Disney buys Lucasfilm for 4 billion dollars and we will get Star Wars Episode 7 and 8 and 9 and ect.....

SOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo..............................

 

If Ashton Kutcher is gonna play Han Solo, who will Johnny Depp play?

 

Here is a link to some "news" < mtv.com/news >

 

I am gaging my reaction by what they have planned for the franchise, but I'm not optimistic.

 

...............I shudder to think what they will do with Indiana Jones.........................

 

Yes, Disney owns those rights too.

 

Here's some pictures.

The Sorcery! Spell Book by Steve Jackson

Remember this ? The Sorcery! Spell Book for use with the Sorcery! role playing game book (Choose your Own Adventure) books!

Of course you do!!! Its the companion book to the Sorcery! choose your own adventure books by Steve Jackson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Published by Penguin books in 1983!!!!
 

You know this book as the Spellbook that made casting spells a three letter word. Kinda like this example.....who didn't think "Yob, Yob, where's my baby, Yob Yob!!!!" Of course you did, you did just now when you read it...........

These are the memories!! I played the HECK out of these books, the Dungeons and Dragons books were a gateway to these. There's a spellbook to go along with it !!! The preface says you need to memorize the spells to play "like a real wizard".....yeah right, I didn't memorize any of it, I bought the book, I just used it. There are some rules associated with using the spellbook with the Sorcery! books but I wont get into em. Its not a big deal. What is? The fact that there was a time when a ten year old boy could walk into Waldenbooks, buy a spellbook and go on his merry way.

 

.......and it only cost $2.95.

Fisher Price Clawtron, the Enemy of the Adventure People

Here we have Clawtron from the Fisher Price Adventure People line of toys, series #380. This guy was packed on a single card and was also released as a three pack. I cannot really put a date on this guy, but it looks like Fisher Price's attempt to get a Darth Vader like figure in their line. If it came out before Star Wars....they were ahead of the curve! This figure came single packed but I honestly would have thought they would have packed him with a spaceship. From what I have seen FP did have a spacehip in the line....they could have painted it black and you have yourself a set!

Lets check em out!!

Its a pretty cool figure. A bit out there compared to the rest of the line. Cool detail. My chest apps are worn off but originally it had alot going on there.

Cool claws for hands. With a name like Clawtron you kinda "figure" that out though...

Here he is mimicking Tort Elvis of Dread Zeppelin...

"Doin the claw....Doin the claw...."

Really nice paint apps along the sides add alot of detail.

I had a ton of Adventure People way back in the day but never had Clawtron til now. I wish I had em though. He would have fit well with all the Star Wars figures. Maybe an apprentice of Vader's.....

anyway....Hobby. Is this the figure you mentioned in my last < dick-and-jan-fisher-price > Fisher Price post?

Cobra's Crimson Guard, he'll do your taxes then do you in !!

Cobra's Crimson Guard, the Elite Troopers from 1985's fourth series of Hasbro's GI Joe line. They were the best of the best in the Cobra Organization. Each "Siegie" must hold a degree in either law or accounting and were under the command of Tomax and Xamot, the Crimson Guard Commanders, but completely loyal to the Cobra Commander. Many served as the Commander's personal guard but most served as deep undercover agents, with  complete undercover identities, even families. Most underwent plastic surgery to become part of a series of look a likes. The most popular is the Fred series.

Lets check out the figure:

Beautifully detailed, the Red uniform really gives him a royal appearance. The figure has alot of detail including medals and a great paint app on his arm.

Just a cool looking figure. He even has spurs on the back of his boots !

Watch out for the bayonet ! He not just for show !

 

The Siegies first appeared in Marvel issue #29. Unveiled by Cobra Commander as specialized deep undercover agents that will infiltrate the political infrastructure.

This is my best memory of the GI Joe Comics, and that saying alot cause I still read em to this day. Its the last page of issue 32 where Fred Broca is replaced by another siegie. His kids come running out to see their Daddy, but stop when they realize it's not him. The famous dialogue:

Kid: "Your not our Daddy."

Fred II: "I am now."

 

Classic!!

Fred VII is probably most infamous of the Guardsmen. He would pretend to be the Cobra Commander while in the battle armor. Later, after Cobra Commander returned and assumed control, he was buried in a freighter on Cobra Island and died.

 

I loved playing with the Crimson Guard. I wound up getting three or four of em and would use them as a crack entourage for Cobra Commander.

 

While alot of missions were going on, there would be a siegie among the background characters waiting to strike.



Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set .... Good things come in BLUE boxes

TSR's Dungeon and Dragons Expert Rules Set 2 hit the shelves in 1983 as an Expansion pack to be used in conjunction with the Red Boxed Basic Rules Set 1 I posted about here:< dungeons-and-dragons-red-box-basic > and the subsequent box sets.

