The comic book I am most excited to read this week is... MLP/TRANSFORMERS II #1 (W) James Asmus, Sam Maggs (A) Jack Lawrence, Casey Coller (CA) Tony Fleecs While using a modified Space Bridge to bring magic to Cybertron, the Decepticons end up unleashing a more powerful evil from Equestria than they ever could've imagined-looks like the only way out of this one is to team up! More ponies, more bots, and more magical mayhem as two worlds collide in the return of this hit crossover event! SRP: $3.99 Synopsis Provided By: PreviewsWorld.com
This week, the comic book I am most excited to read is...
TRANSFORMERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE #1
(W) Cavan Scott (A/CA) Juan Samu
Great Scott! Marty McFly has just returned from the adventure of a lifetime to a new, better Hill Valley?-everything's looking up for him! That is, until Marty and his friend Doc Brown's time machine attracts the attention of the Decepticons! With one small mistake, Marty finds himself once again thrust into adventure to stop the Decepticon plot in the past, present, and future... all with the help of a new time machine... the Autobot, Gigawatt!
Last weekend my wife took two of our kids out to a neighborhood garage sale. She asked if I wanted to go and I said "No" since the last few times we went out they were a bust and I had some things to do around the house. Surprisingly my youngest daughter wanted to stay home too! I got nothing done around the house, but did get some quality daddy/daughter time in. When the fam got home, my wife told me of this one house that had a bunch of comics for sale. We went back the next day and I was able to get about 70 comics for $60 bucks. Not a bad deal. There were some cool old Marvel comics:
and a lot of 90s/early 2000s Image comics for sale. The guy said he collected back when he was in college and stopped once he got married. He needed to make some space in his home, so he was selling off his collection.
I grabbed some of those for my collection and kept looking. There were a few more independent books that I picked up too including more Transformers and my favorite 90s "Bad Girl" comic Shi.
But the real bargain I got was buying his collection of Witchblade comics. I was only interested in the first issue, but he would not let it go as a single sale. So I walked away with 47 of the first 50 issues of the series for $40. That's why my purchase was so inflated.
Overall, I am happy with what I picked up and knocked some things off my comic book wish list. I wish every time we went out to garage sales we could find cool stuff like this, but at least now I know my wife has my back and will alert me if another sale like this pops up in the future! Watch the video below to gain some knowledge on the Image comic "Witchblade"!
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
TRANSFORMERS/GHOSTBUSTERS
By now I sound like a broken record, but once
again there are no new releases hitting local comic shops this week due
to Covid-19, so I decided this would be a great time to catch up on
some books I have not read yet. This week I am going to pull back the
pages of IDW's Transformers/Ghostbusters crossover mini-series. I have been a little hesitant with these IDW crossovers. It seems they have become pretty formulaic. A portal to another dimension is opened up somehow, two awesome groups of heroes come together to defeat a big bad guy & then they return to their respective dimensions. I really hope this one is different. I love both of these 80's properties and would love to see something fresh and new. I guess it's time to find out! That's why I am excited to read these issues! Have you read this title yet? If
so, share your thoughts in the comments below. If not, what are you
reading now?
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
TRANSFORMERS/GHOSTBUSTERS #1
"GHOSTS OF CYBERTRON" PART 1! After years of civil war, the Autobots fled Cyberton, leaving their home planet in the evil clutches of Megatron and his Decepticons. Years later and millions of miles away, the Autobots pick up a Cybertronian distress signal from a mysterious planet called Earth. The ghostly signal shouldn't exist, and it'll bring Optimus Prime and his team-including brand-new Autobot ECTOTRON-face-to-face with... the GHOSTBUSTERS! Crossing the streams after 35 years! Written and illustrated by the long-time fan-favorite Ghostbusters creative team of Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, and Luis Antonio Delgado! Five action-packed interconnecting covers from series artist Dan Schoening! The series will also include covers from superstar artists like Nick Roche, Alex Milne, Paulina Ganucheau, Priscilla Tramontano, and more!
(W) Erik Burnham (A) Dan Schoening (CA) Nick Roche
In 1987 Hasbro released a line of action figures called Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. The figures were similar to G.I. Joes in articulation, but were slightly bigger in size. The biggest draw in my opinion though, was the inclusion of Hologram technology into each figure, weapon and vehicle created for this action figure line.
The toys were broken into two factions the Spectral Knights (good guys) and the Darkling Lords (bad guys). These two sides were granted special powers by the all-powerful magician Merklynn, not to be confused with his more successful cousin Merlyn.
