Mail-Away: Anakin Skywalker

Posted on November 9, 2008 by Shawn

The last free figure offer before the original Star Wars line died was Anakin Skywalker. The figure is based on the spirit form seen at the end of the movie. The latest DVD release changed that though when they replaced the original actor with Hayden Christensen who played Anakin in the Prequels. The figure was technically only available in the U.S. from the mail promotion. He was released in other countries in the Tri-Logo packaging and the Power of the Force packaging with the coin. A lot of people must have participated in the promotion though because lose figures can easily be found in lots on ebay. The figure required 5 proofs of purchase and expired on May 30th, 1985. Here is the offer as it appeared on the back of the cards

Here is mine with the mailer box and catalog

No T.V. commercial has surfaced advertising the figure. This was near the tail end of the original Star Wars figure line, so probably one was never created.

New Display Cases

Posted on November 8, 2008 by Shawn

Last night Sarah and I made a quick run to Ikea using my brother in laws truck. I’ve had my eye on these cases ever since they opened a store in Utah. In fact I planned to buy two of these
a couple of weeks ago but when we got there we discovered that they wouldn’t fit in our car, so I had to wait until we found a truck. I combined two of them by leaving the right side off of one and the left side off the other. I think they turned out great and look even better in person. The case is called the Detolf they run $59.99 which I don’t think is too bad where almost the whole case is glass.

I also picked up some photo frames at Ikea and did a little write up about some of the items in my collection. The only other thing I would like to add are some risers for each mail-away item on that shelf.

Transformers Encore 13 & 14

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Shawn

It was announced a few weeks ago that the next Japanese Transformers Reissues would be Trailbreaker and Hoist. Today the site e-hobby posted some pics showing these new reissues. They have some subtle differences to make them more cartoon accurate. Trailbreaker (black one) used to have red eyes and they have now been painted blue. Hoist (green one) used to have yellow eyes and they are also now painted blue.

Hoist was released a few years ago here in the U.S. as a Toys R Us exclusive. I already have that one, so I will not be getting this new one. Trailbreaker on the other hand has been reissued once before in Japan in 2001, but it was a very limited convention exclusive. I have been hoping for his release again for a few years now. In fact he was originally to be reissued at Toys R US, but the U.S. reissue line was cancelled just before.

They are both selling at U.S. online stores for about $35 a piece. I however got in on an early bird special from a Japanese site and got locked in at a $28 price. Once you stick on the shipping from Japan it evens out to about the same price as the U.S. stores, but by ordering from Japan I get them a little quicker than from ordering local.

With Trailbreaker I will only need 2 more figures to have all the ’84 and ’85 autobot cars. Unfortunately it has been said that the molds for the last 2 I need have been either damaged or lost. There is a Chinese company making Knock Offs of these that are very good quality and I might have to go that route to complete the set.

Trailbreaker and Hoist are due to be released at the end of December, so just in time for Christmas.

Bellow are some comparison pics of the old vs the new.

Quake Possibly Coming to iPhone

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Shawn

iphoneally.com reports that Quake has been submitted for approval on the app store. It is reported that it will even support a network play option. It usually take 2-5 days for an app to be approved, so should know by the end of the week. There is a video on youtube already showing gameplay.

Mail-Away: Star Wars is Forever Poster

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Shawn

This poster was never advertised on figure cards. It was advertised on store shelves with a shelf talker that had a pad of flyers and also a television commercial. The poster was free with two action figures and expired on December 31st, 1984. One side of the poster featured scenes from Return of the Jedi with the slogan Star Wars is Forever which was actually a slogan used at Kenner during the entire Star Wars line from the beginning in 1977. The other side of the poster featured the then 79 available figures in various battle scenes. I am still trying to track down the original mailing envelope for one of these. I scored a second poster on ebay awhile ago where the seller said it had just been stored in the mailing envelope. When I got the poster it wasn’t included so I emailed him and he told me he had thrown it away not realizing that it was also collectible. I at least was able to resell the poster and got a my money and a little extra back. Here is the shelf talker used in stores for the promotion with one of the forms from my collection.