in one. It uses USB ports as well as the Sony Memory Stick to save data and to connect to controllers... and it costs $719 or more, depending on the size of the hard drive. While this seems obscene, competitive boxes with similar offerings from other consumer electronics manufacturers cost nearly twice as much, so it turns out this is actually a decent deal. Assuming, of course, you need one.

Toy Wishes Magazine (published by Wizard Press) announced their Top Toy List by way of CNN today, and it includes some interesting, obvious, and highly dubious choices. We'd like to take issue with their prediction that TransFormers: Built to Rule made the list while traditional Armada toys did not.

Kellogg's has released a new special limited edition cereal as a pre-movie-tie-in. The box art is similar to the orignal Dr. Seuss designs and not the revamped Mike Myers version of the character that will appear in theaters this holiday season. As to if it's good or not, well, heck if I know.

Toys "R" Us stores are receiving numerous new toys lately from the upcoming finale of the Lord of the Rings series including a talking Gollum/Smeagol toy with interchangable heads, an armored Cave Troll, and a rotocast Aragorn that, sadly, may be one of the best sculpts yet. The paint job, of course, still leaves something to be desired. Other figures are trickling in and new items are starting to show up elsewhere as well, so be sure to keep an eye out for these.

Fans of Tomy's Japanese line might be interested in a few promotional Blox (Z-Builders in the USA) sets.

The Kids in the Hall, Canada's finest comedy troupe, are coming to DVD and they set up a Web site where you can leave suggestions for what you want to see on the discs. Longtime fans of the group have been waiting for this for a long time.

WA-7 is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. She can't stand on her own, falls apart easily, and without her stand, looks like she's dead. But she's still a pretty great droid. Be sure to check out this latest feature from our friends-- namely, me-- at Galactic Hunter!

Home on the Range is set to be Disney's final foray into theatrical hand-drawn animation, and this link has some information on who's making it, who's in it, and even sports some images of the characters.

He-Man.org has realized that since the departure of the former Masters of the Universe brand manager, news of the official sort has been sorely lacking in this line. Despite the virtual love-fest that the board gives those associated with the brand, Mattel representatives have been far and few between as of late, which seems odd given as these are some of the most polite fans on the Web when it comes to interacting with the company that produces their favorite items.

Kay-Bee Stores are starting to receive their newest exclusives, Megabolt and Jhiaxus. Both are repaints of Beast Machines molds, the latter being the smaller Jetstorm toy and the former being what was eventually released as Megatron Megabolt in Robots in Disguise.

Yo Joe! has added a number of new items to its archives, including many not yet in wide distribution.

Kill Bill is incredible. If you can stomach cartoonish levels of blood, it's well worth a gander.

Cosmic Rust has been directed to a folder containing numerous pictures of the unpainted VSPs (a late-stage preproduction piece) of Sideswipe and Smokescreen. Included are what may be shots of the former being properly transformed for a change.

The Aquabats are releasing a new DVD entitled "Serious Awesomeness" this November that collects a full live concert, videos, and other live material recorded over the band's history. As they haven't done much lately, this is sure to please anyone paying attention.

The world's biggest toy store has a number of items on sale this week, including $2-$5 off most Zoids kits, buy-one-get-one-free board games, and more. Of note is that the new Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit is in stock for $34.99, and yes, the game does carry spoilers from the movie version of Return of the King.

Cosmic Rust delivers the goods again with previously unseen shots of the new TransFormers Energon Jetfire toy.

The new Sears Holiday Wishbook is out, and in it are some particularly notable items. Two highlights for G.I. Joe are as follows:

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly yet again.

Our Music Archive is now up, spawning articles and reviews from an uninformed critic. As the late great Frank Zappa once said, it's "people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read."

Transfandom added packaged images of the US Alternators Smokescreen as well as TransFormers Energon Rapid Run (Armada Sideways repaint) and Treadbolt (Armada Scavenger repaint.)

Q*Bert was a phenomenon of sorts for about a week in 1983, and one of the things to sprout from it was a small Kenner toy line. Today, we present images of Q*Bert on a Skateboard with a Walkman.

The site He-Man.Org posted Wizard Entertainment's next exclusive, Snake Teela/b>. The figure seems identical to the first release except she has a recolored sword and shield, and her normal pinkish skintone is now a snake pattern. So, I guess she's a sleestack. It will be available through an upcoming issue of Toy Fare, and is available now through Wizard if you order it with a magazine subscription. (This costs $40-$50 for the toy and a magazine for a year.)

Select Target Stores are receiving the newest waves of AOME toys which include three packs with Uruk-Hai as well as Merry, Pippin, and Boromir. The new rider sets, including a new Warg, are showing up as well. Check your local stores for availability.