As the legend goes, after each knight completed a competition consisting of traps, creatures and face to face combat, the knights were given their special Visionary powers! These magical powers gave the knights special abilities including the power to turn into their totem animal form! I never knew that!
Sounds pretty cool right? Well, I thought so. I did have the majority of these toys as a kid, but it wasn't until they were clearance for around $1 each at Kay-Bee Toys! My Mom was always on the lookout for great buys and these toys were a great buy! When Visionaries were released in 1987 the price point was a bit steeper than other toys on the rack due to the inclusion of all the Holograms on the figures. This may have partially led to the demise of this toy line. Another reason could have been the competition with other Hologram based lines like Supernaturals.
Obviously there were some set backs with this toy line, but once myself and my brother added these Magical Knights to our collection, they became a favorite. Like I said earlier, they were similar to G.I. Joe figures and like G.I. Joe the Visionaries had some sweet rides including the Capture Chariot and Sky Claw!
Even though the toyline failed and only 12 figures and 4 vehicles were produced, Hasbro put a lot of effort behind it. They had Marvel produce a 6 issue comic series...
and Sunbow Entertainment produced a 13 episode cartoon program. With these resources behind them Hasbro expected another smash hit on their hands. Unfortunately that never happened and the Visionaries faded into 80s toy obscurity. It's kinda sad, because these were actually some pretty great toys that I enjoyed as a kid. That's why I was so excited to hear that they were being resurrected by IDW publishing in the Transformers vs. Visionaries comic mini series!
I have read the first 2 issues and I have to say...Its actually pretty good. There are some unexpected twists and the Visionaries use there animal totem powers to fight each other over their new home on Cybertron! That's right the Visionaries are taking up residence in the home of the Transformers and some people are not happy about these circumstances. My only issue is that this series picks up where the IDW First Strike mini finished off, which I didn't read and left me confused in some parts. The comic does an okay job of recapping events and I can't wait to see where this one goes Hopefully the popularity of this mini-series will lead to an all new Visionaries ongoing comic by IDW? Only time will tell. I'm just glad to see this forgotten toy line back in the spotlight or should I say...Magical Light? Terrible, I know! Now enjoy a clip from the first episode of Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light!
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is... TRANSFORMERS VS VISIONARIES #2
Virulina, leader of the Darkling Lords, has discovered that the Transformers are vulnerable to magic-and now she's using that weakness to try and gain control of Cybertron and wipe them out! Leoric and Ironhide team up to stop her, but quickly find themselves facing not only the Darkling Lords, but all of New Prysmos itself!
Every family has their own Christmas traditions. Mine was no different than any other. Here are some of the things I remember from growing up that made the holidays so special!
Sibling Gift Exchange
First, I have to say that I grew up with 2 brothers and 2 sisters and each Christmas Eve evening my Mom and Dad would allow us to open one present from a sibling to hold us over until Christmas morning. I always picked the gift from my older brother. We were around the same age and liked the same things, so I was almost guaranteed to get something I liked. Myself on the other hand would buy gifts for my brothers and sisters at the school store. These "gifts" would include large jumbo erasers (Am I the only one who loved the smell of those things?), keychains and pencil sharpeners shaped like historical items.
In all honesty, I thought they were great gifts, I'm not too sure anyone else thought so though?
Opening Christmas Stockings
Every Christmas morning us kids were able to open the gifts that were in our stockings before our parents woke up. Looking back, I can see this as a brilliant idea from my parents. It allowed us kids to wake up early and it gave my parents some extra time to sleep while we played with our new toys that were stuffed in the stockings.
I remember one year getting an Al Toon Starting Lineup figure and some small Transformers that kept me and my brother busy for a while before we got prepped and ready to annoy our parents enough to wake up.
Early Morning Television
This really isn't a tradition in the classical sense, but every Christmas morning when we would wake up the TV would go on. It didn't matter what was on the tube, it was almost like a kid reflex. We only got 7 or 8 channels back in the day and most of the time the local stations just ran pre-recorded news programs.
The one I remember most were the "Shame on You" specials hosted by Arnold Diaz! I always loved watching that guy get kicked out of places after arguing with corrupt store owners. That sound is still the unofficial Christmas Carol of my childhood.
