Action Figure Planet: October 2012

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tiger Electronics Superman LCD Game

I just recently managed to purchase a very rare vintage 1996 Tiger Electronics Superman LCD Game. Being a huge Superman fan, I didn't allow this piece of historic Superman merchandise slip off my hands. During the LCD Game's heyday, I've been curiously searching for a Superman game but couldn't find any. I'm also a huge fan of Tiger Electronics and I own a number of Tiger LCD games. So finding a Superman LCD game that was made by Tiger Electronics felt like I just hit the jackpot. But my expectations unfortunately were not met. This toy review will shed light as to why this LCD game failed to satisfy my expectations.

The Packaging/LCD Game:

Unfortunately, when I bought this item, it came loose without the packaging. So I have no idea what the packaging looks like. Fortunately though, this item came with it's Black and White colored Instruction Booklet. The booklet's cover features the art of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (or is it Dan Jurgens?). I presume this LCD game originated in Europe because the language used in this booklet is written in United Kingdom English, with translations using French, Dutch, and Netherlands languages. It is also noted in the Instruction Booklet that this product was released back in 1996. The year Superman sported a mullet. The game is powered by a single 1.5V button cell battery. The handheld game's exterior colors sports Superman's traditional Red and Blue colors with yellow colored control buttons to give it an actual Superman feel to it. On the upper right portion of the item, there's a picture of Superman in his iconic pose.

The Characters:

Well of course there's Superman (thank God he's not sporting a mullet). He is up against a gallery of rogues namely Parasite, Metallo, Brainiac, and Steel!?! I don't know what Tiger Electronics was thinking and how DC managed to overlook this error but Steel is supposed to be Superman's ally.

Gameplay:

This is what disappointed me. Tiger Electronics has been known to produce advanced graphics that features the character's movements on arms, legs, and other joints. Superman however does not feature this. The gameplay of this LCD game harkens back to the early LCD games where the characters simply move left and right (or up and down for this matter) as a whole. But if you are huge fan of vintage LCD games, then this will not bother you much. In fact, the game utilizes the traditional game music of vintage LCD games.

Objective of the Game:

Superman must defend the city of Metropolis against his rogues gallery. He must prevent the villains from planting a bomb behind him by utilizing his heat vision to stop the enemies on their tracks before they can outrun Superman and allow them to plant a bomb. Superman simply moves up and down as he tries to hit his enemies with his Heat Vision. But if the enemies had successfully planted the bombs behind Superman, he must avoid these at all costs in order for him to stay alive. The game runs for 8 levels with each level getting much more difficult because the villains would move faster as the game progresses.

Pictures of the Actual Game Graphics

Superman was not fast enough as the bomb behind him exploded

Superman is cornered by Parasite, Metallo, and Steel!?!

Final Thoughts:

If only Tiger Electronics opted to produce a more advance graphics to this LCD Game's gameplay then this could have been the best LCD Superman game. But then there are only a few LCD Superman game that were released in the market. In fact this is the only one that I know of. And since beggars can't be choosers, I'm just glad that I'm able to own this piece of memorabilia. As of now I still can't make it past level 7. And I thought LCD games were easy. If you happen to chance upon this item in garage sales or through online, then don't let it slip away. This LCD game promises countless fun.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Collecticon 2012

It's been a while since I posted an entry in this blog. Got busy with work related stuffs but I managed to find time to visit this year's collecticon event. Collecticon is the third major toy event in the Philippines. Personally, I think this event was a downer for me because I wasn't able to get the action figures that I've been hunting (DCNU Superman, Mattel Ghostbusters). But, I managed to snag a couple of back issues of the comic books issues that were missing in my collection. In previous toy events like these, I spend most of my time hunting action figures and ignore the comic book bins. But lately here in the Philippines, I noticed that there seems to be a growing number of back issues being sold on Hobby Shops. Makes me wonder where they source these back issues. It's actually a sad thing that the last few remaining Major Comic Book stores in the country are either closing shop or downsizing. Take for instance Filbar's Comics, I heard that they will be discontinuing their comic book orders on new issues. I guess they'll be relegated to selling unsold back issues or maybe bringing in back issues? Their action figures section is now being mainly supplied by Big Boys Toys, and with Big Boys bringing in back issues in their own Hobby Shop, I wouldn't be surprised if Big Boy's will eventually be Filbar's main comic book supplier. Comic Odyssey/Planet X is also downsizing their Robinson's Manila branch. But I think they made a wise move of renting a floor space in Fullybooked Bonifacio High Street. Fullybooked is Manila's counterpart to the U.S.' Barnes and Noble. At least those who read books would be able to check out single issue comic books of their liking. I guess the presence of Graphic Novels in the comic book market has eaten the share of the single comic book issues' sales. Majority of the casual readers prefer the Graphic Novels/Collected Editions than buying single issues. But what am I talking about, this is a blog entry about Collecticon, not about comic books.

