Thor the Mighty Avenger 3.75-inch Movie Line: Sword Spike Thor!

Finally, they're here!

A big summer movie season with superhero movies means big anticipation for the movie toys.  With Thor to hit theaters real soon, the movie toy line has strangely been missing from department store shelves here in Singapore.

But we can always count on the specialty stores hereabouts.  And that's where I found Sword Spike Thor over the weekend.

Of the 6 figures released in the initial wave--this guy, Battle Hammer Thor, Lightning Clash Thor (light up), Shield Bash Odin, Secret Strike Loki, and the Invasion Frost Giant--SS Thor looks like he's the most value for money.

But I did have a hard time choosing him over BH Thor.  The latter has a more decent looking extra hammer/sword "weapon" accessory vs SS Thor's ridiculously large "sword."

Odin looked like a great sculpt but there was a lack of paint apps, while Loki had a rather bland expression.  After initially wanting to get at least one version of each character, I might now only settle for a single Thor.  So how did he turn out?  Could he end up convincing me to snag more of his brethren?  Let's take a look see, shall we? ;)

Marvel Universe 3.75" Wave 10 Ghost Rider

Well guys, it's been an awesome ride but his will be my final review on Chase Variant.  Yup, that's it for me--I've found reviewing toys takes up too much of my time and also I've gotten to a point where it's become somewhat of a drag to keep the reviews up.

So I'd just like to say a huge thanks to everyone who's been following Chase Variant, whether you've been there since the beginning almost exactly 2 years ago, or if you've just discovered the site.  Also...

Transformers Reveal the Shield: Legends Class G1 Optimus Prime

You'd think a Legend class would be HUGE, bigger than a Voyager and a Deluxe for sure, and beating out the Supreme Class for size.  But in actual fact, a Legends class figure is smaller! How much smaller?  Try the whole way!

Yes, that was one of the things that really appealed to me when I spotted this single Optimus Prime in a sea of Legend Class Megatrons.  He's so tiny, he just had to be full of surprises!  The other thing was that I'd never seen this class of Prime (nor knew that they produced this G1 version) and I'm an Optimus addict--I just gotta catch 'em all! (That phrase is eerily familiar...;P)

But from the get go, this figure turned out to be full of surprises, the biggest one of which wasn't at all good.  Hit it to find out more!

GI Joe 3.75" Pursuit of Cobra Shadow Tracker

Awww yeah!

If you don't think even for a moment he looks anything like any thing in the GI Joe line before him, it's because he isn't meant to!  Or at least he's meant to look like something else, something like...The Predator!

First we had Pursuit of Cobra Duke.  Then we got Recondo, followed by Spirit.  And all three figures were part of the Jungle Assault themed characters in the line but had very strong likenesses to characters from the original Predator movie.

Recondo looked suspiciously like Blain (Jesse Ventura), Spirit like Billy Sole (Sonny Landham) and Duke, while he didn't much look like Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch, is attired very much like him (and is also the leader, so yeah.)  So then it's no surprise that they would finally come up with a character that looks like the title character of the classic movie.

I'd been waiting for this figure to arrive in Singapore for a long time, so much so that I'd almost lost all interest in getting him.  So when I finally did see him at the local flea market, I almost passed because I'd kinda grown lukewarm about it.  Also, he was priced at S$22 (US$17).

But then I convinced myself of how much I liked the Arnie's Predator (and that all the rest were just not that good).  I also wanted to complete the Predator sub-theme within the Joes so this guy was a must-have.  So I tried my luck and managed to get Shadow Tracker for S$20--reasonable considering the large department stores don't bring in the newer GI Joe stuff anymore.

But just how would Hasbro pull off making a human look like an alien hunter? Well, let's find out!

Geekcreek's Top 10 Guest List!

No, this isn't a list of who I've invited to swim in creek...of geeks.  It's a Top 10 List from Chase Variant's first ever guest writer, Geekcreek.  He's a toy geek (like most of us) whose also a globe-trotter (unlike most of us), who takes some of the most beautiful one-shots of GI Joes against real life landscapes.  If you don't know of him, check out his site, simply entitled Greek Creek!

But the guy s not just a one-trick pony, oh no.  He also does lists! If you haven't read those, check this one over at Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation.

Yeah, he sure loves his Joes! (As do lots of us!)

So without further ado, I give you Chase Variant's first ever Top 10 List by Geekcreek!

Marvel Universe 3.75" Thanos!

I can remember when I was 12 and my friend brought the whole Infinity Gauntlet series issue by issue to school and was kind enough to let me read 'em.  I was simply  blown away by the fact that there was this evil bugger named Thanos and all the super heroes in the Marvel Universe could defeat him.

I was less impressed when I found out some guy named Adam Warlock and not Hulk was Thanos' main opponent.

Who was this fat tub who turned up and called himself boss, anyway?  But I never forgot Thanos because he was unlike any other villain I had read in comics before.  26 years on and we now have him immortalized in plastic!  And boy does seem as awesome as the first time I saw him!  How awesome?  Hit the jump to find out! ;)

Masters of the Universe Classics Eternian Palace Guards

No namers.  Minions.  Collateral damage!  D-listers.  Calefare (meaning bit part actor--and hence expendable--in the Chinese dialect of Cantonese...)

But we love them all, whether they are Stormtroopers, Rebel Commandos, Iron Man 2 Assault Drones, or COBRA Troopers!  Without them, the Empire would be an empty place, Justin Hammer wouldn't know what to do with his time, and GI Joes would have no one to warm up on before laying the smack down COBRA Commander.

Without the Eternian Palace Guards, who would Prince Adam get to do his bidding?  Who would go to the Burger King drive thru for King Randor?  Who would Man-at-Arms get to boss around?

But that's not why we love them so.  We love them to bits because they lack star power.  The toymakers, feeling bad for these poor fops, make up for their lack of charisma with...tons of accessories!  (And lots of new tooling.  Ok, maybe not the Stormtroopers but ya get what I mean. ;])  Just check out GI Joe's Pit Commando.  Or the tooling on Iron Man 2's Ground Assault Drones.  Heck, the Eternian Palace Guards are no different!

In fact, they might even be better, lots better...more after the jump!