With the recent hype about the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) movie and its toyline, what is collecting the ROTF toys without watching the actual movie itself right?  Well, despite a lot of critical reviews about the ROTF movie, overall I found it awesome!  It was adrenalin rush all the way, with some breather moments in between the action-packed scenes.  I will definitely get its DVD eventually!

My movie companion who’s a non-Transformers fan, didn’t find the plot or multiple robot characters confusing.  Basically you just need to focus on the key characters and ignore the minor ones like the ‘foot soldiers’ type of Decepticons.  A friend felt that it would have be more ideal if the Constructicons suffered an initial defeat first, before combining to form Devastator to counter attack the good guys.  Good point there.  They can in fact re-edit and re-arrange the sequences of the relevant scenes to achieve this.

Anyway, if you can accept a storyline about giant alien robots coming to fight their war on our planet earth, you can live with the ‘loopholes’ pointed out by so many fans, reviewers and critics.  It’s just a movie for our entertainment for goodness’ sake!  I look forward to the 3rd Transformers live action movie promised to us around 3 years from now!

Junko Mizuno Designer My Little Pony

“Description:

• Specially designed for collectors!
• Designed by artist Junko Mizuno!
• Fuzzy clothing!

Known for combining the macabre with the adorable, it only makes sense that Hasbro would team up with the great Junko Mizuno!  Her drawings combine freakish monsters with adorable people, coated in bright colors with a dash of “awww.”  This sensibility translates well to this new pony, featuring a fuzzy hood, flowers, tentacles, flames, pink eyes, and pink hair.  While she might look good in a toy box, she’ll look even better on your desk or on a shelf.  If you’ve ever wanted to impress your friends with an arty creation from a member of pop art royalty, now is your chance!”

Coming in Oct 2009!  Pre-order now and shipping in Oct 2009!

Legends Class - Wave 3 (SGD 11.90 each):

Top Row - Jetfire, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee.

Bottom Row - Mudflap, Grindor, The Fallen & Enforcer Ironhide.

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The next wave of Transformers movie - Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Legends action figures are in town now!  They have been spotted at our local departmental this week.  The new characters consist of Mudflap, Grindor, The Fallen & Enforcer Ironhide, while Jetfire, Optimus Prime & Bumblebee are repeated ones from the earlier ROTF Legends waves. 

Mudflap doesn’t looks as ‘hideous’ as his Deluxe counterpart.  Grindor is a repaint of Blackout from the first Transformers movie toyline.  The Fallen looks so adorable in this small size and his jet mode ain’t bad looking when you see it in person.  And The Fallen is in metallic dark grey color, which looks better than the Voyager version!

For the popularity race, The Fallen should lead, followed closely by Mudflap, Grindor and then Ironhide.  In some stores, only Ironhide and Grindor are left, an early indication that they are the likely shelf and peg warmers.  Truthfully, movie Ironhide looks way better in black.  And that’s it for this post, happy ROTF toy hunting! 

If you had been buying and reading our local “The New Paper” tabloid, you’ll probably know about the The New Paper (TNP) Dollars printed on the top left hand corner of the front page since 2 months ago.  The TNP Dollars are for readers to cut out and bid for electrical items, bikes etc., offered by “The New Paper”.  My family buys this paper everyday but we don’t bid for the prize items. 

I cut out all the TNP Dollars for my action figures to play and set up a mini ‘economy’ with.  However most of them are clueless on how to use ‘money’.  Hence my Transformers Animated Swindle action figure gathered up all the TNP cash (total of TNP$ 8,550 to date) and is asking for SGD 34.00 for them all.  

Interested buyers, please email me via my Contact Me page for further details to purchase these TNP Dollars!  *Note: Do not be detered by Swindle’s namesake.  I can’t help that Hasbro named him that.  Rest assured that I’ll be acting as his agent on the sale of the TNP Dollars!  My online references are found here.

Before parents give in to their kids’ demands to get them the current ’piping hot’ Transformers movie Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) toys, here’s a very quick summary of whether these toys are really suited for kids to play with.

Popular ROTF toys - Deluxe (SGD 27.90), Voyager (SGD 51.90), Leader (SGD 109.90):

- involves more complex transformation process than the Transformers Animated toyline

- needs patience & analysis, instead of forcing through if the parts get in the way during the transformation

- some problem solving skills needed, hence more suited for older kids aged 10 and above, even though the package states for kids aged 5 and above

- requires gentle hands, a waste of money if broken

Alternative types of ROTF toys for younger kids:

[ ] Fast Action Battlers (FAB, SGD 27.90) - action figures with chunkier parts and much faster and simpler transformation

[ ] Legends (SGD 11.90) - small matchbox-sized action figures that can transform

[ ] Power Bots (SGD 51.90) - Leader class sized and non-transforming action figures, but less likely to break if handled roughly

[ ] Robot Replicas (SGD 26.90) - Deluxe class sized and non-transforming action figures, but less likely to break if handled roughly

[ ] Robot Heroes (SGD 12.90) - Legends class size and non-poseable figurines, less likely to break if handled roughly

Suggestions:

- Don’t rush into the ROTF hype.  It’s basically a fad that is hyped up by marketing campaigns, current movie screenings, toy collectors’ rush to complete their collections, plus peer pressure in school.

- Don’t just buy any other character to make up for a wanted character that sold out.  There are other versions of popular characters available in the ROTF toyline. 

- If there is no more stock, just wait.  The same piece will likely be available again, especially after the lessons learnt by Hasbro from the first Transformers movie toys shortages 2 years ago.