DC-MOTUC Display Volunteers

I've been a part of a Facebook group that is composed of DC and Masters of the Universe collectors. Collecticon 2012 was our first major appearance as a group. We are very happy and thankful for the warm reception that we got from the organizers of the event. We contributed in this event by displaying some of our collections for the public to see and oogle at. Initially I was supposed to volunteer my Vintage Justice League toys from different lines but had to pull out because of my uncertainty to commit to the group's preparations. Busy work would not permit me but I think personally it was a good thing that I backed out. Because, the actual display was plain awesome. In fact it was something that really caught the attention of those who viewed the different toy displays. Jeffrey Velasquez's Custom Doomsday was a crowd drawer. Using Toybiz's Legendary Super Heroes Pitt's body as base figure, the custom Doomsday showed it's monstrosity at the event. The group decided to do two dioramas for the event. One featuring the JLA heroes battling a monstrous beast called Doomsday (the beast that killed Superman back in the 90's), and A Masters of The Universe Dio featuring He-Man and the heroes of Eternia battling the evil forces of Skeletor. Though I was a big fan of the show, I couldn't get myself to buy MOTUC figures because these were not available at retail. So I decided to skip the line. But after seeing my groupmates' collections, I'm beginning to think twice of entirely skipping the line. Maybe a He-Man and Skeletor figure would do. But I always end up getting motivated to complete a toy line after getting one of my feet wet. Being with the DC-MOTUC group means that I'm subjecting myself to be badly influenced by the MOTUC collections. Oh well.

Photos from the Different Toy Display Showcase

DC-MOTUC Toy Display

Closer look at the JLA v.s. Doomsday dio (with HT Superman and Batman)

Masters of the Universe battling the Evil Forces of Eternia


Robot Collectors Haven Showcase 1

Robot Collectors Haven Showcase 2

Some Robot Customs

Hasbro representations of Marvel Legends Villains, Star Wars, and Marvel Universe

Some custom base and whatnot. Not quite familiar with these except for Voltes V

Hot Toys on Display (Featuring Filipino Billiards Great Efren Bata Reyes and All-Time Filipino Boxer Great Manny Pacquiao)

Awesome HT Robocop Display

HT Predator Showcase


Busts and Stats

Some sellers and their Display Booths

Cool Republic's stall

Not quite sure but is this Japanimation's Stall?

Akumag/Robin's Toy Shop

GI Joes for Sale

Raddj Toys

Some cool vintage stuffs in this stall

Another of Raddj's stall

Some cool robots being sold here

JAE Collectibles, spent most of my money on this stall

Uncle Sam's

Playkit?

Uncle Sam's DCUCs

I still dream of owning this cool Legion of Super Heroes Box Set

My Collecticon Hauls

Mattel Action League

Though I couldn't find the figures that I've been looking for, I'm happy that I was able to acquire these cute Mattel DC Action League mini figures. Of course Hasbro's Marvel Superhero Squad was the first toy line that featured kid friendly figures, but I couldn't find myself buying those. But when DC had their answer to Superhero Squad, I couldn't resist not owning one. I actually was torn if I should get the original big seven JLA or the DCNU JLA but since I have no plans of owning a representation of the DCNU JLA in 6 inch form, I guess these guys will have to do. I'm also lending these to my son to get him to familiarize the JLA at an early age. Of course a DC loving dad should have a DC loving son.

1996 Tiger Games Superman LCD Game

Superman LCD Game and Spiderman Key Chain

I also got this pretty cool vintage Superman LCD game by Tiger. As a kid I was pretty fascinated by Tiger Game's LCD handheld games because of their sleek gameplay where the character that you would be playing sports a good visual articulation and multiple movements opposed to the static character that only features straight line movements of traditional LCD games. But alas this Superman game does not share Tiger's more modern games in the early 90's. The good side though is that it sports a vintage feel because of it's traditional LCD gameplay. The objective of the game is to beat a horde of villains (that includes STEEL!?!) by using your heat vision. This is actually the only Superman LCD game that I know of. And since I'm a huge Superman fan, I'm glad that I was able to own a piece of merchandise that is as rare as this. I think this was released in Europe way back in 1996. I also got my brother a Spiderman key chain which has a web climbing gimmick.

Kamandi At Earth's End Mini Series

My comic book hauls were mostly composed of back issues that I missed. As usual most of them are Superman comics. I took special interest in this Kamandi At Earth's End Elseworld six part mini series because it features an aged Superman complete with the long white hair and beard. The story sounded interesting and this has never been collected as a Graphic Novel so I bought the mini series when I saw a complete set of it in the back issue bin. I also got lucky to find a spin off one shot comics of this series titled Superman At Earth's End. So I managed to complete this Elseworld story in one swoop.

The Rest of My Comic Book Hauls

Action Comics 825, Genesis 4. and Superman King of the World (disappointed that there was a print error in this copy, got multiple pages of the same page)