Collectible Reviews

Much like Hasbro's preceding Stikfas line, the Lego-like Xevoz toys are made of various separate ball-jointed components one assembles to create a five- to six-inch tall action figure. Unfortunately, the relatively large size of the Xevoz parts makes them incompatible with Stikfas. However, Xevoz are just as limber and poseable as their predecessors, sport more highly detailed sculpting (though they still have a somewhat 'rough-draft/generic' look), and possess a wider spectrum of colors (in this instance translucent red & orange with some dark gray). Also, their ball joints tend to be a little tighter-fitting, which helps the finished product better maintain whatever poses you feel like puttin' it in, and keeps parts from popping off too easily. Xevoz are also surprisingly stable, and will stay upright in just about any stance.

This particular kit has all the parts needed (and then some) to build a Hyperfuries Inferno Fury. The translucent orange plastic this little guy is molded in helps sell his volcanic/fire-n-brimstone look quite well. Accessories include a pair of large claw-like hands, wings, a flame-throwing missile launcher lower arm attachment, three different heads, a flaming battle staff, and a sword o' fire. The alternate heads-- a featureless lick of orange flame, and a big ol' eyeball-lookin' dealie-- aren't all that interesting to me. As for the large claw hands: although they do give the Hyperfury an added touch of menace when put in place, they can't get a very good grip on his weapons. The flame-shooting missile launcher fires its projectile a decent distance, though not quite as far as I'd prefer.

One rather frustrating downside is the toy's four-piece bandoleer assembly, which tends to misbehave and pops off at the most inconvenient moments. Another slight problem I've encountered with this lava lad are his waist and hip joints, which are a bit looser than his other points of articulation. Despite this looseness, the Inferno Fury manages to keep his place without too much trouble when I put him in one stance or another. And it doesn't detract from the fun when I'm mergin' the guy's components with bits from other Xevoz sets, changing him into one freaky creature after another-- or, as the instruction sheet would say, "xevolving" him (pretty catchy, hmmm?). It's kinda like an action figure rendition of Mad Libs...

Also included are eight die sides and two endcaps one can use to create a barrel-shaped 'battle helix' die for fights against opposing Xevoz figures, as well as an instruction/rules sheet on how to play the battle games. While the game is fairly fast-paced once one gets a hang of the rules, it lacks the visual impact of far more complex figurine-based RPG/battle games such as Warhammer 40K. Basically, the loser of the round simply detaches or restores a certain number of parts from his figure according to what each combatant's rolled die indicates. This goes on until one person's toy is completely disassembled. Not exactly exciting stuff, but it ain't a half-bad time-killer when you and a fellow geekin' fanboy are hangin' out in that basement dwelling you've put together under your parents' house, and the power goes out...

'Late

What I can say is that Xevoz are like the hasbro version of Lego Bionicle. Toys like these help kids learn how to tap into their imagination side. Plus, it's posable.

My 4 y/o son received this as a Xmas gift. He was so excited to see the package and even more excited to see the spider move on his own. Great toy, easy to program. He will not put this one down. Dropped it a few times off the table, legs pop off and click back on.

The toy has that "I want this thing" kick to it. It has
umf and style. Kids would love it! So you Yu-Gi-Oh! Fans
out there have to buy this!

This game for the gameboy color only apparently is a pretty good racing game overall. I think though that it suffers from many of the problems that some of the other Episode I games suffer from in that it feels like it could have been better. The graphics during the opening and while viewing the ships and planets are pretty good, but I feel like the graphics within the game itself could have been better. However that being said this game is still a lot of fun, and the rumble pack does add some nice features at times. The learning curve seems to be pretty gradual, I got through the first couple of wins pretty quickly but then it started to take me about 10 races on average to win a new race. If you want to beat all the races on all the planets it could take some serious playing time. Overall though this makes a great game if you are trying to beat records or if you just want something to do real quick while your waiting. One small note unlike many of the GameBoy games that I play a lot I find this one hard to play while moving/walking and thus its not a good game if you use your gameboy while working out like I do.

