Transformers (Generation One) Wheeljack Clip n Sip

Professor blog: 000019 Subject: Wheeljack Brand of product: Clip n Sip

Today we are going to look at one of the more crazy creations that Transformers ever made. When we think of Transformers, we usually think of the neat little cars that turn into robots. Did you ever think of some of the odder things in existence? The subject for today is actually the Wheeljack Clip n Sip. Now this toy is a little rarer than most Transformers but your average collector does not collect them. He is literally a tiny wheeljack that clips on to a straw. He is there for sentimental reasons I guess.

Now this thing is actually pretty cool for what he is. He came out in 1984 and was literally packaged with a regular straw. Now the one that I have is a tiny bit smoke damaged but is in great shape other wise. I included shots of the package to show people what they would normally look like. Now these were gimmick toys that came along with the launch of the Transformers show / toys. There was a total of two different ones. They are Optimus Prime, Wheejack, Now the most common ones are the clip on ones and the stamps. These were not nearly as popular but still awesome. If you check around on sites like shmax.com, there is barely any information about them. So their true origin is unknown but we can assume they are simply merchandise for the cartoon release.

If you are looking for odd things to have in your collection, these are perfect. I love my little wheeljack. There is no pose-ability but it is still a great piece. I posted a picture of him next to Master Piece Prowl to give the audience an idea on scale. These normally retail for a few dollars so it’s a good idea to look into it for the sake of Transformers! I borrowed the pictures of the two unopen ones from ebay.com.

Background of the toy: This particular Wheeljack came to me from a recent Craigslist buy. He arrived into my collection in December 2013. He has no breaks or chips and his paint is a little smoke damaged. He only comes with a regular straw so its easily replaceable. He is mostly the proper color and the stickers are slightly faded.

History Lesson 101- Japanese 12" G. I. Joes (Combat Joes)

History Lession 101- Japanese 12" G. I. Joes (Combat Joe)

Japan had a series of 12” G. I. Joes running from the 1970s-1990s. This particular series was titled “Combat Joes.” Now Japan had a very intriguing concept compared to their Western counterparts. In the West, they focused on themes of violence or adventure where Japan did some commissioning. Combat Joes had a huge variety of characters you would have never noticed unless you were into Japanese animation / anime.

Now a good chunk of these characters came from the studio Tatsunoko. Most people do not realize that they already know Tatsunoko, even with little experience with Japan. Tatsunoko is the company that brought us: Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, Polomar, Casshen, Karas, etc. It is actually one of Japan’s most famous animation studios and they celebrated their 50th anniversary recently.

The company that licensed G. I. Joe in Japan, just so happens to be Takara. They were making anime based characters from the late 1970s-the mid 1990s. This being the case, it brings up the whole, “did Hasbro notice Takara because of Transformers” argument. In reality, Hasbro already had dealings with them in their G. I. Joe line, so it was pretty logical that they would use that connection to start a new franchise, which became Transformers.

Now Combat Joe did make other Joes besides the Tatsunoko anime characters. They made a Godzilla suit guy too! He is a 12” joe that fits inside of a Godzilla costume. Now they had two different versions of this toy but I only included one. It is a beautiful toy and comes with a nice decorated box too. They also made a miniature sports line up too with anime like faces. They had a baseball Combat Joe for instance as well as a boxer. Now these sports were extremely popular in Japan and sold like hot cakes.

We hope you enjoyed your view into the history of G. I. Joe! Come back again for another history lesson some time.

Signed: The Professor

Transformers (Beast Wars: Fox Kids) Dinobot 1999

Professor blog: 000018 Subject: Dinobot Brand of product: Beast Wars: Fox Kids Original Release year: 1999

We all know Dinobot is one of the most popular characters from the Beast Wars cartoon. That is clear from him surviving in his regular beast form for half the run of the series. He is a great character in the series and his toy is pretty decent for what it is. This particular Dinobot is a repaint of the original toy. It is branded as the “Fox Kids” repaint. The reasoning behind this is that in 1999 Fox Kids was broadcasting Beast Wars and the new Beast Machines cartoons in their time slots. They also had a reissue of toys made for just them. Now the toys were painted different colors so they are considered new toys from the old ones.

