Toyota Storms New York with New Products

After two fairly quiet events in Detroit and Chicago, the 2018 New York International Auto Show features several new, important products from a variety of manufacturers. Toyota in particular has come out swinging with clean sheet redesigns of two of its most popular models.

First up is the all new fifth generation RAV4. Last year, the RAV4 overtook the Camry as Toyota's best selling vehicle in the US, and the best selling non-truck in America full stop. Facing stiff competition from recently redesigned rivals such as the Honda CR-V and the Mazda CX-5, Toyota couldn't afford to mess things up. The new RAV4 features rugged styling cues evocative of several Jeep products. Ground clearance is up by half an inch, which further separates the new RAV4 from its rivals. Gasoline and hybrid powertrains will be offered as before, and a breadth of trim levels including the well equipped base LE, the luxurious Limited and Platinum, and the sporty Adventure ensures that consumers will be able to find the RAV4 that's right for them. Look for gasoline powered RAV4s to arrive in dealerships later this year, with the hybrid models coming sometime in 2019.

Also making its debut is the 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback. When Toyota announced the closure of the Scion brand, the iM hatchback was rechristened a Corolla for the remainder of its product cycle. Now, executives have given the iM another shot, and addressed some of that car's most glaring shortcomings with this redesign. The Corolla Hatchback is 1.5 inches longer than before, and all of that extra length is dedicated to the wheelbase. Ergonomics, fit and finish, and available features are all greatly improved. Every model gets a leather shift knob, an electronic parking brake, keyless ignition, and two USB ports. Other standard features include Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, and Siri Eyes Free.

Only SE and XSE trim levels will be offered, suggesting that Toyota sees the Corolla Hatchback as a companion piece to the 86 and upcoming Supra. Aiding the Corolla's performance credentials is the use of Toyota's New Global Architecture (TNGA). TNGA lowers the Corolla's center of gravity by 0.8 inches and improves torsional stiffness by 60 percent. Gone too is the ancient 1.8-liter four cylinder engine. It's been replaced with a new Dynamic Force 2.0-liter unit coupled to either a six speed manual transmission or a CVT with launch gear. Horsepower and performance figures haven't been revealed yet, but it seems safe to say that Toyota has a decent, warm hatch on their hands.

It's pleasing that Toyota is taking serious steps to improve the desirability of its products beyond reliability and value. So far, CEO Akio Toyoda's plan to inject a dose of passion into his products appears to be on track.

Should You Buy Pokemon Theme Decks?

The Pokémon Company releases several different products for each new trading card expansion, but which gives you the most bang for your buck?

Theme decks have been around for as long as there's been a Pokémon Trading Card Game. These premade decks give people a taste of some of the newest cards as soon as they hit the market. The MSRP for theme decks right now is $12.99. Is this a worthwhile investment of your money? Let's find out.

Great for Beginners
As I already said, each theme deck comes with a ready to play 60 card, competition legal deck. The cards are a mixture of Pokémon, usually of one or two types; some Trainer cards; and energy cards to cover attack costs. You also get a playmat, a deck box, a coin, and some damage counters. Everything you need to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game is included. The playmat is printed with gameplay rules that are extremely helpful to new players. It describes what you can do during your turn and how different attacks and abilities affect the game.

Fortify Your Deck
In general, the cards included in theme decks aren't meant to be great. That being said, they can contain useful Item and Supporter cards that give world championship decks the winning edge. Just take Ultra Prism that was released earlier this month. Full art prints of the Cynthia Supporter card are selling for almost $70 at the moment. It's safe to say that it's the best card of the set, and will see use in nearly every competitive or recreational deck. The Mach Strike theme deck accompanying Ultra Prism contains two regular Cynthias, plus other cards that are designed to work specifically with them. Other staple Trainer cards included in nearly every theme deck include at least two copies of Hau to draw three cards, and Nest Ball to search your deck for a Basic Pokémon of your choice. You won't find too many tricky cards in theme decks, but feel free to add whichever cards you want. That's one of the great things about the Pokémon Trading Card Game -- you get to play your way and come up with your own creative strategies to defeat your opponents. A theme deck can serve as a template to build your own custom deck.

