Bandai Gets Way Too Much of My Money...

[Fritz]

I can't help it. They've just mastered the art of putting out some of the most ass-kicking toys I've ever seen in my three-plus decades of life. Their Gundam action figures have just simply been awesome...they started out cool, and have only gotten cooler.

I remember buying the RX-78 that came with the G-Fighter and was amazed enough by that...then six months later they released a different RX-78, with a Core Booster, that was just the most crazy sick posable robot action figure I'd ever owned. It was the first one I could actually get into a satsifying combat crouch.

Not long after that came the G Gundam collection...the Shuffle Alliance Gundams all with removable Core Fighters and assloads of interchangeable hands. The Shining Gundam was almost as posable as that RX-78, and had interchangeable heads to boot!

And now the Gundam Seed collection is starting to tear ass at the racks. Just a few days ago I got the Aile Strike Gundam with Skygrasper, a neat little fighter that can mount the Striker packs. It's sitting and looking at me as I type this, and to an old mechahead like myself this is a thing of beauty.

Like I said, Bandai gets way too much of my money...

[BrianReilly]

Those bastards make the most crappy-ass electronic games though. They just make a few beeps every now and then. It's worse that Tiger Electronics. I tried getting my money back, to no avail. To quote Stan:

"This is America. And in America, when something sucks, you're supposed to get your money back."

Didn't they also make the Power Rangers figures? What's something they made that I would collect, Fritz?

[Fritz]

You are correct. Hell, I have a bunch of those myself...early ones. I think the last ones I ever bought were from PR In Space. Though I've actually thought about buying the new Black Ranger (Tommy Oliver) for old times sake.

I also still have assloads of Digimon stuff--I was "Veedramon" back on GBN, after all (and technically, it's my login name at a bunch of places still). I dunno...I actually liked some of their Digivice virtual pets; I think the best one was either the "upgraded" D-3 (the one you could get the Season 1 Digimon on) or the very last one, the D-Tector. I used to take those things to work with me to rack up steps on them (though obviously, I had to be careful about leaving them in my locker when I wasn't going to be somewhere I could tend to it)

I'm honestly not sure if there's anything you'd buy...Bandai is Japan's biggest toy company (and like the third largest in the world, I think after Mattel and Hasbro) and pretty much corner the market on anime merchandise released to this country.

The main exception to that was the Zoids line, which was released in the US by Hasbro (though technically manufactured by Tomy Japan; Hasbro bought out Tomy USA years ago) Those were great fun to put together--it's essentially a sturdy model kit with some wind-up or battery-driven walking action.

[Jeremy Hicks]

Amazingly enough, I still have my D-3 with the original batteries in it. And if you wanna spend some more cash on Gundam stuff, try buying a 1/100th scale RX-78-2 or Aile Strike Gundam. I got a RX-79(G) Gundam Ez-8 from the 08th ms team series and it's simply amazing. If you have one of the Transformers Alternators toys, the robot mode is the same height as a 1/100 scale Gundam model. (about 7 1/2-8 inches)

[Fritz]

Jeremy said:

And if you wanna spend some more cash on Gundam stuff, try buying a 1/100th scale RX-78-2 or Aile Strike Gundam. I got a RX-79(G) Gundam Ez-8 from the 08th ms team series and it's simply amazing. If you have one of the Transformers Alternators toys, the robot mode is the same height as a 1/100 scale Gundam model. (about 7 1/2-8 inches)

Already got the RX-78 and the Aile Strike Gundam...more awesome stuff. Interestingly enough, the "Arch Enemies" toy version of the RX-78 is just about the same size as the 1/100 model (and you even had to build the core fighter, though it wasn't the same molds as the one in the model)

The Ez-8 never really tripped my trigger, but I dearly wanted the unmodified Rx-79[G]. Unfortunately, the money and opportunity never came together at the same time.

[Jeremy Hicks]

Well, if you ever get about $40 together sometime, you can go to gundamstoreandmore.com (hosted by Yahoo!) and get one for about $32.99 + s/h. For me the total was $40.59 since the actual store is in Michigan, but I'm not sure about what it would be for you.

[TheRazorsEdge]

DC Direct has been getting all of my cash lately. I still can't believe the guy at the comic store was charging $20 for Guy freaking Gardner and only $10 for a Hal Jordan Spectre...

[Jeremy Hicks]

Dude, that's just wrong.

[Fritz]

Damn those guys at Bandai...

Just when I thought Digimon was nice and dead they start releasing stuff for it again. (The reruns on ABC Family and the Disney Channels must be doing good?) Just this week I shelled out for the Version 2 D-Tector. It had been released breifly two years ago, but disappeared before I could buy it, but here it is again...

And man, it's cooler than the first version. You can play as Koichi, and there are a lot more Digimon available--I downloaded Patamon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon's evolution lines from the D-3 upgrade, and they let you capture the monsters you beat.

And when you defeat the evil Legendary Warriors, you get to take their spirits! So far, I've gotten the Water spirits for Zoe and the Earth spirits for J.P.

Sorry to babble, but I'm having the most fun I've had with a video game in years. Even considering that, y'know, I can't actually walk to put steps on the pedometer and all

[OgreBBQ]

After watching how much fun Fritz has been having with HIS D-Tector, I got me one. Having a ball with it. If you can find these things, they are $20 US well spent.