The best Gameboy game that I have ever played is Star Wars Episode I Racer. It is extremely addictive, and quite fun. The little rumble pack included is quite cool. This game takes a while to beat, and it is entertaining to beat Sebulba at the end. The variety of its graphics make this game worth its price.

This is the best Game Boy Color game I have ever played in my life! The graphics are excellent, considering the graphical limits placed on the system. The sound is awesome, and I like the rumble pack that is included with the game. It has a great replay value, and the game play never really gets boring. The only thing I had trouble with was the tight turns, but even here it wasn't really a problem. Anyone who is a Star Wars fan, looking for a good GBC game, or buying for little kids should buy this game!

(Caveat: When I first got this product there was a problem with the Wizards of the Coast server that was preventing me from playing online against others. This seems to have been corrected.)

Good points: The virtual interface is done reasonably well once you are connected and playing a game against someone. All cards thru Mercadian Masques are known by the program (a major selling point). Deck builder is decent as well.

Bad points: My major complaints are 1)that you cannot play against a computer opponent, and 2)the program does not do any rules enforcement at all - it just provides a virtual play area and a chat function with your opponent. (This means rules interpretations can still be an issue. The program is like Apprentice in this regard.) Minor complaints: the program is also quite slow to load up and to quit (install take a really long time), and seperate parts of the program don't seem fully integrated (uses you web browser to connect find opponents at the WotC website). Documentation is not as comprehensive as I had hoped, but the program is easy enough to run anyway.

Overall: Good for head to head play and deckbuilding. Just be aware that you must already know how to play Magic and can't play vs. the computer. Program itself is seems a bit clunky, but this IS the first version of the software.

The first thing to say about the Magic Interactive Encyclopedia is: absolutely great for playing online! Having the chance to play with every Magic card ever made, seeing even their pictures on the play table, is a fantastic experience for an expert Magic player like I consider myself. The game interface is simple and easily understandable for everybody that already knows Magic The Gathering. A lot of fun, it's a promise! But there's a problem, a big one: if you want to search through the database for some specific cards using the categories the programmers have prepared... well, you'll probably have an headache! The program isn't a good one if you were looking for a big help searching the right cards for your deck. I use the deck builder together with a free downloadable database, very good to find quickly the cards you need.

What can I say? Are you looking for a Magic The Gathering program to play online with players all around the world? Well, this 4-stars program is surely for you! But if you're not a wannabe online player... You better forget this software. You can download better useful databases without paying for them! And they'll work even better than the MTG Encyclopedia...

The Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia (M:TGIE) promises a lot. It claims to be a playing tool, an encyclopedia, and a deckbuilding assistant all in one. That's a pretty tall order. Is Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) up to the challenge? Let's find out!

The M:TGIE's interface takes up the entire screen. It's a black background that doesn't lend itself to skipping between programs, even though much of the system relies on a Web browser. My preferred weapon of choice is Netscape, so it's possible the interface works better with Internet Explorer. After a couple of extraneous and irritating animations (that you must skip through every time you load the program), you have a choice of five sections:

Magic Online

This section allows you to find an opponent and begin an online game of Magic: The Gathering. It's not quite the same experience as playing a non-virtual game. Essentially, this is just a virtual gaming table.

Like so many other attempts to duplicate in-person, face-to-face gaming, the gaming table is a poor substitute. While it does standardize some aspects of a face-to-face game, like not having to worry about getting soda on your cards or the size of your gaming table, it's not going to replace the card game any time soon. Of course, WOTC knows this, or they wouldn't have created M:TGIE. But at least you don't have to worry about running out of counters anymore.

All the typical elements of virtual gaming are evident, including the ability for coin tosses and dice rolls, so you don't have to guess if your opponent really got a Heads on that last flip. There's also a list of parameters you can set for prospective players, which help ensure you play the game the way you want to play. You won't find an AI computer opponent with this program though.

Beyond the awkwardness of a virtual interface, which takes some getting used to, the biggest problem with this section lies in its communication tools. M:TGIE doesn't provide for audio interaction (although it does have a chat window). This isn't usually an issue with most games, because there are plenty of other shareware programs that you can use to work around it. The problem, however, is that M:TGIE is not Windows friendly. Switching between windows is laggy and can cause the program to crash. The window doesn't minimize either.