It is What It is
There are no surprises with theme decks. Everything that is included inside is printed right on the outside of the box. I'm not a big fan of online shopping, and my local card store is pretty hit or miss when it comes to single cards. Theme decks allow me to get some of the cards I want without having to take my chances with booster packs. My recommendation is use online resources to learn about all the new cards in a set, and choose which ones you want to play with. Maybe the cards you are looking for will all be included in a theme deck, or maybe you can get most of a desired evolution line there and will only need to purchase one or two additional cards to have a complete team. Whether this is the most cost effective way to build a deck depends entirely on what you are looking for. Just remember that the cost of a theme deck also covers the energy cards and damage counters you need to play the game.

The Verdict
So, should you buy a Pokémon Trading Card Game theme deck? I would answer with a resounding yes. Whatever your skill level or whatever your age, everyone can benefit from purchasing at least one theme deck. They're a great introduction into the world of Pokémon.

Winners and Losers From the Boston Auto Show

Not going to lie, this year's New England International Auto Show was far from spectacular. However, there were a few bright spots at this otherwise so-so show.



Winner (Best in Show) - Lexus LC500

The 2018 Lexus LC500 made its debut at last year's show. But this year, the new Lexus flagship was unlocked and open to the public. Closing the door, your nose is immediately overwhelmed by the smell of leather and Alcantara. All of the displays were functioning, allowing you to browse through the LC's infotainment and dashboard customization options. As you can probably see from this photo, people were crowded around the LC all day long. Being able to get an in depth look at the finest new cars on the market is what the Boston Auto Show is supposed to be about.

Loser - Ford

Talk about a disappointment. I covered the Ford display in about five minutes. There was absolutely nothing of interest to look at over in their corner. No Fiesta ST or Focus RS. No Shelby Mustangs. Heck, not even the refreshed 2018 Mustang. I'm really getting annoyed at Ford for not bringing the GT supercar to Boston. Surely they must have one lying around they can ship up here for people to look at for a weekend. If you are interested in purchasing a Ford product in the near future, there were plenty of mass-market models to pour over. But eye candy, not so much.

Winner - Supercars

Every year, high end dealerships bring a contingent of supercars to the Boston Auto Show. This year they came out in full force. Among the attendees was a Bugatti Veyron, a Pagani Huayra, a Lamborghini Aventador SV, an Aston Martin DB11, a Bentley Bentayga, and an Alfa Romeo Guilia Quadrifoglio.

Loser - Fiat Chrysler

If some industry insiders are to be believed, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is trying to offload the company to the highest bidder. Based on their display at the Boston Auto Show, I can't see what anyone would want with any of these brands. FCA is predominantly made up of aging and noncompetitive vehicles. The most interesting vehicle at any of their displays was a Fiat 124 Spider Abarth. There were no Hellcats -- with the exception of the Hellcat powered Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The only SRT model of any kind was the new Durango -- neat, but I wasn't as impressed with it as I was hoping to be. A critical flaw in their show plan was keeping the two Alfa Romeo models off limits to the public. If Alfa wants to be taken seriously as a luxury brand, and particularly given their scant dealer network, they should provide the opportunity for people to experience their cars and judge how good they are compared to their competitors.

Winner - RVs

Mercedes-Benz and BMW were no-shows at this year's event. That opened up plenty of space on the show floor. Surprisingly, their area was filled with a selection of Ram Promaster and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter based motorhomes. The Boston Auto Show takes place concurrently with the Boston RV and Camping Expo. Unfortunately, you can't see both for the price of one. Taking your family to the auto show isn't exactly pocket change, so I can't imagine admission to the RV show is any less expensive. Considering the sticker prices of some of the cars on the show floor, it shouldn't be too much of a financial stretch for some people to add an RV to their family fleet. Anyway, it was a shrewd business decision to give patrons of the auto show something different to look at with these RVs.

Loser - Porsche

On one hand, Porsche was kind enough to bring a brand new GT2 RS and a Panamera Turbo S e-Hybrid Sport Turismo to the show. However, they could have unlocked their lesser models so that people who may not ever be able to buy a Porsche can feel what its like to sit in one. I was able to sit in a Macan at a previous show, so I don't know what their hangup was this time around.

