The Marines have been collecting Toys for Tots since 1947. Semper Fi!

And it’s grown far beyond and extra curricular activity for off duty Marines. In 1995, the Secretary of Defense approved making the annual Toys for Tots drive an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve. Over the last 62 years, the US Marine Corps Reserve have distributed over 400 million toys to more than 188 million needy children and the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation has added to the toy collections by purchasing nearly a half billion dollars in toys to insure that no child gets left behind at Christmas.

And this year, as with any year, the campaign needs your help. You know the mission – pick up an unwrapped toy for a boy or girl and look for one of those dashing jarheads sitting next to a collection box near the entrance to the store. Or, you can Swing by http://www.toysfortots.org/ to make a cash donation to the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation. While at the site, you can find more information on a toy collecting center in your area.

Semper Fi and Merry Christmas!

Games … the final frontier. Star Trek is out to capture the world of gaming once again as WizKids/NECA announced a new Star Trek HeroClix line which will work perfectly with HeroClix rules, but exist outside a standalone game.

With more than 20 different StarFleet and Klingon ships to choose from, gamers can use standard rules, but it will differ from Modern and Golden Age tournament gameplay. Called the Tactics game, each will also use Powers and Abilities cards that a regular HeroClix game is played with. The Starter Kit comes with 4 different ships (two StarFleet, two Klingon), two theme dice, 1 HeroClix rules book, 1 powers and abilities card, and two maps.

The Star Trek Hero Clix game commemorates not only the 45th anniversary of Star Trek, but also the 10th anniversary of WizKids HeroClix games. Since it’s founding in 1991, Hero Clix has featured numerous pop-culture lines including Marvel and DC universes. Starting this year, Wizkids started expanding the Hero Clix line with “Street Fighter”, “Lord of the Rings” (releases November 15th), “Gears of War 3, ” and most recently “Halo.” Each O gauge Hero Clix figure has both an Attack and Defense Value, Speed and range capability, Damage point values, and a rarity rating for collection and trading. During battle, the values as changed by turning the clicking wheel at the base of the figure.

The Star Trek Hero Clix line will launch in February, 2012.

Hat Tip – AFI

All Lego construction sets and games are also going for Buy 1 get one at 50% off. Nerf toys, 25% off. BOGO50 deals on all baseball equipment and trading cards. Nintendo DS games 2 for $50. $25 off Microsoft Kinect and 2 Video games. BOGO50 on Thomas the Tank Engine Toys, $20 off bikes, BOGO50 on dolls. You’d be hard pressed to NOT find a deal on the toys you’re looking for as just about everything is on sale.

So hitch a ride on the Jeffrey Soul Train and shop early for Christmas! Sale ends Sunday.

Collectible card games are huge right now in the toy world. From Pokemon to YuGiOh! to Magic. Every Saturday when I take Cody to the comic book store, it’s packed with kids throwing down and dueling. Frankly, I’d rather he be outside playing games with his friends, or skateboarding for exercise. If there was only a way to combine both of the things he loves … now there is! It’s called SuperHeat, and it’s a skateboard themed collectible card game that challenges kids to shred for cred. (man, that just sounds dorky!)

Anyway, here’s how the game works. Designed by skaters, the game features more than 30 of the top professionals in street and competitive skateboarding doing a variety of tricks. Players build their own deck consisting of Tricks, Pro cards,Danger cards and Throwdown cards. Each card has a point value. The harder the trick, the higher the points. You announce that you’re “throwing down” and you play the card, the point total must be larger than the card in your previous round. You play the card, perform the trick, and get the points. Your turn ends when you draw a card at the end of the heat. Win two heats, you win the game.

The cards are collectible and can even be traded. Interesting idea, we think!

For more information, follow @SuperHeatGames on Twitter, or visit SuperHeatGames.com

DISCLAIMER – Always make sure you wear the proper protective gear and don’t attempt a trick unless you know how to do it. It’s not worth breaking your neck over a card game.

[via Press Release]

When it comes to spotting a counterfeit YuGiOh card, the devil is in the details.

This last weekend, Cody was excited that he got a huge box of YuGiOh cards from a neighborhood garage sale for a song. He said he couldn’t believe his luck that he found such great cards for so little money. His luck ran out when he took the cards to a local game shop and discovered they were faked. Counterfeited. Bogus. He was crushed. But it was an education for him that all is not what it seems and if the deal sounds too good to be true, chances are, it is. So I thought it’d be a great idea to write about how kids can tell the real McCoy from a phoney.

The first clue we noticed were the colors. Some just weren’t right. YuGiOh cards are divided up in colors of yellow (monster cards), violet (fusion cards), orange (effect monsters), green (magic cards), Red/purple for traps, Blue (ritual monsters) and White for synchro monsters. The shades of these colors are quite specific and a sure sign the card is a fake is if the shade is hotter or cooler than it should be. This isn’t absolute, however as some booster bonus cards are designed with brighter or darker colors depending on the collection they are coming from and happen as a result of a second, parallel coat.

Next were the text fonts. It’s really easy to spot a fake by the font the card uses to signify its identity. All too often, a fake has text that is either too big or thin and often is misspelled. Some of the cards Cody got even had the Konami logo on the back of the card in a different font.

A real dead giveaway can be found in the lower right hand corner. There should be a tiny holographic square affixed to it and that square should be gold or silver. But even these are being counterfeited now, so pay close attention to see if you can see the symbol of the Millennium Eye in it. If you can, it’s real. If it’s missing, toss it.

There are other obvious fake techniques including misalignment of ATK & DEF values, missing Japanese symbols denoting the monster type, and the wrong shade of orange on the back of the card. Even the YuGiOh logo may not look right and if that’s the case, you have a fake card.