Now this Dinobot is exactly the same as the older one except for the color choices. He tends to stand out more and does not have any technical differences. Now this toy is great if you never had a Dinobot before but if you already own him, it is exactly the same. If you want to own the complete run of the Beast Wars toys, then this bad boy is a must get. And since most collectors do not want to own a reissue, he is fairly cheap! I picked mine up for less than $10.00 complete without instructions or tech specs.

The only things that I do not like about the Dinobot mold are the lack of proper hands and the face mask. The toy still looks great with the mask but it is terrible trying to get it open. The hands are annoying but something you can expect. If you watch the cartoon, you clearly see him use his hands in that hilarious style. Now this toy has plenty of pose ability when he is in robot mode but that diminishes greatly when he is in beast form. He can wiggle the arms, open his mouth and move his legs but technically he is just a trophy toy. Out of all the beast wars toys, this one is lower on the design scale than some of the other great ones like Ravage, Spitter, etc. If you already have a Dinobot, don’t feel pressured to get this guy but if you don’t, pick him up while he is still cheap. He is great for holding key chains in that mouth!

Background of the toy: This particular Dinobot came to me in the mail from Transformerland.com. He arrived into my collection in January 2013. He has no breaks or chips and his paint looks amazing. He is complete and has all his weapons. He is the proper color and has no damage.

G. I. Joe (G. I. Joe Collector's Club: Figure Subscription Service) Black Out 2013

Professor blog: 000017 Subject: Black Out Brand of product: G. I. Joe Collector’s Club: Figure Subscription Service Original Release year: 2013

Now lets be frank. I hate this toy. He was cool for a mystery toy but when I sat down and actually looked at him. I found so many flaws in him. The first major thing that I was disappointed in was the little bullet they provided. This is the same bullet that came with Pursuit of Cobra Low Light. I put a penny next to it so you can see scale. What do you think the chances are of you losing that? If you remove it from the case, you might as well kiss that little guy good bye. The case is the easiest way to keep him in one spot. Now the next thing I hated is the sniper rifle. You actually need to try to get his hands into the holes on that. I fought my toy and almost broke it so I gave up and took a picture of it. That gun was not designed to be held in anyway it seems and having it come with a toy that is designed as a sniper is pretty low. The next thing we are looking at is that hideous art work. Now the art work for the Figure Subscription line was pretty good but this guy looks like a Muppet. It is a shame that they actually let that get produced.

I will not try and butcher this little guy anymore. He does have a few perks. He comes with some cool gear for a sniper. He has the tripod and scope for aiming, goggles, a stand, a case of bullets, and his rifle that he can’t hold. He also has a neat character design. He looks pretty cool next to his fellow Cobras. Now the funniest thing about him is that he has a crazy resemblance to Will Ferrell. I am assuming this was unintentional since Will Ferrell did not endorse the toy himself.

I would recommend this toy and not recommend this toy. He is great for collectors who want to complete their Cobra armies. He is bad for people who just want to own him. There is an extremely high chance of losing pieces and his card art is hideous. He looks good posed on a shelf so it is your call. I am happy I got him for free with my subscription but I would not recommend paying top dollar for him. Try to get him for as cheap as possible!

Background of the toy: This particular Black Out came to me in the mail as a part of the G. I. Joe Collector’s Club Figure Subscription Service. He arrived into my collection in June 2013. He has no breaks or chips and his paint looks amazing. He is complete and has all his weapons and the instructions. He is the proper color and has no damage. He originally came with Barrel Roll and T.N.T. and was considered the 13th bonus figure for subscribing.

Transformers (Generation One) Dead End 1986

Professor blog: 000016 Subject: Dead End Brand of product: Transformers (Generation One) Original Release year: 1986

And we are back with a Transformer’s (Generation One) review! I decided to do this one about a combiner. The combiner I chose to start off is Dead End himself. The good ole depressed Dead End from the 1984 cartoon series. Now this guy was one of my favorites in the show but his toy looks nothing like him. I inserted a picture of his cartoon self so everyone can see what I am talking about. I borrowed the image from Google.

Now the combiner toys were more simplistic than the other Transformers (at the time) because of them being able to combine into a bigger robot as their main gimmick. Dead End is one of the pieces to the dreaded Menasor robot. He was packaged individually and the other members were Drag Strip, Motormaster, Wild Rider and Breakdown. Now he did not come with any of the parts needed to make Menasor like the arms, feet, etc. All of those pieces came with Motormaster. The only things Dead End came with were his little gun and two pieces of his car cannon thing. He has the famous transformers rub / heat sensitive sticker on his hood too.