Feel The Sting: Kia Stinger Charts New Course for Korean Brand

The four door sedan is a dying species. I already noted that in my article on cars that will be discontinued for 2018, but it bears repetition as sales figures for 2017 finally trickle in. Crossovers outsold small cars and midsize cars by a margin of almost two to one. Those who continue to offer sedans need to get creative in order to maintain whatever percentage of market share is still available.

The Kia Stinger enters the marketplace for the 2018 model year with a broad skill set. Singlehandedly, it wants to be a sports sedan, a near-luxury car, and a utilitarian hatchback. Stylistically, it reinterprets Peter Schreyer's design language for Kia into what is considered an ideal gran turismo. A high waist, low roof, long hood, and short tail are all there. A fastback roofline adds a measure of practicality to the vehicle. The rear hatch can be raised higher than a traditional sedan trunklid. Cargo space is a generous 23.3 cubic feet. That figure rises to 40.9 with the rear seats folded. It also helps give the car a strong, hunkered-down look when viewed from the side.

"This car is all about the stance, proportion, and balance," says Schreyer. "We sought out elegance and athleticism rather than aggression and brutality."

That isn't to say the Stinger lacks in terms of menace. It carries over Kia's corporate tiger nose grille design flanked by optional full LED headlights. A large lower intake and vertical side intakes work with dark chrome finished fender vents to manage air in and around the car. Quad exhaust pipes and a rear diffuser hint at the animal contained within.

That animal is either a 255 horsepower 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine or a 365 horsepower twin-turbo 3.3 liter V-6. Power is sent to either the rear wheels or all four. Both engines are connected to an eight speed automatic transmission, and the V-6 version should sprint from 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds.

All Stingers come with leather trim as standard with ultrasoft Nappa leather reserved for the V-6 powered GT models. Buttons for climate control and multimedia management are greatly appreciated as more and more car makers migrate those controls to fiddly touchscreens. Naturally, the Stinger has a touchscreen too to handle navigation, phone, and sound system settings. A 7-inch information display set between the speedometer and the rev counter lets you scroll through driver oriented settings such as acceleration and cornering information measured through a g-force meter. An optional head-up display shows crucial information in the driver's line of sight so he or she can stay focused on the road ahead.

Base four-cylinder models should start under $33,000 and rear drive GT trims will start around $40,000. All wheel drive adds $2200 to each version. Advanced safety features and other convenience packages can drive prices of the GT into the low $50,000s. Hefty money for a Kia, but those willing to forgo a little bit of luxury should be able to find themselves a good deal.

Chief rivals for the Stinger at that price include the Audi S5 Sportback and the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. If you think the Kia is expensive, consider that the Audi starts about $15,000 higher than the Stinger, while opening bids for the BMW start at an even $50,000. Once you start ticking option boxes, prices can quickly extend into the $60,000 range.

The Kia is also roomier than the Audi in terms of passenger and cargo volume, and is more powerful. Its V-6 even makes more horsepower than the one used in Porsche's rear wheel drive Panamera; and don't even ask how much that car costs.

Dollar for dollar, I think the Kia Stinger's greatest competition will come from the soon to be released Buick Regal Sportback and hotted up Regal Sportback GS. It too will be offered with a turbo four-cylinder and a V-6, albeit naturally aspirated. With a horsepower rating of 310, the Regal GS loses a lot to the Stinger. However, prices for the GS should not rise much higher than $40,000 with all the options checked. These two should definitely be cross shopped as prospective buyers search for the right balance of power, practicality, and luxury for their needs.

Right now, the Stinger is an anomaly in Hyundai and Kia's range. It has no platform mate anywhere in either brand's lineup, although the basic structure is planned to migrate to a midsize Genesis sedan in the near future. My biggest fear with the Stinger is that it will be a one-off with no eventual successor. I hope that platform sharing with Genesis will provide the necessary economies of scale to keep the Stinger in production for several years to come. I'm sure it can find a place as the sporty entry-level luxury car into the Korean conglomerate's portfolio, with owners likely migrating upward to a Genesis car later.

FINAL VERDICT: The Stinger comes across as a very likeable car. Priced right, it can be an excellent value play compared to the luxury sports sedan establishment.

