Bloggin’ in the Toys Room?
"Life is far too important a thing to ever talk seriously about." – Oscar Wilde
Welcome to another bright, fresh, new day of GalacticBlogger. I pride myself on bringing you the news you didn’t know you could use, or something like that. Our format is in flux right now, so please stick with us, and we’ll keep putting new stuff up to help you get through your day. (That’s a shout-out to my friends, the Cube Rats out there, who are toiling away in their little boxes in gray/beige officeland. Hola!)
I’m caffeined up, as always, and ready to start babbling about Star Wars-y topics like…
With every new wave, as high-rez pixxages surface on the Internets, I make a point of compiling those pixxages and making a little cheat sheet for my friends and loved ones to carry around with them. This helps them identify what I’m looking for, and I scare them just enough that they will look for my stuff. I fax the cheat sheet to my father, sister, six nieces, and six nephews down in Florida. I give one to my dometic partner. I give them to my friends. They all look. It doesn’t necessarily help, but it doesn’t hurt either — except when they don’t find stuff. Then I hurt them. Oh, and go all Toy Nazi on them here and there; demand to see the cheat-sheets to make sure they aren’t just shredding them when you go away. Hunter’s Helpful Phrase: "The beatings end when I have new toys."
As an addendum to yesterday’s Hunter’s Helper, also note that Target does pay attention if you take those annoying little surveys that they attach to your receipt. If they’re doing in-store surveys, speak up quick. That means the suits are watching the numbers, and you’re representing a lot of Star Wars collectors — again, make sure to mention manufacturers, like Hasbro or LEGO. (Anyone else hate that they have those Wedding Registry kiosks, but they don’t have a machine where we can reserve our toys? I smell discrimination against toy geeks.)
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HUNTER’S HELOISE: Museum Gel is a gift from on high. A little dot of it under the feet of your figures, and they’ll stand tall on most any surface — no stand necessary. It’s clear, non-toxic, and it’s supposed to be safe for the most fragile of objets d’art, that’s French for "stuff", so it’s gotta be okeeday for some Star Wars figures, statues, busts, etc. It can be found on the Internets at various shops (here’s the obligatory Amazon link only $10.99) and it’s always in stock at The Container Store, which every collector should come to know and love. Don’t have a Container Store? They deliver via the Internets. I use it, and I’ve never had a problem. (Make sure to let it set before you hit it with some Duster Spray.) Please note that a little of this goes a long way. I’ve set about 300 figures with it, and I still have 1/3 of my tub left.
Obi-Wan Kenobi with Swamp Skeeto was due to be a ‘refresh’ piece to the mid-priced Beast Assortment (along with Qui-Gon Jinn and his Eopie mount) for late 1999/2000.
The beast is kitbashed from an Aliens beast, the Snake Alien. It has some new tooling to its mouth and tail, new wings, and new legs, so it’s not the, erm, same beast.
The basic idea is that it was one of the creatures (off camera) that chased Obi-Wan Kenobi through Naboo‘s dense swamps (presumably before he got his lightsaber wet and ruined it).
Obviously, it’s not a ‘movie’ piece. This is much more of a toy, like our beloved Mini Rigs of the past, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a cool toy. Snapping jaws? Flapping wings? Grabbing claws? Sign me up, STAT! (And give me a few of them there Eopies while you’re at it.)
As is often this case, sadly, this was not meant to be. Hasbro decided to move in a new direction with The Power of the Jedi line; highlighting more realistic sculpts and tremendous accuracy, this little beastie just wouldn’t fly.
Puppet ForceAvenue Q puppet designer Kanja Chen from Canadia has created two amazing custom Star Wars puppets of Darth Maul and Chewbacca. These are custom jobs, and we’re not likely to EVER see Star Wars puppets available for the masses, but it’s nice to dream. Check out Kanja Chen’s blog for more.
Adam May can be reached via AIM as Adam From GH, and suggestions, tips, tricks, or interesting Star Wars links are always welcomed.
July 6th, 2006 at 6:29 am
Svp le commentaire, ou eux continuera à me battre.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:33 am
Oh sure, show us stuff we can nevre have. Thanks alot! Actually it`s kinda neat to see things never produced. Although this one is one I wouldn`t have been too worried about. I`d have rather had the Rebel Tech deluxe pack that was never produced.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Unreleased toys make the Baby Jesus cry.
July 6th, 2006 at 7:50 am
Okay, as a puppeteer, I loved seeing the puppets. But I have to admit I’m relieved the "Skeeto" never saw the light of day. Although… I would have liked some of those Eopies. How about a re-release Hasbro!?
July 6th, 2006 at 7:59 am
Wow! Thanks "Hunter Heloise"! I’ve been searching high and lo for a product like Museum Gel. To date I’ve been using scrapbook gluedots — what a mess! I can’t wait to try some of this stuff out.Brian
July 6th, 2006 at 8:04 am
I wanna Kenobi with a baby Luke riding in on an Eopie….and the Lars playset and Beru/Owen younglings to go along with it….if only they could somehow give us the nice twin sunset lighting to go along with it….we can only dream!
Questions about the museum gel: first of all I live up here in Canada and don’t have Container Store stores (by your use of the French language I have to ask, are you too living north of the border? And if so do you know if it is easily available here? If not, well I guess I’m on my own.) Secondly, I noticed on the Container Store site that they have Museum Putty as well. Any advantages/disadvantages to using this alternate before I go out hunting for either?
Wow, day 2 and I already find this an excellent addition to the site. With the regular news items, Figure of the Day feature and the Image Bank this is fast becoming my most visited and favorite site of all time!
July 6th, 2006 at 8:17 am
Nope, I’m not a Canadian, I’m an Atlien (Atlanta, GA). I just throw weird phrases in to see who notices. (I don’t even speak French, and after four years of German, I barely speak that language either.) I’d probably recommend getting Museum Gel from Amazon — it’s the same price, but there are lots of other places out there that seem to sell it. Google is your friend. (Use the Froogle option on Google to find stores — it works.)
Now, Putty vs. Gel – I haven’t used the putty yet. The Museum Gel worked so well, and it’s so no-mess that I haven’t had the need to try the putty.
I don’t really think they’ll re-release the Eopie unless they do a "Battle Pack" for Tatooine. I encourage them like mad to re-release the Eopie, though. Hasbro is welcome to tap me to give them Battle Pack ideas any day.
July 6th, 2006 at 9:11 am
Great blog, I had never heard of Museum Gel…all those hours spent picking up figures like so many toppled dominoes. I also use a visual guide for my partner to help in the toy hunt. So much easier then trying to describe them. Keep up the good job!
July 6th, 2006 at 10:43 am
I too fill out those Target online surveys on the receipt, but only for a chance of getting that $500 gift card. TRU had a better one (I think it was on the phone), where you got $3 off.
Those puppets are very cool, and remind me of Crank Yankers.
July 6th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Musuem Gel…best invention since sliced bread!
July 6th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Wow, Museum Gel! I can already tell that no Imperial army would be complete with out it. I’m off to get some.