New Thundercats series

Fanboys all around fangasmed as the classic 80s series Thundercats after long last has returned to Television with an all new series. two nights ago, the new series had an hour long premier. Does it stand up to the original?



While some fans didn't care for this, I for one am loving the series' new anime-like style. Some claim they're just doing this to appeal to the new generation but think about it. what was the original Thundercats doing but simply trying to appeal to the He-Man audience of the time? I think the anime style compliments the characters and settings very well.

They've made Lion-o physically younger which again, I think works. Lion-O in the original series was good for not always doing the right thing. While physically an adult, he's supposed to be mentally young and inexperienced and this new design works for that.

The plot has changed a bit but still feels based on the original series. I don't wish to spoil anything but they remembered a lot of little things from the old series that really only fans of the show would know and made those little things work with the new plot.

Let's be honest. The voice acting in the original series was not high end acting. While the new series may not be perfect in its acting either, I feel for the most part it's greatly improved. Cladius; Lion-o's father was played by Larry Kenney. The orignal voice of Lion-O. This was very awesome to know and hear. It also did my child of the 80s heart good to hear that voice shout "Thundercats HO!" one last time.
I didn't recognize a lot of the new voices but I DID recognize Lex Luthor/Mr. Krabs as Grune the Destroyer and Terry McGuinness from Batman Beyond as Lion-O. Both of which play these roles well.



Oh, and for the first time ever, Wily Kit and Kat actually sound like children.

Another good point to mention; SNARF DOESN'T TALK! While I actually liked Snarf in the original series, his constant bickering got very annoying and I could see why some fans don't like him. I felt it was a good call to downplay Snarf more and not have him talk.

Is there anything negative I have to say about this? Well, Tygra seems like a bit of a douche in this but that could be simply the beginning of character development. This ins't a direct re-telling of the original series which may disappoint some fans. Plus, anyone who doesn't like the idea of all Thundarians not being the pristine example of good may not be happy with this. While the Thundercats are the good guys, it's not black and white "They bad, we good" here. At one point, Lion-O pleads with his father to let go some lizard men who were only arrested for stealing food from thundarians and the only reason they did this was because the Thundarians own all the best crops and keep them for themselves leaving all other species with nothing but scraps. So it's imply that there's some Government corruption going on in Thundera and those not keen on the idea may not care for it. I personally though think it's a fascinating new look on the series.

Over all, I think this is a fantastic revision of a classic series and a breath of fresh air for animation enthusiasts sick of the recent animation rut television has been in. It has an Avatar: The last airbender vibe that I think works for the series and I will be watching new episodes of this every friday at 8:30 from now on/

THUNDERCATS HO!

Hot Toys Astro Boy

At long last I have acquired the one Astro Boy toy I have been wanting since the moment I saw pictures of it.




The packaging is pretty simple and subtle. So subtle that I almost didn't notice it in the store. But it's very nice. Rather pretty and artistic for a toy box. Although despite only being a 9 inch figure, this is a LOT of box. The box almost twice the size of the toy.



Once out of the box you can really appreciate all the details put to this figure. The head sculpt is beautiful. It looks just like him. No silly expressions, no attempts to make him look "hip" or "tough." It's just Astro Boy. Some have complained that this makes him look bland but I think this speaks his character very well.



I like the articulation. It's not perfect, but it's some of the best articulation I've seen in an Astro Boy figure




He comes with a few items that all attach to his arms and legs including arm cannons, extra hands, and rocket feet.



These attach to his hands just fine and offer more action pose opportunities. But there is major issue



He comes with rocket feet that are supposed to attach to the bottom of his boots but his feet refuse to come off and I paid (shutters) $150 for this thing to risk breaking it so sorry but I don't have pictures of him with the rockets attached.



You're right Astro. They DO fail.



A nice feature on the toy is that you can open up his chest panel. Not only are the details on the blue core and the machinery excellent, but when you press the blue core



His eyes light up. the eyes are nice and bright too. I ended up using his eyes as flashlights on occasion.

All in all I think it's a good figure. My only real complaint is that certain feet won't come off. For collectors and adult fans, this is the perfect item for you. If you just want an Astro Boy to play with, I'd recommend one of Jazwares' figures instead.


ROBO KOMBAAAAAAT!

Rukia Kuchiki by Playarts

From the company that gave us the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts toys comes the Bleach toy line. if you don't know, Bleach is an anime about a boy named Ichigo with the power to see ghosts who gains the power to fight soul devouring monsters known as "Hallows." There's a whole lot more going on in it but I could go on for hours on it. Instead, I'm here to review the action figure of my favorite character from the series. Rukia Kuchiki


If you've seen Playarts toys in their boxes before than this is nothing new. Same window type box as other Playarts figures but as they say; "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
But you see, it's shortly after I open this box that we have our first problem.

That's right. The damn thing's foot broke right out of the package. This was nothing a little super glue couldn't fix and while I know this isn't a figure made to be played with, I still found this ridiculous.



