STAR WARS ATTACK OF THE CLONES: JANGO FETT'S SLAVE 1

Presenting Jango Fett's Slave 1 from the Star Wars Attack of the Clones franchise.

This is not to be confused with Boba Fett's Slave 1 which is more beat-up than this.

Slave 1 is actually unique in the Galaxy. It was one of six prototype Firespray 31 Attack and Patrol craft developed by Kuat Systems Engineering to serve as police vehicles for the asteroid prison Oovo IV.  Only six of them were made.

On a mission with Zam Wesell, Jango's ship, Jaster's Legacy, was destroyed. Acting on a tip, Jango found the six prototypes and stole one. On his way out of the hanger, he destroyed the other five.

He would later name the ship Slave 1 - rumor has it that the ship was named Slave 1 because.... well he stole it, so it was kinda like his first "Slave".

Like all Firesprays, Slave 1 lands on it's flat back and flies upright with the pilot standing. Boba would later modify the cockpit so that the pilot would always be upright regardless of the craft's orientation.

Since Jango's death, Slave 1 has been stolen, re-stolen, recovered, destroyed and even replaced. Slave 1 has been modified so much that even with the eventually release of Kuat's Firespray design into the market, it can hardly be called a Firespray anymore.

Beast Hunters Ultra Magnus

Presenting the Transformers Prime Beast Hunters Ultra Magnus.

He is not to be confused with the Transformers Prime Ultra Magnus which we reviewed back in October of last year - seems just like yesterday, oh how time flies.

Ultra Magnus: The hammer wielding leader of the Wreckers is back this time literally with a Hammer and his trademark huge shoulder pauldrons (Pads :) ).  Alpha Trion in the Ultra Magnus wiki describes him as: "Daring, strategically ingenious, and courageous to the point of recklessness, Ultra Magnus hammers back the Decepticon forces — literally"

In Transformers Prime, Ultra Magnus both commands and demands respect (the Autobots have to call him "Sir") and he is the second-in-command of Optimus Prime. He takes over leadership of the Autobots when Prime is "killed" following the destruction of the Omega Lock - which we talked about when we blogged about Dr. Wu's Sky Breaker / Star Saber. He leads the Autobots in a charge on Darkmount and nearly gets all of them killed as his ass is handed to him by Megatron. The timely revival and reconstruction of Optimus Prime through the efforts of Smokescreen saves them all.

After that, Ultra Magnus returns command of the Autobots to Optimus Prime and decides to takes the now defunct Forge of Solus Prime Hammer as his primary weapon declaring that the hammer should be put to "practical use".  Though even with the mighty Hammer, Ultra Magnus fails to take down Predaking.

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Remember that today is a great day to go out and buy toys..... for your Dad.

Artwork lifted from celebrate.shopartwine.com where you can score these really cool felt products.

Previously Un-Released M.A.S.K. Toy Made Available for Benefit Event.

Following the Devastating weather events of the past year, including Hurricane Sandy, Bill Faries, owner of M.A.S.K. action figure fansite Matt-Trakker.com has put together a benefit event to raise funds for those affected by the storms. He has collected an assortment of memorabilia signed by the voice actors from the original M.A.S.K. cartoon series to be donated and sold at a special benefit auction event.

Pieces include Cartoon Animation, Specially created Vector Art, and vintage M.A.S.K. Toys. They will be auctioned off as part of the TheBigToyAuction.com’s Spring ToySplosion Auction Event with 100% of the proceeds from those items being donated to the American Red Cross. As a special offer, all bidders winning one of the benefit items will also receive a never-before-released special edition M.A.S.K. figure (limit one figure per winning bidder).

Transformers Prime Star Saber - Dr Wu Skybreaker

Presenting the Dr Wu Skybreaker AKA the Transformers Prime Star Saber.

Now that I've stopped watching Game of Thrones, somehow a featuring an authority figure with a huge sword seems just right.