Still, considering the chaotic nature of most Magic: The Gathering games, the controlled virtual environment may be a welcome reprieve for gamers with high blood pressure.

Deckbuilder

The Deckbuilder is a fabulous feature for collectors, because it allows you to see what cards you still need. This is also where you can create your own virtual decks. The ability to print data about each card is very useful, but you can't print the pictures. No surprises here - if WOTC did this, you could probably create your own cards at home. But you can print a list of your entire collection, as well as the details of each individual card (including the quotes!).

Let's face it, the best part of collecting is gloating over the value of your Black Lotus. Although WOTC doesn't officially endorse any particular pricing list, they've given you the ability to download pricing lists on the Web. What they didn't give you was the ability to sort or display the prices in any useful way. So if you want to figure out the value of your deck, you'll have to look at each and every card individually. If you're a collector like me, this can take a very, very long time. Still, it's faster than looking up the value of each card, which is something I simply wouldn't bother to do (I'm the lazy collector-type).

There are also a few problems with the Deckbuilder section. Some views do not display correctly on screen. The search view appeared to be broken, as I was only able to display the upper left part of the search window. Patches and updates to the program didn't fix the problem.

Encyclopedia

This is the real meat of the encyclopedia. This section tackles the daunting task of giving you access to every Magic card ever printed. Almost all of them, anyway - there were no Guru cards that I could find. Useful features include the ability to make your own notes about each card, additional information from WOTC about background information on each card, why it was created, its intended use, or strategy tips. One particularly useful feature is the ability to zoom in on the artwork. I didn't think this mattered much until I began to notice the subtle differences between the seemingly endless editions of Magic: The Gathering cards. The only way to determine which cards you have is to carefully scrutinizing those graphics. It's also amusing to see how the game has changed for the better, and how some obviously abusable rules were clarified in later editions.

Strategy Library

The strategy library is a storehouse of articles and writings to help with your game play. It includes rules and formats, articles, the history of the game, and organized play. Don't get too excited though, as this isn't proprietary information - it's all available (and linked to) WOTC's Web site. This guarantees the information is kept up to date, but it makes for an awkward interface that doesn't mesh well with your Web browser.

Magic Links

This is where the true value of the M:TGIE becomes clear. With the speed that WOTC produces cards, this encyclopedia would be rapidly outdated in a matter of months. But just a few simple downloads, and -- voila! - my encyclopedia was up to date. This also included updates to the card pricing, ensuring the latest and most up to date values.

Conclusions

The M:TGIE tries to be all things to all gamers, and only achieves some of them successfully. As an interactive gaming tool, it's a novelty. As a collector's assistant, it's invaluable. As a reference, it's less successful due to the broken search function and awkward Windows interface. Most importantly, the Magic: The Gathering Interactive Encyclopedia utilizes the full power of the Internet, ensuring that its shelf life will be measured in years rather than months.

This kit had alot of cool stuff in it like energy bars,an M-16A2
with cilp,a Berreta model 92FS with clip,3 frag grenades,an M203 grenade launcher that can be put on the M-16 with grenades,a radio,knife,and room to store 2 soldiers.

First let me say that the latch DOES give you some trouble at first, however the more you open and close it, the easier it gets. Plus some VERY cool equipment make this a must have!!
Great buy.

