With a little moxie and elbow grease, we found links to lots of new, never-before-seen (by us and likely you too) Playmobil sets for 2006. New divers. New pirates. And a plumber. AWESOME.

While your mileage will vary, we noticed prices dropping more on clearance toys in the LA area. So you can find stuff for 50% off or more if you're clearance toy hunting, which is good, as we're cheap too. We're hoping Target stores will get in new product soon too, as the aisles we see are more or less completely empty. (No Star Wars, no Playmobil, no Transformers, no thanks.)

Due to fun surrounding the new year and technical difficulties, we'd like to apologize to those of you who visit this site daily for your dose of amusing factoids of dubious value. We don't expect another outage in the near future, but then again, if people expected the unexpected outages that'd kinda defeat the point of unforseen technical difficulties.

As we couldn't decide if it were best suited to Galactic Hunter as it's a Star Wars toy, or 16bit.com as it's a Transformers toy, we decided to split the difference and post it at both. Is the new merger of these two mega-brands all it's cracked up to be? Is it as bad as they say? We don't think so. But read today's review and see if we're full of it, as we find these to be nice little toys.

Oh, is it hunting season. Target stores are resetting, and in the process they're getting loads of new Playmobil. Some of it is brand new, some of it has been previewed here from eBay and elsewhere, and some of it is repackaged versions of crap you bought ages ago. On the left, you can see the new "5770 Diver with Shark", a nice set that'll set you back $6.99. You get a diver, and a shark. Oh, and some coral, an eel, two fish, and some other sea plant things. Ours is still in the box at press time but you get the idea.

Fans of Transformers are in for a treat as a number of bonus packs are out there clamoring for your dollars. In this corner, Wal-Mart's six new Mini-Con bonus packs. As reported earlier, for $9.96, you get a nifty window-boxed toy with a bonus tin and Mini-Con. Not as reported before, there's more to these than just a yellow-to-pink color swap-- these Mini-Cons are a dark purplish blue instead of grey, and just different enough to make you mad. Seeing as how both Wal-Mart and Toys "R" Us are offering $9.97 or less double-packs of these and other deluxe Cybertron toys (through Wave 3, so anything pre-Armada remold), though, most customers will probably find these Mini-Con bonus sets to be less than a stellar value. As seen here, we snagged Thundercracker, and may snag a Dirt Boss as we have yet to get one. We very much like the packaging and figure if anyone gives a crap about Cybertron down the road, these will be neat items to have as they're boxed rather than carded.

While prices apparently vary, we spotted the Sigma Six "Soldier Assortment" (read: cheaper figures) the other night at Target for $11.99 per. (And last night too. They're around.) We purchased a Ninja B.A.T. and we're not quite sure if we like it or not yet-- for the price, leaning toward "no." It does have some mighty fine accessories, it's just the grapple-arm thing that bugs us. Still, it's Cobra, and we sure do like our Cobra figures.

Enthusiasm is infectious, and apparently, profitable. Over at Wired, there's an article about American Mindstorms fans paying their way to Denmark to work on developing this year's seemingly quite nifty Mindstorms revamp. It's called Geeks in Toyland, and despite the title it's a pretty good read. (As precious few fans get to go talk to toy companies at their HQ about their wares, and fewer still get to brag about it to the press.)

Do you want to see the breakdowns of all the Battle of Coruscant cases and then some? Well, you're in luck. Check these nasty suckers out, or skip it as you aren't here to buy crap.

Because we hate ourselves, we decided to listen to the two new morning hosts that rose up in the wake of the post-Stern FM markets, Adam Carolla (who we very much enjoyed on Loveline during High School and a little beyond), and David Lee Roth, who we enjoy for having some of the more amusing coked-up transcripts from the "Us Festival." In case you didn't know, you can stream Diamond Dave online, or download, stream, or whatever Adam Carolla. You may be asking yourself, "hmm, do I want to do that?"

Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. We start Q&A off with a bang-- the same 10-question bang you're used to!

