Toys: Lego "Ang Panday"

For the last couple of months, I've been keeping a very tight leash on my spending. Which means, I haven't bought toys. But the Christmas season of 2011 gave me some cheer, as some of the family gave me some cash as Christmas gifts. This money I can budget for fun stuff without guilt. And that's what I did.

I've rekindled my love for a toyline from my childhood: Lego. Since I am not getting any younger, and getting married and building my own family are not too far off, I figured I'd collect toys with which I would want to play with my future kids. I got me a Lego Castle Blacksmith Attack (6918) and played around with it. So here's my version of "Ang Panday!"

Eat that, Bong Revilla! Hehehe.

COMICS: "CADRE: First-Born Sons" is out (SPOILERS)

Finally, my very own comic-book is out!

The whole CADRE comics storyline was first conceived in the very early part of the 21st century. My friends and I were crafting very engaging stories as they played the roles of their respective characters in a world that I created. It is a world that mirrors our own except that there is a big organization there called CADRE. My cousin and big brother Emil thought the stories would make good comics, and we got excited by the prospect. It took more than five years before that dream saw print, when the first of the CADRE prologue tales, CADRE Presents: Amerikanong Hilaw, came into full being in 2009. That was followed by CADRE: Shuriken Duet parts 1 and 2, and last year by CADRE Classified. 

I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to be able to write what could be the last of the prologue tales. In CADRE: First-Born Sons, we will see how the first three operatives of the shadow organization CADRE (to know what the acronym stands for, you'll have to buy the comic-book) got recruited.

Actually, "recruited" is too simplistic a term for the events that transpired. Set four years before the events of

Comics: Looking forward to Trese 4: Last Seen After Midnight (comics trailer)

I stumbled across this while browsing in Facebook. I dream we could do something like this for Polyhedron Comics.

I've seen better book trailers, but this is good enough to get me to look forward to looking through this and maybe buying it. Too bad I couldn't go to the launch this Saturday, as we at Polyhedron will be working on CADRE: Firstborn Sons on that day.

RPG tales: Encounter at El Dorado

Our heroes (from left to right) Vicar Bo the cleric, Batguy Bob the Black (African?) elven fighter, and  Bolbah, the half-orc fighter, were tasked by the mayor of the small town of El Dorado to be the temporary sheriff and deputies. ViBo was the sheriff, while Batguy Bob and Bolbah were the deputies. The caveat to their new posts is that they are to avoid contact with Carl Grissom and his gang.

While hanging out at El Dorado's only tavern-inn (where almost all of our adventures seem to begin), we heard a scream from the upper floors. Our heroes rushed up the stairs and found a girl running from an upstairs room, followed by an angry half-naked man who was shouting, "Come back here, wench!" The man was Junior Grissom, son of Grissom Gang leader Carl Grissom. Thinking himself as some kind of privileged noble, he demanded that the girl be given to him.

Toy Recon: 2011 Skystriker and GI Joe-compatible toys

I'm thankful to my friend Darlene who gave me a Motorola V8 with a usable cam. Makes these toy recon trips easier.

I was going through the toy section of Landmark Dept. Store, looking for GI Joes or Transformers or anything that could be of interest. I found this on a high shelf:

After the fiasco that is GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, I would have thought that retailers would be a little paranoid in getting GI Joe merchandise. Well, they are, because they are really limiting what they are getting to sell. But I have to ask, why did they get a big ticket item (Php2,200+) like the Skystriker? I mean, sure, it is iconic and collectors my age might get them. But after presumably suffering loss and remaindering the rest of their RoC stock, would they gamble on a big vehicle? Why not Pursuit of Cobra figures? Why not smaller vehicles? I may want one of those things but lack of money and, more importantly, lack of space keeps me from getting this.


But I did find other things of interest. GI Joe collectors are always on the lookout for toys that would be compatible with 3.75 inch figures like GI Joes. Mostly they are the military set toys made by Chap Mei (Soldier Force V) and Power Team Elite. Toys R Us's True Heroes line also looked good to me, though I've yet to procure one of their "Little Bird" helicopter gunships. That said, I was surprised to find this:

'Exorcist' director William Friedkin should read comics

I came across this article this morning, and it made me sad and angry at the state our world is in.

Yahoo News: 'Exorcist' director slams trend for comic book stories

Perhaps Friedkin wants more intellectual movies made, and more people to appreciate them. But seriously, I fail to see how his movie Killer Joe, the story of "a drug dealer who hires a cop moonlighting as an assassin to murder his mother to collect on an insurance policy that will pay off his debts, and sells his sister as a sexual retainer" as "adult." Okay, I'll grant that it is "adult" in the same sense that pornographic films are

Whenever I'm stressed, GI Joe is there!

It's been a grueling last several days for me here at work. I've been working on a project that seems to keep me at my desk for what feels like forever. Suffice to say, I'm stressed out. Good thing my GI Joes are close at hand. I've been thinking of building an urban strike team from my current roster of figures. Here's the beginning of that team:

From left to right: Resolute Duke, Pursuit of Cobra (City Strike) Low Light, Pursuit of Cobra (City Strike) Beachhead, 25th A Shockblast and 25th A Mutt and Junkyard.

Yeah, nothing like an urban strike squad assaulting my desk to chase the stress away.

Star Wars Day

To all the Star Wars fans and geeks out there, happy Star Wars Day! May the fourth be with you.

Toy Review: TransFormers Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz (2011)

Last February, my dearest girlfriend Rita gave me a Transformers Reveal the Shield Special Ops Jazz for my birthday. It turned out to be one of my most beloved toys ever, not only because it was given to me by my beloved, but also because it is so well-made I would dare say that it fulfilled the Transformers G1 desires that I had when I was a kid.
 

Jazz: "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Car Mode

I like the paint job of this figure. It is reminiscent of the G1 Jazz yet also have that modern feel to it. The red and blue stripes, the number 4, the translucent headlights, all beautifully made. And unlike the Transformers Universe Prowl whose paint application feels like it is still wet and sticky to the touch, Jazz's paint job is smooth and clean. On the down side, I was a little disappointed that Jazz isn't a Porsche in this incarnation. I've read somewhere that he is half Porsche (the back part) and half Pontiac Solstice (front part) from the movie. I suppose there is some sort of licensing thing going on, but the end result is nice enough.

CADRE Classified: the beginning of a saga

Two years ago, I was excited to learn that our old TOP SECRET/S.I. games back in college are going to see the light of day via comic books. My cousin, Dr. Emil Flores, has been toying around with the idea for the longest time. In 2009, he and our friend Ron Escultura released CADRE: Amerikanong Hilaw.

It was exciting to see how he envisioned the immediate origins of NBI agent Arturo Ganigan. Reading through that left me wanting more, more of the tales that we communally weaved as we talked and imagined and rolled dice. There was no mention of CADRE, what or who it was and how CADRE fit into all this running and driving around Metro Manila. But the good thing is I saw the characters of Arturo Ganigan, Barbie Benigno, Noel Galzote and Tony Santillan on the printed page, remembering how they once populated the world I created. Of course, there are hints thrown here and there in the story that those of us who once played the game could point out and that is a thrilling thing. For those reading the book who has just been introduced into the world of CADRE, they will have to wait for further stories to know how they tie into this story.