Hot Wheels Star Wars Vehicles: Y-Wing and X-Wing

Hot Wheels has produced some nifty Star Wars themed cars. Now they are working on diecast and plastic vehicles from the Star Wars universe. These ships run about $5 and are roughly 3-4 inches in size.  Out of curiousity, I purchased the Y-Wing (always my favorite), the X-Wing and the TIE Fighter. The TIE fighter body is metal but the wings are plastic. I haven't opened the Y or X-Wings yet so I am curious to know what the make up is. These are pretty cool but I won't be a long term collector (famous last words).

 Y-Wing

 Rear of Y-Wing Packaging

 Y-Wing and X-Wing

 X-Wing

 X-Wing - Rear packaging

I may have to finish with the Millenium Falcon and Snowspeeder. And then, that's it...I promise.

Mega Bloks Zombies Moon Mob

I am still loving all things zombies and all things Mega Bloks "Call of Duty."  One of their latest zombie releases is the Moon Mob set. It's a small set consisting of four figures and a radar dish sitting on moon terrain. Two of the figures are astronauts and two of the figures are technicians. All four have joined the legion of the undead. Not sure how these will interact with other zombie and Call of Duty sets. A zombie-fied space station would be pretty cool. Might need to undig some LEGO moon base plates.

Wampas and TaunTauns - Oh My

Been awhile since I got a Star Wars Black Series 6" update here. I have always been a HUGE fan of the Hoth story arc in Empire Strikes Back. Hasbro decided to fuel my addiction to all things Hoth with two new, outstanding 6 inch Deluxe sets. These include Han and TaunTaun and Luke and Wampa. The sculpting is fantastic and the Wampa is extremely heavy...that's some quality plastic that went into that toy. So here they are in all their glory.

Female Soviet Soldiers from Bassevitch

In case you haven't kept up on current events, two US female officers (both West Point grads) graduated from Ranger School last week. These women are bad ass. Very proud of their accomplishments.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/21/433482186/first-female-soldiers-graduate-from-army-ranger-school

If you want to know how tough Ranger School is - this guy published his perspective. It's a good read.

http://rhinoden.rangerup.com/time-to-welcome-a-new-era-of-rangers-army/

Anyway, how does this relate to toys? I stumbled across this set of female Soviet WWII toy soldiers on the Toy Soldiers of San Diego website. They are manufactured in Russia. I ordered a set from an Ebay seller in Russia. It was delivered quickly and it was cool to see it packed in boxes and newspapers with Russian writing on it. I studied Russian at West Point as we prepared for the Soviet horde to invade Europe again.

Anyway, it is a great set of 54mm (1/32d scale) plastic figures in some great poses...12 in all. Women in the military was not a big deal on the Eastern front - a war of annihilation between Germany and the Soviet Union. The manufacturer is Bassevitch - based on other Ebay listings. The box art is pretty cool too.

Oh, and by the way, if you ever heard the rumor that Dr. Ruth (yes, sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer) was a sniper in the Israeli army - it's true.  Dr Ruth

New Star Wars Hot Wheels - Boba Fett and Chopper

I found two of the new Star Wars Hot Wheels - they are Boba Fett and Chopper. These cars are really creative and capture the essence of the character. I did see the  "Rebels" Inquisitor car but passed.