Daycare Kids Have Problems Later In Life
April 2, 2007 |
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!
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!
We also added archive pages so you can go through the entire column's run. Hooray!
From left to right: Yak Face, Padme Amidala, Death Star Gunner. These are all new since our last update, and another one will be going live today! Who will it be? Keep checking Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the 331st installment in our ongoing series!
--AP
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Transformers: Wal-Mart Exclusives Hitting
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  Your pal and ours Davis "Shortpacked" Willis has reported finding three Wal-Mart exclusive Transformers toys-- the "Classics" Devastator (the Energon toy in a new box) and the final two Alternators, Ravage and Rumble. While we haven't been able to find these or almost any of the Hasbro Wal-Mart exclusives we wanted lately, there's your warning-- it's time to go hunting!
Since the weekend contained April Fool's Day, we're going to stop today's update here-- hopefully all the fakey stuff will be gone so we can report actual news tomorrow.
--AP
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I Told You So
April 3, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 331
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 He's fat! Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Jabba the Hutt from Return of the Jedi from the 2004 line. Sure, technically he's a retooled Episode I Jabba, but this is all we have to go on so far. Read on to see how he turned out.
 Also, the Official Site revealed the Celebration IV Exclusive Figures early-- and as reported all over months ago, it's McQuarrie Concept R2-D2 and C-3PO with a collector's coin. They're pretty damned funky, but we gotta give Hasbro and Lucasfilm credit on picking a good pair of figures. For Celebration I, we got nothing-- for Celebration II, we got a figure from 1998 (in 2002) with a new head. In 2005, for Celebration III, we got a figure that went on clearance in 2002 with a new display base. This time around, we're getting two all-new sculpt figures with a coin. This is classy. This is nice. Although no price was given-- if it's more than $20 you'll surely hear us complaining.
--AP
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Hasbro Marvel Poster Exclusive @ Entertainment Earth
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  Over at Entertainment Earth, Hasbro and Marvel and EE have teamed up to offer an Exclusive Hasbro Marvel Poster featuring action figures and Attacktix figures from Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, and more. It's free with any Hasbro Marvel purchase (but the rules are on the site if you need more details.) It's double-sided and pretty cool for a freebie.
--AP
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PSP Price Drop Today?
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  Joystiq and elsewhere are reporting the vastly overpriced PSP Value Pack (read: just the system) is dropping to $169 today at many stores. So if you haven't bought one yet, now might be a good time to snag one. Castlevania is coming, after all, plus there are some mighty good Megaman games as well as a load of fun Japanese shooters.
--AP
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Wii Virtual Console This Week
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  This week's picks: StarFox 64, a very good (and we daresay the best) entry in the series, a classic Nintendo 64 on-the-rails shooter that's a lot of fun to play. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, a frustrating game from Konami/Ultra that owes more to Castlevania or the Goonies games than to the arcade TMNT titles everybody actually liked. Dragon's Curse is a TurboGrafx-16 game which nobody has ever played, and never will. So this week you have one awesome game, a game you'll probably get for the license, and a curiosity. Happy gaming!
--AP
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Gold Collectible Collector's Series
April 4, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 332
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 What, again? Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Bossk from 2004, not to be confused with Bossk 1982, Bossk 1997, Metal Bossk 2006, or the upcoming Bossk 2007. With one outfit and no real changes, it's hard to say one is any better than the other. But there are differences. Read on to see what they are.
--AP
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Non-Transforming Transformers @ eBay
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  Many have pointed a finger to eBay, where an Action Figure Megatron can be seen. It doesn't transform, so it's like a lot of collector figures. It's interesting-- we aren't going so far as to say we like it, but it's interesting.
On the other hand, we do like this Starscream Barrel Roll Blaster they're showing off. This is nifty.
--AP
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Evangelion Horror Summer Figures
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  You gotta love this. NCS has images up of 4 of the ladies from Neon Genesis Evangelion in various monster-themed or skimpy costumes. If you're a fan of the Gainax series and unusual licensed merch, these are worth a once-over.
--AP
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Where's my liquid paper?
