Yawn Yawn Yawn
May 1 2006 |
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter
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  Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Read on for... lots of stuff! Much of which is good.
--AP
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Transformers News Roundup: Botcon Exclusives, G1 Revisited, & More
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  Over at Botcon.com, you can read about the 2006 Botcon schedule, location, rates, and the fairly nifty sounding Beast Wars-themed box of exclusives. Keen. No images of the toys have been presented as of yet but it sounds like a fanwank of epic proportions. (And if anyone out there has a complete 2005 set of exclusives to sell, please do get in touch.)
Next up, online store Action-HQ has shared some really crappy images which are being mirrored at TFW2005 that show the upcoming Generation 1 reimaginings of Megatron and Optimus Prime. We're on the fence still. (Although Astrotrain was cool.) These seem to be kibble-heavy.
Oh, and the first images of "Cryo Scourge" got out from China, it seems. We're a little unsure the best way to credit the source, so we're just going to say click here and be done with it.
And finally, over at The Allspark you can read about the Transformerscon movie panel with Don Murphy, were you so inclined.
--AP
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Zoids Gaming Continues
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  According to The Magic Box, Zoids Dash is to be released on the Nintendo DS on June 15, 2006... in Japan. Coming from Takara, there's nothing else really there about this one yet, but hey, it's more Zoids action than we saw yesterday.
--AP
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Chappelle's Show Lost Episodes DVD
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  If you believe the great folks at TVShowsOnDVD.com (or rather, a new report they shared) it seems a DVD is being prepped to release previously unseen material from the dead-in-the-water Comedy Central series to DVD. Read on for more.
--AP
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In Progress: Zoombox Analysis
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  For our day job, we're currently working on a look at the Zoombox from the Tiger Electronics division of the Hasbro toy empire. So far, it's neat-- basically, it's a big thing that looks like and is colored like an Xbox, but has a built-in DVD player that projects on your ceiling or wall. It can also take inputs from video games. Keen. We're still running a few experiments on it (soon to include "The Saturn Test") but we did manage to watch Batman Begins in its entirety on the device and, largely, it was OK. It didn't overheat or anything so it seems to be a case of so far, so good... expect more on the next podcast.
--AP
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Everything Old is Remade and Old
May 2 2006 |
New Lego Miscellany
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  We hit up the Lego store in Pasadena last night and saw a number of "Dino Attack" licensed goods. We think. They might be from Lego proper. Included was a Dino Attack parachute figure, some sunglasses (we think), and a sand bucket for making sand dinosaurs that seemingly had nothing to do with Lego or Dino Attack outside the logo. Still.
--AP
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Transformers Botcon Exclusives, by way of Canada
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Over at The Allspark, frequent poster NightViper has an excellent rundown of club/convention exclusive tidbits that you may not have heard previously. The "Dawn of Future Past" figures-- the Beast Wars guys in pre-Beast modes-- are indeed to be based on Cybertron toys.
Also notable, ItsWalky (of Shortpacked! fame) posted some amazingly cool speculation as to what some of the toys may be. The thread is worth a look if for no reason other than to see some really creative ideas. (Tanktrap? Yes.)
--AP
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Fair Warning: GameCube Price Drop Coming?
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 According to GameSpot, Nintendo's GameCube console, first introduced in 2001, is preparing for another price drop. Currently at $99.99, it's expected a drop will be announced at some point in the next month. If you're gunning to play Rogue Leader or Luigi's Mansion, well, it looks like now's the time.
--AP
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New: Transformers and Star Wars Attacktix
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 People for ages have asked "Could Unicron take on the Death Star?" And by "people," we mean "four guys on the Transformers boards." And by years, we mean two. But you can see the toy equivalent of this argument at Entertainment Earth with the new Star Wars vs. Transformers Attacktix battle figures! New entries include a Clone Wars Gunship, Omega Sentinel, and tons of items from the entire Star Wars saga and from Transformers' "Unicron Trilogy" of Armada, Energon, and Cybertron. Click through to see what's currently up for grabs.
--AP
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She Snuck In
May 3 2006 |
Metal Slug Anthology for Nintendo Wii
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  New from The Magic Box: SNK Playmore has announced Metal Slug Anthology for the Wii. Supposedly, it's going to have every arcade game through Metal Slug 6. If you didn't have a reason to get a Wii, there's one.
--AP
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Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 5 DVD
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 Over at The Allspark, frequent poster NightViper has an excellent rundown of club/convention exclusive tidbits that you may not have heard previously. The "Dawn of Future Past" figures-- the Beast Wars guys in pre-Beast modes-- are indeed to be based on Cybertron toys.