This toy is o.k. but it is pretty boring without the other pieces to the combiner. He can barely move his arms and his legs are fixed in one spot. When you combine him and his counterparts, you can either make him an arm or a leg. If you choose the arm, his head lowers to form a perfect ninety degree angle. This makes it to where he could attach to Motormaster and make up one of the arms. On his original card, you can see a picture of Menasor with Dead End being the left arm. One piece of advice I can give you is to not lose his little gun. That is actually the most expensive part of this toy. I do not recommend this toy UNLESS you are trying to complete Menasor. He is pretty much an ornament unless he is combined. He has little play value unless he is in vehicle mode.

Background of the toy: This particular Dead End came to me from a Craigslist seller in Metairie, Louisiana. He arrived into my collection in November 2013. He has no breaks or chips and his paint looks amazing. He is complete and has all his weapons and the instructions. He is the proper color and has no damage. He even has his original stickers applied!

Interview with SnowSerpant11 from Hisstank.com

1) Greetings. Can I ask your name, for formality reasons and where you are from? Yes of course! My name is Christian Nowzari; I was born in Iran, moved to France after the revolution and have been living in Canada since my early teenage-hood.

2) What is your best life moment with G. I. Joe? I have had many wonderful GI Joe moments in my life: playing with them, watching the cartoons, trading with friends. Now, its really about making new friends and sharing our passion!

3) What do you do for a living and what do you like to collect? I am a Test Coordinator for one of the major Canadian banks in Toronto. Basically, we test the codes deployed on our phone systems (IVR) and agent desktops. It’s actually quite an exciting career field of work! Coming from a military background, I have always been fascinated by history and the military. As a child, I always played with some sort of military figures (12 inch GI Joe, Playmobil, Star Wars, batteries from old toys I would file in ranks, model figures I would paint) but the GI Joe line is the only one I ever collected!

4) What G. I. Joe in your collection do you love the most and why? I have many characters I like but if I were to name jut one, I would say Serpentor/General Rey for being good and frontline leadership. Flint would fall in the second place for the same reason and Firefly for just being a badass and cool!

5) Name the one G. I. Joe in your collection that you would consider the rarest and tell us a little about it. I am not one to care about the rarity of a figure but the cancelled Blue Resolute Baroness which I have “improved” is one that could fall into that category.

6) What is your favorite part about this hobby and least favorite? Haha! I think for those of us who customize, that is the aspect which we enjoy the most and find most exhausting at the same time.

7) Is there anything special you would like to tell your fellow Joe fans? Yes, funny you ask! I have been secretly working on a project for our collector community with my friends at Greatbeard.com. It is now ready and I am proud to introduce it now. I am naming it the “King Cobra Command Chair” and it is a throne for your 3¾ - 4 inch action figures. Take a look at my thread: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/genera...ml#post4609537 I hope people will like it as we really worked hard at it! Thank you for the interview and hope to meet some of you at this year’s GI Joe Convention in Texas!

G. I. Joe / Funskool Metalhead 2003

Professor blog: 000015 Subject: Metalhead Brand of product: G. I. Joe (Funksool) India Original Release year: 2003

This is a figure that only came out in the country of India. You are looking at Metalhead from the Funskool toy line. Funskool was licensed to make G. I. Joes in India and they did a very… interesting job. Colors that you would never paint your walls ended up on some of our favorite toys! Since these figures are from a different country and tracing down parts would be a little hard / impossible for most, I have decided to review them without them.

Now Metalhead is a popular character and got imported to India. They decided to change his main colors to black and orange. One of the best parts about Funskool joes is that they did such a terrible job on painting their toys that it adds character to everyone! I love my Funskool joes and sadly it is really hard to complete the set. India has some of the rarest joes ever made. We are glad to announce that Metalhead is not one of them!

Now if you look up the India Metalhead on yojoe.com you will get this: http://www.yojoe.com/action/int/india/metalhead.shtml . As you can tell, they gave the most ridiculous weapons to the India joes. Metalhead actually came with paint / grenade mix… It is the most interesting toy set up to this date in my book. He is such a goofy toy. If you are into international toys, give old Metalhead a shot!

Background of the toy: This particular Metalhead came to me from an Ebay seller in India itself. He arrived into my collection in May 2013. He has no breaks or chips and his paint looks amazing. He is missing all his weapons and the instructions. He is the proper color and has no damage.