Lastly, some users are opening up real packs, selling the originals on eBay and resealing the original wrapping with fakes inside, so always be sure to get your card from reputable gaming dealers.

If you aren’t sure about the cards you just bought, head over to the official YuGiOh website or the YuGiOh Card Guide.

Photo credit – Nick Kazama

If you’re a strategy gaming card fan, then you need to bookmark TCGPlayer.com. This is a great hub from learning not only inside tips and tricks for playing various games, but also what your cards are worth – and some are worth quite a bit. Cody, for instance, discovered that some of his rare YuGiOh cards are worth up to $20 a piece. For a piece of wax covered cardboard! Wow. I’m in the wrong business.

There’s also articles, reviews, blogs, and community forums for budding players to hang out online with those who share their passion for gaming. And they don’t just cover stategy card games. There’s also HeroClix – a minifig game with a D&D esque flair, World of Warcraft, Monsterpocalypse and more.

And members can create their own blog and share their experience, tips and tricks, or just thoughts on the games they love. A really cool hub to visit if you’re into playing games at the local comic and game store!

So without further adieu, I give you what Cody wants today ….

YuGiOh structure decks are one of the best ways to get started with this successful strategy game.

YuGiOh 5Ds Starter Deck

Based on the TV show YuGiOh 5Ds and based on a very successful combat card game of the same name, this Structure Deck contains everything you need to build a deck and play the game of YuGiOh. Course, you have to understand the game, so it wouldn’t hurt to watch a few episodes on the CW for Kids network so you at least get the lay of the land.

But with 44 cards (40 main cards and 4 Synchro Monster cards) learning the basic game is easy, thanks to the beginners guide and game mat that is included. And according to my boy Cody, it’s a big deal that the set also includes super rare cards like X-Saber Monsters.

So, all in all, the kit includes:
• Duelist Toolbox Contains:
• 40 Common Cards
• 1 Ultra Rare Card
• 3 Super Rare Cards
• 1 Beginner’s Guide
• 1 Game Mat

Cost is a paltry $7 from Amazon

Is hope on the horizon for WizKids?

WizKids Games, the fun gaming concern which has made cool games like HeroClix and Star Wars and Pirate Pocket Models, has been acquired by the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA).

Purchasing all assets and intellectual property, Wiz Kids will fall under the jurisdiciton of a NECA subsidiary operating out of New Jersey (sounds like a line from Toy Story).

WizKids Hero and Action Clix lines are most popular

WizKids has been struggling like most companies as a flagging economy has cut down on expendable income. But the product lines which WizKids has enjoyed have been most populr. This has included the Clix line, particuarly Hero Clix which is a collectible game that uses miniatures from the comic super hero worlds of both DC and Marvel comics. Wizkids also has Action Clix, which enjoys the popularity of the Halo Universe.

Pocketmodel trading games include the ever popular Pirates of the Cursed Seas. Pocketmodels are made by taking small carboard style cutouts that become ships and pitting them against one another with dice and special ability cards. And while fun to play, they haven’t always been successful. The Star Wars Pocket Model line was dropped in an effort to stave off bankruptcy in favor of more popular lines.

Could NECA revive the game from a galaxy far, far away? Who knows. But hopefully, getting WizKids back on it’s feet will be NECA main priority.

Hat Tip – Action Figure Insider

Hasbro knows a good think when it sees it. The Star Wars/Transformers crossover toys, where characters from the iconic sci-fi saga can also transform into their equally iconic space ships, have been hugely popular (and hugely profitable). So, why not spin off another film franchise or two? Enter Marvel.

The new Transformer Crossovers include Spiderman, who transforms into a helicopter, and Iron Man, who morphs into a jet. And what’s really cool is that whether in “hero mode” or as a vehicle, these bad boys can join together into a behemoth bomber! In fact, together they can create up to six different Transformer combinations.

Sounds very “Mega-zordis” to me, but who cares. These are awesome. And makes me wonder what we’ll see next … Captain Kirk morphing into the Star Ship Enterprise? The Power Rangers changing into the afore mentioned MegaZords? Transformers turning into …. never mind. Maybe even Indiana Jones changing into the Lost Ark? Okay, that last one is silly, but for kids, why the heck not!

Hat Tip – Cool Toy Review

When I was a kid, Topps baseball cards were it. There were really no other trading cards out there. And I collected them with a passion. Course, had I known what I do know about those cards, I probably wouldn’t have fixed them to the spokes of my bike with a clothes pin to get that cool “clacking” sound. How many thousands of dollars did I waste out of ignorance in just one summer? Alas, back then, you collected cards because you loved the sport, not because of their market value (oh, and the gum, of course). Well, baseball card seems to have hit a plateau thanks to competition from other collections including YuGiOh and Pokemon games, etc. Former Disney chief Michael Eisner has bought Topps baseball cards in hopes to bring a little Disney-eque magic to the flagging card collecting industry. And he wants to do it by turning them into 3D holographic cards … sort of. Enter “Augmented reality.” Can it hit the ball out of the park?

The idea is that the cards have special codes on them and when you place them in front of a webcam and go to the Topps’ special website, you’ll see custom 3D models magically appear on the video image. Some, will even have animation from pitching and catching to batting. Kinda cool. But unless they do it Harry Potter style where you just see it and don’t need your webcam to make it happen in Virtuality, it seems more marketing that any serious innovation for the industry.

Then again, it could be a step closer for the YuGiOh crowd who love to duel and see it happen virtually. And movie clips. There’s vast un-mined potential here.

The cards well be in packs of five or ten and cost between $1.00 to $2.00 a piece (webcam not included). That’s not bad for cards, even though I spent a quarter on mine and got a piece of gum!

Hat Tip – The Giz