The ARC Trooper is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. With a good amount of articulation and accessories, this non-movie trooper has a decent amount of play value and, unfortunately, only one weapon. Still, it's a nice toy, so be sure to check out the review. Coming Friday: A review of the Hailfire Droid.

The Onion updated with the latest edition, including a review of the film Bubba Hotep, now in limited release.

Originally a Victorian-era Dollhouse set from 1989, this Policeman and Tramp exists to prove that pretty much anything can happen in a toy line outside the USA. This set includes a cop as well as a shoeless, homeless, drunk plastic man. While it's not a cult classic toy yet, we're hoping it eventually will be. Check out the review for images and more!

Hasbro's Zoids Page added images of several previously unseen toys, including Holotech Warshark, Holotech Shield Liger, and some new action figures.

A story at Gamespot has confirmed the release of a new GameCube version of Pac-Man that allows three players to play as the ghosts. In it, a player uses the GameBoy Advance to play a classic Pac-Man game while three friends use their controllers on the GameCube to play as the ghosts out to get him. The story has additional information on how to get it and when it will be available.

Dreamwave's World War II epic featuring Cobra and those robots in disguise hit comic book shops on Wednesday, and the story focuses on everybody's favorite ninjas as the refugees from Cybertron wake up after a few million years. Worth a look if giant robots and fake terrorist organizations are your bag, and they should be.

The Hailfire Droid is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. It's a big vehicle-sized droid with two wheels that don't roll especially well. With 32 missiles, it looks heavily armed... although 16 of them can't fire and the rest can't fire very well. Still, it looks neat, and you can find out more in today's review.

The new issue of Game Informer is reporting that all three classic NES Ninja Gaiden titles will be included somehow in the Xbox game Ninja Gaiden that's coming soon. Someone knows their fans!

The site Gameforms posted an editorial on Sony's upcoming PSX, an all-in-one box that combines gaming, a TiVo, DVD burning, and more. It's good food for thought if you are unfamilliar with the device.

Game Informer has posted the 2005 Playmobil Advent Calendar. As always, a German department store called Vedes received them a year early. While it doesn't exactly contain a bumper crop of fun, a hobo, or a pirate, it does seem to be fairly robust.

At least some Kay-Bee stores are receiving additional clearance product, including Liger Zero, Blade Liger, Gun Sniper, Dibison, and many others. If you're looking for a cheap thrill, try looking these up. (As a result, our Zoids section will probably be spun off of the Toy Box in the coming weeks.)

Wal-Mart has the six new Mission Disc figures at several locations for roughly $3.96 each. This time around, the figures include Beachhead, Recondo, Dr. Mindbender, Firefly, Roadblock, and Wild Bill.

Nintendo is preparing a new GameBoy Advance F-Zero title. Falcon Densetsu is based on the F-Zero anime and is due this November.

A promotional music CD for the upcoming Playstation 2 CastleVania: Lament of Innocence is making the rounds on the web and contains music from new and old games. As it's a Japanese promotional item, it is not expected in the USA at this time. No US-based promotional items for this game are known at press time.

BZ Power added this article with the 2004 line-up. It's shaping up to be an interesting list, if you're familliar with the character names. It appears that several new Toa are finally being introduced.

JAKKS Pacific received the license for Van Helsing toys in 2004.

The large box set containing a super-articulated Spider-Man, Daredevil, Elektra in her white dress, and a Punisher as well as a really big poster is now available for about $29. An X-Men set is on the way as well, and these figures are all based on previous releases in Marvel Legends or Spider-Man Classics and not based on any movie designs.

Wal-Mart also seems to be in the process of resetting, with some stores adding additional toy space for action figures and more. Figures like Eowyn in her dress and Prologue Bilbo are starting to show up, albeit in small quantities.

We've got a set of the Yujin Zoids Blox Gashapon here for review early next week. These sets are basically small-- but not that small-- kits compatible with Tomy/Hasbro Blox/Z-Builders sets, and add extra weapons, wings, pilots, and more. If you're a fan of Zoids, you won't want to miss this feature, especially since you can find out if they're worth getting now they're on eBay on the cheap.

A bootleg trailer for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children has been posted to the site www.gametrailers.com. Thanks to ZB for the heads-up.

Mattel is making the most of their Warner Bros. relationship with a new line of Batman Hot Wheels cars. Currently, a three-pack of vehicles has been spotted at K-Mart stores for about five dollars. At least one of the cars seems to be a previously released Hot Wheels car with a bunch of Batman logos and drawings. Previously, Mattel used the Batman brand to make a Catwoman in their Barbie line.