Also notable, ItsWalky (of Shortpacked! fame) posted some amazingly cool speculation as to what some of the toys may be. The thread is worth a look if for no reason other than to see some really creative ideas. (Tanktrap? Yes.)
--AP
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New in stock: Transformers and Star Wars and more
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 Our overlords employers at Entertainment Earth have received a ton of new items, including what we believe to be the first-ever sightings of the "vintage finish" versions of the Titanium Series Bossk and Sandtrooper, which are in stock now.
Also new and in stock:
Titanium Sandtrooper & Bossk Set
Star Wars Transformers Shuttle, ARC-170, & Jango's Slave I
Transformers Cybertron Sky Shadow, CD Red Alert, Wing Saber
Transformers Cybertron Scout Wave 7 (Short Round, Repugnus)
--AP
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Waiting...
May 4 2006 |
Original Original Star Wars Trilogy DVDs
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 We've known about this for a little while, and now we're glad that Starwars.com posted it. The good people at Lucasfilm are letting fans put their money where their mouth is. Will they rebuy the trilogy after just buying a "definitive" 2004 version?
That's the good news. The bad news is that it isn't even a set-- you're going to get to re-buy the 2004 cuts individually, and the "classic" cut is considered bonus material. As marketing a product we already have, our hats go off to Lucasfilm, although at this time we're not sure what, if any, other extras will appear on these discs.
Also: no price is listed. It could be a situation where each film is $20-$25 a whack, but we're hoping someone has the good sense to bundle them at a decent price. The release date is September 12, and they're going to continue their proud tradition of DVD-and-game-co-releases with a new LEGO Star Wars game coming out the same day.
So, there you go. Han can shoot first again. And now maybe the joke will go away, like "All your base," and the soon-to-never-be-heard-of-again Snakes on a Plane.
We're ecstatic to have access to a digital version of some really bad special effects once more, like the rotten Landspeeder vaseline trick and the semi-transparent Snowspeeder cockpits in the Battle of Hoth. It's a little known fact that the Special Editions, once you get past narrative changes, were largely improvements. R2-D2's panels in space were fixed: blue, not black. Lightsabers were cleaned up. The Rancor matte lines were, eventually, somewhat improved, and a couple of weird optical glitches in the Speederbike chase were removed. (Unfortunately, we lost the obscured Wampa and Lapti Nek in the process.)
But, whatever. For Lapti Nek, we're there. (We appreciate the new aliens from Jedi Rocks. Although we do not like Jedi Rocks.) Plus this beats bootlegs.
So, the grass will be greener on DVD come September 12! Be there!
(Because we're cynical party poopers, we're quite curious to see how many people will actually go out and buy them rather than whine about some aspect of this release. Plus, we're expecting a South Park to capitalize on the idea of changing the movies and then changing them back. Don't let us down, Matt & Trey!)
--AP
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Many Marvel Figures Hitting
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  Toy Biz is shipping Wal-Marts a giant in-store display filled with new Marvel Legends 2-packs, the Monsters gift set, Masterworks sets, and much more. We've spotted this giant retail dump at 2 stores so far and odds are yours will be getting it shortly-- so if you're a FOOM, this is for you. Happy hunting.
--AP
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Zizzle's Pirates at Retail
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  Zizzle's first assortment of Pirates of the Caribbean figures are out. We spotted several samples (everybody except Elizabeth) at a Wal-Mart in Panorama City, CA yesterday morning. For $4.88 each, these were sized the same as basic Star Wars and, largely, looked good. The monsters looked better, as the humans were constructed with painted flesh faces, rather than molded flesh faces like Star Wars or... just about anything in that scale. For the price, you owe yourself a Davy Jones. We have not heard these appear elsewhere nor have we seen any other Zizzle Pirates product in stores, and we do not know if this was a fluke or broken street date. (The store was also the first at which we saw Superman Returns recently.)
We're getting figures from work, but in short: good, not yet great. The eyes on Johnny were a little meh but the villainous pirates were worthy of praise-- significant praise. Take a look, you might like them!
--AP
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Smells Like Germs
May 5 2006 |
More Titanium Releases
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 We've posted images of (and lists from) new information we got from Hasbro. And by that, we mean a little catalog that came in a Bossk we bought. Take a look for new and upcoming Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica vehicles and toys over at Galactic Hunter.