My 6 year old son loves his GI Joe footlocker (and so do I) because it is a cool, neat way to organize his GI Joe doll (sorry...ACTION FIGURE) and all the little pieces, like the canteens, clothes, guns, etc. (Note - if your boy has more than 2 GI Joes, you'll need more footlockers!) For [the price], this is a great toy that will last a lifetime, fits easily on a shelf or under the bed, and neatly keeps the GI Joe gear. He loves that we wrote his name and "rank"...my 6 year old is a Captain) on it in permanent black marker. He carries it with him when older brother plays sports, and plays happily with his GI Joe stuff, and is a hit with other little kids who enjoy playing with it, too.

i think that this is the best gijoe base since the uss flagg,because you get a 8 missle gauntlet,3 missle battle stations,a watch tower electronic sounds,a sniper position,computer room,a brig/jail cell a missle bay, ammo pit. my only complant is not a enough figure room,not a very big cell and motor pool. when my mom bought me one in 1992, me and my friend played with it for hours. ijust have to say that the new head quarters makes the 1983 head quarters obsolite. i know be cause i have the and 1983 hq,dont get me wrong i like all the bases hasbro made for the joes and cobras,it would be nice if they made another uss flagg base.

My 7 year old loves GI Joe's and even the little green army men. The headquarters has been great. He will play with it for hours at a time. It does take awhile to assemble though.

The HQ is something I have passed up at TRU recently and originally in 1992. I was not too impressed by what I saw on the box then. The only thing that led me to buy it now is the sale and free shipping on the product. For the price, I would say it is right for this HQ.

While there are many action features (the blow-out wall panels, collapsing tower deck, spring fire missles and lights and sounds), that is all there really is. I have had the 1983 HQ for nearly 17 years, and this 92/02 re-release does not compare. While the action features are fun, I think the design relies too heavily on them. After the initial push-here-and-and-see-something-happen routine is done, there is not much left over for the imagination. With a prison that is kind of corny, the control room non-existent as far as I'm concerned, and a motorpool/vehicle garage that doesn't really make much sense, makes this HQ boring fairly fast. The upper battle platforms and lower front "battle lawn" are really not much more than platforms with pegs that figures can stand on.

For a younger person, this may hold their attention longer, and maybe their imaginations can make more uses of these spaces, but for any collectors, especially those who have/had the '83 HQ, may find this HQ a little dumbed down. This is mainly due to the lack of figure interaction space. In the old HQ, there are chairs, computer consoles, a landing pad, a 'hydraulic'lift, and a roomy prison, and still space for figures to have space to do whatever in. The new HQ does not have these, but has lots of firing missles!

Overall, it's a toy, and it does have playability, but if you're looking for a bit more of a diorama piece, or are older like me, this might not be the best HQ. I am using this HQ as a rear wall of sorts to go behind my old 1983 HQ, which despite it's lack of spring firing anything, is still superior to this new(er) release.

Magic: The Gathering is a fantasy-themed card game--as I like to joke, the world's most elaborate form of "Go Fish"--which is, of course, more fun to play against a human than a program. But this game turns out to be a lot of fun and a great way to learn the game, which has its share of subtleties and nuances. Although it will take a while, you'll learn the game well enough from the program that you eventually spot the flaws in the computer's playing as well as the numerous bugs in interpreting cards.

Around the solid mechanics of the card game, Microprose built a spare but interesting gaming premise. Your avataar wanders around the mythical land of Shandalar running errands and fighting monsters. (Said fighting occurs, of course, as MtG duels.) What makes it interesting is the tweaks of the MtG rules that occur in Shandalar. In a "straight" duel, which this game allows you to play outside of Shandalar, you and your opponent have exactly 20 life points and the deck of your choice. In Shandalar, you start with a weak deck, fewer life points, and (by doing specific errands) you can build up to 20 points (and somewhat beyond). Other errands allow you to collect cards. Special "dungeons" themed around the game's five magic types allow you to fight certain creatures "in their element" for a chance to collect rare cards. (Not required, but fun.) Some of the creatures of Shandalar have "meta-powers", and can go into a game with certain advantages, like a card already in play. One kind can actually swap your deck for another (decent) deck. You can obtain similar bonuses by defeating these monsters, or through various "world magics" as they're called.

You're in a race against the five wizards of Shandalar, whose job it is to take over X number of cities, at which point they'll have the power to cast the Ultimate Magic Spell. In other words, game over. As they capture more cities, they get stronger. As you defeat their minions, they get weaker. In the final analysis, this game is rife with good ideas and a still too buggy implementation.

