2009 has been a Year of 1st Anniversaries for the following Endeavors that I started back in 2008:

- Juliana’s Collections turned a year old in early 2009.

- My ‘Mini Toy Shop’ at Toy Outpost celebrated its first year anniversary in the 4th quarter of 2009.

- My Annual Toy Awards (inspired by Shaun) is in it’s second year.

The Most Happening Event for the year has to be my first faraway overseas holiday (meaning I need to fly there by plane) in years - My US Holiday & Toy Shopping Trip at the end of 2009.

Toy Collecting Patterns of 2009:

- I started collecting 3.75-inch action figures from toylines like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and G.I.Joe Movie.

- I went crazy over Transformers Revenge of the Fallen toyline and I’m still blogging regularly about it since May 2009.

- I still collect G3 My Little Pony (MLP), but only the exclusive ones like MLP Fair 2009 Exclusive Peacock Pony, San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) 2009 Pony and Junko Mizuno Designer Pony. 

Preview for 2010:

- I expect to continue blogging about the Transformers movie toyline, as long as Hasbro keeps coming up with waves until the 3rd Transformers movie comes along.

- I look forward to writing more useful and more in-depth articles on my blog for my readers and fellow toy collectors.

- I will also design better storage and display areas for my toy collections, and also the same for my other practical possessions such as my clothes, bags, accessories, books, etc.

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May 2010 be another Fantastic Year of Toy Anticipating, Toy Shopping and Toy Collecting!  Farewell 2009!

Following my earlier blog post about the Avatar movie trailer and its toyline preview, here are the video reviews of the main Avatar toys to look out for, when you finally get to see them here at mass retail.

Avatar 3.75″ Action Figures Video Review.

This video shows Jack Sully (w/wheelchair), Avatar Jack Sully & Neytiri.

My thoughts: The packaging and virtual cards gimmick look interesting, and then it stops there.  The little action figures do not seem to have anything great to shout about, other than they look quite like the movie characters that they represent.  The humans and supposedly taller Na’Vi figures are not in scale too! 

Overall, this action figures toyline is mainly for the fan boys and fan gals to collect, and also for the kids to play with.

Avatar Vehicles & Ride-Ons Toy Video Review - Part 1

This video shows the DireHorse & the Scorpion Gunship.

My thoughts: Like reviewer, I’m also surprised that the DireHorse looks rather small for a toy that comes packaged in such a big box.  That was very wicked of Mattel to pull a stunt like that!  The range of articulation for the DireHorse could have been more and better too.

The Scorpion Gunship is very impressive in the movie and it’s my favourite vehicle in Avatar.  Here the actual toy is green in color, while it was more grey in color on screen.  The false missiles at the sides are also a letdown.  Nevertheless, this vehicle still looks quite cool on its own, and will indeed display very well with in scale G.I.Joe figures!

Avatar Vehicles & Ride-Ons Toy Video Review - Part 2

This video shows the Leonopteryx & the AMP Suit.

My thoughts: The Leonopteryx toy could have been better designed with more points of articulation.  It’s an awesome gigantic flying dragon-like creature on screen, but its toy is more of a statue than an action figure.  However it still makes a great display piece, especially for toy collectors who don’t plan to play with it much!

The AMP Suit looks to have the most articulation, which makes it more fun to pose and play with.  The size is good too.  My guess is that this piece will be 1 of the most popular Avatar vehicle toys.  If only all these Avatar vehicles come with an exclusive pilot action figure like the Movie G.I.Joe vehicle toys do. 

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Currently, I still don’t see Avatar toys selling at mass retail in the local departmental stores.  It has largely to do with Mattel Singapore.  They probably don’t have much experience in making sure that they release movie related toylines on time with the respective movie screenings in the cinemas.  The same goes for Disney’s “The Princess & the Frog” toyline, also by Mattel.  The movie toylines by Hasbro tend to hit the stores at least about a month before the movies are screened.

Luckily for Mattel, the Avatar movie is proving to be a big hit in cinemas worldwide and in Singapore.  Hence when the Avatar toys do eventually come, they should be quite popular with the usual circle of regular toy consumers here.  Right now, you can buy Avatar toys from collector’s toy shops like Simply Toys, while limited stocks last.  Happy Avatar toy waiting and hunting!

ROTF Human Alliance Barricade with Frenzy action figures (SGD 69.90 each)

A friend just spotted Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Human Alliance (HA) Barricade with Frenzy action figures at a collector’s toy shop over the weekend.  Yes, this highly anticipated pair of figures from the popular ROTF HA toyline has finally showed up in Singapore, though not at mass retail yet.

Video reviews of HA Barricade with Frenzy are also available on YouTube now!  Let’s take a look at one of them!

Overall, this toy looks quite promising like the rest of the preceding HA figures released so far.  Barricade and Frenzy fans would be pleased to see a Decepticon in this series at last!   