--AP
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Target Transformers Dump
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 Target stores are finally marking down their endcap of exclusive and quasi-exclusive toys. The three Universe two-packs are now down to a respectable $11.88 (or so) each, as are various B-Daman toys, Voyager-with-Mini-Con bonus packs, and a few Deluxe two-packs. For collectors of unique packaging, this is an incredible time to pick up some items that, in the grand scheme of things, are going to be pretty hard to get. We spotted these in LA and, as always, your mileage may vary. (For the record, Target traditionally marks down clearance product on Thursdays. So for anyone waiting on round 2...)
We went to five toy stores post-work yesterday and this was the most interesting thing we saw. That, and Cybertron Cannonball and Skywarp, the former of which we're buying eventually due to its extreme Oingo Boingo-ish-ness, the latter, we're skipping, as the mold sucks.
--AP
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Charlotte's Web DS
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 Sega is porting the kiddie classic "Charlotte's Web" to the Nintendo DS. No, really. The Magic Box has the full scoop and a lot of images. Note a few shots of Templeton the rat, too.
--AP
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Play-Doh Perfume
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  Why settle for one goofy story when you can have two? Hasbro has licensed its brands to a variety of other companies for products like statues and busts, but this is the first-ever toy-based fragrance. Yahoo has the press release. We're banking on "new toy smell" next.
--AP
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Shameless Plugging: New Star Wars at Entertainment Earth
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 Yes, it's shilling, but it's our day job and that's where our perspective comes from a lot of the time. Hasbro and Entertainment Earth announced 3 new mixes of Star Wars figures from Episode III on all-new packaging. (Or, "good" packaging.) Figures being rereleased include: Shock Trooper, electronic R2-D2, the red Clone Commander, and more. Click through to see all the "Heroes & Villains" assortments.
--AP
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It's a Weird Science Party
May 8 2006 |
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter
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Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Read on for... rants! Counting! And rock & roll.
 Also new: we posted a new feature, "Figure of the Day." It's what it sounds like-- we're going to spend the next 2-3 years looking at one action figure from the modern Star Wars line each and every single day. Day 1: Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader.
(Or rather, 2-3 years, or when readership drops below 600 per day. And we're curious to see how long before we see similar features on other toy sites.)
--AP
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Transformers "In Case You Missed It" Report
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 It has come to our attention that many people were quite excited to see images from Asia over the weekend that showed in-package shots of the ARC Fighter, Shuttle, and Slave I (Jango) Star Wars Transformers.
Uhhh... these are out. We have all 3 sitting in a box in our "incoming" stash. Happy hunting.
--AP
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Nintendo Confirms New WarioWare, Angels Sing
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 Oh, hell yes. While not every entry was as stellar as the first, this article at GameSpot has news on Zelda's Wii swordfighting and a new WarioWare title.
We're excited and interested. Which is more than we can say about other non-2D efforts from other gamemakers because we're old and boring.
--AP
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The Lost Podcast
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 My friends Shaun and Zac and I used to be in a comedy group and we attempted to bring this level of humor to a podcast which, well, never happened. Shaun's been posting outtakes on his site so in case you were wondering what we sounded like, or who our friends are, we advise you click through and listen to the May 7 update to his "stuff" page. (Funny not guaranteed.)
We're also working on other podcasts, and by "working on" we mean "not doing right now." Hopefully this week.
--AP
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It's Only Rent
May 9 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 2
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. POTF2 Spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. is the subject of today's entry. This figure was offered in 1997 as a mail-in promotion for Lay's Potato Chips. Was it worth the empty calories? Read on!
--AP
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Square Enix Confirms THREE Final Fantasy XIII Titles
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 Apparently the spin-offs of Final Fantasy VII was a trial run-- three new games are coming out that bear the name Final Fantasy 13, according to several reports out of E3. Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy Agito XIII The former are Playstation 3 titles, the latter, for mobile phones, or "screw that" gaming.
According to other reports, the third Playstation will be out in November. For either $500 or $600, depending on which configuration you choose to buy. Also, the "new" controller has been shown, which looks like a DualShock2, minus the wire. Whoopee? We're a little upset by the tremendous barrier to entry of the next generation of gaming, and are hoping the Wii comes in at under $250... or we'll be likely completely ignoring this one. (And giving the DS and SP all the lovin' we can.)
--AP
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Arrested Development Season 3
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 According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, the show nobody watched is going to finish its DVD run on August 29. With the final 13 episodes, well, that seems to be it. 'twas a good show, surely, and if you missed it you'll likely want to get these DVDs.
