In conjunction with the 1 week long March school holidays (this week) in Singapore, Toys “R” Us (TRU) has listed many of its popular toy brands for special discount sale!  Among them are the LEGO King’s Battle Chariot box set.  It’s usually going for around SGD 40.90 each.  Since last week and till stocks last, there is a 30% discount on it and I picked up one over the weekend from TRU Suntec City!

Actually I find the chariot design recommended on the box and instruction sheet too tall and bulky for a single horse to pull.  In battle, the speed and agility of chariots are critical.  It seems odd that chains are used as reins to drive the horse.  If the driver flicks the chains on the horse’s back like what is usually seen in movies, it’s gonna hurt the horse real bad.  Which warriors in the right mind would injure their own war horses?  The wheels of the chariot are also too large.  Do you notice that the wheels are even bigger than the horse itself?

Hence I decided to redesign the battle chariot using only the available LEGO pieces given in the box set and here is my custom built chariot!  I have included a driver’s seat for the soldier, though this is not how chariots are usually driven.  The rear part of the chariot can still hold the golden treasure chest.  The extra pieces are used to build a road block set up by the menacing troll soldiers.

If I’m not mistaken, the king character of this box set is known in the LEGO Knight’s Kingdom series as King Leo.  I have been collecting many LEGO Knights box sets (mostly the smaller ones) since the early 90’s.  I mixed and matched the various LEGO pieces and LEGO mini figures to create custom characters for my own LEGO Knights adventures series.  Some of the characters in my stories, especially the villain ones are provided by LEGO itself over the years in their catalogs. 

To date, 9 stories of magical medieval adventures have been summarized by me and each of them is long enough to be expanded into a novel on its own.  The stories are all inter-linked and involve the same set of main characters.  Another couple of stories have already been conceptualized.  Someday, I’ll introduce them all to the world in literature form.  Till then, they stay with me as part of my many fictions that are inspired by my toys!

“Halt! Who goes there?”

This has been a rather hectic week of G.I.Joe the Rise of Cobra (ROC) toys sale shopping for me.  I’ve been asked to buy some heavily discounted ROC toys from our local departmental stores for an overseas collector.  In a way, I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, but not so much the lugging of the bulky toy boxes home, LOL!  Here are some of my ROC toy hauls that I “netted” for him from OG. 

ROC Cobra Gunship @ SGD 29.90 each.

I wonder why they call this vehicle a “gunship”?  If you didn’t watch the movie and look at this toy alone, you would have thought that this is a kind of submarine.  Instead, it’s some sort of futuristic helicopter that flies without using rotors.

This is easily one of the coolest vehicles seen in the ROC movie, and it’s also a personal favourite of mine, together with the Night Raven and Steel Crusher APV.  I bought the APV too, but the photo turned out blurred.  I’ll take another photo and post it here when the natural lighting at my “toy photo studio” is good!

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ROC Rockslide ATAV @ SGD 17.90 each.

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I could barely remember this vehicle until I rewatched the ROC movie on DVD recently.  For a long while, I thought that the larger ROC Ice Dagger vehicle was the one portrayed in the movie.  Anyway, the Rockslide toy (I think “Snowslide” sounds like a more appropriate name for it) sits only 1 figure, unlike what you see in the movie where 2 people could fit into one such vehicle.

By the way, my friend asked me if the ROC Arctic Snake Eyes figure can fit into this Rockslide vehicle.  I’ve seen a video review of this toy on YouTube and it shows that the accompanying “Snow Job” figure (above) is quite a tight fit in the cockpit of the toy.  I think Arctic Snakes Eyes (who looks bulkier due to his eskimo outfit) may not fit in.  Can anyone who has these 2 toys loose, confirm this?  Thanks!

ROC Mantis Attack Craft @ SGD 17.90 each.

This ROC vehicle was a surprise catch.  I think the most suitable place I have for it is the BBQ pit!  Well you see, BBQ stingray happens to be one of my favourite local food.  The Joes can grill this “Manta Ray” during their camping trips by the sea, and down it with beer, LOL!

