Heavy Metal

In 1979, you could go buy your favourite Star Wars vehicles in die-cast from Kenner. Then, there weren't a whole lot of options, but today Hasbro brings back all the detail and collectibility of die-cast metal with its Titanium Series of toys!

Starting with Star Wars, Hasbro brings all of the best-loved characters, vehicles, and more to the world of die-cast metal collectibles. With Battlestar Galactica and Transformers new and old, there's fun for every sci-fi fan with Hasbro's Titanium Series.

Each collectible item has moving parts, display stands, and so much more. The AT-AT has moving legs and a snowy base, the Imperial Shuttle has wings that descend, and the Titanium Ultra Millennium Falcon has an entire crew of figures sculpted inside! Collect them all!

Did anyone call for a metal webslinger? Hasbro's highly successful Titanium brand now includes an assortment of die-cast metal action figures licensed from The House of Ideas.



Bringing heavy metal detailing to the world of Marvel's most famous characters, including: Spider-Man, Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus.

Oh! Mustn't forget to wish readers a happy and safe Hallowe'en!

Make Mine Marvel!

Things have been a little quiet around here! Aside from very flakey iDisk and BlogSpot servers precluding updates. I've been busy creating new banners for a client, Forbidden Planet International (see the Marvel Legends 468 x 60 banner) whilst, simultaneously, cutting my teeth on Adobe Photoshop CS2!

Forbidden Planet International know how important it is to have fun during Halloween, and they're going to help you have fun this Halloween! Featuring hand-picked costumes, collectibles, action figures, and gifts, FPI have the world's best items for everyone's favourite spooky holiday.

From the V for Vendetta Mask to the Halloween Michael Myers Head Knocker, there's something for everyone at Forbidden Planet International!

Torchwood Night

The first Doctor Who spin-off begins on UK television tonight. Torchwood, replete with sex, expletives and violence, spearheaded by Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman).

Captain Jack Harkness, the former Time Agent and con man from the 51st century last seen traveling with the Doctor, ventures to early 21st century Cardiff. There, he becomes a member of Torchwood Institute, a renegade criminal investigation group founded by Queen Victoria to battle hostile extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.

The premise sounds a lot like The X-Files, which was itself inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker.

Memory Lane

For several generations of Whovians, this time of year is synonymous with watching Doctor Who on television! And, with the changeable weather, there's no better time to buy digitally remastered adventures missing from your DVD collection!

Sendit.com has reduced the RRP £19.99 on selected titles to just £7.89 including:

Inferno
"If you break through the Earth's crust now you'll release forces you never dreamed existed!"

20th Century Earth. An unhinged scientist, Professor Stahlman, is attempting the first penetration of the Earth's crust in a top secret drilling project called Inferno. His purpose? To tap into a new energy source at the core. But at what cost? When the Doctor is called in with his companion Liz Shaw to oversee the project, he soon develops grave misgivings. Things begin to go very wrong when a mysterious green substance leaks from the drillhead. A substance which turns all who come into contact with it into alien primeval creatures called Primords.

Meanwhile, the Doctor finds himself transported into a parallel universe identical to 20th Century Earth. The mystery deepens as he finds that although the place, time and people are all the same, no-one seems to know who he is. Only one thing is certain: the drilling must be stopped before the full force of the energy from the core is unleashed, destroying not only this Earth but the one the Doctor has just left behind.

Genesis of the Daleks
The Doctor and his companions are transported back in time by the Time Lords who have decided that the Daleks need to be destroyed. The Doctor's mission is to change history so that they have never existed. Soon they are separated and The Doctor and Harry are captured by the evil Elite of the mad scientist Davros, who is working to perfect his Mark 3 travel machine: the Dalek.

