Flash Force 2000 - Flash Fighter Maz

"Here's how easy it is for kids to have a blast!"

One of the favorite forgotten lines around the Preserve is Flash Force 2000 by Matchbox. Hailing from 1984 (the greatest year!) there wasn't a long life to this line, but it did have cap guns so that puts it way ahead of the safety-crazed toys of modern times! Maybe two years ago I managed to pick up really clean carded examples of the six single small vehicles from the line, and have finally caught enough of a break in the 'new product' cycle to properly turn attention back to these vintage wonders.

Today let's take a look at one of the good guys, one of the 'Flash Fighters' - Maz!



These vehicles were packaged with a 'launcher' and a fair number (48) of little blasting caps to get the action moving. Also excellent was the inclusion of a mini comic book - 'Rumble at Rampage Rock'! Looks like the little raised area in the packaging that originally held said caps didn't totally work over time, as they are starting to swim their way around and about. The cars are metal, thank you Matchbox, and have a small trapdoor on the floor-facing side where you load a cap. Colliding with the bumper causes a flash, a bang, and that classic smoke smell!

Unfortunately the packaging for this line follows the path of many budget-conscious products both then and now (I'm looking at you, Jazwares A-Team!) - where the individual 'figures' don't really have much to distinguish them packaging-wise, like unique features and certainly not a bio. At least Murdock and BA have different bar codes, but the same can't be said for these cars - as a store I have to wonder how you would do inventory control? I guess you just get a case, and sell through, and get another one. Or, in the case of lines like this, get a case, never sell them, and then get Transformers instead. Per that notion of limited sales of this product originally, this was the first complete carded set of vehicles I've seen, up until then or since! Click the image above for some more close-ups of Maz, and look to have the bad guys posted soon.

Oh, and in case you were wondering:
CONTENTS OF CAPS: These caps contain less than 0.20 grains per cap. The pyrotechnical content is as follows: potassium chlorate, red phosphorus, manganese dioxide, magnesium oxide, sand, glue.

Posted by charlie on July 30th, 06:20 AM
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Transformers Generation 1 - Bluestreak

There sure has been a lot of new product announced over the last week and change - Hasbro and Mattel have assured us that some real wallet-busting times are ahead. In the spirit of all that, I am redoubling my efforts to enjoy what the Preserve already has, and what better way to do that than to continue the journey through Transformers: Generation 1. Today let's take a look at Bluestreak!



Always a confusing figure as a kid, given that he embodied the small-print warning of character decos being subject to change, not to mention the change rendering his name somewhat off unless taken as an expression and not a color. The checklist, and heck, the box and the character art, all showed him with the blue highlights of the original Takara version, but we ended up with a nice silver Datsun 280ZX. He is, of course, still a fantastic figure! The version I picture seems to be from the 1985 release (based only on the 1985 catalog, though he has no rub sign and the catalog is oversized so I'm thinking the two don't match up), but he was one of the originals to be included in the 1984 launch set. Click the image above for more shots of this classic Autobot!

Posted by charlie on July 29th, 06:55 AM
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Ghostbusters - Peter Venkman

It took a while, but at last there is a complete set of Ghostbusters in the 6" scale. Seeing as the Egon/Slimer set was released at the 2009 SDCC, and Peck was thrown in for good measure a few months ago, it required no small amount of patience to wait until June of this year for Venkman to finally appear. And then, of course, it is 'slimed Venkman', complete with ugly little spud #2, but Mattel assured us all that they have some commitment to this line with Club Ecto-1, so we'll be getting a few more versions and repaints of all characters in 2011, I can tell you.



Yes, that's right - June 2010. I'm a little behind on some coverage, but at last the gallery is up to date. Not a moment too soon, either, since the 12" Winston (making complete the 12" collection) as well as 'lab coat' Ray, (outfit from the "we're ready to believe you" ad) both come out on August 16th. Mattel knows how to stack up the product, but like a trained seal we'll be there, flippers slapping, excitedly clicking refresh on mattycollector.com as their servers buckle under the weight of 1000 non-club-Eternia fans vying desperately for Whiplash.

Posted by charlie on July 28th, 06:24 AM
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Comics Related - Alan Moore and his New Project

Readers of the Preserve have likely noticed that I've not been providing much in the way of Comic-Con coverage this past week. The reason for that is several fold: all like-minded sites appear to be awash in piles of the same news, I maybe am a little secretly sad that I didn't go, and the convention is so laughably not about comics any longer...I think we should all possibly find other events to support (gasp!)
Well, the New York Times yesterday had a nice piece on what Alan Moore is up to, so I guess this is my comics related news for the week, and far more related than most anything at said Comic-Con! You know you can't resist the beard - click the image to be taken to the Times and catch up with Moore as he transcends death, being only a perspective illusion of the third dimension.



Posted by charlie on July 27th, 07:34 AM
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Transformers Q&A #2 - Extra Question

In our previous Transformers Q&A way back in May, we submitted our two questions and hadn't gotten much in the way of answers, but the Hasbro team asked us to clarify things a little. Then Botcon and Comic Con happened, so everyone was understandably busy! Well, we've just gotten the replies back from our Q&A (better late than never as Cheech would say) and I really appreciate it! The Hasbro Transformers team has sent us an answer to our questions for this round of the official Q&A. Check it out:

Preserve: What factors go into the decision to distribute the product to different countries, and what proportion of the full line typically ends up being sent to countries that may not end up with every last item in the full set.
Hasbro: Every year we present our full line of product offering to all of our retail partners throughout the world and ultimately, the decision of what our retail partners decide to carry falls on them. Additionally, while we have every intention of releasing every wave of every assortment in every market, it does come down to whether or not there is a sufficient demand within those markets for those figures. Again, this is ultimately a decision that our retail partners need to decide.

