OMG! I will never, ever, ever (and might I add ever) buy anything from a Spencer’s Gifts store again, I picked up a toy for a friend the other day and it turns out he no longer needed it so I went to return it.
Check out this scam, they will no longer give you your cash back. I had no idea they had changed their policy to something so ridiculous. (Tiny sign in the store was hidden behind junk on their counter.) Maybe they are heading toward bankruptcy like Sharper Image. So I guess the next thing Spencer’s will try to pull on me is telling me my store credit in the form of the gift card (they forced on me) is no longer valid.
Really what kind of rip off is this? I paid in cash I should be allowed to get cash back. I would understand if I was returning something that was used or opened, but the toy was unopened mint in package with the receipt!
When a company reduces their customer service to zero it is usually a sign they aren’t doing well and could care less if you ever come back. I for one will never set foot in another Spencer’s Gifts since they in essence stole my twenty bucks.
So I beg of you do not buy anything from this rude retailer. But if you have to be sure to pay with your credit card so you can get your money back or at the very least issue a charge back on the card when they refuse to give you your money back.
Now I am stuck with twenty dollars credit at a store I never wish to set foot in again. Maybe I should sell it on ebay with a full explanation as to why it is for sale for less than the value along with a warning about buying from Spencer’s at all. Even if it does not sell at least I will get people to notice how stupid a no cash refunds policy is for a big company like Spencer’s Gifts is.
The Lego Star Wars Deathstar has reached new heights with the new Battle inside the Death Star™! This is not just a Lego model it is a playset to beat all playsets (and maybe it should at a $400 price tag). Look at everything this cool Lego set has to offer.
Includes 25 heroes, villains, droids and creatures!
Includes 6 new and exclusive minifigures and droids only found in this set: Luke Skywalker™ (Stormtrooper™ outfit), Han Solo™ (Stormtrooper outfit), Assassin Droid™, Interrogation Droid, Death Star Droid and 2 Death Star Troopers™!
Also includes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi™, C-3PO™, R2-D2™, Princess Leia™, Chewbacca™, Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Darth Vader™, Grand Moff Tarkin™, Emperor Palpatine™, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Emperor’s Royal Guards™, R2-Q5™, and mouse droid!
All-new Dianoga™ trash compactor monster!
Movie-authentic Death Star environments include the Superlaser control room and target monitor, Imperial conference chamber, TIE Advanced hangar bay with moving launch rack, Emperor’s throne room, droid maintenance room, detention block, trash compactor, and much more!
Rescue Princess Leia from the detention block cell, then escape through the secret hatch to the trash compactor below!
Reenact the final duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in the Emperor’s Throne Room!
Death Star measures 16” (41cm) tall and 16½” (42cm) wide!
TIE Advanced measures 3½” (9cm) wide!
Recreate the action and adventure of the Star Wars™ movies with the ultimate Death Star playset! This amazingly detailed battle station features an incredible array of minifigure-scale scenes, moving parts, characters and accessories from Episodes IV and VI on its multiple decks, including the Death Star control room, rotating turbolaser turrets, hangar bay with TIE Advanced starfighter, tractor beam controls, Emperor’s throne room, detention block, firing laser cannon, Imperial conference chamber, droid maintenance facility, and the powerful Death Star superlaser…plus much more! Swing across the chasm with Luke and Leia, face danger in the crushing trash compactor, and duel with Darth Vader for the fate of the galaxy!
I love robots and I love Lego. So what better combo for me than a Lego Robot? I have the first version of the Mondstorms system and really need to get myself the new one. I love the new functionality and the new look (not such a fan of the technic sets so I was disappointed when this was first announced, but I guess there is only so much one can do with the good ole brick).
New feature for me. While I could fill this blog with a daily I want it post I think I will stick to just Wednesdays (mostly). I cannot help it if I am overcome with the feeling of ‘I has to have this’ therefore making me post on other days to, but I will try to stick to just Wednesdays (but I won’t promise not to post more than once each Wednesday). Since this is the first ‘I Want It Wednesday’ I thought I would post something pretty sweet. I have been reading about the robotic dinosaur known simply as PLEO for awhile now and he is finally here and I want one! He is a little out of my price range so if any kind souls wish to donate one for further tests and studies I am the slacker for the job
Remember the Furby? Well Pleo is a Furby to the 100th power. He learns, plays games, sings, walks, and can even talk with other Pleos. There is a whole community out there for Pleo owners at PleoWorld.com. People and animals really respond to Pleo. Check out this video of a Pleo at SeaWorld. The dolphins just don’t seem to know what to make of this little dino. I just gotta get a Pleo. Thanks to the folks over at BotJunkie for reminding me I wanted one of these bad boys.
