Archives for Toys/Games
There are a few things that are just required for daily living these days: air, water, someone to love, someone to be loved by, Starbucks, and a reliable phone charger. Andru is here to fill at least one of those voids.
The Gadget
Andru, from a company called Gen is a microUSB charger that works generally with any device that features the proper standard USB connector. I tested it with my galaxy SII (that’s right I’m still using the II) and with my Plantronics Voyager Pro Bluetooth earpiece. Honestly the device isn’t the most powerful charger you can get but with that said it did offer a steady power stream and it seemed to charge my devices really quickly. Besides you can afford to trade off a little power for good looks can’t you?
Tech Specs:
Input: 120~240V AC
Output: 5V/1A DC
Very low standby power
Level V efficiency
1.2m Micro-USB datacable
It’s simple to use, just like other chargers; attach the included usb cable into Andru’s head between his signature antennas, remove the base from his feat to reveal the plug prongs and plug him into the wall. Plug the other end of the cable into your compatible device. You’ll know all is well when you see Andru’s eyes light up. The eyes light up blue when he’s plugged in and they change to white when he’s charging. It’s a simple device meant for a simple jub, no muss no fuss, and it does it well. Do I wish it was just a little more powerful? Well yeah I do but it gets the job done.
8.5/10
The Build
I charging! I charging! I charging!
The thing that makes Andru special is obviously his good looks. The absolute smartest thing that Google did when they launched the Android platform was to launch it with a great looking and easy to remember mascot. The little green robot is synonymous with Android devices these days and hardcore Android devotees love showing the little guy off in one way or another. While I consider myself platform agnostic (I have an android phone, an iPad, an XBOX 360, and I’d like a Surface Pro Tablet) I do admit an appreciation for the little robot. He’s built nice and solid and has a surprising amount of weight to him. He also has two possible arms so you can return him to his stand and pose him in fighting position (it actually can look more like surrendering position if you aren’t careful). The included usb cable is also well build with matching green connectors and a slip proof coating. This cable is nicer that what you typically get with generic chargers. The eyes light up blue when the device is plugged into the wall so that might be an issue if you leave Andru plugged up in your bedroom and two little glowing eyes are staring at you while you try to sleep!
9/10
Overall this is a great little charger. Sure it would be nice if it put out a little more power to charge devices a bit faster but it’s still faster than similar chargers I’ve used with the same tech specs. It’s built great and has tons of style, something you might not normally think to look for when it comes to a cell phone charger.
Overall (Not an Average) 9/10
The Review
The gadget 8.5/10
The build 9/10
Overall (Not an Average) 9/10
Buy it Now!
Related Reading:
Diamond Select Toys is moving two more Star Trek ships out of drydock, and this time their packaging is getting the refit! The U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B (from Star Trek: Generations) and NCC-1701-D (from Star Trek: The Next Generation) are headed to stores in the next month, with lights and sounds from their screen appearances, and DST has revealed their new packaging design. Check out both new ships in their boxes below, and pre-order them from your local comic shop or your favorite online retailer!
comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest comic shop, and get regular DST updates on Facebook and Twitter!
The 2012 film Amazing Spider-man featured the well-known wall crawler as a vigilante in street clothes and a red ski mask. Diamond Select Toys has released a bust of this version of Spider-man crafted by Gentle Giant. To be completely honest the origin story of any super hero character is the least interesting to me. It’s not because I think these stories are unimportant. I’ve just been a comic book fan my whole life so I’ve heard the stories over and over and over again. So, I’m just more interested in the characters after they’ve become who they are supposed to be. With that said though, this sort of variant statue is a pretty nifty idea, especially if you already have a Spider-man statue in his full on leotard attire. Imagine having the two statues on a shelf to show the evolution of the character. All you’d need is a straight up Peter Parker statue to start the evolution off. That only works though, if the statues are all fantastic! So let’s take a look at Spidey pre-uniform:
The Statue
Before Peter Parker had his full on Spider-man suit he was hitting the streets in vigilante mode with a simple hood, jacket, and ski hat. There were seeds of the costume that was to come with the cut out sunglasses for eyes and the choice of red for his hood. Those sunglasses are quite the point of contention for many fans, more so than other costume “adjustments” that were made for this film. The fact is that creators have experimented with Spider-man’s costume a great deal over the years so seeing some changes in the movie version shouldn’t be much of a big deal. The truth is though all of these adjustments get old after a while and web head always eventually returns to his classic red and blue design that we all know and love. He had to start somewhere though, and for the movie, this is where it all began.
