For really no other reason than it being AWESOME, I'm going to write about my weekend and the nice new stuff that now fills my house. I told a Year 1 class about it all this morning but they got a tad confused and thought I'd won some (live) turtles. Maybe that's why I'm writing this now: to set things straight with a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds who are highly unlikely to ever read these words.
I'm a dad and I like toys. My children like toys too. This site covers what I (and they) think of some of them.
Monday, 21 September 2015
Sunday, 20 September 2015
Review: Auto Assembly 2015
In the beginning there were 31. In the end there were over 1000.
This is how Europe's largest Transformers convention has grown over the past 15 years. And now it's all over.
The think that you come away with from Auto Assembly isn't a big bag full of plastic (though that may happen too) it is, strange as it may seem, a renewed faith in humanity. Honestly! I'm not making some bizarre joke. The people at AA are some of the nicest you could hope to encounter. All the attendees, the volunteers, the dealers, the guests... Absolutely everyone is simply a fab human being. Yes, everyone there might be considered a bit odd by a large percentage of the population due to having an interest in a children's toy line, but then aren't we all a bit odd in one way or another? And if being a bit odd means that means that you can start up an interesting conversation to the complete stranger next to you while standing in a queue for a long time (Nick Roche!) then I welcome this Oddity.
This is how Europe's largest Transformers convention has grown over the past 15 years. And now it's all over.
The think that you come away with from Auto Assembly isn't a big bag full of plastic (though that may happen too) it is, strange as it may seem, a renewed faith in humanity. Honestly! I'm not making some bizarre joke. The people at AA are some of the nicest you could hope to encounter. All the attendees, the volunteers, the dealers, the guests... Absolutely everyone is simply a fab human being. Yes, everyone there might be considered a bit odd by a large percentage of the population due to having an interest in a children's toy line, but then aren't we all a bit odd in one way or another? And if being a bit odd means that means that you can start up an interesting conversation to the complete stranger next to you while standing in a queue for a long time (Nick Roche!) then I welcome this Oddity.
Monday, 14 September 2015
Review: Marvel Legends Tiger Shark
If there was an award for the most ridiculous-looking comic book character...well, there'd likely be a lot of competition for that crown. But for the moment we're going to just concentrate on the completely insane Tiger Shark....because that's the figure I've just bought from Toys R Us!
Friday, 11 September 2015
Review: DX9 Cocomone (Not-GoBot's Crasher)
I won't repeat my introduction to Salmoore (aka Cy-Kill), other than to say that I welcome more GoBots being made!
Salmoore was generally ok. There were a few things I wasn't overly keen on, but generally he was a good figure. The great news is Crasher is even better.
Salmoore was generally ok. There were a few things I wasn't overly keen on, but generally he was a good figure. The great news is Crasher is even better.
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Review: ICE 2015 - The International Comics Expo
Despite Marvel films taking £billions at the box office, there's lots of talk about children not being as interested in reading comics as in the past. Especially since comics are being increasingly welcomed into school libraries, it seems odd that the comic industry isn't chasing after kids and securing future readership and those all-important sales.
I'm always a bit wary about taking children along to comic events as there's hardly ever anything of substance for them to do. Sure I'm happy wandering around talking to creators, but kids get bored of this type of thing very quickly. Life isn't made any easier when the 'all ages' comics are hidden amongst the plethora of definitely not all ages comics. Even when there are dedicated kids activities advertised, they can often turn out to be, well, a bit rubbish. This is why, in part, that I started organising children's comic cons at my kids' local school.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have mentioned to my children about ICE and gone on my own, however it had 2 things going in its favour:
1. FREE ENTRY FOR KIDS was written in really big letters on the posters.
2. There were dedicated children's events and it was listed on online what these were before we got there.
I'm always a bit wary about taking children along to comic events as there's hardly ever anything of substance for them to do. Sure I'm happy wandering around talking to creators, but kids get bored of this type of thing very quickly. Life isn't made any easier when the 'all ages' comics are hidden amongst the plethora of definitely not all ages comics. Even when there are dedicated kids activities advertised, they can often turn out to be, well, a bit rubbish. This is why, in part, that I started organising children's comic cons at my kids' local school.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have mentioned to my children about ICE and gone on my own, however it had 2 things going in its favour:
1. FREE ENTRY FOR KIDS was written in really big letters on the posters.
2. There were dedicated children's events and it was listed on online what these were before we got there.
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Review: Toyworld (Not) Throttlebots Combiner
A long time ago Toyworld began releasing semi-reimagined versions of the old Transformers Throttlebots, one every few months. Besides the colour of X being not exactly G1-accurate, I really liked these guys. They looked good, were good quality, retained 'hoods' even though their transformation was more complex and were generally fun little figures.
Which is probably why Toyworld gave up releasing them. Because everyone hates me and is out to ruin my fun.
It came as a bit of a surprise then when, earlier this year, Toyworld released the final 3 figures in the line all at once with little notice. Which is why, in part thanks to Auto Assembly, I've only just managed to complete the set.
Long suspected, right from the initial release of Grindrod, was that all six Throttlebots would eventually be able to combine into a Big Figure. Obviously nothing like that has ever been even hinted at in G1 literature for the Throttlebots, and it didn't take anything away from the 'base' ToyWorld robots, so it was always simply going to be a nice bonus if this indeed turned out to be the case.
Which it is.
Which is probably why Toyworld gave up releasing them. Because everyone hates me and is out to ruin my fun.
It came as a bit of a surprise then when, earlier this year, Toyworld released the final 3 figures in the line all at once with little notice. Which is why, in part thanks to Auto Assembly, I've only just managed to complete the set.
Long suspected, right from the initial release of Grindrod, was that all six Throttlebots would eventually be able to combine into a Big Figure. Obviously nothing like that has ever been even hinted at in G1 literature for the Throttlebots, and it didn't take anything away from the 'base' ToyWorld robots, so it was always simply going to be a nice bonus if this indeed turned out to be the case.
Which it is.