$25,000.00 Obi Wan Kenobi Figure

Apparently this guy is serious...

Vintage SW Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Double Telescoping)

It can be yours for the low, low price of only $24,999.99.

I thought it was a misprint, but this store also has a vintage carded Darth Vader for $20,000.00 and a Luke Skywalker for $12,000.00. My dad used to buy me a new Star Wars figure every Friday when I was a kid. I think they cost $3.00. If I had only known that I could be a rich man by keeping them on the card in mint condition, I'd have never opened them.

Have we gone so far that people are willing to shell out this much money for a toy that's only 25 years old and is made up of about 50 cents worth of plastic?

Transformers Movie Figures

Hasbro has images posted of some of the upcoming Transformers movie toys at its website. Available to view are:

Leader Class
Optimus Prime

Deluxe Class
Protoform Optimus Prime
Protoform Starscream
Jazz
Barricade
Bumblebee
Brawl
Scorponok
Wreckage

Voyager
Blackout
Ratchet

There are also images of the Movie's Real Gear and Legends figures, which are the $6.99 and $3.99 price point toys (respectively).

Toy Rehab

I currently have three toy rehabilitation projects under way:

1)Star Wars AT-AT
This is one I got back when I was a kid. Been in the attic for the last 20 years. It's got the dings and scuffs probably every kid that ever had one put on theirs. All of the stickers were faded and cracked, and the adhesive from the stickers was somehow baked onto the vehicles plastic. The left front knee was warped and bent to the side about 5 degrees. The left rear flexor joint was loose. The electronics didn't work, the chin guns didn't move back and forth or light up. The whole thing was covered in a fine layer of dust.

Gameplan
I plan on disassembling the whole thing. I want to clean off all the old stickers/adhesive, figure out why the right rear leg is loose, and try to re-align the left front leg. Ideally, I'd like to also repair the electronics through new wiring and/or a new motor. My long term goal for this is to make a fairly accurate recreation of the AT-AT's cockpit as well.

2)Star Wars AT-ST
Suffered from the same problems as the AT-AT minus the electrical isses and warped, bent parts. Same rehab plans. Clean it up, make it look nice.

3)Transformers Decepticon Blitzwing
I purchased this in a loose/no accessories condition. The condition was described as "C-7" whatever that means. The joints are all nice and tight. There's a lot of paint wear, especially on the cockpit/nosecone and the yellow highlights of the figure's head. There is nothing structurally wrong with the figure except for some stress marks on the wing tips, and the die-cast vertical stablizers have some scuff marks.

Gameplan
I plan to disassemble this figure and clean it up. I'm going to lightly sand and buff the entire figure in hopes of cleaning up most of the minor and scratches. I'm going to repaint the gray of the nosecone and cockpit as well as the figure's head. It has no decals applied, and I'm am currently planning on getting a set from Reprolabels.com, although I probably won't apply all of them.

Invasion: Japanese Robots from the Collection of Warren Shcwartz

For those of you who live in or will be visiting the Baton Rouge area over the next few months, the LSU Museum of Art will be featuring an exhibit on Japanese toy robots. The toys are from the private collection of Warren Schwartz, a well-known Super Robot toy collector. Over 200 robots from series such as Dougram, Mazinger, Tekkaman, Tetsujin 28 and Ultraman will be on display. The exhibition will last from April 13 to October 7, 2007.

Directions to the museum can be found here. Admission is $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for children ages 5-17. Hours of operation are:
Tue. thru Sat. - 10a to 5p
Thur. - 10a to 8p
Sun. - 1p to 5p

GI Joe 25th Anniversary Figures

Hasbro has announced that this summer they will release 25 figures to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the start of the GI Joe's stuggle with Cobra (i.e. the start of the 3 3/4 inch action figure line.) The new 25th Anniversary line will feature figures with modern articulation but retro-styling. There will be two 5-pack sets, as well as individual figures. Figures that are available in 5-packs and individually will have notable differences between the two.

The first eleven figures which will include:
The Baroness 5-pack only
Cobra Trooper/Officer. Trooper - (5-pack version) Black facemask, black harness, black Dragunov sniper rifle, red Cobra logo; Officer - (Individual) Gray facemask, silver Dragunov, silver Cobra logo, harness with details, darker blue coloring. I'm not sure what the logic is here including the trooper in the 5-pack and the Officer as an individual figure. Seems like they'd figure that the Trooper is an "army builder" and you won't be able to do that without having to buy a 5-pack many times over. That's pretty stupid on Hasbro's part if they don't change it.
Cobra Commander 5-pack - CC's original uniform, with blue helmet and silver face shield. Individual pack - Darker blue uniform and the helmet/face shield is replaced with CC's traditional hood.
Destro 5-pack only
Storm Shadow 5-pack - solid white uniform with balaclava, cobra logo on left breast, black bandolier; Individual pack - white/gray camoflage uniform with balaclava/hood, no cobra logo, bandolier is replaced with rope. Both figures come with the same weapons...bow and arrows, 1 dagger, and a pair of ninjato
Flint - Individual pack only Snake Eyes 5-pack - Figure is all black and has Snake's traditional goggles/facemask appearance. Comes with an Uzi, demolition satchel, dagger in holster (molded on to figure), and a utility belt/harness. Individual - Snake's "visor" appearance. Uzi, dagger/holster, katana, weapons bandolier, and pet wolf Timber
Scarlett 5-pack only
Roadblock 5-pack only, comes with Ma Deuce, tripod, and .50 cal ammo belt. Tripod looks like Roadblock will have to fire from a prone position. That's more realistic, but Roadblock should be standing up, or firing Ma Deuce from the hip.
Gung Ho 5-pack only
Duke 5-pack only.

Hasbro also has a poll up at the website asking which army builder figure you'd like. The choices are Cobra Viper, Cobra Trooper, Crimson Guard, Red Ninjas, Cobra B.A.T.s, or Eels. Vipers currently lead with Troopers in second. I'd like to see Hasbro wake up and move the Cobra Officer to the 5-pack and release the Trooper individually, that we we could get both Troopers and Vipers as army builders.

Not a bad collection. They certainly got most of the "important" figures in the first batch. I know the Joes are popular, but I'd like to see some Cobra army builders. I'd also like to see some Crimson Guards and maybe Tomax/Xamot (though not enough for them to occupy two of the remaining 14 slots. I'd definitely like to see a modern take on Firefly who is probably my all time favorite Joe character. I've never really been a Joe fan (the group, not the toy line) and they got my favorite good guys, Snake Eyes, Gung Ho, and Roadblock. However, I hope they release Barbeque, that was my brother's favorite Joe as a kid. I know this may be asking for a bit much, but here's hoping the release the Rattler/Wild Weasel and Dragonfly/Wild Bill vehicle sets, too.