The bust stands 9’ tall including the base which morphs from Peter Parker’s jacket. The base is formed by a morphed portion of Parker’s leather jacket. It gets the job done but it honestly looks just a little odd. Outside of that little nitpick this is a pretty cool alternate Spidey keepsake for fans of the film. Jacket and mask designs are painted beautifully and the detail is fantastic. Also of particular note are the lines in the hood with Parker twisting his head, nice detail. The base is fairly sturdy if just a little narrow making the whole thing slightly top heavy. It sits steady but it’s not a statue you want to be bumping into very often.
The statue is designed by Gentle Giant, no not the classic rock band, the group responsible for many iconic toy designs from movies and TV including of course several Star Wars designs. They have maintained their reputation with this release with detail, color, and the realistic look of textures. If you’re a fan of the film or a fan of Spider-man in general this statue would make a great addition to your collection. It’s not your typical Spider-man on a wall or shooting a web pose so it’s truly for the hardcore fan. With that in mind you’re probably going to have to grab this one from a hobby shop or the internet.
8.5/10
When we think of Diamond Select Toys we usually think of the stylish minimates or the super articulated action figures but DST has also dabbled quite a bit with vehicles too! DST has previously released the Back to the Future car and they’ve just announced they’re going back in time, to bring all three eras of that car back to store shelves including the 50′s one, the original one, and the old west one! These cars are 1:15 scale and feature lights and sounds!
Along with BttF Diamond is also bringing us two other cool rides: the hearse/dragster combo from the 1960′s Munsters TV series and the ever popular KITT car from the 1980′s Knight Rider series.These babies are also 1:15 scale replicas with lights and sounds. KITT even gives us some classic car talk:
- “I am K.I.T.T.”
- “All systems functioning”
- “Activate Turbo Boost.”
- “Michael, we are losing power.”
- “Auto Cruise Mode.”
- “Michael, I detect vehicles.”
- “After all, we’re only human.”
KITT also features several great sound effects:
- Turbo Boost
- Scanner
- Revving Engine
- Start Up and Peel Out
Check out the images below and get them below!
In June 1986 my dad owed me some money. I was twelve years old and five months earlier, for my birthday, I had received a substantial amount of money for my age, $300.00. My Dad had borrowed said money for bills and I had never let him forget that I was owed that money. Finally, after school had let out for the summer I had been granted the right to spend said money. Initially I wanted the cash but as the months wore on something else had captured my eye. There was this strange new gaming console that had piqued my interest a few months back. Its name: the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I can still remember the commercials: Two kids sitting in a living room (one of them would later play Scott, the kid who was friends with David Silver until David got cool new friends, on Beverly Hills, 90210) playing various Nintendo games until the sheer power of the NES blasts their suburban home into space. To further emphasize their point the voice over simultaneously announced “Now You’re Playing With Power!” as the slogan flashed across the screen. I HAD TO HAVE ONE!!!
For months I had been obsessing. I needed this new gaming system! My old Atari 2600 was still kind of cool but this new Nintendo system blew that old seventies hold over away. The future was here and its name was NINTENDO!
On a Friday evening in June, 1986 my Dad had to play a make-up softball game due to a rain out. I was still too young to play in the league but was anxious to get started. Still, that night was strange. During batting practice Dad was pitching to our own team and caught a line drive in the forearm. I, being only twelve years old, was less concerned with his condition and more concerned with my video game. I had been promised we would go to Target after the game and purchase my new obsession. I was concerned with Dad’s well being but I HAD to have my new game. Tomorrow was just too far away!