For me, I wish that Barricade has more black color on him in his robot mode.  From the above photo, I see a lot of grey colors on his body, which sort of makes him look duller in appearance, compared to the more solid black color sections of his car mode.

Nevertheless, this shouldn’t deter his fans from getting him.  Happy shopping for HA Barricade and Frenzy!

Update: View more stunning photos of HA Barricade with Frenzy etc.!

Latest Update: HA Barricade with Frenzy is available at selected local departmental stores now, at 20% off!

With reference to my earlier blog posts of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Leader Buster Optimus Prime (Takara Tomy version), here’s the video review of this awesome toy on YouTube!  The reviewer also did a comparison with the regular Hasbro version of ROTF Leader Optimus Prime. 

I have the impression that the chrome and metallic finish on Buster Optimus Prime might get scratched off easily.  Hence you’ve got to be careful when handling and transforming this toy.  I’ve heard from other local ROTF toy collectors that Buster Optimus Prime is currently selling at many collector’s toy shop for around SGD 100.00 each.

If you’re keen on getting the regular Hasbro version (with no metallic finish), many departmental stores here are currently having at least 20% discount on all their Hasbro versions of ROTF toys, including the Leader class ones like Optimus Prime and Jetfire.  The Hasbro version of ROTF Leader Optimus Prime is also more suited for “play” than the “look shiny” Buster Optimus Prime.

Happy ROTF toy shopping everyone!

Scout Class - Wave 5:

Top Row - Brakedown, Ejector & Wideload.

Bottom Row - Sonar, Knock Out & Nightbeat.

The latest wave 5 of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Scout figures have been seen on sale at our local departmental stores since this month!  The new characters that fans and collectors have been waiting for are Brakedown, Sonar & Wideload.  So far I’ve only seen Wideload in person, while Brakedown and Sonar weren’t available in the store where I saw Wideload.

Brakedown is the only figure of this wave with a new mold, and his car mode resembles that of a Lamborghini!  I’m pretty sure he’s on the watch list and hunting list of many ROTF fans and toy collectors here, hence the competition to get him could be hot.  Furthermore, the “Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF)” offer for all ROTF Scout toys at departmental stores, also applies to the new waves. 

Here’s good luck and happy shopping for Brakedown and the other ROTF Scout toys in the stores!

This year, I chose to spend my Christmas Eve at Orchard Road to admire and take photos of the Christmas light up along most of the road.  The theme for this year is “A Christmas All Decked Out”. 

The entire light up is segregated into 3 color zones.  They consist of the Blue Zone inhabited by Frosty the Snowman, the Orange Zone dominated by Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and the Red Zone represented by Santa Claus himself!

Our newest shopping mall in Orchard Road - 313 @ Somerset, which just opened in December 2009!

This photo was taken across the road of 313 @ Somerset.  Orchard Central shopping mall (seen in the background) is right next to 313 @ Somerset.

Giant Santa Claus stands at the intersection of Orchard Road, where Tangs Shopping Centre (seen in the background) is located.

The Christmas Eve crowd in front of ION Orchard at around 8pm is huge!  I was glad that I didn’t have to walk through that stretch of Orchard Road that evening!

Here’s a view of the Christmas light up in front of Tangs Shopping Centre (seen on the left).

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer stands proudly at the orange lights section of the Christmas light up in Orchard Road.

Read more »

My Top Favourite Toy Of The Year Award 2009 goes to:

My ROTF Deluxe Preview Bumblebee action figure!

Comments: This Bumblebee toy is part of the 2009 Transformers movie sequel - Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) toyline.  He, together with ROTF Deluxe Soundwave, were the first 2 “Preview” figures of the ROTF toyline launched in May 2009, which was about a month ahead of the ROTF movie screening in Singapore.  ROTF Preview Bumblebee is also the first of the Deluxe class Transformers toy that I own.  Before I got him, I had always been collecting the Legends class toys of the Transformers The Movie (TFTM) toyline. 

Just look at ROTF Bumblebee’s car mode!  Doesn’t he look awesome as a 2010 Chevy Camaro, which the Americans also call a “Muscle Car”?  I’m not familiar with the actual real car, though I believe this to be a rather high end and high horsepower sports car in the US.  During my recent holiday trip there, I only managed to spot just 1 black 2008 Camaro, which is better than none!

I actually own 2 pieces of this toy.  The first one I bought had a detachable missile launcher, which I thought was a factory fault.  The ROTF Bumblebees that I saw in many toy video reviews on YouTube had non-detachable missile launchers.  Hence I bought another one and thankfully, the second piece is perfect!  However having a non-detachable missile launcher means that the second piece is harder to transform into his car mode. 

As I prefer the stiffer joints of my first piece better, I swapped their missile launcher arms.  The first piece is now permanently in robot mode while the second piece is mostly in car mode.  The latter is also my ‘play piece’ for the fun of transforming him to and fro both modes!  I initially wanted to sell away the latter, but he looked at me pleadingly with those little bubble eyes.  And so I relented and kept him!

