One sentence review: All those one-ups have gone to his head, he's gettin' cocky.
Aug 20, 2008
TDJ - TERROR! Late "breaking" news...
As is custom with ToydeJour.com, we have experienced yet another tragedy. Late last night while trying to convince our fatter cat, Roary that pooping in the litter box is preferred over pooping on the rug at the front door, we started hearing a weird creaking noise coming from the wall along the couch.
Liz was sitting on the couch as I asked her to keep an eye (hand) on Roary to keep him in the litter box until he understood, while I went to the other side of the room to the bathroom to wash my hands. Standing at the sink I got a clear slow-motion shot of the shelf as it made a loud crackling noise and fell just to the right of Liz.
The shelf JUST missed taking Liz with it as it fell half on and half off of the opposite side of the couch where she wasn't sitting. I'm guessing that the weight of all the items I had on the shelf was just too much even with the drywall anchors that we had fastened in. Liz guessed that I had pissed off the Wall-Gods.
So of what fell, most everything just suffered dings and dents, EXCEPT for all of my G.I. Joe mini-busts which took the brunt of the fall. Headless Scarletts & Baronesses everywhere!
Needless to say, Roary will never poop in the litter box ever again. Thanks, Wall-Gods.
Liz was sitting on the couch as I asked her to keep an eye (hand) on Roary to keep him in the litter box until he understood, while I went to the other side of the room to the bathroom to wash my hands. Standing at the sink I got a clear slow-motion shot of the shelf as it made a loud crackling noise and fell just to the right of Liz.
The shelf JUST missed taking Liz with it as it fell half on and half off of the opposite side of the couch where she wasn't sitting. I'm guessing that the weight of all the items I had on the shelf was just too much even with the drywall anchors that we had fastened in. Liz guessed that I had pissed off the Wall-Gods.
So of what fell, most everything just suffered dings and dents, EXCEPT for all of my G.I. Joe mini-busts which took the brunt of the fall. Headless Scarletts & Baronesses everywhere!
Needless to say, Roary will never poop in the litter box ever again. Thanks, Wall-Gods.
Jul 17, 2008
TDJ011 - Totem Doppelgänger by Anton Ginzburg
I usually find myself the recipient of some pretty awesome toys, having many friends that not only like to relive some lost childhood memory by some random piece of plastic in our house, but also by those who get a kick out of feeding my obsession and seeing our collection grow to absurd amounts, knowing that one of these days, the walls of our place are going to give out and the neighborhood kids will riot.
But one of the best pieces of plastic that I can ever receive, is the giftcard. This year for Cinco de Mustache, Beanie gave me a giftcard for AOkay Official, one of the awesome vinyl toy shops here in Chicago. After three attempts (a couple where I couldn't decide, and one time forgetting my wallet) at spending the giftcard, I finally came across the tri-level ghost orgy known as Totem Doppelgänger. Giftcard spent, I headed back to the office to (play with these) work real hard.
The set is by artist Anton Ginzburg and they first made an appearance at the 1st Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art two years ago as a full size exhibit. Now, thanks to KidRobot, anyone that wants to, can have these lovable/creepy guys stacking up in their homes.
Recently having to deal with toy packaging, I'm really going to give props to KidRobot on this sleek and attractive box. It has a nice matte laminate finish with some spot gloss on certain things such as names and the picture of the ghosts on the side. The front of the box has three differently sized circle windows randomly paced so that you can see all three ghosts while in the package, but the different sizes almost makes you think that each ghost is a different size themselves. I also appreciate the simpleness of the design, it's not cluttered and I've actually taken to displaying the box, though empty, next to the toy(s) on the shelf.
The toys are hard to put down and tend to give me an urge to want to throw them. They're made of a plastic that's not too common in vinyl figures, or at least have a coating on them that help them stick to one another while in totem form. They also lend themselves to being confiscated by random jugglers.
As soon as I got these, it was pointed out that they should meet with some paint to make them into Inky, Blinky & Clyde. Not Pinky, she's a jerk. But I'd actually rather do them all the same blue, to represent the ghosts when they're running from PacMan. Though I'm sure that whatever coating is on these guys to make it easy to stick to one another, would make it very difficult to have spray paint adhesive to them. Rest easy, Totem, you're safe for now.
Once open at the office, it soon became obvious that if these little guys were given the opportunity to sit upon another toy's head, that they would be granted full mind control over that unsuspecting toy, turning them into vicious killing machines. Oh, poor Grimace bank, we hardly knew ye.
So now to me and those fortunate enough to live with me, they will constantly be sucking brains/mind controlling various other toys throughout the apartment.