April 5, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 333
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 I present to you a gift... these two droids. (Sold separately.) Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Holographic Luke Skywalker from 2004, which, to date, is the only Luke figure based on a bunch of photons. So it's a figure you probably have, but clear, and with a lightsaber for no good reason. Do you need one? Read on and find out.
--AP
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Botcon Transformers Announced (or, "Collect Them All Now")
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 We forgot to report on this, because it made us sad-- the Botcon Exclusive Announcements have started. The big box set is going to be awesome-- you get Classics Thundercracker, Thrust, and Dirge. Yowza. You also get Bugbite (a Go-Bots character turned Japanese exclusive Bumblebee redeco) and Dreadwind and it's about $300 with admission to the show. Man, we wish we could go because these sound pretty incredible. The "souvenir" sets and the free attendee-only gift have yet to be announced, but odds are it'll be pretty dang cool.
--AP
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New Lebowski Bobble Confirmed
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  Behold, the second-ever item from The Big Lebowski and Bif Bang Pow. It's The Big Lebowski The Dude (Bowling Shirt) Bobble Head and, of course, is not an action figure-- but still, it's pretty slick. We've seen multiple images of the prototype and we can honestly say we dig it. You can order one if you want from Entertainment Earth or wholesale via EE Distribution, the exclusive distributor for these products (so far).
--AP
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Wii Resident Evil (Biohazard) Coming
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 Two games, too. Biohazard Wii Edition is a port of Resident Evil 4, and Biohazard Umbrella Chronicle is some new thing. Get your zombie on later this year. These reports will take you to The Magic Box for pictures and stuff.
--AP
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Castlevania Music + Pipe Organ = Awesome
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  We make no apologies for being Konami's bitch. This is mostly due to the excellent series of games from the NES onward, especially those branded "Castlevania". You can imagine our surprise/delight when we saw this video of a guy in concert pounding out songs from the series on some giant three story concert pipe organ thing. Either you know that this is incredibly cool and have to see it, or are boring and don't care and are reading something about American Idol Monopoly by now.
--AP, via Joystiq
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Games of the Damned (or, "Clay Aiken fans rejoice")
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  Working in the toy industry and the licensed collectible industry will allow you to see an endless parade of the wonderful, the mundane, and the truly terrifying. How we missed My American Idol Monopoly before is beyond us. This horrible idea combines board games with American Idol, which, we believe, is a crime. It's also a "My Monopoly" item, meaning you get to pick which idol gets to be Boardwalk or what have you, thus creating a new alternative to such conversation starters as "Would you rather be eaten alive by dogs
--AP
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 Entertainment Earth Podcast (powered by 16bit.com)
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Podcast #42: April 6, 2007
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  The band plays on! This week: Star Wars Cantina Band reviews, new Big Lebowski Bobble Heads, special Darth Vader bundles, fast food round-up, and much more, even though the show seems short. Perhaps you just need to listen more quickly.
Click here to visit the Episode #42 page at Entertainment Earth.
--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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Careful! Think Ahead!
April 9, 2007 |
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!
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!
We also added archive pages so you can go through the entire column's run. Hooray!
From left to right: General Leia Organa, Chewbacca, Barada, Takeel. These are all new since our last update, and another one will be going live today! Who will it be? Keep checking Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the 338th installment in our ongoing series!
--AP
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Wii Super Paper Mario This Week
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 Finally, Nintendo takes pity on those of us (un)fortunate enough to have bought a Wii! A new game coming out, Super Paper Mario, will probably start showing up in stores as early as Tuesday. It's supposed to be great but we haven't seen any reviews yet. So here's hoping.
--AP
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Transformers: New Target Exclusive (SURPRISE!)
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  On Saturday evening, we were quite surprised to see a new Transformers Cybertron exclusive at the registers at Target. For a mere $9.99, you get 4 Legends-sized figures in a single box, including Optimus Prime, Soundwave, Jetfire, and Megatron. We didn't pick it up, although we should note it looked like Jetfire might have been slightly recolored. These are likely to be blink-and-you'll-miss-it items that will appear alongside the popular Star Wars Order 66 2-packs.
We assume this is the final item in Cybertron but we've been wrong before.
--AP
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Can I Help Me?