Over at The Allspark, you can see images of Doubleclutch-- aka Cybertron Override Repaint. (Of note, it gives us credit for announcing it-- we didn't really, it was actually posted at Entertainment Earth as one of many new assortments, see below for more on that. We did, however, post the assortments to Entertainment Earth, so you can thank us for that one.)

While not much new seems to be going on with Zoids toys this week, at least you can get an advanced look at the upcoming Japanese Zoids EX Neo over at The Magic Box! Two pages of screenshots should be enough to get your interest up, even if it doesn't seem to have tons of brand new toys used in the game. Of course, we'd just be thrilled to see a Geruder or Sea Panther as a playable character, but that's us.

Want to see 'em? Well, they're at Entertainment Earth, see below:

Microman Gamera! He is a friend of children! Read up on his upcoming plastic adventures and all the 2006 Takara offerings known so far at Microman Forever's latest update! A Black & White Godzilla is coming, too!

Color us shocked. Marvel (which is so in bed with Toy Biz it's the same company), as of yesterday, gave up the license to Hasbro. The Spider-Man 3 toys will be Hasbro items, and all 2006 product will, apparently, be sold through Marvel proper and not Toy Biz. We don't fully understand, but as far as business goes, we more or less prefer how Hasbro runs the show. So here's hoping these will rock, as Hasbro has yet to provide a top-notch movie tie-in that isn't Star Wars as of late. Fans with a good memory may recall this isn't the first time the Hasbro family screwed Toy Biz. In 1989, Toy Biz had the DC license. In 1990, Kenner swiped it for it's own "Batman: The Dark Knight Collection" line which was quite the hit and the beginning of the Bat-mania which lasted for years to come.

Transformers movie producer Don Murphy has said on his board that the very interesting footage from yesterday is fake. As we've been fanboys for a while and know that it's standard practice to call anything a fake that you can claim is a fake-- and have done it ourselves-- we're quite curious what the real deal is. (Although the "Property of ILM" stamp, in hindsight, does seem fakey.)

The very tiny group of Nintendo DS games you can play online just grew by 1. According to this Gamespot article, Wi-Fi Tetris is coming from THQ and will feature graphics with Nintendo properties. Like, Mario, Link, Metroid, the good stuff. No pricing or rating have been revealed, but the release date of March 20 is now a known, so we're quite looking forward to it, assuming it isn't as bad as we heard Tetris Worlds was.

A German fansite called "Playmo Town" made a full Western town set-up. Who cares? You do. Meet Mr. Fu, Your Undertaker. It's a custom figure made from a few other sets, but man, this was neat. If this were mass produced we'd pay whatever they asked. The fact there's a complete mortuary with a friggin' corpse is the icing on the cake.

For the first time in what appears to be final colors, it's Menasor over at The Allspark courtesy of some convoluted thing from TFAuctions, which we'd have linked to if we could find the article on their page too. Anyway, you get a look at Menasor and his Mini-Con companion in vehicle mode, so take a look-- Decepticons from the Giant Planet are far and few between!

The guys at TVShowsOnDVD have some advance info, pricing, and a release date for the next season (and final season) of Home Movies to hit DVD. The show was formerly a UPN Squigglevision program and involved into an Adult Swim Flash-esque animated show. If it's not on Adult Swim the week the DVD comes out, you might be well-served to buy it.

Megaman fans, you're in luck. According to The Magic Box, Rockman Zekusa is coming to the Nintendo DS! There's one screen shot and no information outside Capcom having announced this game for a 2006 release. Beyond that, we're on our own-- but hey, good news, eh?

So word on the street-- everywhere-- is that Sci-Fi Channel picked up the new Dr. Who, so the North American DVD release will be delayed. As the set of episodes was close to $100, this is probably good news for anyone that has cable and doesn't pirate TV off of P2P networks.

Want to see some sneak previews of the new LEGO Batman toys? Well, Brickshelf posted some images from Toyfare. You can see the figures, vehicles, and playsets all here. We're quite pleased.