To Dad’s credit he played the entire game and led our team to a victory with a fractured forearm. And, to my eternal gratitude, he passed on the hospital opting for a minor emergency clinic instead. We were there about an hour when they finally told him he had a hairline fracture and a cast would not be necessary. I was glad he wasn’t injured but I had bigger plans for that night. Target was still open and I had a destiny! Luckily the clinic was just down the road from Target and there was still about forty-five minutes before they closed. To me time was running out!
Once there I went straight for the electronics department. I knew where Nintendo lived and I was not about to let it slip through my hands. I rounded the corner, ran full force and stopped dead in my tracks in front of the end cap that housed my destiny. Dad followed slowly behind and eventually found me jumping up and down in place. He lifted the console bundle off the shelf and into the basket. I was set, the bundle included Super Mario Bros., a light gun and two controllers. That’s all I needed! The system was on sale for $149.99 and I figured I would pocket the rest of the money for later. But a monkey wrench was thrown in my plan.
Dad asked me if I wanted any other games. I was not prepared for this. Suddenly a strange euphoria came over my twelve-year-old person. I had more money to spend. This was a development that I could not control. I had to spend more money! And I did. Hogan’s Alley, Pro Wrestling, Gumshoe, Duck Hunt and Excitebike all came home with me that night. Being still young enough to have a bedtime, even during summer months, I only had time to hook-up my new vice and play Super Mario Bros. for about a couple hours.
All night I dreamt of my new acquisition in wanton lust. This was the future of gaming and I had one. I had the power to master all things digital! I would be the best there was at every game put in my path! Saturday morning rolled around and I arose early to face my new temptress. I played every game I bought the night before. I played and played and played until my Dad came into my bedroom with an angry look on his face.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” he asked with a face of stone. “I don’t know, 10 o’clock?” I replied. “It’s 2:30 in the afternoon,” he said. “Now turn that thing off and come eat some lunch.” I could not believe that I had lost almost 7 hours of the day to video games. I was in heaven but my parents didn’t see it that way. Strict regulations befell my video game playing from there on out.
Over the next few years a lot of video games passed threw my NES. Ghosts n Goblins, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Golf, Legend of Zelda, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Top Gun, and Double Dribble just to name a few. I lost countless hours and several summers to the Nintendo. I entered a local competition when I was sixteen at a video rental store. The game was Ninja Gaiden. I had only played Ninja Gaiden 2 but still ranked in the top five. That same summer I went to Bush Gardens with my family and happened upon an Excitebike competition. I placed third.
Because of Nintendo I went to the theater and saw the movie The Wizard with Fred Savage and Jenny Lewis just because it was going to preview Super Mario Bros. 3. If you’ve seen that movie you know my shame. Yes, I owned the Power Glove. No, I never learned to use it and if you owned one you probably never learned to use it either. As the years went by other gaming systems came along and on a fateful late spring day in 1993 I discovered a new video game system I couldn’t live without. I sold my Nintendo the next day and bought a Sega Genesis. But that’s a Retro Active for another day….
Diamond Select Toys has a line of little action figures called minimates. In case you didn’t know, minimates are sort of an evolution of an idea started by Lego. Minimates feature more detail than Lego characters and they have a unique and striking art style.
The Toys
DST has released a new series of Minimates to coincide with the big Marvel Comics juggernaut film The Avengers. Each pack features two minimates designed from the movie characters. We received Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Maria Hill, and a bevy of the alien villains. Yes there are several key characters still missing from the movie but they are surely on the way in future waves of releases.
The level of detail on these little guys is pretty amazing as they actually resemble their feature film counterparts. Now, their faces aren’t necessarily similar to those of the actors because the faces are part of the unique art style of these little toys. Their uniforms and accessories on the other hand are similar. Maria Hill gets a gun, Cap and Thor have their preferred weapons, Hulk has multiple heads for levels of anger, and Iron Man not only gets a fire trail to go under his boot jets but he also has a replaceable head that features Tony Starks face and he even has a hair piece to put on his head so he can go half helmet or no helmet at all. Each of the aliens feature weapons as well. Finally in each two pack there’s a clear base to slip under a character’s foot to allow for a dynamic stance when you display him.