Pleo will set you back about $350, but after you see this video you won’t mind.
I may have mentioned this before; as a kid I always wanted an airgun, well we never called them that. To us they were simply BB guns and I wanted one in the worst way. I grew up in a family full of hunters and maybe I wanted to be like my Dad after all I was his little shadow. Then again maybe I just wanted to shoot stuff like cans, targets, or toys not really into hurting anything. (That’s a lesson I did not truly learn until I was old enough to actually go hunting with my Dad and found I could not pull the trigger when the deer was in my sights.)
The BB guns of my day are nothing like the variety of airguns you can get today. Boy, just shopping around online gets those old juices flowing again making want a BB gun even now. Not that I could rationalize my having one in the city, but if I was still out in the country I would have one, or more, in a heartbeat. I would have a row of cans sitting on a fence and start blasting them away like I remember seeing in old movies.
Then I get to wondering what kind I would get if I were to buy myself a BB gun. Would it be a pistol or an automatic like the cool Tactical Force TF11 from Crossman? Even though a rifle is what I always wanted as a kid I don’t think I would get one now though. Funny how that works isn’t it?
I noticed the scale of action figures seems to be going back down in size. Instead of all the hulking, big seven inch pieces of plastic we are once again seeing smaller three inch scale figures in the toy stores.
Since plastic is basically a petroleum based product do you think the trend in smaller toys is being caused by the higher oil prices? I know the cost of action figures and toys is going up. So where does that leave me and my collecting days? Are they numbered? Will I have to stop collecting or simply cut back in the amount of toys I buy? Honestly, I don’t like either option. I don’t want to stop or even reduce collecting my Star Trek figures. Maybe I just need to stop with the other items. No more Indian Jones. No more monsters. No more Lego. NO!
I have always been a fan of the folks who can make custom action figures especially when they are such high quality as those over at Sillof’s Workshop.
But these are no ordinary custom figures. What do I mean by ordinary? I guess to clarify; I would say in this case ordinary means creating figures of existing characters not already in action figure form.
So why are Sillof’s figures so extraordinary? Well these figures are of existing figures and/or characters but they are totally re-imagined. Below you will see what I mean with the steampunk Star Wars figures, which are just stunning in design and workmanship. But don’t just take my word for it head to Sillof.com to see more detailed pictures and to read a little about the inspiration behind each figure. While you are there be sure to take a look at the Victorian Avengers and Gaslight Justice League figures they’re amazing.
I love miniatures. Anything in a small scale is great to me. I have been fascinated be mini stuff since I was a kid. Maybe that’s why I like LEGO so much, the mini figures that come with each set.
Most recently I was very excited to hear Playmates toys would be getting the license to make the action figures for the new Star Trek movie. Even more excited when I heard that one of their new figures would be in a 3” scale. Yeah! I saw they have a small 2” line of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and just introduced new small-scale play sets for these mini figures too. So perhaps in this day of the mini block figures (Kubrick and Minimates have been all the rage for the last few years) I am not the only one who likes small things.
Hasbro brought us the mini 2” Galactic Heroes in their Star Wars line a few years ago too. While these are geared more for the younger kids they are still a must for me. Then they gave us Marvel heroes and now Indiana Jones. I picked up three of these sets already and since they have a mail-away exclusive figure I will be getting at least three more as well. Since I have these little guys stuck to my car’s dash with Velcro I can swap they out every once in awhile. So the more the merrier!
May 1st brought a slew more Indian Jones LEGO sets. We already had the The Temple Escape ($60), Race for the Stolen Treasure ($30), The Lost Tomb($20) and the Motorcycle Chase ($10). the only one of those three I still need to get is the Race for the Stolen Treasure set and I might have to put that one off for a little while as these new sets have me all excited!
The Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Lego sets available as of May 1, 2008 are: Jungle Duel ($10), River Chase ($20), Jungle Cutter($40), and The Temple of the Crystal Skull ($70). So far the only one I have picked up is the cheapest one The Jungle Duel set. Fun little set that includes three minifigs. You get Indy, Mutt and Spalko. The cloth tent is pretty cool. I could see a whole bunch of these set up as a military camp or boyscott troop. I can definitely see the steampunk and diselpunk lego fans making some fun stuff from all these Indy sets that’s for sure.
I really hope LEGO keeps pushing out the Indiana Jones sets for us adult fans as well as the kids. So far these are available at Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. Target hasn’t jumped on the band wagon yet as they only have the first four Lego sets none of the new ones and none of the action figures either. If you are looking to pick these up I don’t recommend TRU as their prices are $2-10 more than any where else including LEGO.com and EntertainmentEarth.com.