Cosmic Rust has linked to a painted TransFormers Energon Rodimus Prime toy as well as the first-ever look at a new toy called Landmine.

Now appearing in Comedy Central's late-night Sunday TV Museum: TV Funhouse. This is the show brought to you by the people behind the animated SNL segments of the same name as well as Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. Check your local cable listings and tune in at your own risk.

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly yet again.

Our Music Archive now features 2002's Take It To The Spotlight by The Marc Moreland Mess. Moreland is best known for his guitar work in the 1980s band Wall of Voodoo, and this is his first solo project, and the final release before his death.

First: Today, a review was added of Yujin's Zoids Blox Part 1. These are licensed by Tomy and compatible with Zoids Z-Builders and Zoids Blox toys as add-ons, custom parts, and freestanding extras. The seven-piece set includes two insects, two plants, two weapons, and a sack of pieces. It should appeal to Zoids fans for certain, and is most definitely something to take note of. (Especially if you're Hasbro, these are pretty nice.)

Best Buy stores in the United States are selling the Complete Adventures of Indiana Jones for pennies under $45. They're also including a bonus fifth DVD featuring a short featurette on the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1981.

He-Man.Org has posted packaged images of the first 11 figures from the upcoming Snake Men assortments. It looks like Fisto wasn't the only character to lose his old name-- Rattlor is now The General. It is presumed that this might be related to the G.I. Joe vehicle, the Cobra Rattler.

A few weeks ago, a hollow plastic Aragorn showed up to Toys "R" Us stores from Toy Biz. Now, a Legolas is appearing from the same series. While the sculpting is exquisite, the paint job leaves something to be desired. Also, it appears for every dozen or so Aragorns, there is only one Legolas. It is not yet known if this is due to the assortment, the popularity of the new figure, or merely a glut of Aragorns from earlier.

It appears Matrix Revolutions is opting out of advertising. A mere two weeks and change away, and it's all quiet on the western front. Tickets for the film finally started to go on sale in Arizona today, so those looking to score seats at their favorite local screen are advised to make a trip for tickets this week.

The rollout of Brother Bear products is going according to conventional wisdom, preceding the film by several weeks. Hasbro is making toys in addition to whatever manufacturers The Disney Store have making their own wares.

While it has been out for a while, it's worth noting that the animated program Mummies Alive! is now available in holiday-themed DVD bins at Wal-Mart no less than a decade and a half before any possible nostalgia for the show could kick in. The show was yet another Hasbro/Kenner toy line tie-in, and the plastic Mummies themselves have been absent from their final resting places at Kay-Bee Toy Stores for quite some time now.

The Han Solo Unleashed figure/statue is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. For a statue, it's pretty good, and as figures based on Han Solo go, it's quite excellent. Be sure to check it out.

The movie fan hub Ain't It Cool News is reporting that The Muppets are supposedly in production with their latest film. It appears the original Wizard of Oz novel has been optioned for an upcoming film, but it is not known if it will be a telefilm or a feature. Since it was the book that was optioned, the songs from the MGM classic will most likely not appear alongside Gonzo, Kermit, Pepe, and Fozzie.

The Comedy Central original series Kid Notorious, a supposedly semi-autobiographical series surrounding film producer Robert Evans, airs on Comedy Central tonight after South Park. Evans is best known as producer of The Godfather and was the subject of the recent film The Kid Stays In The Picture which is now on DVD.

The Onion updated on schedule with its usual cavalcade of whimsy, as has Homestar Runner.

Toy Biz, hot on the release of their Urban Legends set, has just shipped their X-Men boxed set of figures from the Legends line. It includes a brand new exclusive Rogue as well as modified Beast, Magneto, Wolverine, and Gambit. The cost at Toys "R" Us was $39.99, which seems expensive but is about right when you consider it included five $8 figures.

The latest from Konami is showing up in stores now. As it's supposedly the finest game in the series since Symphony of the Night, you should be sure to not miss it.

Super Site He-Man.Org is continuing their campaign for better fan relations with Mattel by extending their Call Mattel Day by a few more days. Be sure to stop by and check it out.

Cosmic Rust has added links to some most excellent shots of Energon Starscream. There's also a shot of a translucent version of the Japanese Armada Overload which, I presume, is an upcoming Japanese exclusive. There's also a nice shot of the upcoming Treadbolt, which seems to be a pretty nice repaint of Scavenger, as well as packaged images of the Energon Unicron which seems to have turned out far nicer than previous images would have indicated. It appears that not only Minicons, but also Energon Weapons can also connect to the toy's planet mode.

