This set rocks on all levels in spite of the plethora of repacks/repaints/re-decos. It’s a lot of value for the cost, plus you get Short-Fuze and the MOBAT. Before I display the loose pics, here’s a quick review:

Cobra Commander: Not much new here except darker shade of blue, silver trim/highlights, and no stripe down the leg. **

Destro: Iron Grenadier mold without the cape, silver and grey highlights instead of gold, and chrome head. **1/2

Cobra Vehicle Gunner: Straight-up repaint of the Cobra Trooper in dark grey with red highlights. ***

Cobra HISS Driver: Silver chestplate with black trim. Still an excellent figure. ***

Sgt. Stalker: Darker green and lighter skin tone, and comes with a JUMP pack and Air Trooper weapon. ***

Short-Fuze: Repainted Doc head on top of Steeler body (Snake Eyes torso and legs, Cobra Trooper Arms, Double Clutch/Steeler boots); mortar stand is loosey-goosey. Slight disappointment in this. **1/2

Ralph ‘Steeler’ Pulaski: Lame code name since it can’t just be Steeler, but a straight-up repaint of the figure that came with the Armadillo, this time in tan hues. Helmet too loose on his head doesn’t stay on. **

Flight Pod: Trouble Bubble in blue. Great update of a classic. ***

HISS Tank: Red color to accompany your basic black and previous blue exclusive. Excellent! ***1/2

MOBAT: Green tank with rubber treads and extendable cannon. Never had this as a kid so it’s a definite plus! ***1/2

Once news hit the boards that people were able to get the Target Exclusive Ultimate Battle Pack using the DPCI#, I got bit by the bug so hard that I went out and actually used that number to my advantage for the first time. On Wednesday, I used the scanner to check the stock and got a big fat “No!” I went home empty-handed, but relieved that my wallet would not be crying, keeping me up at night.

All that changed today. After work, I visited the same Target and input the DPCI# into the scanner again. This time it was a glorious “YES!” I then did another thing for the first time, and actually approached an employee and asked him to input the DPCI# in hopes he would pull it from the back. And he did. He was so helpful, he even flagged down the department lead (Toys & Electronics wasn’t his department) in order to help me out! Then he called the stockroom and got the stock shelf number and a few minutes later, I was hauling this huge sucker down to the registers!

Anyway, enough blabbing. Here are the pics!

Some notes after the jump.

The sucker is huge. Wider than it is taller (about 24” wide), you could have trouble finding space to display this properly, but because of the latest trend to package these figures and vehicles in “action” poses, it displays like a cool diorama with the two opposing factions facing off across a ravine in the middle.

For some reason, they packaged the Cobra Vehicle Gunner and Cobra Commander without their helmets on (I can only assume this was to insure that there wouldn’t be loose helmets rattling around the package).

Sgt. Stalker is dark green and comes with a green-colored JUMP jet-pack and green Cobra Air Trooper weapon.

Short-Fuze appears to have a repainted Doc head on a Snake Eyes body and Cobra Trooper arms (in fact, it is the same body as Steeler’s).

Steeler is a repaint of the figure that came with the Armadillo, so the figure is a Snake Eyes body / Cobra Trooper arms combo. The MOBAT appears to be motorized just like the original.

Cobra Commander looks the same but a darker blue with silver trim instead of red, his sigil is over his left breast rather than in the center, and he has no stripe down his leg; the Trouble Bubble is blue.

The HISS Driver has a silver chest plate with black trim, and the HISS Tank is absolutely bad-ass in red.

Destro is the Iron-Grenadier version sans cape and with silver/grey highlights instead of gold and red like the carded version; and his head is vac-metallized silver!

The Cobra Vehicle Gunner is a repaint of the Cobra Officer, but in a gray uniform with red highlights, which looks really cool.

Overall, a massively cool set, though kinda lame that it’s the only way to get Short-Fuze and Steeler at the moment.

And to celebrate, the kind folks over at The Guardian have created a 3-part video piece featuring interviews with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and The Contours. I couldn’t figure out how to embed the videos on the blog (it kept coming up with some clip of NFL commentary) but you can check out parts one and two here and here. And if any of you find yourself in Detroit someday, I highly recommend checking out the Motown Museum. They still have the original recording studio there and you can see the worn out floor in the control room where Holland-Dozier-Holland, Smokey and all the other great songwriters who put Hitsville USA on the map. It’s quite something.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown

There’s no word yet as to if there will be some sort of concert celebration similar to the one the company, now a subsidiary of Universal Music, held for it’s 25th anniversary. But then really, how do you top this:

Remember about 5 month ago I reported on All That VF, a newly animated short film that will assemble the different transformable variable fighters from the history of the Macross franchise? Well it seems there has been a bunch of different versions released, this coincides with the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Macross franchise. Here is the is my favourite version of the bunch go check it out.