Then the Cobra forces would de-fin the Joes’ ROC Sharc submarines (named after and shaped like sharks) and sell the fins on the black market for exorbitant profits in revenge!  Tell me who’s smarter?  Haha!  So far I haven’t seen any ROC Sharc toys here yet.  I think they are a “highly endangered species”!

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ROC Night Raven @ SGD 29.90 each.

The Night Raven is another impressive vehicle in the ROC movie.  Too bad the jet in the movie had to be sacrificed in the end to save humanity.  Anyway this large toy comes with electronic features (batteries not included) that gives out lights and sound effects, unlike the smaller ROC vehicle toys.  In a way, it reminds me of the Blackbird Jet from the X-Men movies, but much slimmer in built!

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The above is just “part 1″.  Part 2 is coming up in my next post!  Come back again tomorrow to see what other interesting ROC toys I managed to haul in with my “nets”!

Update: The above toys were indeed there on sale as of 12 January 2010.  On any date after that, I cannot guarantee.  You’ve got to go there and find out yourself.

The new year brings about another major activity for me - the Spring Cleaning before Chinese New Year (CNY, which falls on 14 & 15 Feb this year)!  With just slightly more than a month left till CNY (where the traditional Chinese aren’t supposed to clean the house or clear out clutter during the first 15 days), I started to clutter clear the table in my bedroom. 

The dust that settled there must be the main cause of my worsening skin irritation in recent weeks.  And so I cleared out some paper trash, and I finally sent out the bag of paper toy packaging (of toys that I opened some weeks ago) to the recycling bin, at last!  Let’s hope my skin issue improves after that.

My award winning Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Deluxe Preview Bumblebee toy watched me as I went about my spring cleaning session for the day.  The dust that flew up must have been too much for him, so he folded himself into his car mode to continue observing me.  He must be ‘relieved’ to know he’s safe from the clutter clearing plastic bags next to me, for this year, LOL!

How about you?  Have you started in your Annual Spring Cleaning yet?  Or are you still busy going shopping and bringing more stuff into your already cluttered home?  LOL!  Feel free to share your spring cleaning thoughts here!

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… 

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!

My Hardest-To-Find Set-Completer Toy Of The Year Award 2009 goes to:

2 Winners: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” toyline - Cyclops & Iceman!

Comments: These 2 figures from wave 3 were not sold in Singapore.  I nearly gave up having them in my collection until I found them by chance during my recent holiday trip to the US!  I got Cyclops at Walmart in LA, and Iceman at FAO Schwarz in Las Vegas.  Without these recent acquisitions, I could have considered getting them from ebay.

From left: Maverick, Deadpool, Wolverine & Gambit.

Cyclops and Iceman are currently still Mint-On-Card (MOC) as I can’t bear to remove them from their packaging yet.  Someday when I do free them, they shall join the rest of the above figures in my collection!

From left: Sabretooth & Wolverine w/motor bike.

These 2 figures fight ‘can’t get along’ and they ‘fight’ a lot.  Hence it’s best to separate them to minimize possible paint damage to them.  Hasbro didn’t name this pair “Back Road Brawl” for nothing, LOL!

I don’t collect every figure from this toyline, just the main characters whom I like in their classic uniforms.  (Okay Cyclops isn’t exactly in the 90’s blue and yellow straps uniform that I prefer him to be in.  Here he looks like he’s wearing a diving suit!)  Hence in a way, I do consider my set “complete” for now!

What I mean is that - do you feel that some, or all of your toys give you this unexplained impression that they seem to have “personalities” of their own, as if they are living entities?  Let’s forget what the non-toy collector laymen think for now (non-imaginative people call this state of mind “crazy”). 

When I look at certain toys in my collection, I somehow feel that they could spring to life, even in my presence at times.  Take Zoom the Super Pony on the left for example.  From the moment I removed her from her box packaging, she ‘lept about’ excitedly on my hands and told me she’s a Super Hero Pony, and that she’s out to ’save the world’ from the “Super Villains”, etc. and all that familiar comic book stuff.  