All of these tiny accessories seem like a ton of fun and they offer a lot of variety for displaying the figures but they are also extremely tiny and really too easy to lose. If you’re a stickler for keeping all of the accessories for your action figures you’re going to have to come up with a secure place to store all of the little bits when you aren’t using them.
These guys are just too much fun. They manage to perfectly mix the super hero goodness of Marvel Comics with the humor that the creators have so expertly been able to infuse in all of their minimates. Setting these guys up in epic battles on your shelf or desk is just pure fun. I don’t see these as toys that kids would play with as much as that older fans would set up on their desk for a little levity in their day.
9/10
The Build
The figures are all also pretty highly articulated. There is movement at the knee, at the wrist, the elbow, and the head. While this articulation allows for a higher level of detail in displaying the pieces than you might expect for this kind of toy it also makes them a bit fragile. The left leg of my Iron Man for example falls off at the drop of a hat and Cap’s arm tends to slip off too easily too. Depending on where you have these displayed if one of these parts drops off you may lose that part too easily. Again, these aren’t necessarily meant as action figures to be played with though. Once you have them set up in a display you like they are pretty good at holding that position and looking really cool. The paint is well done and the faces are designed to be a lot of fun. Overall, flaws aside, good stuff.
6/10
Avengers Minimates are just perfect for the fan with limited space, in an office for example. The little details like Thor’s hammer and Cap’s shield are fantastic and the humorous design is just pure fun. These are not toys that look cool on a shelf pristine in their boxes! Take these little guys out and set them up somewhere immediately!
Overall (Not an average) 8/10
The Review
The Toys 9/10
The Build 6/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10
Released by: Swann
Swann is a company that, based on what’s on their website, focuses on security gear and some spy gear. So it was a little confusing to see them at Toy Fair this year back in February promoting RC helicopters. They provided us with a couple of demo units and based on the time we spent with the little devices this company is on to something cool, with some small issues.
The Device
We tried out two different helicopters, on very small sort of base model one and a larger one with a built in HD video camera. These indoor choppers are based on Swann’s proprietary six axis gyro system for flight and the package tells you it’s a really simple concept to learn. Honestly that’s not all together true. It actually takes tons of practice to get a grip on just how to fly these little devices. Now with that said once you do get a feel for the system the level of control is extremely surprising and a ton of fun.
Lifting off requires a slow steady rise in power until the chopper lifts off and then a consistent level of power keeps the chopper afloat. Once you’re hovering it’s time to start moving. The biggest thing to remember is that the controls are to be manipulated subtly. A little direction means a big change for the chopper. There’s a real art to flying these things and once you finally do master it you can pull of some truly amazing maneuvers. The representative that was flying them at Toy Fair had an incredible level of control over the chopper and he was literally landing it in his hand. After seeing his abilities I knew that you could really have some fun with the choppers with practice.
This leads me to the biggest problem with both choppers; battery life. You generally get around 8 minutes of flight time per full charge of the battery, that’s right 8 minutes. During the learning phases this limited flight time can be literally infuriating. It takes between 45 minutes and an hour to recharge the battery too. I can only imagine that hobbyist would have to own several batteries per chopper. At times you have to adjust the trim settings on the chopper which has to do with how the chopper interprets commands from the remote. Often this can take a full minute of your 8 minutes of flight time.
Also these are indoor choppers only. You can fly them outside but there has to be absolutely no wind, not even a breeze because these little motors aren’t meant to stand up to the outside elements. The chopper with the HD camera is a tougher chopper to deal with simply due to its size. You have to fly it inside but the space has to be a fairly large one because the sheer size of the device requires plenty of room to get off the ground. By the way, don’t expect blu-ray quality HD video from the little camera. By HD they mean that the footage meets the minimum standards for HD video but much of great quality HD comes from the quality of the camera lens and the sensor. This is a budget minded device so these elements of the camera are closer to the minimum side but the video is a ton of fun and it is easy to enjoy when played back on an HD TV or computer.
Once you’ve jumped the hurdles or battery life and the learning curve these little guys are just pure fun.
