It feels like forever since the first piece in Gaming Heads' line of large, expensive Team Fortress 2 statues came out. Probably because it's actually been forever. But now, after over a year, we have a second one available.

And it's just as nice as the first one.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX

1x TF2 Soldier
1x Helmet
2x Weapons
1x Base
1x Authenticity/Membership Card

WHAT I LIKED

• PERFECT FIT. This statue is made of polystone, a smooth, heavy material that can be pretty hit-and-miss on a piece where intricate detail is required. But a TF2 character? There's not much detail required, meaning that in the flesh it looks just like it does in the game.
• QUALITY. The standard edition of this statue is $220, the "exclusive" variant $235. That's a lot of stones for a 13" statue, but Gaming Heads have at least gone to the trouble of making it seem worth it, with touches like the fact he's almost completely hand-painted, and that the piece was cast using Valve's actual game model from Team Fortress 2. So at least you know the dimensions and likeness are all spot-on.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

• LESS BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. The Heavy, with all his bulk and detailed equipment, cost $230. The Soldier is only $10 less, and while my version (the "Exclusive") came with an alternate weapon, it's very similar to the standard one. Considering he's a smaller piece with less impressive gear, it would have been nice to see more than $10 shaved off, especially if you're getting the standard edition that doesn't with the bonus gun.

MY FINAL WORD

There's really not much to dwell on here. This is a picture-perfect, heavy-as-hell polystone recreation of a Team Fortress 2 character. It's pricey, yeah, but given the quality of the piece and how well it brings the character to life, if you're the type to still be reading this far down a toy review and be genuinely interested, it's totally worth it.

The Soldier is limited to 1050 (750 standard, 300 Exclusive) pieces worldwide, and is available from Gaming Heads' website.

The fun people are having with Valve's new Source Filmmaker continues. Not long after the secret of the Pyro's identity is revealed do we now get some rap, some Batman and a plea to please, please stop with the remixes of Meet the Heavy.

Did Valve realise that the release of this suite would unleash a flood of kids graduating from making great Garry's Mod movies to making better movies? You bet they did.

We all enjoyed Meet the Pyro. It was worth the wait. Except fans still had one question. Who is the man behind the mask?!

Well, wonder no more. Thanks to Valve's new Source Filmmaker, we now know exactly who (or what) is beneath the Pyro's mask.

But be warned, what you are about to see may disturb you.

The popular iOS game is getting a PC version with bonus Team Fortress 2-themed content included. Players of both versions will be able to compete cross-platform; owners of both versions will have unlocked content from one available on both.

You can now purchase a $30 replica of the star of Valve's Meet the Pyro video. That's right, not the Pyro itself: the Balloonicorn, nature's most majestic and impractical animal.

Available from Valve's store, as you reach for your wallet, remember: you're about to pay $30 for a 13-inch balloon.

INFLATABLE BALLOONICORN [Valve]

Meet the Sandvich, a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive piece of Team Fortress 2 history. ThreeA Toys' masterful creation is so limited you'll have to make an appointment to buy it.

That's right, one does not simply walk up to a booth and ask for Sandvich. Sanvich asks to see you, and only after you set an appointment for purchase at ThreeA's Bambaland Store starting at 9PM Eastern. You'll pick the day and time to meet Sandvich, and at the appointed time it will become yours.

How much is Sandvich? This is silly question. You cannot put price tag on such majesty. Not until 9PM.

A trio of heroes armed with powerful new weapons against the man (or woman) that would burn everything they've built to the ground. Day Two of Team Fortress 2's Pyromania update has me feeling the drama. I mean hell, just look at that still from "Meet the Pyro" up top. Oh yeah, I'm feeling it.

I haven't been keeping up with the lore surrounding Team Fortress 2 very well at all, mainly because I'm not particularly good at playing it. I'm not-too-shabby with the Scout and Soldier, but anything beyond that is also beyond me.

But when I see an image like this, I really want to get into it.

That's the top of the City on Fire page linked in the Pyromania Day Two post on the Team Fortress blog. The writing accompanying the image describes Downtown Teufort, a city filled with sewage just ripe for a fiery cleansing.

The remainder of the update details new weapons for the Scout, Soldier, Sniper and Pyro, the latter getting a the flare gun seen in the "Meet the Pyro" scene above. I want to fire that in your face.

See? I'm in the spirit of things now.

City on Fire [Team Fortress 2]

Team Fortress 2 fans will finally "Meet the Pyro" in "less than three days," according to the official blog for Valve's popular multiplayer game. (A countdown clock seems to place the debut at 2pm ET this Wednesday.) This may tie into Valve's tease last week that it was teaming up with the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim for... something.

To celebrate, Valve will release a new TF2 map and mode called Doomsday, which has players on the Blu and Red teams competing to transport the precious element Australium to famed (and assumed dead) monkeynaut Poopy Joe's rocket so that he might win the simian space race against his rival Vladamir Bananas.

The new Doomsday mode will add 11 more achievements for the Steam version of the game. Valve is promising more TF2 news over the next couple of days, leading to the premiere of the new Pyro video.

There have been "Meet The..." animated shorts for the eight other character classes in Team Fortress 2, but none released since June 2011's Meet the Medic. The wait for the Pyro, has been a long one.

Pyromania: Day One [TF2 official blog]

Yanis Varoufakis, the economist Valve recently hired to study Team Fortress 2's virtual economy, has published his first paper. If you are not an economist and suffer from insomnia, you might consider giving this a close read.

If not, and you're looking for a bit of news out if, this bit of speculation was all I could pry from the conclusion. It followed nearly 3,500 words explaining arbitrage and equilibrium, which more or less describes the ability to buy or an acquire an item at low cost and sell or trade it for high return, as opposed to a market where these opportunities are much more limited.

"I think this is fun to see. The tantalising thought also comes to mind that we could, perhaps, let you see this graph in real time, to guide your trading," Varoufakis wrote. "Or perhaps not? What do you think?"

Great. Is Team Fortress 2 getting an in-game commodities ticker?

ARBITRAGE AND EQUILIBRIUM IN THE TEAM FORTRESS 2 ECONOMY [Valve Economics]

Can't really make it out, but it sounds like we might finally get a "Meet the Pyro" video soon. [TeamFortress.com]