--AP
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Box of Commies
May 10 2006 |
New G.I. Joe Comic Packs Released
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  Well, more or less. Where we work, we got them in-- and as such, we got ours. Click the thumbnail for a preview pic which should act as proof, we guess, until the review goes up. Time permitting, we're hoping to get reviews of these, plus the previous DTC comic pack waves, soon. (This weekend, maybe.)
For best search engine results and your information, the packs are as follows: #44 with Lady Jaye and two Cobra Troopers, #101 with Lt. Gorky, Dragonsky, and Sgt. Misha. (Misha looks awful.)
And as always, you can order them from our corporate overlords for $24.99 as another shipment is due very soon.
--AP
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Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 3
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. POTJ Queen Amidala-- Theed Invasion is the subject of today's entry. Easily the most recognizable of the young queen's costumes, this particular figure didn't make it to market until after several other versions of Natalie Portman hit plastic. Is this one worth adding to your collection? Read on!
(We also got our Lucas Collector's Set from the Fan Club. More or less, we like it. More in the next week or so as it enters FOTD.)
--AP
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Cybertron Menasor Also Released
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 Also from our employers, the first (and so far only) sighting of Menasor, one of very few Giant Planet Transformers. A few remain, so if you're interested, place an order or weep. And by weep, we mean wait it to show up again.
--AP
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Get a gander at Nintendo Wii Games
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 We're... actually excited about a new game console. We're shocked. Nintendo struck a nerve with the Wii and as such, we're going to point to all sorts of neat things.
First up, the classic controller, a special hybrid of the NES, Super NES, N64, and GameCube controllers is going to be made for software needing such a thing. Oooooh. Daddy like.
The first batch of Wii software has been announced, and it appears Zelda will come in two flavors-- GameCube and Wii. While we have heard a little here and there about how each version will play differently, there's no indication that the narrative or goodies within will differ.
New images of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption are also now available to find. They seem more like marketing stills, but that's more images than you've likely seen before regardless. (Oh, Super Mario Galaxy was shown as well.)
As of now, we are unable to find information about the pricing of the new system, although buzz, hearsay, and conjecture seem to hint it might launch at a very non-frightening sub-$300 price point.
--AP
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Behold the Dark Side
May 11 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 4
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. Expanded Universe Luke Skywalker-- Dark Empire Comics is the subject of today's entry. One of very few Luke figures based on non-movie designs, this figure has a hand you can "cut" off, a lightsaber, and gun, and even more shocking, a pop-up diorama base. How cool is that? You can see the figure in all of his glory, and read more about him, if you read on!
--AP
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Solid Snake in Smash Bros., Nintendo's Zapper 2006
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 Who loves fan wanks? Nintendo's new Smash Bros. Brawl is going to have Pit from Kid Icarus AND Solid Snake-- yes, the Solid Snake-- fighting in the new game. Wow. Someone remembered Kid Icarus. Oh, and Metroid's Samus, sans armor, is playable.
Also, Nintendo is making a new Zapper. Basically, it's a fancy thing that holds together the controller and the analog bit in a gun shape, but still, Nintendo calls it a Zapper and it looks like a gun. If we can play Duck Hunt with it, you can call it whatever you'd like.
Oh, and shockingly, Nintendo has not yet abandoned the GameCube. The Magic Box has four pages of images from Super Paper Mario and it looks REALLY neat. Although, we confess, we don't know exactly what we're looking at, but there's a giant 8-bit Mario sprite covering the entire screen. That must mean it's good.
--AP
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You don't know you care, but you do
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 "Mirrrrrman! Man from the sea!" We're sure this means nothing to you. But Mr. Mirman is a very funny comedian who you have most likely never heard of, and as such, we wanted to mention that we're hoping to find his new CD as it's supposedly out. Although Best Buy doesn't have it and they've got that "check in-store availability" thing and we don't feel like driving to Amoeba as the parking sucks. Where were we? Oh yes. New CD + DVD set, Mirman is funny, you should go buy it or listen to it and THEN go buy it because it's the right thing to do.
--AP
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 16bit.com & Entertainment Earth Podcast
16bit.com Podcast #18: May 11, 2006
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16bit.com Podcast #18: May 11, 2006
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 It's toy news! It's a promotional vehicle for a toy store! Wow!
--AP
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Contents
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This week's segments:
If you read this page, it's going to be a lot like this. Segments include: E3 news, what's new in Star Wars, recent releases from G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Zizzle's Pirates of the Caribbean. Figure of the week, all that stuff. You should download it already.
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How to sign up
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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.
If you have iTunes 4.9 or above: You can subscribe to it for free. Just search for "Adam Pawlus" under Podcasts in the iTunes music store, or just go to "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste in "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml". And you should be all hooked up.