8/10
Build Quality
The build quality on these little choppers is misleading. Holding them in your hand you might think that they are delicate little devices but after you’ve crashed them a bunch of times it becomes apparent that these things can really take a beating. The package for both choppers contains extra chopper blades just in case you snap one of them but I crashed both choppers more times than I can count and I never broke one. So the design is quite clever as they are minimalist to keep them super light but what is there is well built.
The tenderest part of the choppers is the battery. If you leave one on the charger for too long you’ll kill the battery. I plugged one in to charge and fell asleep. The next morning the battery was dead and would never work again. I thought we were beyond these sorts of issues with rechargeable batteries….
7/10
It may sound like I’m complaining a lot about these choppers and I am. It’s only because when the stars align and you’re doing everything right they are just a ton of fun. Swann has successfully brought a hobby that was previously out of bounds for the mainstream because of price and technical know how to the masses. Overall they’ve simplified the learning process and brought us a well-built but affordable device. The flight time truly kills me though. Just when it’s getting fun the battery always dies. I’m hoping to keep an eye on additional releases from then to see how their products evolve. Find yourself a roomy indoor space and give one of these little guys a try!
The Review
The Device 8/10
The Build Quality 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7/10
Related Reading:
Traditionally toys are meant to be played with and statues are meant to be displayed but some hardcore collector’s just don’t subscribe to tradition. Some collector’s prefer to collect their toys and keep them as pristine as possible in their original packaging. Some do this as an investment, hoping for a great return down the road while others just prefer to have a toy they think is great the way it was originally presented. Diamond Select Toys is one of those companies that truly caters to that level of collector. Not only do they do this by providing highly detailed and pose-able toys but they even take the collector that doesn’t open their packaging into consideration.
Ten years ago the company developed a style of packaging their figures that allowed the action figure to be displayed within the package an still show off its base and any other accessories that came with them. Now they continue that style of packaging meaning that toys you bought back them will look great and uniform with the new releases. The packaging for the new Amazing Spider-Man action figures has been revealed and it looks like the same very familiar blister pack we’re all accustomed to from DST but they’ve also added side art for those collectors that store their toys sideways (like books) on shelves. This art is meant to be attractive and it helps owners quickly access a given toy just by recognizing the figure in the art.
I guess if you’re actually just not going to pull Spidey out of the box at least the box looks cool. Check out these images:
With all of the focus these days being on videogames and multimedia entertainment it’s actually nice to see companies still working to innovate the good ol’ outside games. There’s still something to be said about getting out in the sun with friends or family and playing some games in person. With that in mind we’re checking out RingStix.
The Game
Explaining how to play RingStix is simple, mastering it is another story. Each player has two stix that look sort of like curved swords. You drop the small ring onto the two swords and push the swords together. Pick a direction and quickly pull the swords apart and watch the ring fly. Your opponent then attempts to catch the ring on one or both of their swords. That’s really all there is to it. The thing is that it’s quite difficult to properly execute more than once or twice. The ring is slim and small and looks really subtle flying through the air. It ends up being a small target to try and catch on the end of a stick. It’s not impossible but it takes a good amount of time investment to get it right. This isn’t the game you take outside for a fun afternoon with people who have never played it before. What you’ll end up with is an afternoon of helping them figure out how to master the game.
On the other hand, if you have a group who has taken the time to learn how to play the game, how to toss and catch the ring, it’s actually quite an innovative little game. You can play it in your yard, at the beach, basically anywhere you’d take a Frisbee. Some good hand eye coordination and even some general sports skills will be a great plus to enjoying this game too. I took the game out with a couple of friends to give it a go and the below video shows how it all went down:
6/10
Build Quality
The stix are well made as is the ring. They’re hard plastic and fairly rugged. Now the packaging promises that the ring glows. We had very little luck making that happen. The set comes with a convenient carrying bag to keep it organized.
5/10
Overall RingStix is innovative and has potential with future iterations and updates that would make it just a little easier to play. At this point only fairly skilled outside gamers need apply.