The Allspark/TFAuctions/whatever posted a first glimpse at Cybertron Skywarp. No, not THAT Skywarp-- this is a repaint of Thundercracker! The new purple plane looks pretty awesome, and you should click on through to see the full image of the toy in robot mode!

Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Woo-hoo!

Over at TVShowsOnDVD.com, you can see updated information on the release date, cover art, and a wee bit more when it comes to the on-again, off-again DVD release of Beast Machines Transformers: The Complete Series in February. Read on for more!

Over at TVShowsOnDVD.com, you can also see information on a big giant complete Planet of the Apes DVD Collection-- with everything! All 5 movies, the live-action and animated TV series, documentaries, and more are here-- click through for more!

It's an uncommon event, but Tower Records is holding a 4-day sale for 60% off all toys. The chain carries Star Wars LEGO sets at some locations, and tons of other action figures like McFarlane's Aliens vs. Predator and Mezco's The Goon, based on the awesomely great comic series of the same name. That's the good news. The bad news is the final day for the sale is Monday, January 16-- so happy hunting, while you can!

As you may or may not know, we're big collectors as well as big reporters. There's a lot of items we're still looking to buy, but even more we're looking to sell or give away. If you're in need of certain toy exclusives or regular items from Star Wars, G.I. Joe, or other lines, please visit our trading stash and let us know if there's anything you'd be interested in-- as we'd very much like to have the space it occupies, or to fill the space not occupied by it as of yet.

Entertainment Earth added many new Saga Collection items, including preorders and images for the Coruscant wave of figures. Also, the Jabba's Palace wave is in stock now-- you can get a set of the first 6 figures for $44.99. Click through for availability.

16bit.com Podcast
January 16 2006

Happy (late) 2006! We're here this week to tell you about all the crap you should be seeing in stores if you aren't seeing it already, as well as sales around town, upcoming items, and our toy of the week-- which, this week, is 6 toys. We're progressive.

This week's segments:

For starters: You do not need an iPod to hear a Podcast. Podcasting is just a fancy word for "hack job internet radio show," which is exactly what we're aiming to produce here.

Lovers of 2D, it appears the PSP is your baby. The Magic Box has two pages of new screen shots of Capcom's Goku Makaimura, or Xtreme Ghouls n' Ghosts. This fairly beautiful looking game is turning out quite nicely, and the various 2D effects are shaping up to look quite nice. We're getting tempted to get a PSP now. (Although we wait for the mythical Xtreme Salamander from Konami first.)

In what may be one of the worst kept secrets since the development of the first Metroid for GameCube, we're hearing lots of reports that Activision licensed the next Transformers game which will, be surprised now, be based on the new movie which may or may not happen still. Over at GameSpot posted a rumor control article on just this topic and seems to think it's pretty much a sure-fire thing. As rumors go.

We have it on very good authority that the special exclusive Astromech Droid Exclusives will begin arriving at the Entertainment Earth warehouses in the next 24 hours or so. (Inspecting and all of that will take a little bit of time, of course-- so if you have a backorder, don't expect it to show up tomorrow or anything.) As such, you may find it worth your while to get a short-term preorder in so you can get yours as they arrive. (They're awesome. Trust us, we picked 'em.) If you are interested in such things or take solace in the knowledge that a fellow collector is responsible for these things, kindly order a set and show your support. We thank you.

Sort of. There's a couple of product ID numbers in Target's computer indicating that there's plans for some "Classic Transformers" assortments. Do we know what this means? Does it matter? The truth of the matter is that Hasbro inputs this data into some retail stores systems many, many months in advance and sometimes before an item is even finished. (Star Wars fans may recall a Wedge Antilles Flight Controller toy showing up in Wal-Mart's systems that was not only never released, but according to the designer, apparently never even fully prototyped.) So while we have no doubt that newish classicish Transformers are on the Hasbro radar, don't hold your breath just yet. There's still many moons to go left in Cybertron and Alternators.

In case you missed it, two new Sigma 6 figures are now available at numerous stores including Target. These include Cobra Commander and Long Range. More figures are, of course, coming, but for now that's it.