To make matters worse, retro-PC-gaming is a difficult and often unrewarding thing. Microsoft has never been much for backward compatibility and you'll have trouble running this on Windows 2000, though it can run on XP with some tweaking, I'm told. It'll run on your Windows 95/98/ME machine, but for a near fatal flaw: It'll run WAY too fast even on a 400mhz machine. (Note the 100mhz Pentium "minimum".) Shandalar, grievously, was made into a "real time" game, and your quests have time-limits. You can use a utility (MoSlo, Throttle, CPUKiller) to slow your entire computer down and make Shandalar go faster--but the kicker is during the duels, your computer opponents will take proportionally longer to decide their moves.

The "real time" aspects of the program were an unfortunate design decision ironically and irritatingly out of pace with the rest of the game. Shandalar could've just as well been set up like a board game.

With all its warts, though, this is a fine game. The real tragedy is that it wasn't maintained and updated. I'm not big on on-line games, and I don't like the MtG Online pricing scheme even if I did, but I'd shell out three Hamiltons yearly for a new version of this game, with new cards, new world "tweaks" and increasingly improved AI. It's a shame we'll never see it.

Finally, the timeline for these games, courtesy GameSpot: The original was released in February of 1997, followed in September of '97 with "Spells of the Ancients", followed at last by this version, "Duels of the Planeswalkers", which has all the new cards, bug fixes, and multiplayer. This is the last version, the version you want if you're going to play it at all.

The new Online, pay-per-pack version is not related to this game, nor is the older 1997 "BattleMage". (The latter only takes place in the MtG world, with no resemblance to the card game, so beware!)

"Duel of the Planeswalkers" is a GREAT game. It was released in 1998 AFTER the initial release of "Magic the Gathering" (for PC) and the expansion pack "Spells of the Ancients". "Duel of the Planeswalkers" includes BOTH of the initial releases and also allows you to play online or via LAN. There are even a few "cards" that were designed specifially for playing on the PC... you will never find this in an actual MTG deck, they have random effects assigned by the computer when you play them!

My biggest complaint about MTG the CARD game was that it was impossible to keep up with all the rules... banned cards... and if I use this card with that card in this particular circumstance this will happen... MIND boggling problems. Its true MTG was the "father" of all other card games since 1992, and most are a far cry from MTG... but trying to seriously play and keep up on every expansion set was insane!! THUS MTG Duel of the Planeswalkers was born and is the answer to every "causal" MTG player's Prayers.

My 2 complaints about this game are as follows:
1) On today's 1.5+ Gigahertz machines this game needs to be slowed down if you play the "single player" theme game. Not a problem at all during actual DUELS, but in the "Shandalar" world everything moves WAY too fast. No big deal, just find a CPU reducer utility on the internet. Older machines might not have a problem in the "Shandalar" area, but might bog down in the middle of a duel where over 20 cards are on the "table". The CPU really has to do some massive computing to figure out it's next move.... (newer machines DON'T have this problem!)

2) This game hasn't been updated/added on to since 1998... great game... an expansion would be exquisite!

I have yet to take advantage of the online/lan playability... and I wonder if anyone is STILL playing this online... I'm not sure.

It's 2003 and I still find myself going back to this game... fun to play, easy to walk away from when necessary, no long term monatary investment.

If you are a casual player or fan of Magic the Gathering, this game is an excellent purchase. Serious players might find the game slightly old and outdated... but may yet enjoy it.

For those who have stumbled across these older reviews of the game where the incompatibility with Win2K and XP was listed as a downside, note that there is an unofficial patch that was released some time ago that let it run under NT based versions of windows, and slowed the 'shandalar' campaign down to normal levels on modern machines. It also replaces the serial networking option with a TCP/IP LAN/Internet direct connection for multiplayer(so it can still be used online), and has tons of tweaks and bugfixes to the game. Just search for 'Unofficial manalink patch 1.3.2' to find it and once again enjoy this wonderful game.

I never played much of the 'shandalar' campaign style game, but I must say that the actual card game within the engine is a top notch representation of the physical card game, and I really prefer it to the more modern and free options such as Magic Workshop, which to me was more of an interactive Magic-themed shared whiteboard, where anyone can do anything, wether it be an actual legal action or not.

