Micro Dino

I picked up this cool clear version of Neo Trox at my local Walmart recently. Trox is green generally, but like most Bakugan, his toys can come in a variety of colors. In this cool clear plastic, it's impossible not to compare him with a  Microman or Micronaut. This is definitely a toy that I wished ad some sort of chromed weapon. There are ports where you could plug a Nanogan in, that'd be a good place for a laser gun. Trox is pretty easy to fold back up into his marble form and an all around pleasant little guy. I'm pretty glad the Mrs spotted him as he's so great. Just a simple little guy that I want to walk around a play set and have adventures with.

Exploding with Nanogan

 

My descent down the Bakugan rabbit hole continues to be a fun dive. Nanogan are a newer thing that I'm enjoying a bit. Smaller Bakugan that attach to the larger toys. They're pretty charming and cute. I appreciate the simple designs as well. I don't play the game or watch the show, but they serve a purpose there. I definitely appreciate the overall design aesthetic of Bakugan. They're original looking, but remind me a little of other toys. It's a real cool mixture of design and simplicity. Not to mention creativity. Those characters have to fit into that little ball shape and spring to life when they transform in usually one step. Such a fun and cool series of toys.

Transform Squadron 31: Cantaloupe and Robots

 

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This month Rob talks about cutting a cantaloupe before going into various SpinMaster toys he’s currently enjoying. Then it’s time to talk about smaller inexpensive Transformers for a long time. Rob’s site is named after a Micromaster playset after all. Now available on Atari ST!

Millions of Warriors

 

I've been looking for a new keshi line to really get behind. It's been a while since I've had one I could really follow easily enough to have fun with. That's where Million Warriors comes in. Recently my wife discovered them and introduced them to me. I was instantly hooked. They're currently exclusive to Walmart and fairly cheap, around 5$ for a blind pack of ten. There's also 20 packs available, which I haven't seen yet and don't know the price, though I'm sure are probably inexpensive. These little guys are great.

So far the line is separated into 3 tribes that the figures fall into thematically. Astrals, Ancients, and Heroes. While the names of the tribes give some semblance of a theme, they're all over the place with little weird freaks. The figures come in various forms of availability, from common to extremely rare. As of this writing I have 30 from 3 different 10 packs and have yet to get doubles and have a few harder to get ones (according to the guide). They're made from a few different plastic molds in a few different silhouettes with the characters printed on them. This obviously helps keep the costs down and allows for a wide arrange of figures to be made and I imagine quickly. 

The art style is great, reminiscent of non-sport trading cards I'd often get as a kid. The characters range from weird looking warriors to crazy mutant freaks. I love them. Opening the two packs I got this weekend with the wife was so fun and exhilarating. I was literally bubbling over with excitement with each one. They come packed blind in little paper packets in a ticket style row. The 10 packs I had held them in a package shaped like crossed swords. The 20 packs are boxes that look like shields. There is a game that can be played with them using catapults that come with the 20 packs and numbers printed on each characters back. 

You've might have noticed that I'm a fan. I am and a rather fast one at that. I really cannot express just how excited I was over these guys for a good day or so. I was practically exploding. I'm still practically exploding. I exploded. They are just the thing I've been wanting and done just right for this sort of thing. A proper keshi line needs to be fun and collectible. Having easy availability and low prices is a part of that. I can easily grab a pack while at Walmart, or add it to my weekly grocery order. At 5$ a pack of 10, they're so cheap that I don't even think about it.

They're very cool and the characters make me want more. At under 1" each, so even if I get a million Million Warriors, they can be stored pretty easily. I don't know if the 3 tribes are all there will be, but so far I'm happy as is. Million Warriors is the keshi line I needed and I'm sure other keshi fans needed as well. Spin Masters makes some good toys and this is another solid line from them. I hope it's a success and they make more than a million of them.

Bakugan Omelets

 

Lately I've been wishing egg-bots were more common these days. It seems like they're a lost form of transforming toy. To be honest, I wish more were available. They're neat. Then out of the blue, one weekend my mom comes over for dinner and as usual brings us stuff she bought in the clearance aisle. This time, a Bakugan toy. I've checked them out before and have gotten a few from Happy Meals. They're neat, but I have no clue why not much attention was paid to them before getting this random gift from my mother. First off, here was a dang egg-bot. The thing I'd been wanting had been right in front of my face the entire time on the toy aisle. 

The second thing was, it was pretty neat. I'd thought so in the past, but like I said, hadn't paid them much attention. Pegatrix (the one I was gifted) was a little Pegasus that neatly folded up into a little ball. Not exactly an egg like Tamagoras, but a ball like ones made by Takara. It was neatly robotic and in some pretty cool colors. I then and there decided to pick up some more, and so far I've been happy that I did. In the Bakugan Evolution line is the Platinum Series, which has die-cast construction! The toys have spring loaded transformations. This works into the card game that I don't know how to play, but am keeping my included cards in case I decide to learn. It is pretty satisfying to drop the ball on a table and have it pop into it's little animal form. 

This randomly gifted Pegatrix has opened up a new rabbit hole for me. With Bakugan I have readily available egg-bots that are pretty dang neat. Prices vary for various releases, but they're pretty affordable. So far I've spent five to ten dollars on the ones I've gotten. There's more deluxe packages with various accessories, multi-packs, or larger sometimes even combining figures. The Mrs was a fast fan of the Cubbo figures. I'm fond of them as well, they're adorable. It's funny, these little toys have been right in front of my face for some time now. I guess all it took was that random gift for me to do more than look at them occasionally in the stores.

Dreams into Tenkai Knights

 

Not everything is a big hit. Unfortunately Tenkai Knights falls into that category. Tenkai Knights was a toy line and anime centering around a group of kids who'd cross through a portal to Planet Quarton. Going through this portal would change them from normal kids into the Tenkai Knights where they'd face Lord Villius and the Corrupted Army. The cartoon would shift from 2D animation to 3D when they Tenkai Knight action started. It was a fun show that admittedly used a lot of genre tropes. There was even a dark version of the main hero Bravenwolf. I watched it pretty regularly while it was on and fondly bought the toys. There was video games I kinda regret not checking out.

The toys were mini figures that transformed into building blocks and building block sets. You read that right, the mini figures transformed into building blocks. Just take off the armor and weapons and the basic figure underneath could fold up into a lego compatible block. The building block sets were a combination of vehicles and creatures for the mini figures to interact with and larger versions of the characters. I mainly focused on the mini figures. They were available individually carded, individually in blind bags, and in multi packs. The mini figures were generally inexpensive, so it was easy and fun to just randomly grab a few whenever. 

They made for a solid counterpart to Kre-O Transformers at the time. If robot mini figures are your thing, it was a good time. I am and it sure was. They seemed to sell well in at my stores, though after a year the line just kinda fizzled out. That's a shame. Like I said, it was a fun little line. I'd love to see a return one day or even something similar find it's way out. I'd be great to swing by the store for some cat food and grab a few while there again.