 

This is the 1983 revised edition by Frank Mentzer, which is part of the five box set series that tied the rules together to take your character from the Beginner to the Immortal. The Expert Set only contained one book that incorporated the Player's handbook and the Dungeon Masters Guide within the same book. Of course it came with a set of 6 basic dice and a crayon to color in the numbers, a staple of gaming back then.

 

The purpose of the Expert Set is to give game rules and expand the play for character levels 4 through 14.

 

For players; higher levels of spells for Wizards and Clerics, expanded tables for higher level saving throws and XP. More weapons are made available, including land and water transports with the rules for operating them. Rules for Wilderness travel and Encumbrance round out the player's guide. In all, the player's guide gives the player the "basic" upgrade for playing at higher levels, but at 18 pages, 11 of which are solely devoted to spells, not much else.

 

The Dungeon Masters guide is a bit more robust. Though only 23 pages, 1 of which is a hexagonal graph, the DM gets useful information about expanding the Role Playing for the characters. Included are rules for different types of combat such as naval combat and bombing. There are detailed Construction rules for building Castles and Strongholds, which is a bit of an undertaking in itself. The guidelines for NPCs are built upon and Research for Magic Items and Spells are brought in. Rules for running a Wilderness Campaign are outlined along with  sample Wilderness and Hometown.13 pages of Monsters are included with the highlights being the Black Pudding, Basilisk, Chimera, Djinni and Efreeti, Elementals, Golems and the dreaded Salamander. 6 pages of Treasures round it out. Obviously that is the reward aspect, bringing in cursed items and magic items including positive attribute weapons and intelligent items! The DM section gives some good info to expand the game play and make better rewards for characters, so it is a bit of useful fun to be added into any campaign.

If your reading this you are probably familiar with the rules so I'm not gonna show pictures of tables and text, but alot of the drawings throughout the Rulebook bring back some memories....



 

To make up for the lack of bulk content in the Rulebook, you did get the Isle of Dread, the first (X1) in the expert series of game modules.

Ahhhhhhhh.....maps. What kid doesn't like pouring over maps and graphs.....

As a bonus, here is the 1980 Expert rulebook by David Cook and Steve Marsh. It contains basically the same information except that the 1981 version expanded upon most of the rules. There are a few exceptions where the rules more robust here but nothing groundbreaking. The cover is cooler though......

My version is second hand and apparently it belonged to Scott B. who liked to color in the pictures. BTW Scott, if you are reading this, you color well and the rulebook is being well taken care of, Thanks !!!!

The Expert Set was the obvious move after the Basic Set was conquered. I remember getting into the Expert Set after "Basic Training", but eventually crossing over to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and those cool hardcover books.

This was the proving ground for many a gamer and is still fun to play to this day. The boxed sets display well and are a cool conversation piece for those gathering of Geeks that happen from time to time.

Mego Eagle Force's nemesis Savitar the Ninja Assassin of the R.I.O.T organization!!

The Eagle Force line of figures was produced by Mego in 1981. R.I.O.T, the "Roving International Organization of Tyranny", was the enemy. There were a total of eighteen figures in the series. Several vehicles and playsets were produced, along with Adventure Packs that had some cool additional support equipment to go along with the line.

This is Savitar. His card has him labeled as an assassin but it's fairly clear he is a ninja assassin. Ninja were pretty popular in the 80's so just about any line of toys produced was bound to have at least one.

These figures were made of metal and had alot of detail. Sculpt wise, he is really well done. His facial features and body detail are great. Paint wise, he is beautiful. His paint apps are spot on and realistic.

His Ninjato secured with two holes in his back.

He comes with the sword and a MP5 submachine gun.





Detail aside, this figure isn't the best plaything.

The metal body is clumsy, paint chips easy, not very poseable and does not hold his weapon well.



 

The gun is very small and, if misplaced, is very hard to find.

 

 

The sword looks cool on his back but isn't practical to play with.
 

 

It doesn't sit well in his hand and has two big pegs sticking out of the side.

 

 

Savitar measures 2 3/4 inches in height. So to put it in perspective, here he is next to another famous Ninja.

 

I'd run too......

Its like a toy in Snake Eyes's hand.....

 

I had a few Eagle force figures back in the day and although the concept was very similar to GI Joe, they weren't the best to play with. The guns got lost quick. They didn't stand well unless perfectly positioned. They weren't compatible with ANYTHING because of their scale. Unless you were able to score a bunch of these figures and accessories at one time, you basically had one of the Joe's little brother hanging around.

 

Now, Savitar looks good displayed but that's all he's really good for. I just hope I don't bump him cause I do NOT want to go looking for that gun in the carpet any time soon......