April 10, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 338
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 He's not a cyborg, but you could probably squint and see one. Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Plo Koon from 2005, the finest version of the character yet. He's not super-poseable, but he's really good-- and as good as you can hope to find on the market today. Should you be ashamed for not having bought one yet? Read on and find out.
--AP
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Wii Virtual Console This Week
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 Three games today-- should you care? Well, maybe. The NES version of Galaga is the most recognizable, and why you should cry. From the TurboGrafx-16, there's Bravoman-- he punches people and shouts "Bravo!" Wow, there's some exciting stuff. Slightly more interesting (OK, significantly so) is the Sega Genesis game Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, which is a platformer before Sega decided all such games must have a blue rodent.
--AP
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Super Plastic at Anime News Network
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 If you can't get enough of Adam's rambling, check out the new column at Anime News Network called Super Plastic.
This week, we look at the history of Transformers by way of G.I. Joe , how you can keep your toys nice, new unreasonable demands, and some fun news bites. Is that enough for you, old man? Click to read it.
More again in two weeks!
--AP
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I Don't Know if I'm Ever Going Home
April 11, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 339
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 He likes to growl, and eat. Today at Galactic Hunter we look at the first modern Gamorrean Guard from 1997-1998, and he's an ugly mofo. He has only six points of articulation, but he makes up for it with a giant axe and tons of personality. We bought several. (Like 20-- we love clearances.) Shouldn't you buy some, too? Read on and find out.
--AP
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Donkey Kong Post-It Mural
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 Everybody else was linking to this, so we decided to join in the fun. The UCSC engineering building has been commandeered by Donkey Kong, as you can see here. Some enterprising engineering students re-created much of the first stage of the classic Nintendo game (and origin of Mario) using windows and post-it notes. We are impressed. The kids today are all right by us.
--AP
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Ad: New Star Wars Figure Pre-Orders @ Entertainment Earth
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, a number of new action figure assortments of the Star Wars kind are up for pre-order, including a new case of Saga Legends and three new 30th Anniversary assortments. If that doesn't make us happy, nothing does.
And as always, buying through these shameless plugs means we get a nickel or two, and we appreciate your shined nickels and loose change.
From left to right: Cantina Band Box Set, Unleashed Luke & Vader Set, DVD Commemorative Figures set (10 figures). Click through for pricing and availability. Thanks for reading! (But mostly stuffing our coffers.)
--AP
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Vacation's Over
April 23, 2007 |
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!
Since we were off last week, there's a March 16 update too.
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!
We also added archive pages so you can go through the entire column's run. Hooray!
From left to right: Oh who cares. Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the 352nd installment in our ongoing series! Obviously, we glossed over a few of these-- so go to that site to see what you missed. (You missed a lot.)
--AP
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Wii Super Paper Mario Impressions
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We've been pretty iffy on the Wii software line-up so far. Wii Sports is fun, but not engaging for an hour at a time. Zelda is massive-- but requires a mighty commitment that we're having a hard time giving since we're also writing to you here. And at Galactic Hunter, Entertainment Earth, and Anime News Network. But we've put a few good hours in Super Paper Mario and we must say, we're pleased-- the pacing is great, it combines new and old gameplay, and for you really can't go wrong if what your thing is, is a 2D Mario game. The actual levels are more action than RPG, so be sure to give this a shot if you're an old fart gamer. We're still enjoying it and look forward to picking it up, which we couldn't say about Zelda after a couple of weeks.
--AP
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G.I. Joe: Comic-Con Exclusive A-Coming
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  The G.I. Joe Club has confirmed there's gonna be a San Diego exclusive Joe figure. More specifically, a 3 3/4-inch Cobra figure. And that's about it so far. We're expecting either a repaint or one of those "lost" figures that's been finalized but never released, of which there are more than a few. They're going to reveal it this week, so it's worth a look.
--AP
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Transformers: New Robot Galactic Heroes
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 Everybody seems to be having new movie toy leaks, so we're going to pick our favorite: the first few waves of the new "Heroes" figures are leaking! Characters include Ultra Magnus, Megatron, Starscream, and Mirage. Oh, and Ravage. And Unicron. Just read this thread for pictures and stuff.