The Hand of Fear
The TARDIS materialises in an English quarry where Sarah is involved in a rock fall. When she is rescued, she is clutching a stone hand, which takes control of her and forces her to take it into the core of a nuclear reactor. The Doctor (Tom Baker) arrives too late to stop the hand from regenerating into an alien lifeform known as Eldrad, who demands to be returned to her home planet of Kastria. The Doctor obliges, but all is not as it seems with Eldrad. This was Sarah Jane Smith's last adventure with the Doctor, although she later returned in 'K-9 and Company', 'The Five Doctors' and 'Downtime'.

Classics one and all.

Micro Heritage

They're more than meets the eye and the most popular Microman spin-off. All your favorite classic Transformers characters are back with toys inspired by the original run of Autobots and Decepticons.

Wave 1 includes Rodimus (red sports car, aka Hot Rod), Astrotrain (train/space shuttle), Bumblebee (yellow sports car), Starscream (grey and red fighter jet). (Subject to change.) Generation One is back with these exciting toys!

Young and bold, RODIMUS races headlong into danger, throwing caution – and his orders – to the wind. He dreams of heroic deeds and hopes one day to gain the recognition his actions deserve. Despite his inexperience, he is a talented fighter. In battle, he can often be seen racing at speeds up to 180 miles per hour, dodging explosions and laser blasts in an attempt to close on his objective.

ASTROTRAIN thrives on panic and fear. Though he is mainly used as a transport vehicle for moving warriors and supplies, he only truly feels at home pounding AUTOBOT warriors into scrap metal. His ionic displacer rifle can scramble AUTOBOT sensors, causing confusion in the enemy ranks, and his huge bulk casts a terrifying shadow across a battlefield. Those AUTOBOTS who survive a fight with ASTROTRAIN often need only hear the echoing boom of his engines in the distance to once again quake in fear. Awesome TRIPLE CHANGER figure converts from robot to space shuttle with retractable landing gear to train with attachable rifle and back again!

Small compared to most other TRANSFORMERS, BUMBLEBEE more than makes up for through his incredible bravery and willingness to go places larger robots won't. Capable of aerial and underwater missions, he is more versatile than many other AUTOBOTS. His eagerness to do his part leads him to above and beyond the call of duty, often placing him in grave danger. It is a testament to his skill that he has never been captured. Awesome robot-to-cruiser vehicle figure features a WAVE CRUSHER watercraft and trailer that convert to a jet pack!

Ruthless, cold-blooded, and capable, STARSCREAM makes no secret of the fact that he wants to replace MEGATRON as leader of the DECEPTICONS. The fastest flyer among the DECEPTICONS ranks and one of the most dangerous warriors ever to grace the skies of CYBERTRON, he is still something of a coward. He cares too much for his own skin to ever take the risks the overthrow of MEGATRON would require. Awesome robot-to-vehicle figure features twin null-ray cannons with firing projectiles in robot mode and flip-down landing gear in fighter jet mode!

Add these to Santa Claus' list or, even better still, pre-order from Forbidden Planet!

Friday the 13th

With Halloween only a few weeks away. Now is the ideal time to purchase the Cyberman Voice Changer Helmet, which is billed as one of this years "must-have" holiday toys according to BBC News.

A must for Doctor Who fans old and new!

This Voice Changer is a Replica Cyberhead at 1:1 scale which features speech, sound effects and lights.

It has three play buttons.
Button 1--Play Cyberman phrases with light up mouth.
Button 2--Change your voice into a Cyberman's for role playing with light up mouth.
Button 3--Cyber weapon sound effect.
Please note: Requires x3 AA Batteries Included
Manufacturer's recommended age 5+

Doctor Who Underground

BBC Worldwide announced today the appointment of Underground Toys Ltd. as the North American manufacturer and distributor for Doctor Who toy and collectible products, including the popular figure line from the UK’s award-winning Character Options Group. The deal was brokered by MOST MANAGEMENT, BBC’s North American licensing agency for the Doctor Who franchise.