If you're using an RSS reader: Subscribe to this feed: "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml".
If you are using Safari: click here.
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Time to Write
May 12 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 5
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. POTF2 Hoth Chewbacca, crudely known to some fans as "Money Shot Chewbacca," is the latest entry in this retrospective on the modern figure line. It's like a regular Chewie, but he's covered in white and brown globs. Is it disgusting, true to the movie, or artistic? If you want to find out, read on!
--AP
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Hands-On Wii Classics, DS Castlevania Sequel
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Over at GameSpot, staffers played a number of retro games with the new fancy emulator and controller and the results are largely positive. Read on for more.
Over at The Magic Box, you can see new images of the Nintendo DS title Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Oooh. Also check out Yoshi's Island 2, Final Fantasy III, and The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass.
--AP
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RREEARRGH!
May 15 2006 |
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter
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Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Read on for me going on about how I hate layaway.
Some book reviews are coming up, and before you roll your eyes, let us assure you that the books are good. As in, valuable reference tools, or at least worthy of looking at while you sit at Borders. More later.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing!
From left to right: Baron Papanoida, Anakin Skywalker, Princess Leia (Bespin Gown). These are all since our last update, and another one will be going live today! Who will it be? Keep checking Galactic Hunter for more.
--AP
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Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy
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 New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS should start hitting stores Tuesday, but there's more Mario in the works. The Magic Box has images of Super Mario Galaxy, 5 pages worth actually. Is this the new 3D Mario Platformer we've been dying for since Mario 64 gave us a taste of the future back in 1996? Here's hoping!
--AP
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It's-A-Me Again
May 16 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 9
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. Episode I Destroyer Droid figures came out in 1999, and with a couple of minor errors, were the best Destroyers to be produced by Hasbro. This figure was offered in 1999 with numerous revisions that would come for years down the road. Did they really get a good run of beginner's luck? Read on!
--AP
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New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS Today!
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 The "ship date" for the game is, in theory, today. What this really means is that some stores are going to have it for sale, and others are going to have it but not put it out because of a perceived street date which most likely is completely wrong. (Not that we're bitter from this happening before.)
So, how about pricing? Are there deals to be had? We checked around online at the usual suspects, and it appears that $34.99 is the going rate. Circuit City has it for $27.99, which, at press time, seems to be the best for any US-based national chain.
--AP
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Beep Beep
May 17 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 10
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. Early Bird Kit R2-D2 figures started shipping in Summer of 2005, and, shockingly, were not the R2-D2 figures that Hasbro said they would ship. Was this a good thing, or a bad thing? Read on!
--AP
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New Transformers Cybertron Mini-Cons (Wave 4) Out
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 While we have yet to see in-store sightings, online superstore/our employer Entertainment Earth has this case with the new Perceptor and Space Team sets, and many old favorites, in stock and ready to ship for $72.99. This means they'll be in stores everywhere soon, or at your house now if you order today.
--AP
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New Super Mario Bros. for Nintendo DS-- Short Impressions
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We did indeed find a copy of the game, at Fry's Electronics, for about $26.99-- in other words, as good as we've seen it. It's totally worth it if you are the kind of person who still has an NES connected to at least one TV in your house. If you have a functional NES hooked up to 2 or more TVs, well, you should already have bought it. We're going to go play it now, thanks very much. This is worth buying a DS for, at least, at this point. Next week, we may feel otherwise.
Also, there's a rumor that the DS remake of Final Fantasy III will also be ported to the PlayStation 2. Interesting.
 Finally, NCS has some adorable Animal Crossing/Animal Forest Gashapon sets you may want to buy. They're in-stock, too.
The set of 6 includes identical houses and: a girl owl named Celeste, a male cat named Rover, a female poodle named Harriet, and a male sea otter named Pascal. Plus a couple of boring kids. Overall, a neat set for $23.00.
--AP
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Yipee
May 18 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 11
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. Episode I Darth Maul Figure as Holograph (no, really, that's the name) is the subject of today's feature. He's a one-piece blue statue with a glorified display base that lights up. Do you care? If so, perhaps you should read on!
--AP
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New Star Trek Exclusive Pre-Order
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  Part of our day job is coming up with/agreeing to/taking on new and exclusive products for online superstore/our employer Entertainment Earth. Today, we're now offering this exclusive and we daresay definitive outfit version of Counselor Deanna Troi from the classic TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. She's about 6 inches tall, loaded with accessories, limited to a tiny 3,000 pieces, and oh yes, exclusive. Another Trek exclusive will be going on sale shortly which you no doubt guessed if you read ToyFare.
