The Wonder Pets

The Wonder Pets is another kid TV show that my son loves. It originally aired on Nickelodeon network and features a guinea pig named Linny, Ming-Ming the duck and Tuck the turtle. They are three elementary school classroom pets who are actually heroes that rescues baby animals throughout the world.

The "photo-puppetry" animation created for the show is actually pretty cool and it is a presentation of mixed media. Fisher Price released the first "toys" in 2008. These aren't the greatest looking figures but my son loves them.

Little Einsteins

My son got into superheroes, sci-fi and monsters at such a young age that sometimes its as if I forget that kids of his age are into Dora the Explorer and Go! Diego! Go!

While from time to time he still ask to watch some of these shows, I have to admit that it rarely happens. But one show that has stuck is Little Einsteins. This educational preschool series from Playhouse Disney is very well made and get children into art such as famous paintings, classical music and more.

The series features four cute and intelligent characters such as Leo, June, Annie and Quincy. I have to admit that these were hard to find here but I ended up getting all of them.

Ben 10

Here's the last batch of Ben 10 action figures we own. Hopefully we'll have more soon.

On the far left is Big Chill, he's one of my son favorite. He is also one of the very few to have been in the last live action film version of the series. Nanomech was also in that film and while he is cool looking he doesn't do much. Jetray is one of my personal favorite. He has super speed and shoots neuroshock blasts from his eyes and tail.

Next are three baddies which I unfortunately don't remember their names.

Ben 10

Here's more Ben 10 figures we own. First of all on the left is the ultra cool and fast XLR8. He was one of the very first character my son got into. Next is Goop, another very cool and colorful character. He is the one we use most of the time when playing Ben 10 on the Nintendo DS. And on the right is Swampfire who was introduced during the Ben 10 Alien Force series.

On the left is Spidermonkey, he's a total nut and my son loves him! Humongousaur isn't the greatest but is one of the strongest. And finally on the right is Brainstorm. Most figures also come with a collectible card.

Ben 10

Ben 10 is an animated series about a boy who finds a watch that allows him to transform himself into alien creatures. It is probably my son's favorite TV show. Unfortunately, most action figures are rare to find and go for way too much on sites like Amazon and Ebay. We still managed to find some from time to time, here's some of them...

On this first picture, which is a little blurry and sorry about it, we have Kevin Levin on the left and Ben Tennyson and the right. They used to be enemies in the original series but now they are friends and along with Ben's cousin Gwen, they form a powerful trio against evil extraterrestrial beings.

Next are two aliens from the original ten that Ben was able to transform into. Diamonhead and Heatblast. These are 6" figures we found at the Montreal ToyCon last year.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers

We've mentioned before our love for the Bakugan Battle Brawlers. Its a cool TV show that features some very colorful characters battling with cards and magnetic spheres that can transform themselves into powerful warriors.

We own only a few Bakugan Battle Brawlers action figures but we do plan on getting more in the future. On the left is Preyas, this is Marucho's Bakugan. The little boy who actually look like a girl obtained Preyas when it crashed his house party.

Next his the cute Runo. A tomboy who is not your typical pre-teen girl. She loves playing Bakugan with the boys. Her Bakugan is Tigrerra (far right). The beast is willing to defend Runo with incredible ferocity.

Lego

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about Isaac and I going to the flea market with a friend and his son and just how crazy both father were?! No? Good! HAhahAHhHA! Anyway, that day my friend Frank and his son Nolan gave Isaac two Lego figures; Indiana Jones and Robin.

My son just recently got into Indiana Jones but we had been searching everywhere for Lego Batman but without any luck. But now we do!

Tonka's Steel Monsters

One of my favorite movie of all time is the sequel to Mad Max, The Road Warrior. Saw it in theater and on Betamax multiple times as a kid. Not too long ago, my son asked me to see it and not surprisingly he loved it.

As a kid there was no action figures based on these films. The next best thing was the Steel Monsters vehicules and figures released by Tonka between 1986 and 1987. Each vehicule included one action figure while some figures were also sold on individual cards. Although not official, it is clear that these were heavily inspired by The Road Warrior film.

The two action figures we have left is the awesome Metal Face and Wheel Boss. I am now off to Ebay to find more...

Star Wars

While we are talking about lightsabers, here are the two others swords we own. I am not sure but I think that this first one belongs to Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars.

This other one has a red "lazer" but doesn't look like the one Darth Vader had in the first film. And finally here's a picture of all the lightsabers we currently own... and it is far from over!

Flea Market Hunting: Star Wars

One of the coolest element of the entire Star Wars universe are the lightsabers. An elegant weapon and a symbol as well. The weapon itself consisted of a blade of pure plasma energy emitted from the hilt and suspended in a force  containment field.

