Every dog has its day and G.I. Joe's Snake Eyes pet wolf 1/6 scale Timber has its own post

continued from previous post...

This is the 1/6 scale articulated Timber from Sideshow Collectibles G.I. Joe 12-inch Snake Eyes And 1/6 scale Timber Figure Set (previewed HERE).

According to Sideshow Collectibles, Timber is Fully Posable with 12 points of articulation. I really don't think that you can pose him very much :( Unlike a 12-inch human figure which can be fully pose-able if it's not restricted by the clothing or armor that is put on him, Timber is pretty much set in this pose and even though you can move his legs to achieve some running poses, I doubt you can make him sit and fetch or roll over like a real dog would ;p That said, I just like me a 1/6 scale wolf!

Timber comes with movable joints and its body is in three parts so that you are able to pose it. 1/6 scale Timber wolf is sculpted very well but he's also very heavy. How heavy? He's heavy like a brick which is odd because normally everything else in 1/6 scale that is not a statue doesn't weigh this much. He's heavier than most (if not all) of my 12-inch figures.

Because of Timber's heavy weight, it puts a lot of pressure on the joints and makes it very difficult for him to stand, let alone be posed in any other way.

What attracted me to Timber was the sculpting. It's a very good sculpt in itself though adding the movable joints to make it pose-able was a tad ambitious.

What I didn't expect was the heavy weight of this 1/6 scale canine. It's still a nice creature figure :)

One day I'm going to put all the 1/6 scale animals together for a group shot. That should be interesting ;p Check out other critters/creatures in my collection HERE ;p

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"Fetch that Cobra!" Hot Toys 1/6 scale G.I. Joe Retaliation Snake Eyes figure & pet wolf Timber

Snake Eyes is one of the most prominent characters in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero franchise (which includes toyline, comic books and cartoon series), and has appeared in every series since its inception. He is portrayed by Ray Park in the 2009 live-action film "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", and the 2013 sequel "G.I. Joe: Retaliation". As part of his profile, Snake Eyes has a pet wolf named Timber that has appeared several times in toys, comics, and animation.

Having gotten the exceptional Hot Toys 1/6th scale G.I. Joe Retaliation: Snake Eyes 12-inch Ninja Collectible Figure (reviewed earlier HERE and HERE), I thought Snake Eyes would be incomplete without his pet wolf Timber so I added it to these pictures :) I had bought Timber wolf loose at a flea market, having seen it being included as part of the Sideshow Collectibles G.I. Joe 12-inch Snake Eyes And 1/6 scale Timber Figure Set (previewed HERE). I wasn't keen on Sidehow's version of Snake Eyes (never have been) so I was quite pleased to be able to just pick up Timber.

Timber comes with movable joints and its body is in three parts so that you are able to pose it. 1/6 scale Timber wolf is sculpted very well but he's also very heavy. How heavy? He's heavy like a brick which is odd because normally everything else in 1/6 scale that is not a statue doesn't weigh this much. He's heavier than most (if not all) of my 12-inch figures.

According to Sideshow Collectibles, Timber is Fully Posable with 12 points of articulation. I really don't think that you can pose him very much :( Unlike a 12-inch human figure which can be fully pose-able if it's not restricted by the clothing or armor that is put on him, Timber is pretty much set in this pose and even though you can move his legs to achieve some running poses, I doubt you can make him sit and fetch or roll over like a real dog would ;p That said, I just like me a 1/6 scale wolf!

And because of Timber's heavy weight, it puts a lot of pressure on the joints and makes it very difficult for him to stand, let alone be posed in any other way.

What attracted me to Timber was the sculpting. It's a very good sculpt in itself though adding the movable joints to make it pose-able was a tad ambitious.

Here are more pictures of Hot Toys 1/6 scale "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" Snake Eyes 12-inch limited edition collectible figure fully loaded and ready to take on COBRA. Scroll down to see the turnaround views

Close-up shots of Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series MMS192 G.I. Joe Retaliation: 1/6th scale Snake Eyes Collectible Figure

NEXT: Timber has his pictures taken :)

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Medicom Kubrick Cosmonauts boxed set - Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1)

This is a repost since today is April 12.

Spacecraft History: Vostok 1(Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer space, as well as the first orbital flight of a manned vehicle. Vostok 1 was launched by the Soviet space program, and was designed by Soviet engineers guided by Sergei Korolev under the supervision of Kerim Kerimov and others.

Originally posted on April 18, 2011:
On 12 April 1961, aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1), Gagarin became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the earth. On April 12, 2011 the world marked 50 years of Yuri Gagarin’s historic spaceflight that ushered in the era of space exploration. From this year on, April 12 will be celebrated worldwide as International Day of Human Spaceflight.

This Kubrick Cosmonauts boxed set was released in 2003 and featured mini versions of Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, first dog in space Laika, and a surprisingly detailed Vostok spacecraft. Made by Japan's Medicom Toy, Kubrick was a cross between LEGO and Playmobil but modeled to represent celebrities and other pop-culture favorites.

Soviet space dog Laika (Russian: Лайка, literally meaning "Barker"; c. 1954 – November 3, 1957) was the first animal to orbit the Earth – as well as the first animal to die in orbit :( The experiment did prove that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit and endure weightlessness, paving the way for human spaceflight and providing scientists with some of the first data on how living organisms react to spaceflight environments.