Preserve: My favorite Transformers: Animated episode has to be Thrill of the Hunt which brought back the legendary Sue Blu as Arcee in the touching Ratchet wartime flashbacks. It was spectacular that it was recently perfectly captured by the Toys R Us Exclusive wave of those two figures. I'm wondering if the Transformers Brand team has any favorite episodes of that series that they would like to share.
Hasbro: Some of the team's favorite episodes from the past include War Dawn from the Generation One series, Other Visitors from the Beast Wars series, and the popular Armada episode Carnival. As for Animated, one of the most beloved episodes is the two-part series finale End Game. During its production, both the studio and Hasbro believed that End Game could very well be the final episode of the series. So many of the loose ends from the previous seasons were tied up and the escalation of the stories written by Rich Fogel and Marsha Griffin are the most action packed in the entire series.
There's this immense amount of tension built up during both episodes leading into the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron, while the rest of the Autobots tend to the Lugnut Supreme problem in their own ways. There was so many layers of story telling going on, and each Autobot had their own tasks to accomplish to make everything work out for the better. One of the most moving moments in the entire series also happens during the last episode, where Prowl sacrifices himself to save the city and his friends. I feel like that moment in particular really added a dose of reality to the animation and helped really drive home the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. Additionally, although the episode was written in a way to leave the door open for a potential season four, that never materialized, but the story concepts did! Those concepts are laid out in the AllSpark Almanac Volume II which is available at stores now.



Thanks go to the Hasbro team for their fantastic and thoughtful answers!


Posted by charlie on July 26th, 12:35 PM
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Nasta Reactors - Reactorcycle-RS2

With all of the news and excitement coming out of San Diego over the past week or more, I have been forgetting about new additions I've made to the Preserve nearly as quickly as I have been making them! As such, I very nearly forgot to front-page the very exciting latest addition to the Nasta Reactors collection - that of the Reactorcycle-RS2! Having just recently added the Reactorwinch-RF1 and the Illuminator-RC1, it is indeed exciting to have another gap in this collection filled so quickly.



The 'secondary market' these days is interesting. It's been 21 years since these vehicles were produced, and I have to imagine that for a time it might have been a little easier to find them at yard sales, or the occasional "selling my kid's stuff" event, but even now they seem to pop up once every 2 months, like clockwork. It is illuminating to use this line as a barometer for chaotic events like that - how given the entire country, somehow pieces from this obscure line come up with general consistency. That effect holds across most any collectible...and I suspect there's a doctoral thesis in there someplace! Well, that's enough of all that nonsense - click the image above for more shots and the specs of this fantastic three-wheeler...only 3 more to go!

Posted by charlie on July 26th, 11:01 AM
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Masters of the Universe Classics - Keldor

This past week at the San Diego Comic Con, Mattel released a raft of wonderful news about what we can all look forward to in 2011 for the Masters of the Universe Classics collection. While I figure anyone who cares has probably checked out the coverage by some other sites who were on location, I wanted to take the opportunity to update the Preserve with some far overdue figures. Starting with...Keldor! Little did casual fans know that before old Bone Face started his reign of ineffective terror against He-Man and the people of Eternia, he was Prince Keldor of the House of Miro! Click the image below to learn about his fall, and the chain of events that got the better of him in this hard, complicated life.


Posted by charlie on July 25th, 06:54 PM
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Xtractaurs - Beakbash

A quick update on this hot and muggy Saturday - today let's take a look at the counterpart to my Target Clearance Quikfire purchase - Beakbash the Criorhyncus! This stylish figure from the Pterosaurs clan is sporting a great repaint from the wave 1 Wingstorm figure (apparently with a cool new head!), and brings the special online attack of 'Bomb' to the battlefield! Click the image below for more views of this great addition to the shortlived interactive Xtractaurs line!


Posted by charlie on July 24th, 01:42 PM
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Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest



The Preserve's very own Wounded Ronin has just finished the most scholarly paper ever written on Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest series of games. He takes us from the early beginnings of Police Quest: Open Season up until the streamlined SWAT 3, with discussion of gameplay mechanics, strengths and shortfalls, and the broader societal impact and influences of the work. But don't take my word for it - click the logo above for his full work, which is as long as it is thoughtful!
Posted by charlie on July 23rd, 08:35 AM
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SDCC 2010 and Buying Things

Most people are probably fully aware that the 2010 San Diego Comic Con is in full swing, having executed another over full and successful preview night last night. Also something painfully obvious is that I didn't make it there this year, so I'm reading the great coverage on other sites like everyone else. Since companies now get to release the news and products that they have been carefully saving up for this major yearly event, we will see a real deluge over the next few days. This morning, I popped over to toysrus.com, and was delighted to see Masterpiece Grimlock, in stock, and qualifying for their current free shipping deal. Of course, before I could either buy it or post about it, he's backordered. Well, I guess you can put in an order anyway, and see what happens!

Also of note is that the 2011 subscription plans over at mattycollector.com have gone up for sale. Unlike the madness that is the monthly purchase scramble, they handle this particular sale in a much more sane and reasonable way. In particular, anyone can buy as many subscriptions as they want over the next 2 week period. Makes good sense for Mattel, as it helps inform their production numbers for the entire next year. Each subscription is only $20, the rest being billed over the year as figures are shipped. This way, no one should complain about missing out - though rest assured that plenty still will. Best part? They are allowing folks to combine the Ghostbusters and Master of the Universe Classics subscriptions into one giant expensive bundle of awesome, designed to ship together every month and at least save a bit of money. Click the image below to sign up, before you forget!



Posted by charlie on July 22nd, 06:34 AM
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