Here are two lightsabers we found at the flea market. Both for only $5. As far as I can tell this first one belongs to Luke Skywalker after Obi-Wan gives it to him in the original 1977 classic Star Wars. It has a blue blade.

This other one belongs to the evil Lord Darth Vader. What we later found out is that unlike the other one this one has a light it in and actually illuminates itself! During the night it is extremely cool!

And here is a picture of my son and I battling it out "on" planet Mustafar, the fiery world where lava is mined like a precious natural resource. And it happens to be the very same place that Obi-Wan faced Anakin a long, long time ago...

Flea Market Hunting: Batman

As you all probably noticed, my son and I are addicted to Batman and its incredible universe. I think we can say he is one of our favorite if not our definitive favorite superhero! One character we unlocked in our Lego Batman game for the Nintendo DS is Azrael. Who is this my son asked?

For comic fans of the Batman in the 1990s you probably remember Azrael. He was intended to be part of a program to actually replace Batman if anything happened to Gotham City hero. And bad things happened as Bane broke Batman's back (if I remember correctly!).

Anyway, we've been trying to find a Azrael action figure and finally did. It is sadly far from complete as it is missing its wings and accessories. This was released by Kenner as part of their Legends of Batman collection.

Flea Market Hunting: Star Wars

We got a couple of new Star Wars figures from our last flea market hunting. First of all is that rather tall blue alien that created the clone troopers on planet Kamino. There is also Obi-Wan's friends who works as a cook who tells him about Kamino. Prince Xizor from the Shadow of the Empire comic book.

We also got our third Jawa (there is never enough of them!) and young Boba Fett's friend during The Clone Wars, Aurra Sing. Overall some cool finds for pretty cheap!

Flea Market Hunting: Star Wars

During my son and I last trip at the flea market we found a couple of cool things. As you know, we both are big fans of Lego and especially their Star Wars collection. Unfortunately, most are way overpriced in the used market so if you didn't get them while they were originally sold... forget it!

Well for only 50 cents we got the next "best thing". A very cool Jabba the Hutt keychain figure (I broke the chain) who's a perfect match for the height of our Lego figures. Let me just say that my son loves the idea since he's been asking for a Lego Jabba the Hutt for sometime now.

Transformers

Another Transformers my son got from his uncle is a big cargo plane from the Transformers Revenge of the Fallen film. I'm not sure but I think his name is Stratosphere. It comes with a small Optimus Prime mini-figure. Its a cool looking Autobots, which thankfully is much easier to transform then BumbleBee.

Transformers

More than meets the eyes!

Most of you might have noticed that we never talked about the Transformers before. The reason why? My son and simply aren't big fans of either the original collection/toon or the new ones (and those Michael Bay movies didn't help either).

Still my son got some Transformers from his uncle (who loves cars). The first one he got was Bumblebee. I have to admit that it is nicely done and looks good but I don't remember the Transformers being so hard to transform!

Sorry Hasbro but aren't the Transformers toys for kids? I don't think my son will ever be able to actually transform it from car to robot or vice versa... not anytime soon anyway!

Cinema of Fear

Months ago I got on Ebay a very cool Mez-Itz Cinema of Fear 3-pack of some of the most popular characters in horror cinema history. Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th films, Freddy Krueger from the A Nightmare on Elm Street films and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre films.

These rather small, cartoonish yet extremely detailed action figures have become my son's favorite! Yes, my soon to be four years old son loves them! And no I don't see anything wrong with it. Most of the time we play with them they end up slashing and slicing other figures!

Vintage Star Wars

For the past days I have been talking about all of the cool vintage 12" Star Wars figures I got on Ebay which were originally released in 1978-79 from Kenner. Here's all of them for a group shot.

Without a doubt, my son's favorite are both Darth Vader and Boba Fett.

And finally here's the original Kenner catalogue spread of the 12" collection!

Vintage Star Wars

The last of the vintage 12" Star Wars collection figures released in 1978 I got on Ebay was a Jawa. Since every figures of this collection are in scale one with the other, the Jawa is about 8" tall.

Unfortunately the figure was far from complete and missing all of his accessories but for the price I paid I won't complain. But for my son it doesn't matter as he loves the Jawas and he was so happy to see that I got him one.

Vintage Star Wars

Another figure we got from the original 1978 12" Star Wars collection is Chewbacca! Just like me, my son loves Chewie. He is one of the coolest character of the original trilogy. I seriously never met anyone who doesn't like that Wookie!

