Epinions Recent Reviews for yogore

Fighter jets can achieve orbit? Who knew!

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:11:45 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - You have to question the wisdom of Hasbro's "Premium Series" Transformers figures. Like we
said before, that's the catch-all name for the the toys that are supposed to be the most movie-accurate...

Changing sides before halftime

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:37:55 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - One of the most impressive things about the original GI Joe line was that the characters weren't static - they actually grew and changed. Take, for instance, the ninja Sorm Shadow. He was one of the first Cobras, but he spent more time as a member...

1970s sitcom meets 2000s robot

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:33:09 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Hasbro faced a unique conundrum with their Transformers movie toys: there were only so many different characters in the film, but the toys proved really popular. Knowing that Transfans wouldn't stand for the same kind of shenanigans usually seen...

Nomad? He seemed pretty angry to me...

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:17:01 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Back before Star Wars: Episode III came out, we had some fun spreading the rumor that General Grievous was secretly Darth Maul. It was complete bunk, of course - we made it up on the spot - but Grievous's true backstory remained a mystery until...

Predator (no Aliens)

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:51:19 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - No matter how bad the movies get, the Aliens and Predator franchises just keep making money - after all, would anyone bother to keep making more movies if they weren't showing a profit? And no matter how many toys we get based on these...

Since when are dune buggies war-worthy?

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:32:57 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - When you think of military ground transport, you think of Humvees. But Hummers aren't exactly the exotic vehicles they once were, thanks to GM's oddball insistence on marketing them as civilian vehicles, so how do you make a bunch of Army Rangers look...

A stranger in the ranks

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:17:27 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Back in the mid-'90s, Hasbro tried to shake things up in their long-running toy lines. They'd recently acquired Kenner, so they farmed out control of their boys' brands to the Cincinatti offices. For Transformers that move meant...

Even a robot can be a violent thug

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:52:23 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - After exhausting every Transformer who appeared in the movie, Hasbro started in on the tie-in videogame. And when that ran out, it was time for random vehicles that appeared in the movie but never showed any evidence of being alive. Drawn to Earth...

It's not so good to be the king(s)

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:40:49 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - They say "uneasy rests the head that wears a crown." If the affairs of state are such a burden for a single small nation, imagine how much worse it must be to rule an entire planet - one populated almost entirely by circus freaks and the mentally ill...

Endearingly idiotic

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:28:06 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Though US fans generally have an easier time being toy collectors than their counterparts in the rest of the world, there are a few times when we undeniably get screwed. N
emesis
Prime was insanely hard to get in the...

Hooray for stereotypes!

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:37:53 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - GI Joe has always been a product of its time. The original 12" figure was a proud soldier, but that got tweaked when the US was involved in an unpopular war. Patriotism (or jingoism, depending who you ask) was back in favor by the '80s, so the 3¾"...

Can he float like a butterfly?

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:16:01 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Before I saw Michael Bay's Transformers, I didn't have much interest in the toys. Upon seeing the film, however, my interest grew, to the point where I now have at least one version of pretty much every character - though not the "main" release of...

Ecnalubma

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:56:24 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - All the movie Transformers underwent a big redesign from their old, familiar G1 forms, but none more so than Ratchet, who discovered the benefit of having a head that wasn't just a sticker on the driver's seat. Vanity is not a fault from which...

A shot in the dark

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:29:58 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - By 1986, GI Joe was entering its fifth year, and running out of ideas. The Joes had been getting less "military regulation" for a few years, but 1986 really upped the ante. Plus, since a lot of old toys were no longer being sold in stores, their...

A former knight of the old Republic

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:14:32 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - In order to remind fans thematically of the original Star Wars movies, Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR for short) had a lot of intentional similarities. From ships (Millennium Falcon = Ebon Hawk) to companions (a small...

We're getting the gang back together

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:58:26 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Z
artan's
Dreadnoks may have just been one of the many factions that made up the Cobra hierarchy, but they were definitely the most memorable. When the average trooper is wearing a plain blue uniform, a bunch of rowdy...

I don't understand - how did Noah get two of every animal in there?

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:49:44 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Since they stumbled onto the crossover popularity of Pl
ayskool-style
Star Wars figures, Hasbro has been giving the "cutsey" treatment to their various properties, like Marvel characters and Transformers. When the...

All this time to make amends

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:34:05 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - When GI Joe comics returned in 2001, a lot of changes had taken place. One of the most unexpected was that the Dreadnoks had gone from a small bunch of thugs to an international biker gang, with chapters all over the world. By necessity, they'd...

He's off and flyin' as he guns the car around the track

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:18:14 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Sometimes the question of whether a toy line lives or dies is just one of timing. If Disney had decided to release The Muppet Show seasons in time for the show's 25th anniversary instead of the 30th, then Palisades' Muppets line would have...

Blackhole son

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:05:09 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - One of the exclusives I was looking forward to at SDCC 2006 was Hasbro's Shadow Stormtrooper. But when my San Diego packmule tried to get one for me, the people at Hasbro's booth just kind of shrugged and gave him blank stares. See, despite the fact that...

Feckless Chainsaw Massacre

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:28:12 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - In the recent Dreadnoks: Declassified series from Devil's Due, we saw just how Zartan got his chameleon powers. Turns out they're not natural, but the product of a military experiment. Of course, Zartan wasn't the intended recipient, but wormed...

More than you ever wanted to know about Ewoks

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:18:30 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - I only had a handful of Star Wars toys as a kid. A Darth Vader, an R2-D2, a Weequay that someone found in their yard and gave to my grandmother to give to me... no, seriously. One of her friends found it in the grass, and I somehow inherited it...

This temple sure is filled with doom! Wait, crud, wrong movie.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:06:50 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - Lego has been making Star Wars products ever since Episode I came out, and they've been quite well received. But things really hit the big time with the release of Lego Star Wars, the videogame that let you play through the prequels...

Like a Mountie and a Cylon had a baby

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:15:13 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - According to YoJoe.com, a site that would know these sorts of things, there have been 15 different Crimson Guard figures released since 1985 (or 16 if you count Agent Faces), and all but one of them have been wearing the same basic uniform. You know the...

His name is mud

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:34:42 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author yogore - What is it with Mattel and distribution? Series 1 of (the ridiculously named) DC Universe Classics showed up everywhere pretty reliably, but now we're left twiddling our thumbs waiting for Series 2 to show up anywhere other than a few scattered hotspots...