Macross - All that VF “Version F”

This weekmarks the 25th anniversary of Ottawa’s transitway. Hard to believe it’s been around for that long. To celebrate this wonderful occasion, OC Transpo is only charging a quarter to ride the bus on Wednesday, and the O-train will be free. So put away those tickets! and break out the change! Just check your change first to make sure it’s not an American quarter. They’re worth more these days.

OC Transpo has a bunch of activities this week. Check their site for more info.

Oct 25, 2008

It is our honor to extend the warmest greetings of Bayan Muna (People First) partylist to the Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI) on the occasion of its silver anniversary today.

Twenty five years of operations as a service institution to the people in the provinces of the Northern Luzon is quite an achievement, more so since you have served the less-privileged sectors of our society that we are all endeavoring to change for the better.

It is high time that while continuing your much-needed services to the people, you should now take stock of your achievements, learn the lessons of your first 25 years, and push on with your patriotic duty to the people and the nation.

We congratulate you for siding with the people at the most critical times in our country’s history. We encourage you to continue your good work in the pursuit of meaningful changes in our country towards total human development.

Mabuhay kayo!

Satur C. Ocampo

House Deputy Minority Leader

Representative, Bayan Muna

Teodoro A. Casino

Representative, Bayan Muna<

October 25, 2008

In behalf of GABRIELA Women’s Party, I would like to congratulate KADUAMI for the 25 years it has served the marginalized and less-privileged people of Northern Luzon.

The institution’s efforts to achieve the total human development of the peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, and most especially of women and children, are laudable.

GWP hopes that it will continue to work through its projects and programs, to assert the Filipino peoples’ basic rights and promote their welfare.

Thank you and happy 25^th Anniversary!

In the interest of the Filipino people,

Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan

GABRIELA Women’s Party

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY TO KATINNULONG DAGUITI UMILI TI AMIANAN (KADUAMI)

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
October 25, 2008

As chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle and on my personal behalf as someone from the Northern Luzon, I wish to convey my warmest greetings of solidarity to all my compatriots in Katinnulong Daguiti Umili to Amianan (KADUAMI) on the occasion of its 25th founding anniversary.

I salute and congratulate you for all your achievements in socio-economic projects, campaigns and advocacy work, researches and publications and all other activities for the benefit of the indigenous peoples and peasant masses in the Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Ilocos regions. I join you in celebrating the achievements.

I hope that you will be able to learn lessons from the long experience of your organization, build further on your achievements and define the tasks that will bring you to a new and higher level of development in the service of the people. May all your endeavors contribute to the people’s struggle for national freedom, democracy, social justice, development and just peace.

Long live KADUAMI!
Long live the people of Northern Luzon!
Long live the Filipino people!

project team tough was the group of men (and perhaps women…) from casio who in the early 1980s were tasked to design and build an ultimate watch “that would have a 10-year lifespan, water resistance up to 10 atmosphere, and able to endure the shock even when dropped to the ground from a height of 10 metres”.

since the birth of the original dw-5000c-1a in 1983, the famous square had been reincarnated various times as anniversary editions. This include the infamous dw-1983-1 (10th anniversary), dw-5000ml-1jf (20th anniversary tribute series) and dw-5000sp-1jr (project team tough 20th anniversary edition).

2008 marks the 25th anniversary of project team tough and in may this year, casio released 2008 copies of the dw-5025sp-1jf. the watch was reportedly sold out even before the official release date.

after months of hunting and waiting, i finally managed to secure not one, but two pieces! the second piece which is pictured here bears the number 0828/2008 on its screwback.

this edition bears a gold tint in the display and of course spots the signature brick wall motif of the original dw-5000-1a.

gold-coloured screwback bearing the eric haze-designed 25th anniversary logo

0828, a pretty auspicious number i think…

It was the cover that captivated me.  A bare-shouldered Marilyn Monroe was smiling mysteriously, making Vanity Fair’s 25^th anniversary issue pop out among the ordinary covers of scantly clad pop stars acting vapid.  I picked it up, intrigued. 

As I flipped through the glossy, perfumed pages, my excitement built as I read Graydon Carter’s “Editor’s Letter. ”  After briefing us on the magazine’s rich history – from its 1913 inception that helped roll in the Jazz Age to its 1983 rise from the ashes and into its current-day powerhouse status – Carter ruminates how he struggled to find the right format for this issue.  He joked that he toyed with ideas such as “Our 25 Greatest Hits!!!” and “25 Important Things We Forgot to Tell You!!!”, until finally finding the perfect angle.

“What I’d like,” Carter wrote, “is a regular issue of the magazine, only better.” 

The simplicity of this is brilliant.  By staying the same, Vanity Fair broke convention with its anniversary edition and deliver big to its readers – I guess that’s why he’s running the show over at Vanity Fair.  This format also gives the magazine liberty to choose a wider variety of articles rather than jamming every piece into an anniversary theme.  