A Heartfelt Thanks From Me to You

It makes me so happy to have reached 10,000 page views on my blog. I appreciate all of you taking the time to read my thoughts on the things I am passionate about.

If I could make one wish moving forward, I would like more of you to engage with my posts. Please tell me your thoughts on what I'm writing about, whether you agree or disagree, or have any other information or perspective to add.

The whole point of this blog is to share the love of cars, trading cards, and cartoons with the world. We all need to do our part in spreading the word to keep people's passions burning.

I am immensely pleased with the growth this blog has experienced in the past year. Thank you again for making it all possible!

Death Parade Review

I've decided that every year around Halloween I am going to do a review on something eerie. Last year I looked at Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. This year I will take an in-depth look at the 2015 anime series Death Parade. Death Parade is among a select group of anime that is not based on a preexisting manga. The series spawned from a short film titled Death Billiards, which was originally produced by Madhouse for the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013.

So what's Death Parade about? Well, whenever a person dies, they are sent to one of many bars run by bartenders serving as arbiters. Decim, the series's main character, runs a bar called the Quindecim where he is responsible for judging couples who died together. It's a formulaic process. The humans arrive at Quindecim with no memory of how they got there or of the events leading up to their deaths. Decim on the other hand receives a handful of his guests' memories from the information bureau so that he has a rough idea of who each of his guests are. Then he explains to the guests that they cannot leave the bar until they have played a game. One caveat is that the players will be putting their lives on the line, and Decim shows them a sinister collection of human dummies behind the wall of his bar to drive the point home. Frightened and with no other choice, the humans play the game while Decim decides who will be reincarnated and who will be sent into the void.

The whole idea of the games is to create severe tension which will bring out the darkest parts of each player's nature. After all, fear and self preservation are the most primal human emotions. This in theory is the last piece of the puzzle in showing the arbiter who these people really are. While they are playing, the humans slowly regain their memories of what happened to them and ultimately realize that they are dead.

It's an intriguing premise, one that wouldn't be out of place in an episode of The Twilight Zone. But whereas a Twilight Zone version of this would only end with the realization that the guests are already dead, Death Parade goes a step further and analyzes the entire system used to judge people's souls.

Enter Chiyuki: a woman who wakes up in this strange reality with no memory of her past life and is brought to the Quindecim by the supervisor Nona to be Decim's assistant. Almost immediately, Chiyuki begins to notice flaws in Decim's judgments, claiming that there may be more driving each guest's actions than pure negative emotions. She is also horrified to learn that sometimes Decim rigs the games when it appears that some people need a little push to release their inner darkness. Throughout the course of the series, Decim becomes less sure of himself as an arbiter due to Chiyuki's influence. Is he actually creating the darkness in people's souls rather than simply bringing it out?

This leads to the revelation that Decim is an arbiter who has been infused with human emotions, even though he doesn't quite understand them.  Nona accepts that there is something ironic and unfair about the arbitration process. The arbiters are incapable of feeling emotions or knowing what it's like to die, yet they are the ones who are tasked with passing judgment on those that do. Therefore, Decim is her experiment in improving the system, and Chiyuki has been unknowingly tasked with helping Decim understand what it means to be human.

This anime is one of my all time favorites. It raises great topics of conversation about living a fulfilling life, what it means to die, and the morality of judging people based on incomplete information. That being said, I would caution viewers about some disturbing content. Characters violently attack each other, blood is shed, and murder, rape, and suicide are discussed and shown.

If there is anything I can criticize, it would be the show's lack of closure. I want to learn more about how this afterlife works. Several minor characters give us tiny glimpses of what goes on behind the scenes. There's Castra, who sits on a throne of flesh and bones and determines which bar each deceased person will visit. Her words of wisdom are "All righteousness is in competition with itself; I'm surprised it doesn't lose interest." We also meet another arbiter named Ginti. Whereas Decim is outwardly polite, Ginti is a belligerent, ill-tempered jerk who riles his guests as much as they rile him. Then there's Quin, a member of the information bureau who is Decim's predecessor. Managing people's memories is so stressful, that she turns to drinking to put her mind at ease. And finally we have Oculus, a childish old man who is the self-professed god of this whole operation. He spends the majority of his time playing pool while Nona runs the arbitration business.