--AP
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New images: Mario Hoops 3 on 3
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 The fine folks at The Magic Box have info on the Square-Enix developed Nintendo-published hoops game starring Mario. Mario Hoops 3 on 3 has no release date, but they do have 3 pages of images to share which, frankly, do nothing for us. Still, a curiosity worth seeing.
We also should report we took the DS to work today and clocked in most of our lunch break with New Super Mario Bros. Also worth mentioning, it's presold 800,000 units in Japan so far and has yet to be released. As the last real 2D Mario platformer since, we believe, Super MarioLand 2: 6 Golden Coins, we can't say enough nice about it.
--AP
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Car Death
May 19 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 11
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 Galactic Hunter has posted a "Figure of the Day" update. Star Tours DL-X2, a mind-bendingly dull figure (or actually, an accessory sold as a figure) is the subject of today's feature. He doesn't look good, do much, or really fit in with the other Star Tours figures. You know you want to read on!
--AP
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New Transformers Legends of Cybertron at Toys "R" Us
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 Sometimes, we do things we regret. One of these things was hitting a Toys "R" Us in LA which shall remain nameless. We found Soundwave, Galvatron, Vector Prime, and Cybertron Defense Red Alert in the Legends of Cybertron line. That's good. We tried to find out how much it was-- and we don't have a freaking clue what they're charging. We scanned it-- nothing. We were passed back and forth to several employees, were told "oh, those are $9.99 each," "Oh, these are $8.48," and many other prices, none of which were accurate-- we've heard these selling as low as $3.49-$4.99 at "Market 6" stores (Meijer's, Walgreen's, etc.), plus we got an earful about how "awful" collectors are. Oh, joyous day. Anyway, the end result is that they're out but the store we saw them hasn't a clue of what they're supposed to be asking for them. Not as in "clueless" but as in "someone got something outside their systems, methinks." Oh well. They seem to think it's going to be $5 or $6 a pop which may make it more sensible to order online or just hop over to your local grocery/drug store with a toy aisle.
--AP
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New Gentle Giant Star Wars, Corpse Bride Preorders at Entertainment Earth
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 New at Entertainment Earth, tons of new Gentle Giant stuff! Oh, and new Master Replicas stuff. And Kotobukiya. And... well, lots of stuff. It's a buyer's market for toys and statues. Fans of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and to a lesser extent, Star Trek may find this interesting.
New today: Darth Maul Mini-Bust, Royal Guard Statue, Animated Darth Vader Maquette, Clone Wars Bust-Ups, Harry Potter Ron & Hermoine Busts, and more.
Is there more? Sadly, yes. Take a look at the Obi-Wan Kenobi Episode III Lightsaber FX, Kotobukiya Slave Leia, Kotobukiya Bespin Luke Skywalker, and even the Exclusive Deanna Troi Action Figure from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
(Yes, your buying stuff supports the site and gives us a few bucks. So you bet there's a reason for us posting.)
--AP
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My Germ Is Big
May 22 2006 |
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter
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Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Read on for me going on about how I don't much like the idea of figures based on incomplete movie designs and the wonders of eBay.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing!
From left to right: Rancor Keeper, ARC Trooper, and Ewok. These are all since our last update, and another one will be going live today! Who will it be? Keep checking Galactic Hunter for more.
--AP
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Roundup: G.I. Joe News
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 First up: meet Mercer, the latest convention figure for the upcoming G.I. Joe show in New Orleans this Summer. He's one of many figures you can get, so go read more about that at Master Collector, as it's their deal.
Also, Burger King's G.I. Joe promo starts today. Or so we hear. The girl counterpart is Bratz, so you can take your pick between two wonderful gender biased promotions instead of something like, say, another round of toys featuring the likes of Kidvid or Lingo or whatever the hell their names are. The items aren't figure based and seem kinda cheesy, but odds are we'll be picking at least one of them up because we aren't known for our good decision making skills.
--AP
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16bit.com & Entertainment Earth Podcast
16bit.com Podcast #19: May 22, 2006 |
16bit.com Podcast #19: May 22, 2006
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Toy news! Busts & Statues! Really, really bad comedy outtakes! Could you ask for more? You bet. Will you get it? No.
--AP
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Contents
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This week's segments:
If you read this page, it's going to be a lot like this. Segments include: Star Trek exclusives, Gentle Giant Studios news, a quick review of the animated-style Clone Wars gunship, and much more.
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How to sign up
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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.