That’s not to say that there wasn’t ample mention of the magazine’s milestone, though.  Longtime Vanity Fair correspondent Dominick Dunne recalls his exotic and unexpected career covering crime and society for the magazine in “What a Swell Party He Wrote,” and famed photographer Annie Leibovitz shares her experiences of creating some of her most famous work in “Annie Gets Her Shot.”  This was a fun way for readers to get a personal look at what it takes to keep the magazine as high quality as it is and acknowledge the great talents Vanity Fair has had over the years.     

The magazine didn’t stop with just reminiscing about its own past.  From looking back to the days when going to the movies had a profound effect on audiences (“Little Big Screen”) to remembering legends both great (Marilyn Monroe in “The Things She Left Behind”) and obscure (Glenn McCarthy in “The Man Who Was Texas”), reflecting on the past is a subtle way to remind readers that this is an anniversary issue.  But also, this reinforces Carter’s goal to create a regular issue, enhanced. 

Vanity Fair also gave readers a dose of its normal feel by including articles that are newsworthy today, such as Sebastian Junger’s coverage of the Afghanistan front lines in “Return to the Valley of Death.”  By taking a break from the past, it keeps the issue from going into nostalgic overdrive and keeps it closer to the magazine’s usual format. 

Ultimately, Vanity Fair’s 25^th anniversary issue was filled with all the class, wit, and originality readers have come to expect from the steadfast magazine, and then some.  But after reading the supped-up issue, it begs the question: if they’ve got it in them to up the anti, why wait for another milestone to do it again? 

- Jennifer Brown

Crossroads is celebrating 25 years in business and is proud to be a part of the Frankfort community. 

Check out this article in the State Journal about our business. 

http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/4439631

This figure was available only by sending 6 proof of purchase stickers found with the comic 2-packs, as well as a shipping/handling fee. For some reason, even though I sent away for only one, I received two!

**REVIEW**
Doc comes in a plain white box with the G.I. Joe logo on one side and, in small print, G.I. Joe Doc on the opposite side. Opening the box reveals the carded figure nested within a plastic keep-case that prevents some crushing and all minor dings.

He comes on a 25th Anniversary foil card with the Wave 4 figures on the back. Definitely part of the appeal of these figures is the eye-catching character art.

Doc is a great example of re-using parts to create a wholly new figure. It’s basically a repainted Duke body with a new head and new accessories. The familiar stretcher and flare gun accompany Doc, but he also now comes with a silver pistol that fits into a thigh-holster,as well as a packed-in stand that comes with all the figures in the G.I. Joe line. Finally, he has a removable shoulder bag.

A great looking figure and well worth the effort to secure in your collection.

**UPDATE**
Knowing that I had two Docs, I was all set to open one to provide loose pics. However, I discovered that Doc comes on a variant card-back, similar to several of the Wave 7 singe-carded figures. The foil treatment on one card is the regular “matte” version — a flat foil treatment; on the second card, the foil is embossed and shinier. It‘s a subtle difference that is difficult to capture on digital camera, but I believe that I was able to get it.

Foil Treatment — “matte” version

Foil Treatment — “embossed” version

-Casio is Doing The Right Thing by celebrating their 25th Anniversary of the G-Shock watch with an exclusive design by the critically acclaimed producer and director, and cultural icon, Spike Lee. The logo of Spike’s production company ‘40 Acres & A Mule’ is featured in the EL Backlight, while his engraved signature graces the case back. This is a great look for Spike Lee.

I have just undertaken a major endeavor. It’s not like I have no other “projects” in the works.  I made a list of these projects, for this post, but when I reached project number 14, I was getting depressed and it was definitely not a funny list, so we’ll pass on that.

The new project I have is to scan in all photo albums and pictures, of family—in my possession.  Master’s Daughter has all my home movies and is putting them on DVD’s.  So, this is the least I can do.  We could have a race to see who will finish first, but I’m afraid the projects may outlast us.

So, not finding a lot of humor lately—I mean, I got home from a seven day trip and the house was clean (as clean as it gets), the rabbit and dog were fed (although the dog did spend one day sleeping so sound, I am told, that when she was not snoring they checked her to make sure she was alive.)  EMT boy has found a job and JRockGuitarMan is living up to his nom de plume (is that how you spell that?) and expanding his guitar playing with lessons from a more advanced student.

So, I am combining my new endeavor, the photos, with blogging.  My family is such a font of humor, who could resist.

 
This is a picture taken not too long after my mom and dad were married.  I believe she may have a picture of the day they married and I will replace this with that when I get hold of it.  Visions of a young girl and marriage in a white gown turned into a woman who wore a suit and married my father in front of a Justice of the Peace. 