Find Totem Doppelgänger for sale here and here.
Plastic/Material – 5/5
Poseability – 1/5
Packaging – 5/5
Design – 5/5
Playability – 4/5
Price (value) – 5/5
Overall – 4/5
But one of the best pieces of plastic that I can ever receive, is the giftcard. This year for Cinco de Mustache, Beanie gave me a giftcard for AOkay Official, one of the awesome vinyl toy shops here in Chicago. After three attempts (a couple where I couldn't decide, and one time forgetting my wallet) at spending the giftcard, I finally came across the tri-level ghost orgy known as Totem Doppelgänger. Giftcard spent, I headed back to the office to (play with these) work real hard.
The set is by artist Anton Ginzburg and they first made an appearance at the 1st Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art two years ago as a full size exhibit. Now, thanks to KidRobot, anyone that wants to, can have these lovable/creepy guys stacking up in their homes.
Recently having to deal with toy packaging, I'm really going to give props to KidRobot on this sleek and attractive box. It has a nice matte laminate finish with some spot gloss on certain things such as names and the picture of the ghosts on the side. The front of the box has three differently sized circle windows randomly paced so that you can see all three ghosts while in the package, but the different sizes almost makes you think that each ghost is a different size themselves. I also appreciate the simpleness of the design, it's not cluttered and I've actually taken to displaying the box, though empty, next to the toy(s) on the shelf.
The toys are hard to put down and tend to give me an urge to want to throw them. They're made of a plastic that's not too common in vinyl figures, or at least have a coating on them that help them stick to one another while in totem form. They also lend themselves to being confiscated by random jugglers.
As soon as I got these, it was pointed out that they should meet with some paint to make them into Inky, Blinky & Clyde. Not Pinky, she's a jerk. But I'd actually rather do them all the same blue, to represent the ghosts when they're running from PacMan. Though I'm sure that whatever coating is on these guys to make it easy to stick to one another, would make it very difficult to have spray paint adhesive to them. Rest easy, Totem, you're safe for now.
Once open at the office, it soon became obvious that if these little guys were given the opportunity to sit upon another toy's head, that they would be granted full mind control over that unsuspecting toy, turning them into vicious killing machines. Oh, poor Grimace bank, we hardly knew ye.
So now to me and those fortunate enough to live with me, they will constantly be sucking brains/mind controlling various other toys throughout the apartment.
Find Totem Doppelgänger for sale here and here.
______________________________________________________________
Liz: Have you ever woken up with three plastic ghosts stuck to your forehead?
Yeah, me neither.
Have you ever woken up with three plastic ghosts stuck to your forehead everyday for a week?
Hmmm.
Why do I have the sudden urge to buy Sam more G.I.Joes and wear bikinis when I do laundry?
Yeah, me neither.
Have you ever woken up with three plastic ghosts stuck to your forehead everyday for a week?
Hmmm.
Why do I have the sudden urge to buy Sam more G.I.Joes and wear bikinis when I do laundry?
______________________________________________________________
Plastic/Material – 5/5
Poseability – 1/5
Packaging – 5/5
Design – 5/5
Playability – 4/5
Price (value) – 5/5
Overall – 4/5
Jul 16, 2008
Daily Shot 014 - Junkyard (Toxic Crusaders)
One sentence review: Hideously deformed toy of super plastic size and strength.
Jul 10, 2008
Daily Shot 009 - Micronauts: Membros figure
(Daily shots now have) One sentence review: I like his hair, very Luke Duke.
Jun 21, 2008
TDJ010 - Aang & Appa by Fisher-Price
Okay well I've been out of commission for one reason or another, but I remembered that I had a few pictures ready for a review so I thought I'd post that one now. So the things going against this particular review are: only a few pictures, no camera for new pictures, 3 second video sort of showing the toy's function, limited internet ability and the toy is actually at my office so I don't even have it here to accurately describe. Let's do this.
I bought this for the big guy, Appa. He's some sort of six legged bison, that when you plug in the Aang figure will launch him into the air about 6 feet straight up. When you press the Aang figure down a sound chip is activated and he screams something about saving someone. I'm not familiar with the show that these guys are from, Avatar the Last Airbender, but it sounds pretty important that Aang gets there on the double. Here's a VERY short video of the sound he makes when plugged in.
Aang & Appa from Qeelocke on Vimeo.
Aang & Appa from Qeelocke on Vimeo.