The Chewbacca figure is the tallest of them all, 16" high! It is BIG! It is not the most detailed figure of the collection and its articulation are rather limited too but we are still extremely proud to own him.

Unfortunately just a few hours after getting the figure, the elastic band that holds the arms cut itself. For a figure that is 32 years old, I kind of expected something like that to happen.

Thanks to the magic of the Internet I found an rather easy way to fix it. With a medium size "Zip-Tie", I was able to re-attach the arms. Feed the Zip-Tie through the loop in one arm (creating a large "U" and feeds the whole thing through the figure's torso. Then  poke the pointy end of the Zip-Tie through the other arm loop and then poke the pointy end (again) through the slotted end of the Zip-Tie and ratchet it tight but slowly. Then, simply cut the excess Zip-Tie with wire cutters. It is now almost like brand new!

Vintage Star Wars

Another extremely cool figure I got on Ebay from the Kenner 12" Star Wars collection is Boba Fett! Standing at about 13.5" this was one figure that I almost owned as a kid. I remember being at the store with my mom. We saw that huge figure with the Star Wars logo on it. Since it came out before the release of The Empire Strike Back film, I had no clue who he was. We ended up not buying it. But once we we're home my mom told me that we could go back and get it. When he arrived the figure was not there anymore...

Unlike the other figures in that collection, Boba Fett as a bit more articulation. He has a lateral shoulder, elbow, wrist, and knee ankle articulation. He has a rather useless see-through eye feature reminiscent of the 12" Six Million Dollar Man figure also from Kenner.

Boba came with lots of accessories. There's a cool cloth cape and a backpack. It also originally came with a missile and gun, which unfortunately the seller didnt have anymore. I have to say that I am very surprise by the level of details of the figure.

Vintage Star Wars

The 12" Star Wars figures collection released from Kenner in 1978 are among the coolest looking ever! Unfortunately I personally never owned one as a kid. For over a year now I've been trying to find them everywhere. Our patience finally paid!

I found four of them on Ebay for rather extremely cheap! Here's the first one; the vintage 1978 1:6 15" Darth Vader "doll".

This version of Darth Vader is simply awesome! He is huge, extremely detailed. It came with its cloth cape and red lightsaber (the later which the seller unfortunately didn't have anymore but I'm sure we'll find one someday). I have to say that like most figures from that collection, his articulation are rather limited to only his hips, shoulders, and neck.

Vintage Star Wars

I remember that as a kid one of the Star Wars creatures I wanted to own the most was the Rancor. First appearing in The Return of The Jedi. The giant creature with long claws meet his end at the hands of Luke Skywalker who was thrown into a pit to fight the monster in Jabba the Hutt's palace.

My son and I have been trying to find a Rancor monster figure at the flea market, toy convention but we we're without any luck... until last week when I spotted one on Ebay for rather cheap and actually won the bid for only $10.

Standing at about 10 inches tall, this is one big and extremely cool figure. We now must find a Gamorrean Guard to serve as lunch for our new big friend.

Star Wars

Everyone reading our blog knows that my son and I are addicted to Star Wars. No wonder that we spend most of our time playing with Star Wars action figures then any other collection.

During our last story, the Mandalorians decided that they wouldn't associate themselves with the Empire anymore.

This got the Emperor furious! Notice that as always, the Empire's base is actually the ultra cool Batcave we got at the flea market a few months ago.

The Empire troops got ready to fight the Mandalorians.

But they got ambushed by both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn, who actually lost their lightsaber duel and died at the hands of Darth Maul.

All of this was actually planned by Jabba the Hutt and his monster friends. Yeah, this is what a father and son do pretty much everyday... and there is nothing cooler!

Guitar Hero

Ok I admit it... I am addicted to the Guitar Hero games. They are extremely fun and well crafted. And for the past two years, every week I've been anticipating which new songs will be available on DLC.

Ever since I bought Guitar Hero World Tour, my son has been playing the drums on the beginner's level. He started when he wasn't even two years old!

Not too long ago the McFarlane Guitar Hero figures were on sale at Toys R Us so I grabbed them all. And while they aren't really figurines to be play with we still have lots of fun with them.

We own Axel Steel, Johnny Napalm, Lars Umlaut (my son's favorite) and the God of Rock. Each 6-inch figures have about 18 moving parts, come with unique removable guitar and a sculted Guitar Hero logo base.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers

The other morning my son and I got into a fight... a Bakugan Battle Brawlers fight! Let me just say that the condo was filled with Bakugans, cards, handlers, guns and the Bakugan battle ground right in the middle.

I have to admit that Sega and Spin Master have created a very cool spring-loaded miniature figure engine, which open itself whenever it rolls into a special metal card.