The Making of the Coffee
So after we opened our stocking gifts, but before we annoyed our parents to wake up so we could unwrap gifts, us kids had to make a pot of coffee for my parents. It was one of those things that had to be done so they would get out of bed and we could tear into the goodies under the tree. Finally the parents would be awake and we would go nuts with wrapping paper, ribbons and boxes flying everywhere across the living room. It was so great and I hope my kids have the same fantastic nostalgia of Christmas morning when they grow up. It truly is the best time of the year! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
What are some of your cherished childhood memories or traditions? Let us know in the comment section below and spread some holiday cheer!
This week the comic book I am most excited to read is...
FIRST STRIKE: A HASBRO COMIC BOOK EVENT #1
A Hasbro comic book event! As Earth joins the intergalactic community, a massive explosion threatens the peace! A new COBRA-led by the worst villains to ever tangle with G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and the Transformers-is invading Cybertron and only Scarlett, Optimus Prime, G.I. Joe and the Autobots can save two worlds!" An all-new explosive chapter in the Hasbro comic book line! Literally! There are explosions!
(W) Mairghread Scott, David Rodriguez (A) Max Dunbar (CA) Freddie Williams II
This time around my boy got to build a ship from the HALO series and my girls built a beach set from the American Girls line. Of course since we were already there, we had to look at all the awesome toys at the store. It's like that's what Toys R Us had in mind from the start? Those crafty bastards! I was surprised to see so many toy lines from my childhood still available on the shelves. Here's a few of the cool things I found:
Masters of the Universe: Mega Bloks Kubros ($14.99)
These things are brilliant. It's almost like you get to build your own action figure. I always look at these on the shelf and want to buy them, but I am a cheap man with 3 kids and always wait for a sale. The He-Man version of Kubros was on sale for $8.98 when we went. Maybe I'll grab it next pay day?
Transformers Fortress Maximus ($149.99)
WOW!!! I never thought I would ever see a Fortress Maximus in stores again! This thing was massive and a total status symbols for kids growing up in the 80s! If you had this, you were the man! For $150 though...I'll let someone else be the man.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Action Figures ($16.99)
My little brother was huge into Power Rangers. He had all the toys, collected the cards, played the games and of course watched every episode of the show. These brought back memories of watching this show with him and having epic battles in the living room as his Ninja Mega Zord would conquer my bad guys led by Goldar. If they had the White Ranger in stock, I may have to grab it for him as a gift. That was the elusive toy he never got. You might say the White Ranger is his White Whale! I know...terrible :(
I absolutely LOVE THESE! So much nostalgia is rushing through my head. I have picked up the original 4 Turtles, Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang and April in this line. I never had Super Mikey or Super Donatello as a kid. I will be adding these to my birthday wish list!
Madballs ($2.99 - $9.99)
I saved what is in my opinion, the best for last...MADBALLS!!! Months ago I had heard that Just Play Toys and Kid Robot were going to be putting out several different lines of Madballs. My sons favorite is Oculus Orbus and I was going nuts looking to find him one for Christmas. Well, maybe the Easter Bunny can drop one of these guys in his basket? I really like how there are different sets for different audiences. They have the classic versions based off the 80s toys. New revamped/updated versions, which my kids prefer and the Madballs Mini blind bags which are a cheaper way to get your nostalgia at $2.99 a pack.
Such a great commercial! That's it for now. Stay tuned for part 2 next week!
While flipping through the pages of the Classic "Thing" #30 from Marvel comics I noticed an advertisement for a toy I had never seen before.
These toys were the Morph-O-Droids! Morph-O-Droids were remote controlled transforming robots! That sounds AMAZING to me, but that's not all! They can walk, fire laser weapons and generally kick ass! I had to find out more about this toy line and figure out why a line of FREAKIN REMOTE CONTROLLED TRANSFORMERS failed?
In my search I found that these relics from 1985 could be found on e-bay from anywhere around $15 to $75. You can check the auction for Morph-O-Droid Poizen by clicking THIS LINK.
I couldn't find much more information than they were a toy line put out by Vector Intercontinental in 1985, there were a total of 9 vehicles produced and they sold for around $10.99 at KB TOYS.
That still doesn't explain why this toy line failed to grab a piece of the Transformers/Go Bots pie. Doesn't that sound delicious? My only guess is that the transformations were not that great and the cord was connected from the Morph-O-Droid to the controller. That was always a disappointment when you asked for a remote controlled car and got one of these instead!
I may have to take a look at those e-bay auctions again and see if I can buy a Morph-O-Droid and find out the truth for myself! In the meantime these other sites explored the mystery that is the Morph-O-Droids! If you feel like reading more about this toy line click the links below!