We are totally gonna buy all of these. And probably subsequent series. Here's hoping it continues for a long time and they add in non-G1 characters like Optimus Primal, Dinobot, Tankorr, and if we're extremely lucky, and we aren't, Big Convoy. But here's hoping this line goes well-- the Marvel line seems to be doing well, and the Star Wars line is crazy with Clone Wars characters and Cantina aliens.
--AP
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A Terrible Crime
April 24, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 352
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 Grey hair, grey suit, no lines. Fans love him. Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Officer Cass from a few months go, the first and likely only release this character will ever see. He's not super-poseable, but he's really good-- and as good as you can hope to find on the market today. Should you be ashamed for not having bought one yet? Read on and find out.
--AP
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Wii Virtual Console This Week
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 Three games today-- some good, some so-so. From the Super NES, there's Gradius III. The Super NES port is "dumbed down" from the arcade, or as we like to call it, "actually playable." It's a good one. From the Genesis, there's Wonder Boy in Monster World, which we've never had the fortune of playing. And from the TurboGrafx-16, there's Hyper Lode Runner, which we may actually download as regular Lode Runner is usually pretty good. And this one is hyper.
--AP
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Super Plastic at Anime News Network
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 If you can't get enough of Adam's rambling, check out the new column at Anime News Network called Super Plastic.
This week, we look at bootleg toys, cheap-o Pokemon Hasbro Target exclusive surplus, and of course sexy ladies. Click here to read it.
More again in two weeks!
--AP
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Could Take Weeks
April 25, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 353
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 They're smart-- S-M-R-T. Today at Galactic Hunter we look at Combat Engineer Clone Trooper, a late-Saga Collection release and a unique design. Should you prepare for a full army of these? Could they be that great? Read on and find out.
--AP
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Beautiful Katamari Site Opens... in Japan
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 Namco posted a page for Beautiful Katamari, a game coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this Fall. In it, you roll up a big ball and make a bigger ball of stuff. It's a lot of fun, the first two games in the series are must-plays and we expect this new one to be at least as good. Click through and try to find new screenshots.
--AP
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Botcon Transformers Revealed: Thundercracker, Dirge
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 The Botcon Exclusive Announcements continue, now with pictures. Last week, they revealed Dirge. This week, it's Thundercracker (pictured). Both are repaints of Ramjet and Starscream, respectively. Are these G1-inspired toys worth several hundred dollars? Well, they seem to think so at Botcon.com, and while we're impressed, we'll leave the budget stuff up to you.
--AP
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G.I. Joe Q&A
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The G.I. Joe Club has continued answering questions about a Hasbro Joe Comic-Con exclusive. It's a Cobra male, not a troop builder, and 3 3/4-inch scale. Watch the G.I. Joe Club for more.
Also, Hasbro has started to post official Q&A sessions with Joe fan sites. (Apparently we were on to something with toy Q&A that we started online several years ago.) See Q&A at: YoJoe!, Joe Battlelines, General's Joes, JoeCustoms, Cool Toy Review, GI Joe Club, and others. We're trying to find answers on other sites but can't seem to find them-- but will post links as they point out where they are or we find them!
--AP
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Ad: New Star Wars, Big Lebowski, Alex Ross' Flash Gordon at Entertainment Earth
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, a number of new action figures were posted-- like this Star Wars Coin Album with Darth Vader Action Figure. It's in stock-- as are new Flash Gordon Bobble Heads, Superhero Squad releases, Transformers Movie Sneak Preview items, and much, much more. Holy crap, click me now.
And as always, buying through these shameless plugs means we get a nickel or two, and we appreciate your shined nickels and loose change.
From left to right: Transformers Movie Deluxe Figures Wave 1 Set (IN STOCK), Alex Ross Flash Gordon Movie 7-Inch Figures Wave 1 Set, The Big Lebowski Urban Achiever 8-Inch Figures Wave 1 Set, Marvel Heroes Superhero Squad Wave 4 Set. Click through for pricing and availability. Thanks for reading! (But mostly stuffing our coffers.)