Overall (Not an Average) 6/10
The Review
The Game 6/10
Build Quality 5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 6/10
So finally, after some unexpected delays the final episode of Culture Smash focusing on Toy Fair 2012 is live!! In this episode Victoria checks out the Walking Dead board game, the latest from Wiz Kids games, she flies or tries to fly an RC helicopter, and she punches stuff! It’s not over though, we’re bringing you additional extended scenes, bloopers, and much more from these three episodes over the coming weeks. So stay tuned! Scroll down and check out this episode or click it from the sidebar on the right!
Related Reading:
They’re larger than life but somehow Diamond Select Toys managed to squish the world’s greatest action heroes down to miniature size! This summer the company will be releasing two sets of Expendables minimates. One of the sets will go to comic book shops all over the country and the other set will be a Toys R’ Us exclusive.
The Toys “R” Us set will feature:
- Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone)
- Trent Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
- James Munroe (Eric Roberts)
- Paine (Steve Austin)
And the Specialty set will feature:
- Lee Christmas (Jason Statham)
- Hale Caesar (Terry Crews)
- Mr. Church (Bruce Willis)
- Tool (Mickey Rourke).
Each four pack comes bundled with a dozen guns (a dozen!) and various knives and batons! Expendables 2 hits theaters on August 17th and on that day DST will also gift us with two additional sets based on that film! Check out the picture below!
Related Reading:
Leonard Nimoy will reprise his role as Mr. Spock on this Thursday’s episode of The Big Bang Theory; but he won’t be playing the role by himself. Instead, Nimoy will lend his voice to an 8-inch, cloth costumed Mr. Spock figure from Diamond Select Toys’ Star Trek Retro Cloth action figure line! An exact replica of the classic 1970s Mego figure. Mr. Spock has a conversation with Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) in a dream, and convinces Sheldon to open up a rare, mint-in-box Teleporter Playset (released in the U.K. by Palitoy in 1975). This episode sounds like it might be along the lines of the Lord of the Rings episode of BBT and that’s a really good thing.
Many items featured on the show have become fan favorites and are readily available, most notably many of Sheldon’s t-shirts. Even the t-shirt folder that Sheldon uses is out there on Amazon (Yours truly proudly uses one every week! The geeks will rule you all!). Unfortunately Diamond Select Toys tells us that this particular figure is sold out but a Mirror Universe version of Spock will be available later this year in the Retro Cloth line, along with Mirror Kirk, Captain Picard and a Borg!
How about a clip from The Big Bang Theory to get you excited for the episode?
Diamond Select Toys is celebrating its third year of crafting officially licensed Universal Monsters Toys by bringing on a new monster to the minimates line as well as resurrecting a classic one from the vault. Not familiar with minimates? These are tiny highly stylized blocky figures that are perfect for a display shelf or just to add some character to a desk in an office.
These figures come in two and four packs. The first 4 pack the company is releasing from this line is based on Universal’s film interpretation of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The 1925 film starred Lon Chaney as the abused bellringer Quasimodo, a mute, half-deaf hunchback who lives in the famed Paris cathedral. Along with the Hunchback himself the set will include other characters from the film Phoebus, the set-exclusive Esmeralda, and the “King of Fools” Quasimodo version of the Hunchback.
The follow up 4 pack will feature characters from the classic Universal film from 1932 The Mummy. The Mummy starred Boris Karloff as the resurrected mummy Im-Ho-Tep, who was entombed alive
for attempting to revive a deceased princess. This set includes Im-Ho-Tep, his Sarcophagus, Princess
Anck-es-en-Amon and the set-exclusive Helen Grosvenor.
Also from the official press release:
“There will also be an assortment of Universal Monsters two-packs
available at Toys “R” Us, featuring some of the characters from these
sets, as well as some exclusive characters. One two-pack will pair
The Mummy’s Princess Anck-es-en-Amon with an exclusive figure of
archaeologist Henry Whemple, and another will present the stars of both
films — Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Boris Karloff as Im-Ho-Tep — in
glorious black-and-white!”
The minimate figures are a fun line of toys and this run of them is perfect for the hardcore film fan. Look for all of these figures to hit store shelves in September!