As to why ROTF Deluxe Preview Bumblebee is my Top Favourite Toy of 2009, is mainly because he’s still standing on my study desk since he arrived at my home in May 2009.  Normally, the other toys I have do not spend more than 1 week on this privilege display area, which is reserved mainly for my most newly acquired toys which I haven’t gotten tired of, before they eventually get stored away somewhere in my cupboards.  ROTF Preview Bumblebee has outlasted everyone else, and is hence a deserving winner!

And here’s Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.  Happy Toy Shopping too, for the departmental stores are having their post-Christmas sales now!

My Most Unexpected Toy Line Collection Of The Year Award 2009 goes to:

My Collection of 3.75-inch G.I.Joe Movie action figures!

Comments: This Award Title would have been scrapped for this year, if I had not finally caved in over the past 2 months and began a small collection of G.I.Joe Movie toys!  You’ve got to admit that the recent discounts of this toyline have been quite attractive, allowing me to pick up a number of the key movie characters that I like.  I even re-watched the movie twice (I fast forwarded to watch the action scenes only) during my recent long distance flights to and from the US!

Actually, I was never a fan of the classic G.I.Joe cartoon series nor its toyline.  Hence when news of its live action movie for 2009 was first made known online, I didn’t think much of it.  In July 2009, I noticed the G.I.Joe Movie toys selling in the local departmental stores but they were rather expensive.  Then after I watched its movie sometime in August 2009, I started to get interested in these little action figures and even blogged about them occasionally.  However I stayed clear of collecting them due to their local retail price. 

Then when the 30% discounts became more common in all the departmental stores that I visited, I got the first 3 figures in my collection - Pit Attack Baroness, Desert Ambush Scarlett & Paris Pursuit Storm Shadow (all above).  Paris Pursuit Storm Shadow (above) is surprisingly quite good looking for such a small action figure based on a live action movie!

Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes (above) was a surprise acquisition.  I actually found the black wolf version and managed to trade it for the grey wolf (above) one that I prefer.  All these figures have already been removed from their packaging and packed away.  These are the MOC photos of them before they were “freed”.

My Toyfics: Sad to say, my grey wolf (his name being Timber) was unfortunately shot dead by The Baroness within an hour of being released from his packaging (she claimed that Timber charged at her unprovoked).  The single shot saw the bullet go right into his forehead!  Since then, my Paris Pursuit Snake Eyes swore vengeance against The Baroness for the cold blooded murder of his beloved pet, and would settle for nothing less than a life for a life. 

However my Paris Pursuit Storm Shadow always stood in the way and fought off Paris Pursuit Snakes Eyes each and every time.  It was not because Storm Shadow was being a chivalrous hero (you can’t use this term to describe him), it’s because of his ninja pride of only he is worthy enough to take on an opponent like Snake Eyes.  And so their new found feud continues till this day, as the 2 ninjas leap at each other’s throats whenever the opportunities arrive. 

And what about The Baroness?  Well she’s completely unremorseful of what she did (PETA would have condemned her for shooting an endangered species) and is oblivious to the fact that she had become the cause of the senseless fights between 2 fine young men.  She doesn’t care, after all she didn’t ask them to get involved over the life of a mere beast… 

The remaining Marvel Universe figures are on sale in my Toy Lockers at Toy Outpost.  Currently there is a 20% discount for them there, while stocks last and till further notice at my blog!

My Fastest Expanding Toy Line Collection Of The Year Award 2009 goes to:

My Movie Transformers toys!

Comments: My collection of Movie Transformers toys stopped expanding in the middle of last year upon the acquisition of Legends Ratchet from the 2007 Transformers The Movie (TFTM) toyline.  It was only since May 2009 that I resumed collecting Movie Transformers toys, mainly due to the release of its movie sequel, “Revenge of the Fallen” (ROTF) and its ROTF toyline.  Yes, the ROTF movie hype from May to August 2009 rekindled my interest in collecting all the Legends class toys, plus some Deluxe and Voyager class toys of the ROTF movie cast.

During this period, many TFTM Deluxe, Voyager & Leader class toys also turned up in large numbers in the local secondary toy market, and the prices became even more attractive as the ROTF craze gradually died down in the second half of 2009.  Hence it provided me many opportunities to pick up a number of TFTM toys, which was impossible back in 2007 due to severe toy shortages and inflated prices here. 

I initially didn’t collect non-Legends class Movie Transformers toys, but I eventually did in 2009.  The toys were selling everywhere, as if a floodgate just opened up and poured them all out!  Now my collection of these Movie Transformers toys has more than doubled since 2008!

Currently, my Legends TFTM & ROTF movie toys are all busy ‘fighting their never ending daily Cybertronian Wars’ at different parts of my home.  Hence I haven’t had the opportunity to gather all of them for group photos.  Thankfully on this special occasion, ROTF Legends Devastator took some time off from his ‘busy daily battle schedule’ with the Autobots to receive this award, on behalf of my entire collection of TFTM & ROTF Movie toys!