--AP
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"Arf," She Said
April 25, 2007 |
Star Wars Figure of the Day: Day 354, 355
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 Today at Galactic Hunter we start with a look at the orange Airborne Trooper of Utapau. Sure, there are three versions of this Clone out now, but this one is orange. How can you not love that? I mean, you gotta buy one, right? Read on!
 And who could forget Mace Windu. He's had many action figures, some of which are even best described as "excellent." This one, not so much. Does a figure really need articulation to be great? Read on!
--AP
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Wendy's to get Wii Kid's Meal
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 The folks over at Wendy's are going to include Wii kid's meal toys soon. No word on when "soon" is, but their site informs us to collect all five. As it's been a while since we bought a Nintendo fast food premium, we'd say it's about time. Check their "coming soon" tab for images of all 5 toys.
--AP
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Botcon Transformers: Thrust
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 The Botcon Exclusive Announcements just never end, not even today. Now it's time for the slightly remolded Thrust. It's Ramjet, but with new wings and new paint with a price tag of about four times what the original would cost you-- and it's gorgeous. You need one. Click the pic for more.
--AP
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Ad: New Gentle Giant at Entertainment Earth
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, you can find a ton-- and we do mean a lot-- of new Gentle Giant products from Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Halo, and Harry Potter. Below are some of the neater ones. We're totally buying the animated Han Solo.
And as always, buying through these shameless plugs means we get a nickel or two, and we appreciate your shined nickels and loose change.
From left to right: Han Solo Maquette, Halo Master Chief Bust, Gimli Maquette, Scout Trooper Kustomz Statue. Click through for pricing and availability. Thanks for reading! (But mostly stuffing our coffers.)
--AP
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Entertainment Earth Podcast (powered by 16bit.com) |
Podcast #44: April 27, 2007
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The band plays on! This week: 30th Anniversary Wave 2 reviews, tons of new Star Wars news, descriptions of the G.I. Joe anniversary packaging, sales, and other stuff you'll probably care about if you like action figures.
Click here to visit the Episode #43 page at Entertainment Earth.
--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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Big Pimpin'
April 30, 2007 |
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!
Since we were off last week, there's a March 16 update too.
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 30th Anniversary Collection, it's almost like a history lesson!
We also added archive pages so you can go through the entire column's run. Hooray!
From left to right: Sandtrooper, C-3PO, Royal Guard (Blue). Go to Galactic Hunter for the next update, with the 359th installment in our ongoing series!
--AP
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Wii Virtual Console Downloads Down
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 Over at Game|Life Wired Blog, there's a blurb saying that Nintendo has sold 3.3 million Virtual Console games worldwide. Despite a somewhat clunky download interface and questionable choices as to what they offer, that basically means that 1.5 million were downloaded in the first two months, and 1.8 million were in the next three months. So as they sold more systems, people became less interested in downloads, it seems-- oh well.
--AP
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G.I. Joe: Comic-Con Destro Revealed
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 The G.I. Joe Club has revealed that the Hasbro (we presume Hasbro) Comic-Con exclusive for G.I. Joe is the 25th Anniversary mold Destro painted up like the infamous "Pimp Daddy Destro". No word yet on price or edition size, but it's so hokey that we can't assume anybody will be interested but us crazy toy people. Also, there may be multiple versions available, as the site says: At ComicCon 2007, he'll be available in TWO versions for your viewing and collecting enjoyment, so grab both of them while you can! Hm.
--AP
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Ad: New Weekly Specials at Entertainment Earth
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 Over at Entertainment Earth, you can find this week's new Weekly Specials. You can save 20% or more on Star Wars items, Star Trek items, and the big treat, you can even save on Bif Bang Pow!'s first Flash Gordon items-- but only until Thursday.
And as always, buying through these shameless plugs means we get a nickel or two, and we appreciate your shined nickels and loose change.
From left to right: Star Wars Episode V Darth Vader Lightsaber FX, Flash Gordon The Movie Flash & Ming Bobble Heads Bundle, Star Wars Episode 1 Autographed 3 3/4 Darth Maul Action Figure, Star Trek Captain Kirk Action Figure & Classic Phaser Bundle. Click through for pricing and availability. Thanks for reading! (But mostly stuffing our coffers.)
--AP
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Click Here For News From March!
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