Related Reading:
Back in the 80’s it seems toy makers were doing some special drugs and came up with some of the strangest ideas ever. Case in point, M.U.S.C.L.E. What was M.U.S.C.L.E. you ask? Well M.U.S.C.L.E. stands for Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere. They were 2” tall non-articulated pink plastic toys that were intergalactic wrestlers. Yes, wrestlers. From outer space. I couldn’t make this up.
In the first wave there were 236 figures available and were packaged in three different ways. There were blister packs containing four figures, ten packs in clear plastic trash cans and boxed twenty-eight packs. Also available was a wrestling belt that also doubled as a carrying case and a wrestling ring. The second and third wave of figures were repaints of the existing figures which added new colors to the mix besides the pink fleshy color of the earlier toys. One of the cool accessories from this toy line was a mail-away poster that had a picture of every available figure. This is where we learned that there were two named characters, Muscle Man and Terri-Bull.
And since M.U.S.C.L.E. was based on a Japanese toy there was a crazy back story about Muscle Man leading the Thug Busters and Terri-Bull leading the Cosmic Crushers in a battle for intergalactic dominance through wrestling. Granted it’s not as crazy as some other toys (I’m looking at you Sectaurs) but who comes up with this stuff? I had a ton of these things but never quite completed my collection. And some of the sculpts were pretty insane.
M.U.S.C.L.E. was only distributed through Mattel and were only available from 1985-1988 but they did become very popular during their short run and even had a video game on the NES. Like I said, I had a ton of these things as well as the wrestling ring and I enjoyed many hours of playtime. Sadly, most of my M.U.S.C.L.E. figures disappeared over time and I now just have one but I do have a special place in my heart for these unusual small creatures and I like to think they are still battling for intergalactic dominance. Where ever they lurk.
As a side not, JAKKS Pacific has a new line of toys coming out later this year called S.L.U.G.S. which they have openly admitted are inspired by M.U.S.C.L.E. I cannot wait to start my collection!!
Yes that’s right, sometimes us pasty geeks do get outside. There are those freakish times when no one wants to play a board or video game and there isn’t a Babylon 5 rerun to be found on television. So at those magical moments someone will inevitably say “we should go outside”. When that happens we need something to do. The pocket disc just might be an option.
The Toy
Pocket disc is essentially a Frisbee but what makes it stand out is its construction. The disc is fabric, made of yarn. It’s due to the construction that the disc is a “pocket” disc. It can be folded easily and shoved into a back pocket. Now, walking around with it sticking out of your back pocket isn’t exactly going to enhance your ability to meet girls but it does allow you to go hands free until you’re ready to play. Outside of the construction pocket disc is a standard Frisbee, or to keep from breaking copyright law we’ll say “flying disc”.
It’s weather friendly, even if it gets wet, which is surprising since its fabric. If it gets wet just let it dry and you’re good to go. If it gets dirty just toss it in the wash like you would a scarf or other similar piece of clothing. The disc is a bit heavier than other similar toys but that’s really the only difference once you’re playing with it. It flies as good as any other disc we’ve tried and if it hits you it’s a lot less painful that the aluminum trash can lid we previously played with (I’m sorry Mike it was just a mild concussion).
The discs have a real sort of organic hippie vibe do the construction and tie-dye color schemes. Again, not a bad thing per se, just an observation. These are also fair trade toys if that’s something you pay attention too. If you’re looking for a new “flying disc” and you feel the need for hands free prior to play then why not give this a go?
8/10
Construction and Style
The fabric is tough and tightly assembled giving the disc a solid and strong feel. The Pocket Disc will probably outlast you and your buds on any given Sunday. The only thing I wasn’t able to test is how much abuse the disc can take when it comes to playing catch with a dog. So let Chompers dig into this one at your own risk, I make no promises in that department. It is fabric so it’s bound to come unbound at some point but the Pocket Disc should last you long enough that you’ll feel you got more than your money’s worth out of it.
8/10
It flies straight if you have the ability to toss it straight that is. The Pocket Disc may actually be easier to catch than other solid plastic options because it is flexible. It’s simple and fun.
Overall (Not an Average) 8.5/10
The Review
The Toy 8.5/10
Construction and Style 8/10
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10
