Road to Solo: Bossk Mini Head from Micro Machines: Star Wars by Galoob

 Time for another Micro Machines: Star Wars Mini Heads review! This time we're checking out Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter that my 4 year old is obsessed with eating. Her desire to eat Bossk started back in 2015 with the Hero Mashers figure and continues to this day. Whenever we see Bossk in any shape, fashion, or form, my daughter pretends she is going to eat him. As soon as we pulled this set (originally only offered in the US as a Pizza Hutt exclusive) out of the mail my daughter grabbed it and began to act like she was chowing down. The kid is crazy and delightful. Bossk was also available internationally in Collection V of the Mini Action Transforming Playsets along with Duros and a Stormtrooper. Let's check this guy out after the break...

Road to Solo: 2-1B Mini Head from Micro Machines: Star Wars by Galoob

   I've recently added quite a few Galoob Micro Machine pieces to my collection (mostly Star Wars) so I hope you dig retro reviews of micro toys that you can't find in store anymore! Today I'm checking out another set from the second series of Mini Heads that were only available in the United States via a 1998 Pizza Hutt promotion. Today I'm checking out 2-1B, the medical droid who serves Luke both at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back after his Wampa attack and at the end after losing a hand to Darth Vader. In late 1995 Galoob offered a set of various droids under the Micro Machines banner although the figures were more in scale with the Action Fleet line. 2-1B was included there but was never included in the Micro Machines series as a microfigure in any other way, making this set greatly desired. This Mini Head was included as both one of the single packed Pizza Hut exclusives and in the internationally offered set VI of the Mini Heads alongside Weequay and the Royal Guard. Let's take a look at 2-1B after the break...

Micro Review: Alien Pitfall from Micro Machines: Galaxy Voyagers by Galoob

   Around 1993, well into the Micro Machines craze but before Galoob moved into the licensed world of Star Wars Micro Machines, Galoob attempted to create their own in-house sci-fi line called Galaxy Voyagers. While the modest line is thought of fondly by those who remember it Galaxy Voyagers definitely didn't enjoy the success of other lines like Galoob's Star Wars, Star Trek, or generic military offerings. With only nine vehicle collections and three playsets the line isn't terribly expansive although some pieces can be tricky to find. One of the easier pieces to find is the only playset from the series I had as a kid: The Alien Pitfall! I recently picked this one up as my original was sold at some point during my childhood, probably around when I purged my military Micro Machines too. What a shame! Fortunately, eBay allows us to rectify the follies of our youth and I'm now a 34 year old man writing about the Alien Pitfall playset. I loved this one as a kid as I was always a fan of trap based playsets (such as the Horde's  Fright Zone or Swamp Thing's Swamp Trap. Let's take a closer look at the Alien Pitfall after the break...

Confirmed Epic Podcast Retro Rewind #9: G.I. Joe Retaliation

*This podcast originally aired on April 5th 2013, and is part of our Retro Rewind initiative to publish our back catalog of episodes for our listeners!

In the 8th installment of The Confirmed Epic Podcast we review Jon Chu’s long anticipated G.I. Joe sequel: G.I. Joe Retaliation and discuss the insanely quick popularity of The Walking Dead property.  

We also cover the EPIC new items of the week: Gamora being cast in Guardian’s of the Galaxy, the death of Roger Ebert, Matthew McConaughey being cast as the lead in the next Christopher Nolan film, and the end of Lucas Arts.  

As always we also get into what we have been checking out: Sideshow Collectibles Freddy Krueger Premium Format Figure, Thano’s Rising #1, and NECA figures. 

Let us know what you thought about the podcast in the comments below or follow and tweet us @thereelbradbell  

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Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on iTunes just search for: The Confirmed Epic Podcast 

You can always email any questions, comments, and concerns about the show to thepicreview@gmail.com

Road to Solo: Royal Starship Repair from Micro Machines: Star Wars Episode I by Galoob

    I've recently announced that one of my goals for Action Figure Barbecue is too have the most comprehensive archive of Star Wars Micro Machines reviews on the web and today I'm making another step towards that effort with a review of one of the more difficult to acquire Episode 1 Micro Machines playsets: Royal Star Repair. As best as I can tell, the Royal Starship Repair was released later in 1999 as part of the second "wave" of Episode I product.  By the launch of the Episode line Galoob was now owned by Hasbro and, unfortunately, it suffered the same problems as Hasbro during the Episode I launch: Too much product on shelves. There was so much stuff on shelves that most of these sets were ordered in limited numbers and thus are hard to track down today. Having completed all of the playsets from the Original Trilogy, I've begun procuring Episode I sets when I can and this one was a huge check off my list (I have two sets left to pick up and one to complete!). Much of Episode I takes place onboard the Naboo Royal Starship, Queen Amidala's modified J-type 327 Nubian starship, so this makes perfect sense as a deluxe playset for the line. Let's take a closer look at this very cool playset after the break...

Road to Solo: Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise) from Star Wars: The Power of the Force by Kenner

   Picture this: It is August 1995. On August 29th the Star Wars Trilogy would be released on both VHS and laserdisc for both returning fans and a new generation of fans to experience. While Galoob had a Star Wars Micro Machines toyline on shelves, soon Kenner (now a subdivision of Hasbro) would be releasing their Star Wars: The Power of the Force line to mass retailers. Star Wars was about to hit it's wave of popularity, one that arguably has never actually went away. I was in the 6th grade and our class was doing a project involving cereal boxes. One of my classmates brought in a box of Froot Loops with this promotion on the package. Having never seen Star Wars, I was still fascinated by the dramatic looking offer and the incredibly cool action figure. I managed to convince my classmate to let me have the package and, from then on, it was all downhill. Between ordering the Kellogg's exclusive Han Solo in Stromtrooper Disguise and receiving him in the mail in either late December or early January (he took awhile, I remember) my family had moved across the country, I had become obsessed with the Original Trilogy, had read as many of the Expanded Universe novels as I could get my hands on, had acquired most of Kenner's offerings (including a couple of vintage figures), and was actively collecting the Micro Machines line. Han Solo was just the sample that the Star Wars machine peddled to me for free. It was the first taste that got me hooked, you might say. That being the case, today's Han Solo focused review holds a very special place in both my personal Star Wars fandom and in getting folks prepared for the return of Star Wars in general. Let's check out Han Solo in Stormtrooper Disguise after the break.

Toy Review: Batman: Arkham Knight Batmobile (2/5, 112/365) from Hot Wheels by Mattel

 I'm always down for snatching up a Hot Wheels Batmobile and while out at my local Wal-Mart last week I stumbled across an updated version of the Arkham Knight Batmobile. Hot Wheels released the original version of this model in 2015 as part of a Wal-Mart exclusive series but this one has a better color scheme and some enhanced paint applications. It is number 2/5 in the Batman subset and number 112/ 365 overall. Let's take a quick look at this new model after the break...