To the uninitiated, this is a 3rd party replica of the Transformers Prime series Star Saber - hence Dr Wu called it the Skybreaker instead. Dr Wu actually has another Star Saber replica made out of die-cast metal instead of the plastic that the Skybreaker uses. That sword resembles the sword used by Primus and actually bears the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from the aligned novels.

I don't have that one yet and that sword was destroyed. The Dr Wu Skybreaker / Transformers Prime Star Saber was ejected from Cybetron, found its way to Earth, embedded itself in a rock where unworthy Decepticons tried to pull it out. Chagrined, Megatron had the entire mountain with the rock that held the sword (The sword made the rock indestructible as well) using Nemesis (Trypticon). Unfortunately for him, Optimus Prime draws the sword and sends Megatron on the retreat after Prime uses the Skybreaker / Star Saber to kick Nemesis' ass.

Zanya, Daughter of Zartan

Presenting Zanya, the Daughter of Zartan. She's one of the 7 Dreadnoks that come in the GI Joe Exclusive Action Figure 7 Figure Dreadnok boxed set that also includes Road Big, Zanzibar, Gnawhyde, Burn Out and Zandar (The man who wears pink).

Hot ain't she? Here's the creepy part, I think she's technically 14 or 15 years old. Creepy.

Anyway to the uninitiated, remember the Cobra Mercenary Master of Disguise, Zartan - AKA the Leader of the Dreadmoks, Killer of the Hard Master (Which created the really cool Snake Eyes versus Storm Shadow scenario), and the person who shot Sepentor in the eye ending the Cobra Civil war.

Zanya, is his teenage Daughter.

RELEASE THE QUACKIN!!!!!!!

Release THE QUACKIN!!!! I don't really know who created this meme and released it on-line, but I do believe in the spirit of the joke AND the fact that society really should take the time to stop, remember what life was when they were young, and laugh. If this requires the release of a giant Rubber Duckie into the middle of HongKong Harbor, then so be it.... RELEASE THE QUACKIN!!!!

You have to admit that's a scary sight though. If I was on a boat, turned around and saw a giant rubber duckie bearing down on me, I'd crap my pants!!!!

GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk

Presenting the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk!

What we basically have here is light and fast troop carrying Bell UH-1 Iroquois married to a heavy lifting and slow Boeing CH-47 Chinook. Though I'm still of the opinion that had the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk been more popular after the Vietnam war, we would be looking at a far different design - albeit the UH-60 is only a medium lift vehicle and the GI Joe Eaglehawk is a heavy-lift vehicle.


To the uninitiated, the GI Joe Retaliation Eaglehawk is the 2013 upgrade to the 1986 released GI Joe Tomahawk. The GI Joe Tomahawk is an "all-weather, twin engine, twin-rotor heavy lift/assault as well as troop transit helicopter for the G.I. Joe team." (wiki) "it has a top speed of 175mph when fully loaded. Its turboshaft is fitted with heat/noise reduction and layered with bulletproof covering. 

While the differences between the GI Joe Tomahawk and the GI Joe Eaglehawk are largely cosmetic (Rotor detail, swivel gun detail, location of the winch wheel, etc...) - the biggest difference between the two is the ability of the Tomahawk to remove its seats - which is a nod to the Marvel Comics version of the Tomahawk which did not have any seats.

RPG Metanoia DVD

Presenting the RPG Metanoia DVD!!!! Finally!!!! Almost three years after this movie's release on the Big-Screen here in the Philippines I finally got a copy of the DVD. It was not easy to find - DESPITE THE FACT THAT ABS-CBN PRODUCED IT!!!!

Anyway I love this locally produced cartoon not just because I can relate with the world of Role Playing Games (RPGs) - all the way back to the days when it was played with paper and dice, not on video - but because it also provides a nice view into the modern Filipino Family and today's youth.

And of course - as with any Role Player - I'm particularly fond of "last stand" battles - which the movie provides a lot of. Watch this if you can get a copy and look for the last stands of Mang Ernie, Ahdonis and K'Mao.