The final voyage of the classic crew will come on a new two-DVD set on February 27. Commentaries and featurettes are expected, but additional details are still as of yet unannounced.

An oddity from the end of the 1990s were a large number of pseudo-Super Deformed unlicensed wind-up toys. While the Star Wars ones are probably the best known, there were also several figures from comics and other films, like this Jack Skellington. Be sure to take a look at today's review.

The South Park season premiere was last night and, amazingly, the creative duo behind the show is still great at keeping their fingers on the pulse of pop culture. This week's target: NBC's slate of programming that came from the wake of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.

The Geonosian Starfighter figure/statue is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. Despite seeming uninteresting, there's quite a bit of play value to be found here, and the pilot shows that Hasbro's thinking about new ways to improve its offerings.

Not surprisingly, Nokia is giving a much more rosy picture of the sales of its game/phone device than other resources. While news outlets are saying fewer than 5,000 units have sold through in the USA since the launch, Nokia claims sales of over 400,000 worldwide. Obviously, this is not a huge number, nor is it a sold-through number, meaning that somewhere under 395,000 could well be still sitting in stores somewhere.

tkfung, an eBay seller, is currently offering an unpainted preproduction sample of Megatron on an eBay auction. While it's a little steep, it is nice to see the toy finally, even if it is unfinished.

Indie comic film American Splendor is slated to street on Feburary 3, 2004. Finding Nemo and Hulk have been reviewed by DVD File while The Digital Bits put up a review of the upcoming Looney Tunes Golden Collection, an enormous volume of dozens of classic Warner Bros. animated shorts.

Entertainment Earth is now listing action figures-- not kits-- of four new Zoids today. These include the Matrix Dragon, Chimera Dragon, Gojulas Giga, and Dimetrodon. Dimetrodon will be purple, like the US issue of the model kit, and this was the only one that was posted with a picture. The picture looks a lot like the upcoming model kit, so either Hasbro has really improved their action figure sculpting for Zoids or this is, in fact, the model.

Mask of Destiny is showing a U.K. exclusive pack of toys which isn't particularly notable, except for an infected Hau Nuva mask. It's the same as the standard Hau Nuva mask, which is packed with Tahu Nuva, except it has some green on it.

Entertainment Earth has added a few more Zoids to their catalog today, including new photos which show changes from the upcoming Japanese releases.

After months of only appearing in the larger Target stores in North America, it seems Lord of the Ringsis making a big comeback, annexing much of the shelf space previously set aside for Hulk items. As such, LOTR fans, you now have one more place to hit regularly.

Several new Specials sets were spotted at a local purveyor of Playmobil tonight, including the Sheperd, Blue Knight, Chimney Sweep, School Child, and Bandit. The sixth special from this series, the Mother and Child, was not seen.

Hot Topic now stocks a variety of 20th Anniversary Fraggle Rock merchandise.

A number of Fellowship horses from Toy Biz are showing up at Target stores once again. The most abundant ones are the Ringwraith with horse and Arwen & Frodo with horse.

This week at 16bit, we'll be taking a look at the vintage Go-Bots toy for Leader-1 as well as some other thing. Probably from Bionicle. Also, come back Monday for a review of The Plastics' CD Forever Plastico.

While no big surprise to anybody, it's interesting to note that a Looney Tunes Back in Action cereal is now showing up in stores to promote the movie and, apparently, the video games. The box has a bizarre tiki theme that doesn't seem to have to do anything with the movie or characters, and a mail-in offer for a cereal bowl. The back of the box has Brendan Fraser and who I believe to be Jenna Elfman in a stupid hat.

If you hit your local Blockbuster Video, you might find an interesting small toy section. If you can get past their frightening Legally Blonde 2 toys, there's a decent variety of other goods that may grab your interest. Of particular note is a 10" carded version of the multi-jointed Spider-Man figure from the 1990s animated series line from Toy Biz. While these and other 10" Marvel figures have been blown out at Kay-Bee toys time and again, some fans may be interested to see this old figure once again.

You may want to check your local Toys "R" Us this week, as they're running a sale on their PlayStation 2 software. Check stores for details on this seemingly good offer.

Galactic Hunter has posted their weekly Q&A column by yours truly yet again.

Our Music Archive now features 1993's Forever Plastico by The Plastics. This is a band from Japan from the era of Devo that inspired many a group from modern day Japan, such as the Spoozys, the Polysics, and other fantastic acts you'll never, ever hear about. This album contains their entire first release and six tracks from their second, and for fans of unusual Japanese art pop, is a definite treat. Check out our review today!

