Vault Review: Force Unleashed Shaak Ti
On a normal trip to Toys R Us, I usually cruise all the action figure isles. I like to know what’s out, even for the lines I don’t collect. It helps me keep up on the toy world for boys. The negative side of this is that I sometimes end up buying things that I wouldn’t normally pick up. Transformers, Star Wars, and much more obscure lines tend to make it onto my shelves for the simple fact that they looked cool or interesting while I was perusing the store. This is how I ended up with my latest purchase: Shaak Ti.
No, I’m not dead. Moving on...
I’ve been thinking about toy prices lately. Price is something important to all of us, but it’s not something we all agree on. I’ve been looking over some of the IAT crew’s recent purchases in regards to this season’s newest movie toys and wondering why they spend good money on some of the things they buy. I thought I’d get back on my soapbox for today and talk about my problems with action figure pricing.
On Tuesday, I reviewed one of the first Lego sets from the upcoming Toy Story 3. And, as I mentioned then, I wasn’t able to escape with just that one piece of movie merchandise. Lego and Mattel both had TS3 product on the shelf that day. I naively thought I could just look through the characters Mattel was offering. After all, I wasn’t planning on buying any. But that’s how they get you. Minutes later, I was handing over the cash for my new Seek ‘N’ Destroy Sparks. 
This is the week for Toy Story 3 toys. Don’t believe me? Check your local Toys R Us. Judging from area reports, most TRU’s got their initial shipments of Mattel and Lego toys for this upcoming movie. Sadly for my wallet, I was tempted by both. I have very mixed feelings over the Mattel toy, but you’ll have to come back Thursday for that review. Today’s review is Lego #7789 Lotso’s Dump Truck. As with other movie related toys, there may be some unintentional spoilers, so be warned.
Last year, Bandai’s Soul of Chogokin line produced a Big O figure. It is undoubtedly the best figure that Big O will ever get. The only downside was that it was very expensive and difficult to obtain for those outside Japan. But as a truly dedicated, or according to my girlfriend, an insane, Big O Fan, I had to have it. But I wasn’t done. Bandai also offered an exclusive accessories pack to the people who ordered their Big O figures through the Chogokin website. This made the accessory pack equally expensive and even harder to obtain for us non-Japanese citizens. Of course, I still had to have it.
In 1987, Hasbro imported Battle Beasts from Takara and a cult classic was born. As a kid, the idea of armored animals wearing fighting each other in a never ending duel of rock, paper, scissors was cool. Nearly, a quarter of a century later, Diamond Select Toys has resurrected Battle Beasts as Minimates. Before I get into the review, I wanted to thank Jason Hurley of 
Every once in a while, something odd happens. I’m compelled to buy a toy that I know nothing about. My friends might tell you that it’s not that odd an occurrence, but I promise it is. The reasons vary. First, she’s a robot girl. If you’re familiar with my reviews, you’ve probably noticed I’m a sucker for robot girls. Second, just from the solicit pictures, you could tell this figure had a cuteness about her. Sure there are a lot of good looking toys out there, especially from Japan, but Aegis had something most toys lack. Somehow, Figma was able to imbue this figure’s looks with a sense of personality.