I would ‘play along’ with her and agree, though in my heart I knew there aren’t any “Super Villains” for her to fight with.  I wouldn’t let any of my toys ‘fight’ one another, lest they get damaged and become ‘unsuited’ for my toy collections, LOL!  Anyway at times, I still imagine Zoom going on her adventures to stop the evil “Super Villains” from conquering and enslaving the world with their wicked schemes.  Each and every time, Zoom will be there to stop them, and the cycle goes over and over again.

I do see that several of my fellow bloggers also have such imaginative minds and they take “photo evidence” of their toys engaged in various adventures via photo comic strip style postings on their blogs.  For me, the toy adventures just happen too fast for me to capture any photo or video evidence.  Besides, some of my toys are a bit “shy” and refuse to have their antics posted online.

As a toy collector whose personal living space is often surrounded by your favourite collectible toys, do you feel that your toys are somehow able to bring out the creativity and imaginative parts of your minds to the real world?  Looking at other inanimate objects won’t give you the same inspirations like your toys do.  For instance, a calculator is just a calculator on its own.  But with an action figure next to it, the calculator can ‘tuen into’ a ”doomsday machine” where once your “Super Villain” action figure presses a button, he can literally ‘take over’ the world!

The list of imaginations can go and go.  Why is it that toys have this ability to bring out the imagination of some people (usually these people are already attracted to the toys in the first place)?  Do toys have certain unknown ”powers” in them that allow them to do what they do to our minds?  Or is it because the toys themselves usually represent some fictional characters that we’re familiar with, such that our minds seem to think that the toys can come to life? 

What about you?  What do you think of the above toy observations?  I would love to read your comments here.  Feel free to share them!

ROTF Voyager The Fallen

While dropping by a suburban departmental store this week, I casually asked the store personnel if they have any stocks of ROTF Voyager The Fallen.  Our conversation went something like this:

“Do you still have The Fallen?”

“Oh The Fallen, it’s currently out of stock worldwide.”

“You mean islandwide?”

“No, worldwide.  There are no more stocks not just in Singapore but regional, even in the US & in Korea, it’s worldwide.  It’s the same with all the other departmental stores here.  Even the Hasbro warehouse has no more stocks.”

“Do you know when the next shipment will arrive?”

“I’m sorry, I have no idea.”

“It’s ok, thank you.”

What makes this conversation memorable to me is that the store personnel said his lines in such a solemn tone that he made it sound like it’s a very ’serious’ matter.  I was thinking in my head then “wow, I didn’t know that the ROTF Fallen stocks shortage is such a ‘grave’ matter.  It’s almost like at the level of the global financial crisis or something similar.” LOL!

So that’s it folks.  ROTF fans and toy collectors have relentlessly ‘hunted’ the last of the ROTF Voyager Fallens to temporary ‘extinction’ in the departmental stores here.  Even the cute little Legends Fallens (aka Baby Fallen) weren’t spared.  It looks like The Fallen has made it to the list of ROTF CITES Appendix 1 - Critically Endangered and nearing possible total extinction.  Hopefully some of the surviving Fallen hatchlings out there (Baby Fallens) are given the chance to ‘mature’ to Voyager Fallens to ‘revive’ the local Fallen population once more, soon!

While awaiting the ‘recovery’ of the local Fallen population and if you have missed out on getting your ROTF Voyager Fallen, there are a couple more Fallen options coming up, possibly within this year.  One of them is the Red Voyager Fallen (scroll about 1/3 down the page link) and the Megatron, Fallen & Soundwave 3-pack .  Will these come to Singapore?  I have no idea, we can only hope.  If yes, when will they arrive?  Only Singapore Hasbro knows that answer.  Till then, happy ROTF toy hunting!

The title says it all.  I’m going for a spin with my Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (ROTF) Sideswipe today!

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.