Apparently there's rampant speculation (through a speech from Nintendo's Satoru Iwata) that Nintendo Revolution is on track for 2006, which, if true, is very nice to hear. We're not what you would call "optimists" but it would be very nice to see. As the GameCube launched way back in September of 2001, we'd say it's about time for a new system-- but then again, delays happen, and there's plenty of nifty portable games on the way out of Nintendo...

TVShowsOnDVD.com was sent a scoop from The Sound of Young America regarding an interview with H. Jon Benjamin, best known for his... well, extensive voice work including that of Ben Katz on Comedy Central's Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. The long and short of it is that he confirmed that he recorded DVD commentary for season 1 of the show, which, if it isn't a joke, is good news indeed to all seven of the show's fans. (Two of which contribute to this site.)

The further adventures of Cloud Strife against three more Sephiroth clones hit DVD in Japan in 2005, and according to a report on the Magic Box, has just surpassed 1 million units sold on DVD and UMD (the latter being the PSP video disc format.) The film itself is almost 2 hours and is stuffed with battle sequences and great animation, along with what is most likely the best hair you'll ever see in a CG movie. The downside is that the plot more or less is an excuse for the aforementioned battles and the various cameos of characters like Zack or Marelene assume that a) you played through Final Fantasy VII and b) you have a good memory for an RPG from 1997.

It's no secret that if you preordered, you're getting these sent to you now. (Odds are your card was charged or is in the process of being charged. Units are still available, but not lots of them, so ordering = good.) They are sitting at the Entertainment Earth warehouses, but if you knew the quantity of units that arrived and the number of backorders, you'd probably be totally understanding of the fact that people would have to go without sleep to get these all out immediately. The employment of clones and/or androids may also be useful.

Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Woo-hoo!

While we've seen this toy's name on documents as various things, including "Doubleclutch," it appears the final packaged sample of Override GTS has appeared at TFW2005. Take a look!

The hugely popular-- for its day-- The Tick is apparently in preproduction for DVD, so hints TVShowsOnDVD.com. The former Fox animated series can be seen today on ABC Family, and aired for about 3 seasons on Fox Saturday morning. The very funny show included supporting characters like Die Fleidermaus, American Maid, and the Little Wooden Boy. While the humor isn't as sharp as some of today's "adult" animated fare, it's quite good and if and when it hits, you may find it worth checking out.

It's late and we're not feeling especially well today, so have a gander at Rumble Roses XX over at The Magic Box. This new set of images from Konami's all-girl fighter is sure to set back the women's movement by at least 5 years, and awaken new levels of bodily insecurities in the world's already image conscious female population. It's also got them fighting in skimpy outfits. You know, because kids have to learn about fighting in skimpy outfits somewhere, and if Konami doesn't give them an outlet in the home, they're going to learn about it on the street. (Hey, we needed to post something while knocking back all this grapefruit juice.)

The Winter Blowout Sale will now run through January 31. Hundreds of items are still available (although about half of them sold out already) and at this time there are no plans for new additions. As such, there's a few good items left and a whole bunch of crap. We advise you give it a once-over on your lunch break and do your part to help the economy. (Consider buying some Astromechs while you're at it.)

Apparently it's time for variations! The bane of your existence can now be found as part of Sigma 6, and you can read all about it on the Yo Joe Forums! It appears there's some new canister variation on Heavy Duty-- click through for a full discussion!

TVShowsOnDVD.com was another scoop, indirectly, by way of DVD Planet. The site is reporting season 1 will be 1 disc and released on May 9, and apparently can be had for under $14.

Fans of Polysics, take note-- their new album "Now is the Time" is coming to the USA, and they're touring to support it! You can find a full list of release on their English language page, which includes a number of West-coast venues such as the legendary Knitting Factory and the less than legendary Brickhouse in Phoenix. The site also says Polysics-related something will be on CSI: New York. No, we're not making this up.