Not many of these characters are given a lot of screentime. But when they do have your attention, they drop little snippets that beg for further elaboration. Oculus mentions in Episode 5 that God has been gone for a long time. What does that mean? Is God dead? High School DxD presented a world where God perished in a battle between angels and devils. What happened in Death Parade's world that caused God to go away?

In Episode 7, Quin states that the increased number of deaths is making it difficult for her to do her work condensing people's memories. Could this be why the arbiters' judgments are incomplete? When deaths were less frequent, were the arbiters given more complete information on their human guests? There is so much more to this universe as hinted at sporadically by the various side characters. I just wish more time was spent on them and their stories in addition to Decim and Chiyuki. Twelve episodes is really insufficient to gain a complete picture of this world. I think that a 26 episode season would have allowed the supporting characters and side plots to really shine. At the very least, a second season would be appreciated to answer some of my questions.

Well, I think that covers just about everything. Overall Death Parade is an extremely thought provoking series with two excellent main characters who help each other learn and grow. It should not be missed by anime fans, or people looking to explore the pros and cons that go with making impartial, emotionless judgement calls versus those informed by the heart and soul.

Everything Wrong with Pokemon Evolutions

Every day I look at PokeBeach to see the latest news in the world of Pokémon. In particular, I pay attention to new trading card game products to see which ones I will consider parting with my hard earned money for. One of the first things I look at with these new promotional tins and collection boxes is the pack selection. After all, a product's value is determined by the quality of its contents.

I've been disappointed with several products lately due to their inclusion of the XY Evolutions expansion set. It has to be one of the worst sets of the XY series, and perhaps one of the worst sets period. Many forum users and popular Youtubers have expressed their displeasure for the set for multiple reasons. Evolutions represents a huge missed opportunity to end what was arguably one of the best eras of the entire Pokémon Trading Card Game.

XY Evolutions was meant to be a remake of the original Base Set which was released in Japan on October 20, 1996 and in the United States on January 9, 1999. Vintage artwork is used for the cards, while the attacks and effects have been modified to fit within the current format.

The main complaint against Evolutions centers on the cards themselves not being very competitive. A few cards have some potential to work in existing deck archetypes, but none of them brought any game changing mechanics to the table. According to Andrew Wamboldt of the Charizard Lounge, this was due to Pokémon themselves not wanting to shake things up too much just prior to the release of the next generation Sun & Moon base set, which would introduce powerful Pokémon-GX to the meta game. Evolutions' main purpose was to satisfy collectors who remember opening Base Set packs two decades ago - which brings me to the next point.

The entire year of 2016 was marked with promotional products to celebrate the twentieth year of the Pokémon franchise. A TV spot was shown during the Super Bowl, various legendary Pokémon were distributed to video game players throughout the year, and collection boxes containing trading cards from a special set called Generations were released each month.

Generations contained reprinted cards from XY era expansions with the stipulation that all the Pokémon featured had to be from the first generation. Exceptions to this rule were Meowstic-EX, and cards from the Radiant Collection subset. So when Evolutions came out in November 2016, it felt like we had already seen it before.  Not only that, cards included in Generations were actually playable in several different decks, and pull rates for ultra rare cards were usually pretty good.

Hopefully, with the release of the fourth Sun & Moon set, the number of Evolutions packs included in products will decrease. It simply had no business being a mainline set. Making Evolutions a mini set would have been a much better choice for both collectors and players. That way, those who aren't caught up in Base Set nostalgia can purchase the products they want without having this otherwise useless set shoved down their throats. There also should have been some differentiation between Evolutions and Generations. It's rather hypocritical for a set called Generations to focus only on one particular generation of Pokémon.

I just hope that Pokémon comes up with a better way to end Sun & Moon when the time comes. Usually, each series concludes with a greatest hits collection featuring new artwork for popular cards. That was the case for Call of Legends and Legendary Treasures at the end of Gen 4 and Gen 5 respectively. Evolutions was a rare misstep for a franchise that otherwise had every reason to celebrate 20 successful years, and several more to follow.