I'd had my eye on this figure since it hit shelves about a year and a half to two years ago, but it's large size demanded a very high price tag. So I made note of any sort of price drops any time I saw it at Target or TRU. Eventually one day before a really bad Chinese food buffet experience with Liz and Sean, I spotted it at a Toys R Us on clearance for only ten dollars so I picked it up. I tried to stress to Liz and Sean how much I've wanted this guy by sitting down in the parking lot to open him before they got to the car. They thought that was hilarious I'm sure.
While googling for Aang & Appa I found this really cool image on DeviantArt by Wenzmaster. That has nothing to do with the toy, but I thought I'd share. I really don't care for the Aang figure, but I'm reluctant to toss it out just because of the launching feature. I don't have him displayed with Appa though, the saddle looks much cooler with other random figures in there, or with no figure at all.
Appa was an instant draw when I brought him in to work, everyone liked it's size and the fact that it made noise and shot out the Aang figure was a plus. I believe right now he's on my shelf with a Visionaries at the helm.
The box of course is huge to fit this guy in there. It's got a large window on the front that really helped draw me in when I'd pass it on the store shelf. The back shows how much fun kids will have by plugging Aang in and launching him from Appa. This is exactly 8 funs. And since I got this for 10 bucks on clearance from like 30 or so, I'd say I got the most fun for my buck.
As far as articulation goes, the back of the box boasts that Appa has poseable legs and head. So yes, those things do move, but I'm not sure exactly how "poseable" they actually are. The legs move forward about an 8th of a millimeter and the head can move side to side. So if Appa needs to look to the left just a tad before taking that very tiny step, he's got that covered. In the words of my friend Evan, "I just love it when a toy has articulation that serves no purpose what-so-ever."
There are wheels on the bottom of four of Appa's feet and between his legs is a removable battery cover. Appa takes four AA batteries that I feel are better utilized in Wii remotes since I don't plan on keeping the launching Aang figure displayed with him. But that also means that the random growling noise that Appa makes will also be lost until I'm sick of playing Mario Galaxy.
All in all I'm very pleased with this purchase and super glad that waiting for this to hit clearance finally paid off. I've played that game before and lost quite a few figures that I wish I would have paid full price for instead of missing it and having it disappear from stores, winding up only overpriced at toy shows.
I recommend picking him up if you like huge awesome hunks of plastic.
Find Aang & Appa for sale here and here.
Plastic/Material – 5/5
Poseability – 1/5
Packaging – 4/5
Design – 4/5
Playability – 3/5
Price (value) – 5/5 (based on the clearance price I got)
Overall – 4/5
While googling for Aang & Appa I found this really cool image on DeviantArt by Wenzmaster. That has nothing to do with the toy, but I thought I'd share. I really don't care for the Aang figure, but I'm reluctant to toss it out just because of the launching feature. I don't have him displayed with Appa though, the saddle looks much cooler with other random figures in there, or with no figure at all.
Appa was an instant draw when I brought him in to work, everyone liked it's size and the fact that it made noise and shot out the Aang figure was a plus. I believe right now he's on my shelf with a Visionaries at the helm.
The box of course is huge to fit this guy in there. It's got a large window on the front that really helped draw me in when I'd pass it on the store shelf. The back shows how much fun kids will have by plugging Aang in and launching him from Appa. This is exactly 8 funs. And since I got this for 10 bucks on clearance from like 30 or so, I'd say I got the most fun for my buck.
As far as articulation goes, the back of the box boasts that Appa has poseable legs and head. So yes, those things do move, but I'm not sure exactly how "poseable" they actually are. The legs move forward about an 8th of a millimeter and the head can move side to side. So if Appa needs to look to the left just a tad before taking that very tiny step, he's got that covered. In the words of my friend Evan, "I just love it when a toy has articulation that serves no purpose what-so-ever."
There are wheels on the bottom of four of Appa's feet and between his legs is a removable battery cover. Appa takes four AA batteries that I feel are better utilized in Wii remotes since I don't plan on keeping the launching Aang figure displayed with him. But that also means that the random growling noise that Appa makes will also be lost until I'm sick of playing Mario Galaxy.
All in all I'm very pleased with this purchase and super glad that waiting for this to hit clearance finally paid off. I've played that game before and lost quite a few figures that I wish I would have paid full price for instead of missing it and having it disappear from stores, winding up only overpriced at toy shows.
I recommend picking him up if you like huge awesome hunks of plastic.
Find Aang & Appa for sale here and here.
______________________________________________________________
Liz: (Is sleeping... I'm sure she'll edit this later.)
______________________________________________________________
Plastic/Material – 5/5
Poseability – 1/5
Packaging – 4/5
Design – 4/5
Playability – 3/5
Price (value) – 5/5 (based on the clearance price I got)
Overall – 4/5
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