Once I got the foot fixed, Rukia was good to go. Right off the bat I can see great care was put into the details for the figure. (Too bad the same couldn't be said for the damn foot)



Her head is beautifully sculpted and painted. From the eyes, the hair, and the face, This IS Rukia Kuchiki.



Once I got over the fear of more parts breaking, I could see that her poseability was excellent as well. Her joints are pretty tight though so I wouldn't force her to pose too hard. You can also see from this photo in comparison to the first one, that she has interchangeable hands. However, they're a bit of a pain to get in and out so once I got the hands meant for her sword in, I decided I wouldn't be taking them back out.



Another accessory is her sword as it appears making her special attack. A nice extra touch but not something I personally will be displaying were with a lot. Her ordinary sword works fine enough for me. Which by the way I am also happy to mention has a sheath that works. That always scores extra points for me.

She stands at well over 6 inches tall which is odd considering how she's among the shortest people in the show. If they're all going to be in proper scale, Ichigo must be freakin' HUGE!



She also comes with my other favorite character in the series. KON!



(Insert Captain Kirk screaming Kahn joke here)

He doesn't do anything though he IS pose able in the head and arms.

As a big big fan of the character Rukia, I had to own this figure and am very happy with it even with the broken foot I had to fix. If you're a fan of the show and of this character I recommend it. Just be real careful opening it.

Phineas and Ferb action figures

The Disney series Phineas and Ferb has become by far not only my favorite show on Disney Channel/Disney XD (Although knowing their recent track record that's not really saying a lot) but my favorite cartoon currently on TV period. But I was rather surprised when I saw they had started making toys for them. Just because something is popular with kids, that doesn't always mean they'll work as toys. Do these? Let's find out

The toy packaging is nice, colorful, and eye catching. They're sweet and to the point. They have many different sets. There's a Phineas and Ferb with a drag race car, and another with skate boards. There are a few different Perry and Doofensmirtz sets as well but when you look at them hard enough, aside from a couple with Phineas and Ferb in swim suits, they're basically the same figures with different accessories and sometimes different types of arms. I chose these simply because I liked the rock n roll theme more than the drag racing theme, and I wanted a parachuting Perry. Plus, it came with a Lazer-inator! Who doesn't want one of those?


Phineas and Ferb are well made but honestly, their designs in the cartoon translates oddly into three dimensions. Especially Phineas and his big pointy nose.
Perry and Doofensmirtz I believe work better in toy form.


Their features are not in the figures themselves, but in the accessories. Ferb's drum set, when you have Ferb in place, will make Ferb "rock out on his drums" when you press down on him. basically, the drum in the back and the cymbals go up and down.


Phineas, when you attach his wrist to the guitar will strum in when you pull the lever on it.



Dr. Doofensmirtz's Lazer-inator beam spins when you press down on the thing on top.
These are all gimmicky yet kinda clever features that can add to the play value of the toys. But the one that should work but doesn't is Perrys



Perry as I said before comes with a parachute. It attaches to his harness from the back. You're supposed to toss him up in the air and the parachute will open. To put this bluntly... it doesn't. The parachute appears too small and unable to open and properly bring him down so Perry crashes like a rock.




The accessories are all removable but this brings me to my next issue with Phineas and Ferb. With their big heads and tiny feet, it is impossible for them to stand up on their own. Fortunately though, as Ferb demonstrates, they can fit in the GI Joe: Rise of Cobra stands.

But when you have them set up with their accessories and stands, they make great display pieces. And for children who don't really care about display or collectors value, they have some decent play value as well. they're colorful, fun, and based on an awesome TV Show. Especially at only 7.99 a two pack.



This is the Ninja Pirate signing off.

GI Joe PoC VAMP

I actually got this bad boy for Christmas but with my camera kind of out of commission, I wasn't able to do my review until now.
Since the first day I saw pictures of the prototype of this at Toy Fair, I knew I must own it. With five seats instead of the original VAMP's two, and an awesome looking gun in the back, how could I NOT want this? And now that I do, does it hold up to my expectations? Let's find out



Let's start with the driver it comes with. "Double Clutch." Not a whole lot to say here. He's a decent standard figure. Properly pose able, and comes with a pistol and a satchel. Hey, if they're good enough for Indiana Jones, they're good enough for GI Joe.



The Vamp itself once out of the box and assembled is just plain awesome looking. Like I said before, it holds five places to fit your Joes in as apposed to the original 1982 Vamp that only fit two. But my other favorite thing about it is that it's semi customizable. As you can see here, we have a machine gun in the back but if your Joes need a little extra fire power, you can detach that and replace it with a rocket launcher





There are also extra holes up front so you can attach the guns there instead. I personally find this makes it kinda silly looking but if you want it, it's there.
All these options give a lot of play time opportunities.



Although it may cause the Joes to take longer in getting ready...
Is there anything about the Vamp I DON'T like? Well, yes. There are a couple of minor issues



For some reason there's a claw in the front that can be pulled out. I think it's supposed to be a towing hook but wouldn't it have made more sense to put this in the back? Otherwise, it's just kinda in the way


Finally, I don't care for their choice of color for the bottom. They got the strange idea that a jungle vehicle should be painted red somewhere.