I love to read the educational literature on the back of the Princess of the world Barbie boxes. I think it would be great if Moms bought these to educate their daughters. It's great to expose them to different cultures and different expressions of beauty.

She's a beauty and worth the price.
beautiful doll; great costume.

If you love collect dolls like I do, you will find this doll perfect for display your doll collection, what else you can ask,Its just perfect...

JPB is THE best Star Wars game ever made. Closely resembling classics such as Streets of Rage or Fighting Force, JPB is an excellent game with great graphics and terrific sound. The control could be a bit better, though. The opening cinema is great. The choice of playable Jedi is a nice alternative to the strict character sets of TPM. Playing as Qui Gon Jinn, Obi-wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, or Plo Koon, JPB finally offers freedom in the choice of character selection. The only fault in the game is the problematic jumping. Whatever you do, don't run and jump from a small platform. However, small faults aside, Jedi Power Battles is a fantastic game. You will enjoy it. May the Force be with you. (I'm a Star Wars geek)

Personally a fan of officially endorsed Star Wars games, I found Jedi Power Battles (JPB) to be the most satisfying and playable, especially for long-term enjoyment. The game closely follows the plot and action of Episode I, including 5 playable characters (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia and Plo Koon) from the film as well as cameo apearances from Jar-Jar Binks and Anakin Skywalker, let alone the two duels with Darth Maul. A must for any Star Wars fan, JPB offers hours of lightsaber action against enemies from the Star Wars world. The further you progress your chosen character in the game, the more abilities and combo moves you pick up. Each character has their own distinct style, force abilities and strengths, resulting in a game that is almost endlessly playable. Yet even with the game 'completed', there are opportunities to unlock secret characters and secret games which provide further intrigue and fun. Playable in both single and two player mode, JPB offers futher options of gameplay, the two player mode in this game being one of (if not the) best and most playable on the market.
Visually stunning, involving, and true to plot and character of Episode I, I found Jedi Power Battles far more playable than any of the Jedi Knight PC series, simply because of the 3rd person format and playablility of the characters: for any "Star Wars Saddos" who notice the combat manoevres in the film, the trademark moves of Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan are all faithfully reproduced and highly effective. So for anyone who wants highly involving, hard and fast action in the failing Old Republic, Jedi Power Battles provides all and more. A tried and tested master of this game, having played it fr nearly 2 years and done almost everything there is to do, my opinion is very simple - A total must.

Jedi Power Battles is the best star wars game I,ve played on Ps1 and beats the inferior Phantom Menace!!

Like most games it takes a bit of time to get used to the controls and can be frustrating when first playing it. But once you master the jumps and moves it becomes very enjoyable!!

The levels are very inventive and well thought out. After each level you get special combo moves, but it is optional wether you want to use them. The handling of the characters is good and the range of moves is also good. The people who are critizing it probably have not learnt to play it!!!

The graphics look a bit dated compared to the newer stuff,but it is a must for a starwars fan!!
The only critisim is the Plo Kloon character is too slow and is impossible to beat DarthMaul on level 10!! I have been playing this game on and off for a year and would recommend it!!!!!!!

I am a 15 year old girl who has over 30 collectable dollls. Usually i get 2 of the same dolls because i have a job and a lot of money. i bought two of these dolls i played with one and it wasn't that fun but it is very durable. How is it Educational? But it is a good toy.

i gave this doll 1 star in education and fun beause it is a collecter doll and it is in the pink label sereies (if you read barbie bazzar you would know!). it is a cool doll and i am a 11 year old collecter. the only problem is that it looks like barbie, not elle woods. and the face is is a bit chunky.

Since I am a Barbie Collector and Blonde, this was a natural to purchase. I collect various lines including Pop Culture (have them all), but this is one of the most fun dolls Mattel has made. The movie was funny and the doll with Bruiser is a great reminder of the laughs, especially the "Million Dog March". Any blonde or Barbie colloector MUST get this one! It's great.