- Above all, know your kids well.  If they had always been Transformers fans, then they are more trusted to take good care of their Transformers toys.  But if it’s just sudden interest due to the current ROTF hype and peer pressure from their friends and classmates to have the ‘it’ toy like them, then it’s better to get them a ROTF toy that’s still within budget and can last longer.

- And last but not least, ROTF toys are not on discount at the moment and unlikely will be in the coming months to ‘milk’ the ROTF movie and toys craze.  Fortunately if you have the store membership cards of certain departmental stores, most of them are giving a 10% discount for the ROFT toys during this period.  Happy ROTF toy shopping!

This highly anticipated Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) box set has arrived in Singapore stores this week!  Yes, Human Alliance (HA) Bumblebee and Sam action figures have been spotted so far at Toys R’ Us (TRU), retailing at a hefty price tag of SGD 69.90 each!  I know these guys have been on the radar of many ROTF toy collectors here, including me!  Well, here they are!

There were more than 30 boxes on all the 3 shelves dedicated to HA Bumblebee with Sam!  If you are keen to pick up one, be sure to do the usual paint job inspection, especially on the side mirrors, the stripes, Sam’s face and practically every corner from all angles that you can possibly examine from.  Most pieces are quite all right, but you still need to check as many boxes as you can to get a satisfactory piece.

One thing to note for every Human Alliance (HA) Bumblebee out there is that part of the rear windscreen isn’t painted yellow!  From the photo above, can you see that tiny triangular blue part near his rear stripes?  That part is supposed to be painted in yellow right?  The toy review videos of HA Bumblebee posted on YouTube also have this omission but I don’t recall any of the reviewers pointing it out.  Other than that and its price, this HA Bumblebee (around Voyager class size) makes a great addition for any ROTF toy collector.

Here’s a video toy review of HA Bumblebee with Sam action figures, that describes and shows the transformation process for Bumblebee and his ‘battle’ features.  Please note that although this video review shows that HA Bumblebee’s chest panels keep ’springing’ back into bonnet shape, the reviewer later manages to rectify that issue and he confirms that the chest panels are indeed able to stay in place as ’separated’ pieces while HA Bumblebee is in robot mode.  With these, happy ROTF toy hunting!

Today is a memorable day for Transformers movie fans around the world.  It is the date when the movie sequel - Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) begins screening in cinemas worldwide, including here in Singapore!  The movie actually started screening slightly earlier in Japan and the UK.  The past weeks leading to the movie had been greatly hyped up by trailers, official interviews, spoiler news and toy releases to build up more interest in the movie.

I’m very fond of the Bumblebee character from both these Transformers movies.  I thought that I was quite crazy about him by collecting his toys.  Well, it appears that there are more passionate Bumblebee fans out here.  Here’s one of them who posted this fascinating stop motion video on YouTube.  The Bumblebee toy looks so alive in there.  Take a look for yourself!

Bumblebee looks like he’s really enjoying himself while dancing to the music!  If only our toys can come to life like that without using video filming techniques!  That would have been so cool!

But when it comes to being the ultimate movie Bumblebee fans, no one probably comes close to his fans in China.  Just this month, a convoy of 42 movie ‘Bumblebee’ cars paraded down the streets of Beijing and Shanghai to commemorate the screening of the ROTF movie! 

The ‘Bumblebee’ convoy consisting of mostly Chevrolet cars (in various Chevy models), plus a mix of other car brands, was led by a Camaro 2010!  Look at the last page of that blog post and see what else the Chinese Bumblebee fans did with their cars!  I think they win hands down in being obsessed with movie Bumblebee.  I’m still considered a small case!

Anyway, the ROTF movie is said to be packed with lots more action than the first Transformers movie.  I believe that most fans who who enjoyed the first movie will like ROTF too.  Haha, I can’t wait to be bombarded by fictional and CGI robot action.  I’ll definitely go catch this movie in its first week! 

I picked up Starscream, my 2nd Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) toy from a Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet in town today!  His transformation process looks almost the same as my Transformers Movie Legends Starscream, except that the KFC version can’t fold his arms under his tail wings.  

Nevertheless, this Starscream still makes a nice display piece at an affordable price!  The next ROTF toy should be Bumblebee and finally Optimus Prime as the last of the 4 ROTF toys to collect.  Ironhide came out 1st last week and I believe some KFC outlets may still have him.  Happy ROTF toy hunting!

The annual My Little Pony 2009 Fair over the weekend just ended and the leftover exclusive Peacock Pony stocks are now up for sale!  Lately, I had been so distracted by the Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) hype that I nearly forgot about about this.  Fortunately my pony collector pal reminded me and we have made our bulk pony orders!  This year’s Peacock Pony is very unique and pretty.  I hope to receive her soon!

Today we celebrate Father’s Day in Singapore!  I like this scene featuring Disney’s Mulan and her father sitting under the peach blossom tree, as they did in the movie.  It’s one of the most touching and heartwarming parts in the story.

Here, Mulan is feeling dejected after ruining her chances at the Matchmaker’s place, and that she let down her parents, especially her father.  However, the old man comforts his daughter instead and even points out that she’s a late bloomer, like a bud he spots in the tree.  He tells her, “when it blooms, it will be the  most beautiful of all.”

The Mulan movie explores and highlights the close father and daughter relationship, despite the characters living in ancient China, where fathers weren’t known to openly love their daughters.  Mulan’s father shows confidence in her, and she in turn goes on to take his place in the army to save him from being drafted. 

At the end of the movie, Mulan returns in triumph with the enemy’s sword and a gift from the Chinese Emperor to honor her father and her family.  Dropping those items aside, Mulan’s father hugs her and proclaims, “the greatest gift is having you as a daughter”.  So touching…

And here’s wishing all fathers a Very Special and Memorable Happy Father’s Day!