But overall, there are minor issues to what is a fantastic vehicle. I've heard some Joe fans complain about it but I don't know what their deal is. As far as I'm concerned, every Joe fan should have this in their GI Joe motorpool.

This is the Ninja Pirate signing out

The Dick Tracy Show

Dick Friggin’ Tracy! When I was six years old, I was super into Dick Tracy. I had a bunch of the toys, I had the NES video game, I even had the toy wrist watch that lit up and actually told time. (Even though I wasn’t very good at telling time back then) With my Dick Tracy style hat, and my toy gun (which I think was actually a pirate gun I got from the Pirates of the Caribbean gift shop but I didn’t care. A toy gun was a toy gun) I was totally enthralled in the Dick Tracy hype of the early 90s. I’ll bet you’re wondering, why I’m suddenly talking about all this. Well, I wanted to give you an idea about just how much I was into this character and his world. Just how much of a big deal Dick Tracy was in my childhood. So you’d understand the massive disappointment I had for a certain adaptation of the character I discovered during my Dick Tracy hype.



If you don’t know, Dick Tracy began as a comic strip in the 1930s by Chester Gould. I was introduced to the character through Disney’s 1990 movie starring Warren Betty and went nuts for it. It was colorful, action packed, filled with memorable villains, and a kick ass hero taking them down. What wasn’t to like? But Disney’s epic action film wasn’t the first adaptation Dick Tracy got. Far from it. In the 60s, Dick Tracy’s comic strip held great popularity among kids. So what better way to capitalize on this popularity among kids than with an animated series? It makes sense, right? Dick Tracy’s adventures animated seemed like a fantastic idea. That is until… we saw what they did.



The Dick Tracy Show premiered in 1961 and when Disney was hyping the Dick Tracy movie in the 90s, networks decided to capitalize on the hype by re-airing the series which is how I discovered it. So, what did they do wrong with this show? It would be faster to explain what they did RIGHT on the show. Which wasn’t much.




I’ll admit, Dick Tracy and his villains properly drawn. They look like they should and feel like they at least attempted to make them resemble as they appeared in the comic strip. But that’s pretty much the only good thing I can say here. I’m ignoring the poor animation. This was more or less the standard of the time. No, my main gripe was the writing. Why? For one simple reason. Remember how in the movie, Dick Tracy turns down a promotion because it meant “Being stuck behind a desk?” Well, he must’ve gotten the idea from watching this cartoon because that’s all he did!



He sat at a desk and sent other people out to catch the crooks. So Dick Tracy did practically NOTHING in the “Dick Tracy show.”
Now, the idea of Dick Tracy with a team of crime stoppers is kinda cool but it was another potential concept that fell flat. Just... just at the cops he would send out.

Some random stupid chubby guy

A downright offensive Mexican stereotype

An even MORE offensive Japanese stereotype

And a talking dog. That’s right. A freaking talking DOG!!!

So, the basic pattern for every episode would be this; two Dick Tracy villains rob some place, Dick Tracy sits at his desk, calls one of these goofballs and then does nothing for the rest of the show, and the goofball would chase the villains around town, and from this, “hilarity” would ensue. I say hilarity in quotation marks because the episodes make up of some of the lamest slap stick comedy you can imagine. Oh, sure. I get the occasional giggle out of it, but it’s few and far between. I DID think the talking dog not only running away from Mumble’s bullets but actually holding his hand up and making them stop was worth a chuckle. They’d eventually catch the crooks followed by Dick to come in at the last minute to issue some “Good job” response. At the end of at least one episode, he even drives in on the scene in his police car teasing us that he might actually get in on the action and all he does is just say “Good Work!”



“Good Work. For a moment there, I thought I’d actually have to get off my ass and do my job.”



I watched some stupid stupid things when I was six, and even then I could tell this was horrible. I don’t know what made them think a Dick Tracy cartoon where not only Dick Tracy never does anything, but doesn’t even have the atmosphere of Dick Tracy was a good idea, but they were wrong.
My theory? The animation studio must’ve wanted to do some generic cop cartoon to compete with Hanna Barbara and someone in the studio decided to slap Dick Tracy on it at the last minute because he would sell it.

Man 1: Alright, we finished our comedy slapstick cop cartoon.

Man 2: Throw in Dick Tracy

Man 1: … this is a comedy

Man 2: Yep. Put in Dick Tracy. It’ll sell!!



Maybe it’s the generation gap talking because I‘m sure many children of the 60s grew up loving this cartoon and if that‘s the case, more power to them maybe they‘re seeing something I‘m not. Maybe it’s because my introduction to the character was through the kick ass ’90 film so I was spoiled from the start, but when I want to watch Dick Tracy, I want to watch DICK TRACY!!! That means I want Tracy punching out crooks, gunning down the thugs in his way, and giving all forms of evil a hard time. Not sitting at a desk as he sends Japanese stereotypes and talking dogs out to do it for him in bad Hanna Barbara style “humor.”
But on an up side, at least they’re short. They don’t go much longer than five minutes each.



This is the Ninja Pirate signing out

BTW, like my new title banner?