Originally announced for the stillborn 64DD add-on to the Nintendo64, it appears the new entry in what we ugly Americans call the Earthbound series is finally coming to Japan. Thanks to a tip from GameSpot, we heard that artist Shigesato Itoi announced that it will be released on April 20 in Japan. In Japanese.

Around the web today, it seems to be great news if you're a fan of Cybertron! First up, there's a sighting at a Target in California at TFW2005 that says they've found Dark Crumplezone and Cybertron Defense Scattorshot. The same site has another sighting of new Deluxe toys, Downshift and Cybertron Defense Hot Shot. All releases are quite exciting and we know we'll be up for a big hunt starting tomorrow.

Apparently this was posted a few places, but we saw word of DTC Wave 4 at Cobra Island. This Internet-only wave of Joes continues the-- we hear-- modestly successful range of toys, and while we'd love to say "click through for the scoop," well, OK, we'll just do that. New listings: 6 new Basic figures, 2 new comic 3-packs. Including more Oktober Guard. And Cobra Troopers. Oh, and the theme for the Convention set. It's a good post.

They're in stock! All backorders have been processed, or are being processed, so now you can kindly order a set. As we're fond of shamelessly promoting this as it's one of our proudest moments in life, and our lives are just that sad, we had a big giant hand in developing this product and if you order through this link not only do you send our employers a message that we're geniuses deserving of a raise, but we also get a sliver of the sale. And you know you love us... right? (What do you mean, "no"?)

Fan-demanded since Episode 21 of The Clone Wars aired in 2005, it's finally coming! While not officially confirmed, Amazon is currently listing a Gunship exclusive and it seems this may be it! Don't forget to go click over to Galactic Hunter to see the ship, its packaging, and what may be a sneak preview of new pre-Revenge of the Sith style Clone figures!

Over at Amazon Japan, you can see tons of new images of the all-new tiny HBS-2 G1 Convoy! This new super-poseable, plastic, metal, and rubber release is nothing short of awesome-- and tiny, and expensive. Check it out.

The entire Street Fighter Alpha series, and Pocket Fighter, can be yours for one low price-- and it's coming to the USA! Visit The Magic Box for more images and information.

The other day we posted about a thread on Yo Joe!, and wouldn't you know it, the guy reads the site-- so reader Bobby wanted to add some more to the original news bit we posted.

In case you care, you can see a nice big scan of the Season One Dr. Katz box art at TVShowsOnDVD.com along with the release date for this Spring. If you ain't seen it, it be new to you.

The gents at The Allspark have loads of news from the new collector club information. The new mag has shots of all-new molds for US releases of Megatron and Optimus Primal from Beast Wars, and some other new items as well. Posting images is, of course, frowned upon.

There's a lot of reports on this new, smaller, lighter redesign of the Nintendo DS, but we like The Magic Box as it gives the most info with the least amount of space. It costs more and looks more white. Check it out as part of the January 26 update.

If you visit our trading stash we've added several new "wanted" and "for trade" items, including some Transformers. If you've nothing better to do, go take a look and let's make a deal.

Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Woo-hoo!

Over at TFU.info, there's been a showcase of artwork from Aaron Archer's collection witch was purchased and is now being shared with the world. All 22 pieces of art are up, showing characters from Armada, Energon, and Cybertron. (Plus some other odds and ends.) If you've been watching this feature, you know it's quite the treat, and if you haven't, well, now's a good time to check it out.

It's coming to the USA and Japan on the PSP. It's Gradius Portable, and The Magic Box has two pages of images from this new 5-game compilation from Konami. It includes Gradius I, II, III, IV, and the GameBoy Advance title Gradius Gaiden. (All of which are fun if you like shooters, and you should, unless you're a commie pinko.)

...we think. After one extension, the Winter Blowout Sale is scheduled to end January 31, a Tuesday. At press time, 331 items remain in stock for the taking, including some really great deals-- many of which will shoot up in price come Wednesday. With this in mind, be sure to waste some time perusing the remaining stock and see if there's anything good. Highlights include... well, the same cheap stuff as before. $3 Star Wars figures, some cheap Xevoz, and a whole mess of odds and ends.