On April 11, 2008, Russian officials unveiled a monument to Laika. A small monument in her honor was built near the military research facility in Moscow which prepared Laika's flight to space. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.

Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut ("sailor of the cosmos") from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer space, as well as the first orbital flight of a manned vehicle.

Here's a picture of the Vostok Spacecraft to show just how accurate Medicom was in getting the details right and pretty much spot on :) click on the picture below for a bigger and better view

Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s brief, 108 minute, flight proved humans’ ability to fly to the stars, and was a well-deserved triumph of Soviet science and industry and also signified that the USSR had beaten the Americans to space.

The Medicom Toy Kubrick Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin figure comes with removable helmet.

Here's the Medicom Kubrick Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin figure getting into his Vostok 1 spacecraft

Scroll down for more close-up and turnaround views of this amazingly detailed miniature Vostok 1 spacecraft by Medicom

It certainly has all the bells and whistles crafted on it - stunningly good 

And here are some milestones in space exploration to share, from the world's first satellite (Sputnik 1) to first man in space (Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin), first woman in space (Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova) and first man to space walk (Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov), all were Russians until Neil Armstrong's walk on the Moon. Click on the picture below for a better view and easier read :)

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Happy Chinese New Year to one and all in the year of the snake from Night Viper Transformer

It's the Chinese New Year today and this is also the Year of the Snake so what a better way to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year than with a post on snakes about snakes or a snake toy since this is a toy blog after all

This is the Hasbro Transformers Beast Machines Heroic Maximal Night Viper Cobra toy action figure that was released in the year 2000. Night Viper is a Maximal from the Beast Machines portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

Night Viper is a Recon Specialist and according to the description on the card which he came in, Night Viper is the stealthiest Maximal. His tail acts as a repulsor rocket, providing supersonic speed. Internal radar scramblers allow him to move virtually unseen in both robot and beast mode. His robot mode features frictionless surface, increasing his speed and making him an extremely hard target. Armor alloys deflect most energy pulses. Recycles enemy fire into plasma venom blasts that short circuit Vehicon circuitry.


Night Viper's motto is "I'm very good at what I do - maybe too good!"

Night Viper transforms into a midnight blue, blue-gray, red, and yellow technorganic cobra. His snake-mode head is spring-loaded; pressing on the clear-yellow part of the hood directly behind it launches it forward slightly, opening his jaws to bite. The sides of his hood form arm-mounted shields in robot mode, the right shield being armed with a flip-out scythe blade. His left shield contains his spark crystal.

Because this Transformer toy is part of the Beast Machines line of figures, the animal looks pretty metallic in keep in sync with all the animals / beasts in the series. The snake head and the torso look pretty cool although you can make out the visible hands. The tail is formed from the legs of the robot. It starts on one foot and ends on the other. The legs / tail are multi-jointed so that you can articulate them to make it look more like a snake.

The Cobra is any of various species of venomous snakes usually belonging to the family Elapidae, most of which can expand their neck ribs to form a widened hood. In this toy Transformers version, the latch on the left side of the hood hides the spark crystal while the right hood hides his weapon which is a yellow, transparent scythe which Night Viper uses in robot mode.

It's hard to imagine that a snake / cobra would be a heroic maximal. Snakes have always been associated with evil since the devil disguised himself as a snake to deceive Eve and caused the fall of Man in the garden of Eden. The serpent alas has always had a bad reputation.

Phrases like "You snake in the grass", "slimy like a snake", "double-headed snake", "never trust a snake", "speaks with forked tongue" and "having a hissy fit" all veer towards the venomous.

Even in local terms, "chiak chua" (eat snake) is to skive, to "sell snake oil" is to be smarmy and glib. When we were young, the childhood game of "Snakes and Ladders" sealed the slithering creature's fate by associating it with the downward spiral.

Even in movies, snakes were always bad news - think Indiana Jones and Samuel L. Jackson's tirade in the B-movie "Snakes on a plane". In mythology, snakes gave Medusa bad hair days everyday ;p

But some nice events did come out of the Snake year. Most importantly, Singapore was born in the Year of the Snake in 1965 and so was yours truly :)

Night Viper's mouth / jaws close when the head is retracted or pushed back. Pressing the easily visible, hard-to-miss yellow button above the head releases the head which snaps forward, opening its jaws again to simulate the cobra biting action.

Hasbro Transformers Beast Machines Heroic Maximal Night Viper Cobra toy action figure in robot mode seems rather fragile due to the thin arms and the multi-jointed legs.

Scroll down to see the rest of the pictures of Night Viper (Cobra) in robot mode

This was probably one of the last few toys that my eldest son bought as a child back in 2000. He has since outgrown them (he will be 19 years old this year) but we have never felt the need to throw all of their toys away as most of them are still in very good condition and I think when they are all grown up, they'll look back at these with some nostalgia.

There are pictures of most of the Beast Wars Transformers that he had collected (over 45 beasts featured) in my earlier post HERE as well as pictures of some of his other toys under the label "Blast from the Past".

Have a Happy Chinese New Year everyone :) Huat Ah!!!

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