Pic of the Day > Auger Again by Deimos-remus
Toy Aisle Trolls > Galactic Zeroes
Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.
Today’s TAT comes from none other than Jazwares product developer and customizer extraordinaire Joe Amaro.
What it’s Supposed to Look Like: This
The Problem: Writes Joe, “Someone took out most of the figures and replaced them with C-3P0s.” They seem to have stolen Uncle Owen, that creepy bug-version of a C-3P0 droid, both Jawas, the Gonk and left a couple extra C-3P0s, Garindan (why?) and a Yoda in their place.
Karmic Payback: Who steals from a little kids’ toy set? What human being is so petty, so selfish, and so uncaring that they would do this? Assigning karmic payback to someone so obviously bereft of any joy or positive emotion in life just seems sad, but I’ll do it anyway: may he pass a kidney stone for every toy he steals.
Poe’s Thoughts: Y’know, the title of some of these Star Wars sets weirds me out a bit. The titles create an odd parallel in my mind with those pieces by Renaissance artists that depict some famous scene from the Bible, such as the Last Supper or The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. Four hundred years from now, will “Purchase of the Droids” be gawked at by tourists in the holodeck equivalent of the Louvre?
Pic of the Day > Code Name: Cobra Commander by JD Hancock
Toy Aisle Trolls > Rodian Deadeye
Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.
Phil of Battlegrip found this sad sight at Target.
Supposed to look like: This
Problem: Rodian was swapped with…some military dude. Is he G.I. Joe? CORPS?
Karmic payback: The offender accidentally swallows the loose Rodian figure while wolfing down his post-trollage-celebratory Taco Bell dinner, causing an intestinal blockage and resulting in a hospital visit that costs him approximately 150x the price of the toy if he’d just paid for it like a non-worthless member of society.
Odds ‘n Ends > Wondercon/Joecon Edition
- My friend Popeonabomb was at Wondercon yesterday, and he took some pics for me – primarily of MOTUC and the Golden Age Batman & Joker. You can check ’em out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/poeghostal/sets/72157626418374964/
- I’ve been reading the G.I. Joe: Special Missions trade paperbacks from IDW. The concept, as described, really appealed to me–Joes performing “realistic” military missions. I’m enjoying the heck out of them, and between that and the incredible awesome reveals at JoeCon this weekend, I’m now actively resisting getting into G.I. Joe collecting. Which is kind of amazing, because G.I. Joe has been around forever and I never had the slightest interest in it (I was a He-Man/Transformers/TMNT kid). But Hasbro seems to be going balls-out with stuff like this and especially this. We’ll see whether I can hold out.
- Some news bits from Wondercon: according to Scott Neitlich, Leech will have no other head, his jaw is not articulated, and Hordak’s armor will be vac-metallized (i.e., chrome).
- As you know, I’ve often discussed expanding the scope of this website to encompass more geek-related, but not necessarily toy-related, topics. I just as frequently have shot the idea down, deciding that keeping a laserlike focus on toys is the best way to keep the site popular. However, I’ve found I do need some sort of outlet for my non-toy geekishness, and to that end I’ve decided to create a spinoff website that will allow me to write about non-toy stuff. All I need is a title…Poe Ghostal’s…Pop…something? I don’t know. As such, I’m holding a contest! Post your suggestions below. If I decide I like any of them enough to use as the site’s title, that person will win a special Sword of Ages variant–purple hilt, black blade! Enter as many times as you want.
Vintage Toy Ads > My Buddy & Kid Sister
Here’s my story about My Buddy. As a young kid I always wanted one of these–not sure why, I wasn’t lonely or anything, never had a desire for a brother. I wanted this mostly until I saw a My Pet Monster, and then I wanted that. But I digress–when I was five or six, my parents found a forgotten My Buddy just laying on the street somewhere. It was in decent condition except the head was a bit loose. My mom fixed it up and, despite my protests, gave it to Goodwill. I think it was intended to be some sort of lesson to me at the time, I don’t know. Anyway, I never did get a My Buddy.
Honestly, my favorite part of this ad is the ABC bumper at the beginning…I must have seen that a thousand times over the years. I miss those Saturday morning cartoon blocks. They seem to have gone the way of the dodo, thanks largely to the rise of all-day kids’ programming on cable channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
Pic of the Day > Transformers Overbite G1 Reissue – modo alterno by mdverde
Transformers Overbite G1 Reissue – modo alterno by mdverde
Pic of the Day > Night Raven by cradea2
Night Raven by cradea2
Toy Aisle Trolls > Battle with Vendor
Toy Aisle Trolls is a feature highlighting acts of vandalism to in-store toy items. If you find a ruined package, a stolen figure, a swapped-out figure, or any other such acts, take a photo (cell phone photos are fine if they’re not blurry) and email them to poe AT poeghostal.com.
Poester Nerdbot found this sadness in the city that never sleeps.
Upon discovering this, Nerdbot proceeded to have his own battle over Endor–with the store staff.
I just saw this at the Times Square Toys R Us tonight. Some troll apparently returned one of the new Battle Over Endor sets — after replacing the contents with a much older Power of the Force pilot set. After a little Internet research, I found it here: http://www.rebelscum.com/POTF2rebelpilots.asp
I tried to explain what must have happened to some employees. (“But they’re the same.” “No, they’re not. Someone replaced the new figures with these that are probably 6 or 7 years old…” (At that point I didn’t know exactly what they were, but just looking at their poor articulation – and the fact that I had no recollection of them – told me they had to be several years old.)) I think they finally understood, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see that set out there again.
Karmic Payback: While the troll is passed out from a combination of weed, absinthe and Doritos, his pet guano beetles escape and eat his right hand.