Underground Toys will be bringing action figures, R/C figures, 12" collector dolls, clocks, watches, electronic gadgets, electronic keychains, diaries and more to market through their own distribution channels, direct-to-chain stores and through sub-distributors around the country. Underground Toys directly supplies specialty market retailers including Borders, Hot Topic and Spencer Gifts as well as independent retailers, comic book and hobby stores. Underground Toys will begin shipping initial products in time for the holidays, with a full roll out of the items in February 2007 at the International Toy Fair in New York.

Already a huge success in the UK, the Doctor Who toy line was the second highest-selling last Christmas in the UK and is expected to repeat its success this year. The line also won Best Licensed Toys and Games Award and the Innovation Award at the 2006 Licensing Awards.

“Underground Toys recognizes that there is a growing demand for Doctor Who products at retail in the USA and will be strongly pushing and supporting the brand into specialty retail,” said Robyn Morgan, Underground Toys' Licensing Manager. “We are focused on executing the merchandise program effectively in conjunction with the growing popularity of the new Doctor Who series."

“Underground toys has a wealth of experience and knowledge in the market along with an enthusiastic approach to the Doctor Who brand,” said Anna Hewitt, Head of International Licensing, BBC Worldwide. “We are thrilled that fans both new and old in North America will have a chance to purchase Doctor Who products.”

The first season of the new Doctor Who proved a huge success for SCI FI Channel, delivering an average of 1.5 million viewers each week. The second season began with a two-hour premier on September 29th, where over a million viewers tuned in to watch the new Doctor, David Tennant.

Doctor Who: The Complete First Series has become BBC Video’s best selling ‘Doctor Who’ DVD title ever in North America. The second series will arrive on DVD January 16, 2007, following the airing on SCI FI Channel this fall. In addition, over forty classic Doctor Who episodes are currently available on DVD through BBC Video, with new releases in the classics line releasing each quarter. A range of Doctor Who novels, featuring adventures from the new and classic Doctor Who series, is available through Diamond Book Distributors.

The Secret of the Sword

Yesterday morning a UPS package arrived sans import duty (close call)! The Best of She-Ra - Princess of Power, a strictly limited edition variant.

This limited DVD comes with all new art, from the back of the packaging to the interior packaging scenes.

The cover you see is an homage to the classic Secret of the Sword theatrical promo art, and the spine features the Secret of the Sword logo.

It also comes with its own two unique artcards, featuring the art of fan-favorite illustrators Nathan Baertsch and Emiliano Santalucia. These art cards will not be available in any other release!

Plus, each DVD is individually numbered on the back making every copy one-of-a-kind!

The DVD discs are the same as those in the regular Best of She-Ra DVD in stores now, so you won't miss out on any DVD content with this variant. Those disc features are:

*The Secret of the Sword theatrical film feature
*Five of the five best episodes of the series, as voted on by fans
*A brand new documentary featurette with a variety of talent involved in the making of the original animated series, including the creators, producers, writers, voice over actors, animators and others working behind the scenes
*Feature length audio commentary with Lou Scheimer, Larry DiTillio, Gwen Wetzler and Alan Oppenheimer
*“I Have the Power” music video featurette with new storyboard comparison and new sheet music sing-a-long
*Trivia/Fun facts
*DVD-ROM – scripts for all 5 episodes
*Easter Eggs
*Spanish Language Audio Track

Much obliged to He-Man.org for producing this very rare variant, which will only increase in resale value.

By the Power of Podcasting!

I urge fellow Masters of the Universe fans to subscribe to the excellent Masters Cast. The following podcast description is taken from their site:

Masters Cast is the first He-Man and She-Ra podcast. This podcast is made available free for fans by fans. We cover all of the hot topics and news relating to He-Man and She-Ra. Plus, we have interviewed key players in Masters of the Universe such as Filmation co-founder Lou Scheimer, voice actress Erika Scheimer, and writer and She-Ra co-creator Larry DiTillio.

What are you waiting for? Subscribe (iTunes link).