The J.P. was also a gas station owner and they married in front of the pumps and, when mom looked down, he had a hole in the toe of his sneakers.

My mother is eighty-six now, and this hole in the toe of his shoe is still an insult to her. But, her main gripe is probably my father’s actions after the ceremony.  Dad believed he was boss.

On the way to his parents home, where they were going to stay, dad stopped the car and told mom to open her purse.  He then reached in and took out her mascara and threw it out the window.  Dad never quit trying to be boss after that and, about fifteen years later, mom finally decided he was not going to be boss.

Mother relates that her first thoughts, after his actions were, “What have I done? This is for life? I can’t get out of this?”

Twenty-five years later, they celebrated their anniversary with four of their eventual ten grandchildren.  The little sweetie at the bottom left, hosted their fiftieth anniversary in her backyard, complete with a faux wedding ceremony, without a gas station pump and a man with his toe sticking out of his sneaker.

Mom and Dad, 25th anniversary, with grandchildren: Joyce, Jamie, Toni (in arms) & Johnny

One of my other childhood favorites is celebrating a big b-day– My Little Ponies! I know I am not alone in absolutely LOVING these horses. The bright pinks and long colored hair, the plastic wings and all the brushes! I could spend hours playing with these. Remember the ones that had the growing the hair. It saddens me that kids today don’t have such cool ponies to play with. Kids today have those annoying talking things that teach them letters and how to read. I don’t know about you, but I think that our toys encouraged kids to be creative. I mean we actually made up journeys and lives and stories for our Little Ponies. It’s no fun when you have a talking book– or worse interactive DVD– telling you about the Pony’s birth. BORING! Help kids today be creative– sell your vintage My Little Ponies on IntheGlo.com!!!

Show your guests that after 25 years you surely have the key to a happy marriage with these silver anniversary key ring favors

As low as $0.89 each

It’s easy to add the traditional silver shimmer to a festive 25th anniversary celebration with these key ring favors on your tables. Each favor is ¼” x 3” x 1” with a sturdy chrome ring and chain attached to a silver resin charm of a playful number 25 decorated with three clear rhinestones. Destined to be a lasting memento of a lasting relationship, each comes packaged in a deluxe box with a clear top and black bottom tied with a white organza ribbon and an attached silver wedding bell shaped thank you tag.

For more information please contact Your Wedding Shoppe.

Show your guests that after 25 years love’s flame still shines bright with this lovely silver anniversary candle favor

As low as $2.03 each

Share the glow of 25 wonderful years of marriage with these decorative and useful candle favors on your event tables. Each favor has a frosted white glass holder with a poured white candle center, resting in a round silver resin base. The base’s rim is cheerfully decorated with freeform heart designs. A bold silver, rhinestone enhanced “25” extends upward from the base, hugging the glass candle holder. Each candle favor is 2” x 2” x 2” and comes packaged in a deluxe clear topped box with a silver base, tied with a metallic silver ribbon and attached wedding bells thank you tag.

For more information please contact Your Wedding Shoppe.

These 25th anniversary bookmark favors are a perfect way to festively mark the occasion

As low as $0.94 each

Some anniversaries are true milestones. Surely the 25th is one that’s most worthy of a celebration and this 25th anniversary favor really hits the mark. Each bookmark favor is 2 ¾” x ¼” x 1” and has a sturdy white metal page holder clip with a pearl silver matte finish carved resin “25,” embedded with glistening rhinestones, perched at its top. Each is packaged in a deluxe clear topped box with a black base, tied with a white bow and an attached gold wedding bell themed thank you tag attached.

For more information please contact Your Wedding Shoppe.

Celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss with a barware set favor your guests can’t resist. As low as $3.71 each

It’s been 25 years since you said your “I dos” so celebrate your silver anniversary in style with these elegant and useful wine themed favors. Each barware set contains a 4” x 1 ¼” bottle stopper and a 4 ¾” x 2” wine bottle opener. Each piece is designed with a dramatic silver poly resin 25 embedded with three glistening rhinestones at its top, the bottle stopper has a sturdy metal conical base encircled with a black rubber gasket and the opener has an easy to grip handle and metal corkscrew base. The set comes in a deluxe clear topped box with a black base, tied with a silver bow and an attached silver bell design “For You” tag.

For more information or to place an order, contact favors@yourweddingshoppe.com

How To Buy A Wedding Anniversary Gift For Your Parents

Not many people stay married for decades nowadays. A lot of people get divorced shortly after getting married for different reasons. If your parents happen to be some of those lucky people who are still married to each other after more than 20 years, you should be very thankful and celebrate each wedding anniversary of your parents with them. Read further  Wedding Anniversary Gift

Voici un tout petit aperçu des prochaines sorties commémorant le 25 ème anniversaire des Transformers, Optimus Prime, Starscream et quelques Robot Heroes… une sorte de mise en bouche…