NCS posted images of what must be the goofiest busts/candy toys ever. The selections: Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, the Mona Lisa, a Van Gogh, and Boticelli's Venus. High art and low art collide once again in Japanese candy boxes this Winter. At press time, NCS said it would not stock them and unfortunately we do not know where to obtain samples for review.

ITEM: The Official Transformers Collector's Club membership information is now online. For $35 and $5 shipping and handling, you receive four quarterly 24-page magazines and a superposable Skywarp non-transforming figure based on a Japanese Starscream from the same mold.

It shipped last week, but the neighborhood comic store didn't get it. As such, we can now safely report that it is in finer comic stores everywhere. In this issue, Optimus Prime and Megatron finally duke it out for total supremacy while Cobra loses control over the alien robots. Chaos ensues, a splendid time is guaranteed for all fans of 80's toy properties.

Apparently due to the current sales climate, Nokia is running a $100 instant rebate offer on its N-Gage portable device. It should be fun to see how sales go now that it's only triple the cost of a GameBoy.

Leader-1, the obviously named leader of the heroic Go-Bots from GoBotron from the 1980s toy series, is the subject of today's toy review. It's old, and most recently, the name was used by Hasbro for a toy in its TransFormers Armada line. Want to know why? Find out in today's review!

It has just been confirmed that the announcer of the long-running daytime game show The Price Is Right has died. The 66-year-old Rod Roddy has been with the show for nearly 20 years, and additional information on the announcer is in this story at Yahoo!

Target Stores have a few sets on sale this week, including one especially good deal. A domestic mass-market version of the Taxi cab is available with additional figures for a mere $9.99. Surely, a good value and a fine way to transport your hobo after he's been thrown out of town.

Target Stores have also marked down their Bohrak Kal Bionicle sets to 50% off or more at most locations. Now may be a good time to buy, as all six varieties are now headed out the door.

Cosmic Rust is hosting numerous images of a test shot of the upcoming Landmine toy from the new TransFormers Energon line.

Action-Figure.com has revealed dozens of new TMNT toys, including scores of minor characters. Highlights include a revised version of Fugitoid, a six pack of Mousers, and a few interesting Shredder figures in new varieties. While the line doesn't seem to be reaching out to fans of the original line, it sure does look like they're gunning for today's youth, and with the likes of a Triceratron General they may well succeed.

Yo Joe! is reporting that several new comic products are on the way dealing with the neverending battle against Cobra. Be sure to check it out for the full scoop.

The Gamorrean Guard is the subject of today's review at Galactic Hunter. Sure, it came out over the summer, but better late than never I always say. It seems to sport an awe-inspiring sculpt with a paint job that should make fans wince. Check it out!

The Onion has updated yet again this week. Also, their AV Club has updated with a new Savage Love, an interview with Will Ferrell, and a review of the new Indiana Jones DVDs.

The Digital Bits posted a list of the new footage to be inserted into The Two Towers, and it does seem to have quite a bit of new material. Be sure to check it out.

Numerous sources are reporting that the new line of TransFormers is to be called Super-Link in Japan. It is not known if this will come before or after the Japanese launch of Beast Machines.

Vorahk from Bionicle is today's toy review, so be sure to check it out if you don't have one of these already. He's nicely jointed, has a couple of great action features, and even has that construction element so popular in toys these days. If you haven't built a Bionicle toy lately, give one of these a try.

Empire #12 is the subject of today's review over at Galactic Hunter, which as always is penned by yours truly. In this installment, we follow Luke's buddy Biggs Darklighter in the days following his mutiny on the Rand Ecliptic and his subsequent adventures leading to his officially defecting to the Rebel Alliance. If that doesn't mean anything to you, you should skip this review.

The Neurotic Eclectic has updated with two new features, be sure to check them out.

Action-Figure.com is reporting a series of 30-inch tall Green Teens are on the way. No prices or release dates were given, but they did show pictures and say the shells would be removable so kids could wear them.

DVD File posted a review of the latest direct-to-video adventure of the caped crusader. If you're so inclined, find out what they have to say about the Mystery of the Batwoman.

If you haven't seen it, it's new to you. Transformers.com added official photography of the following Energon toys: Jetfire, Super Optimus Prime, Starscream, Scorponok, and Unicron.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is the subject of today's review over at Galactic Hunter. The figure came out early in 2003, but I'm just now getting around to the review. Despite a nice array of weapons and an action feature, it really doesn't quite work, but makes for a nice display piece. Find out more in today's review!

NPR added Kevin Murphy's audio review of the ALIEN theatrical rerelease to its Web site. If you're a fan of a quality review, of NPR, or of Tom Servo, you need to check this out.