Toy Review: Sergaent Kup (Transformers Generations)

Given the previews I had seen of this year's toys, I was expecting 2011 to be a year for Star Wars and Masters of the Universe Classics. But the Star Wars wave that might have lured me back, namely the ROTJ Vintage Collection with Admiral Ackbar and Gammorean Guard, was a no-show in my local stores. And the debacle I went through to get Grizzlor (along with my growing indifference for the line) pretty much killed MOTUC for me. That leaves a big void that's just waiting to be filled by some toy property. Maybe Transformers will be that property. I've been really impressed with the line recently, especially the Generations subline with its interesting take on classic characters like this Sergeant Kup.

Toy Pix: Infection 2.0 Pheyden, Govurom, Soldier Beetle

The latest Infection wave from TBG Customs featured our favorite Glyos heroes and villains infected by a gruesome agent that horrifically transforms them into intergalactic spiders! These heads are near and dear to me because I feel like I was part of the design process. For the Infection 2.0/Kabuto Mushi triptych, I wanted to explore the process of how the Infection spread through the Pheydens, so I came up with a few quick sketches of a Pheyden midway through the transformation. Marty ran with the idea and sculpted these awesome heads depicting half-transformed versions of not only Pheyden but also other Glyos heroes and villains.

Toy Pix: Star Wars Klaatu, Then and Now

I loved the aliens of Jabba's Palace as a kid. That weird hodge-podge of alien designs was my favorite thing about Return of the Jedi. Back then, I thought of Klaatu as one of the "hero" aliens, i.e. an alien that was actively involved in the scenes, like the Gammorean Guard. That's not really the case though. He didn't do much of anything other than get pwned by Luke on the Sail Barge. Still, I remember Klaatu was featured in a lot of the merchandising so he's an important aspect of ROTJ to me.

Toy Pix: Gold Clawshine 2.0

I've been drooling over the Clawshine 2.0 figures for the past few months. Sure, I already have a couple of Clawshines from the first wave, but two is just not enough. Not to mention the fact that the 2.0 wave includes a super awesome gold-painted figure. Fortunately, Marty hooked me up with one as a bonus for my work on the Infection 2.0 wave, as you can see above. Click through to check out a couple more shots!

Toy Tribute: Beverly Crusher

Dr. Crusher seemed like one of the most underutilized characters in the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That's not really the case, though: her function as Chief Medical Officer meant that she was often involved in the plot in one way or another, and she was featured prominently in plenty of great episodes, like Cause and Effect. I guess the real problem is that I would have liked to see more of a romantic connection between Beverly and Picard, such as the one that was exposed and summarily obliterated in the Season 7 episode, Attached. Let's see how Playmates handled the character in 4.5" plastic form (in order of appearance on the show, of course).

MSPaint TMNT, Wolverine, Batman, and He-Man by Jason Inge

My friend Jason has been playing around recently with the artistic capabilities of MSPaint. I've always thought it to be such a simplistic program that there's no way that you could do anything interesting with it, but Jason proved me wrong! Click through to check out his surprisingly awesome MSPainted TMNT, Batman, Wolverine, and He-Man!