If you have iTunes 4.9 or above: You can subscribe to it for free. Just search for "Adam Pawlus" under Podcasts in the iTunes music store, or just go to "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste in "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml". And you should be all hooked up.
If you're using an RSS reader: Subscribe to this feed: "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml".
If you are using Safari: click here.
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Busy Season
May 24 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Days 16 & 17
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 Galactic Hunter two, count 'em, two updates to Figure of the Day. The first is Revenge of the Sith #26 Yoda, with his whirling dervish attack, display stand, and accessories. While by and large neat, it's more a toy than a collectible, which may annoy some and delight others. We dig it. Read more about it.
 Next up is 2002's Jango Fett (Slave I Pilot) from Attack of the Clones. With a removed helmet, quick-draw action, two guns, and a nifty pose, can you miss this one? We think not. Read more about him too. Who's next? We ain't tellin'. Come back tomorrow for more!
Finally, we also received a case of the newest wave of the Saga Collection figures from Mos Eisley. (Guess where we got them?) This newest batch includes Momaw Nadon, Hem Dazon, Garindan, R5-D4, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and a Sandtrooper. So the hunt is on, and we're loving them so far, even the rehashes. You can read our impressions at Galactic Hunter, too.
--AP
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Giant Planet Mini-Cons, Ransack GTS Out; Masterpiece Starscream Images
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, the newest wave of Transformers is in stock! The Giant Planet Mini-Con team, Shortround, Ransack GTS, Repugnus, Scrapmetal, and other favorites are in Transformers Cybertron Scout Wave 8. A limited quantity remains and these are only available by the case. These may start showing up at retail in the coming weeks, but if you can't wait (and it's hard to wait, these are cool) you can order them now.
Also, you've no doubt seen them, but numerous web forums like this one are now showcasing the wonderful prototype for the Masterpiece Edition Starscream coming later this year, we assume. It looks neat. Click through for more!
--AP
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Plug: G.I. Joe Comics #44, #101 Back In Stock & New Star Trek Preorders at Entertainment Earth
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, a limited restock of G.I. Joe 3-Pack with Comic Book Assortment 8 Set came in as well. Hurry, offer expires while you wait! The pair of 3-packs is only $24.99.
 Also, the new Mirror, Mirror Comic-Con Exclusive Chekov is in from Star Trek... or the preorders are, at least. It can be preordered for pickup at the show in San Diego, or sent to your home or office.
The show pickup option may be best-- there's a "Mirror Mirror" promotion going on where if you buy Chekov from EE, Sulu from AFX, Uhura from Diamond, and McCoy from New Force Collectibles, you can get a card punched and get a bonus fifth figure for free. (Plus an autograph from the actress!) More on that here.
--AP
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Sunny Season
May 25 2006 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 18
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 Galactic Hunter adds its newest Figure of the Day with Episode I Darth Maul (Tatooine Showdown), a figure with a nasty mean expression and massive flowing robes. Read more about it, or weep.
--AP
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Nemesis Prime Alternators Packaged Images
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 Visit TFormers.com for in-package images of Alternators Nemesis Prime, a figure which, as of yet, has not been confirmed for release by Hasbro. Exciting, no? Rumor has it that it'll be a convention exclusive, but its fairly basic packaging really doesn't give any hints.
--AP
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Arcade Ports of Contra, Akumajou Dracula for Japanese PS2
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 "Akumajou Dracula" is Japanese for "Castlevania, rejoice!" Minus the "rejoice" part. Importer NCS has the arcade version of Contra and Castlevania (a unique game previously unreleased on consoles) up for purchase right now-- and for the fairly good price of $28.00 as part of the "Oretachi Game Center" imprint. Hot damn, we wish we had a Japanese Playstation 2.
--AP
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Yes Yes
May 26 2006 |
UPDATE: Transformers Cybertron Galaxy Force Optiums Prime
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 No really, that's the full name of the upcoming repaint. The Transformers Cybertron toy is called Galaxy Force Optimus Prime, and you can view in- and out-of-box images by clicking the thumbnail.
--AP
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Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 19
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 Galactic Hunter adds its newest Figure of the Day with Episode I Shakka (Watto
s Box), a one of no less than five scantily clad Twi'lek women in the Star Wars action figure line. (Off the top of our head, there's also Aayla Secura, Oola, Lyn Me, and Ayy Vida.) Does she have the right stuff to add to your collection? Read on!
--AP
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Official Convention Optimus Primal Revealed; Unofficial Golden Disks Too
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 ...and maybe Rattrap, too. Visit Botcon.com and you'll see Optimus Primal which is actually a modified Cybertron Crumplezone. He's got a new head, new paint, and a Planet X key redecorated as a Golden Disk Key-- clever! Take a look. We're quite enamored with it.
Also, a new repaint of Ransack has shown up, and it's largely assumed to be Rattrap. (Well, OK, there's nothing else it could be.) You can see it at this Chinese auction site and keep in mind, it's a prototype. Last year, Botcon exclusives showed up with the original heads in some cases, so prototypes of Ironhide showed up with Towline's noggin. (If you're a fan, you know what that means.) This one doesn't have a new head, but hot damn, it's nifty.
 Fans of unofficial conventions are in for a treat, as Unicron.com and Iacon One teamed up to make a really nifty pair of Golden Disks from Beast Wars. These look a lot nicer than the "Gold Disk Keys" from the official convention set, but then again, it's a different kind of item for a different price. (Non-attendee package is $65. Ask for "Malin." Tell him Adam says hi. Excellent work.)
Also, some of the new Fall "G1" line were shown at the collector's club. (No we haven't seen the link. So don't ask us for it, we're in the same boat as you. Odds are Hasbro will announce them by Comic-Con.)
--AP
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Wii Price Sorta But Not Really Revealed
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 "Not to exceed $250." Wow, how's that for rock-solid information? Good enough, we guess.
--AP
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It Is Not Not Hot
May 31 2006 |
Star Wars Q&A Updated at Galactic Hunter
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Galactic Hunter has posted a Q&A column by yours truly. Read on for blah blah blah blah not Kir Kanos blah.
Also, Figure of the Day has been updated! The daily feature on figures you might have but might not-- either way, here's what you've been missing! Spanning from the original Power of the Force series of 1995 to the latest of the Saga Collection, it's almost like a history lesson! (As it also has funny hats and wars.)
Row #1: R5-D4 with Concealed Photon Launcher, McQuarrie Concept Stormtrooper, Tion Medon. Row #2: Teebo, Vintage OTC C-3PO. These are all since our last update, and another one will be going live today! Who will it be? Keep checking Galactic Hunter for Day 25 in Figure of the Day!
--AP
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DVD: Transformers The Movie 20th Anniversary Edition
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 It looks like a bundle of extras are planned for the release of Oh My God Prime Dies: The Movie on DVD this Fall from BMG/Sony/whatever. This article from IGN has ad images and no real firm information about what exactly it's going to include. Who knows? It's part of the big pre-2007 movie media push, along with the new "Classics" figures.
 Also, last week, Hasbro announced a new line of classics figures. Basically, the toys from 1984 reimagined with modern technology and toy styling, as well as more modernized alt modes. So Megatron can't be a realistic pistol, but he's an awesome Nerf gun thing. Wave 1 supposedly is to include Rodimus (Hot Rod, a nice update too), Starscream, Astrotrain, Bumbelbee (not shown), Optimus Prime, and Nerf Megatron. Click through for more.
Finally, some Target stores are marking down their exclusive Spring Universe and Cybertron offerings to 50%-- we saw these for pennies under $9 over the long weekend. We're waiting for just slightly lower prices to re-buy Constructicons yet again, but hey, happy hunting!
--AP
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Sponsor: Kir Kanos New Exclusive Yay!
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 A new shared exclusive is up at Entertainment Earth, and it's the Exclusive Star Wars Kir Kanos & Mystery Action Figure 2-Pack. For just the two-pack, it's $19.99, but a number of bundles with comics, other figures, and so forth bring the price down significantly if you're planning to buy a whole mess of Star Wars figures. (Support our site, our day job, and our sense of what makes a good figure-- buy one.)
--AP
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Convention: G.I. Joe Taurus Unveiled
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 Today: meet Taurus, yet another convention figure for the upcoming G.I. Joe show in New Orleans this Summer. He's one of many figures you can get, so go read more about that at Master Collector, as it's their deal.
--AP
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16bit.com & Entertainment Earth Podcast
16bit.com Podcast #20: May 31, 2006 |
16bit.com Podcast #20: May 31, 2006
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Toy news! Zoombox! New Super Mario Bros! Oh, just download it.
--AP
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How to sign up
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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.
If you have iTunes 4.9 or above: You can subscribe to it for free. Just search for "Adam Pawlus" under Podcasts in the iTunes music store, or just go to "Subscribe to Podcast" and paste in "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml". And you should be all hooked up.
If you're using an RSS reader: Subscribe to this feed: "http://www.entertainmentearth.com/podcasts/podcast.xml".
If you are using Safari: click here.
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Click Here For News From April!
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