Monday, January 28, 2013

Luigi


Part of a set, I picked this guy a la carte via e-bay. Mostly because I didn't like the design of the other character he was packed with (some sort of scrawny forklift dude) or any of the accessories. I love Pixar Cars Lego characters so much. Which is weird considering how much I don't like the Pixar Cars movies. Something about watching it as a cartoon just annoys me. Somehow I can forgive all the flaws inherit in the concept when they're Lego cars. But that is true about a lot of things.

I also love that Luigi is wearing some sort of beret, because Europeans, amiright?

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Huh, Luke's hand

One day I'll write about the more premium of the 1/6 scale figures I've been picking up, but until then, just the odd picture or so.


Friday, January 25, 2013

AMP Episode 64: Filled with Mucus

Another fortnight has past and so another episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast is up. This week we talk about the 4" Doctor who toys, various Iron Man 3 releases, and some stuff about sick people. 

Monday, January 21, 2013

Sailor Zombie and Leg Bite Zombie


From the Walking Dead minimates line, I think wave 3, this is the zombie 2-pack. The zombie packs are my favorite ones from this line, because I don't really care about getting minimates of the humans, but hey, minimate zombies are cool.

Plus, minimate sailor with a striped shirt and bandanna. What sailors still wear that? Maybe he's actually from a community theater that was doing a play and he was a background character sailor when the zombies attacked!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Beast (Marvel Universe)

I didn't much in the way of toys this Christmas--in fact, Marvel Universe Beast here was the only action figure I received as a gift (from good ol' Mario). Having already built a collection of 5-inch and 6-inch scale Marvel toys, I've been pretty reluctant to delve much into Hasbro's 4-inch Marvel Universe line. The few offerings from the line I do possess are either figures I don't have in a larger form, are larger than average, or have a largely unique sculpt (or cover all three criteria).

Beast definitely fits all three descriptions. Based on Simone Bianchi's artwork for his run on Astonishing X-Men with Warren Ellis, this four-fingered cat-faced incarnation of Beast in a heavily detailed costume is unlikely to lend pieces to easy reuse. And I like that. The sculpt itself is nicely detailed, and the way the hands are designed gives posing the arms a nice infusion of character.

There's two quibbles I have with this figure (well, three: because the way it was packaged the right leg now curves inward, but I don't know if that's commonplace or just a fluke). While most of the costume details are sculpted on, the yellow piping on Beast's lower back is painted. Usually painted details are a sure sign that a part of a figure is liable to be reused for another--except that the lines on front of the piece are raised, and the combination of Beast's proportions and Bianchi's costuming makes for a pretty distinctive combination. Less odd and more vexing is the hip articulation, which makes forward leg movement frustratingly difficult. Judging by other Marvel Universe offerings I own, this seems to be a common design flaw.

Though not everyone is a fan of cat-Beast, I enjoy the design largely due to its origins in Gran Morrison's New X-Men run in the early 2000s. Coupled with an above-average size (he's taller than my Extremis Iron Man, but shorter and much less bulkier than my Thanos) and a great original sculpt, Beast ends up being a very rewarding holiday gift.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Ecto

This is a Moshi Monster moshling from the blind packed series 2. I thought it was supposed to be green, like on the package. Nope, translucent purple with glitter. That's odd. Dunno if I prefer it this way or not. I feel like, if he's green you get a better sense that this is supposed to be a ghost.

Either way, it was on sale, which is good because the MSRP of $2 is too much. $1 though...

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Ambush Attack


Nice vehicle, forgettable minifigure, these DINO LEGO sets are all about the dinosaurs. Mario got me one for Christmas. Hooray! Because I've wanted a chance to look at one, but never wanted to plop down my own money for one. Thanks Mario!

The ATV is a pretty cool Lego vehicle, and I like the minifigure's hypodermic needle/gun, but the dinosaur is a bit disappointing. No articulation at all. And it's not made of hard plastic but a pliable rubber.


Monday, January 7, 2013

Saw it at Target

Sorry Target, I can't justify paying $20 for an Aquaman minifigure. I really want one though.


Friday, January 4, 2013

TARDIS (Doctor Who Titans)


These Doctor Who mini vinyl collectibles (think Kid Robot but not) are blind packed so trying to get what you want is kinda hard. Unless you e-bay opened packs! For a few dollars more uncertainty is removed from the equation! Which is really important because I don't dig the designs for the figures, but I really wanted a tiny vinyl TARDIS, which is packed at a ratio of 1/20. (Or 1/40 for the variant "night time" Tardis with green windows.)

Hooray! I got another TARDIS. To see how small it really is, I've posed it next to a Lego minifigure and a Doctor Who Character Building minifigure.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Oh hey, GI Joe news I'm excited about

According to the Hot Toys facebook post, we're getting Hot Toy figures of the Rock, Bruce Willis and that Storm Shadow actor. I'm looking forward to this. Mostly for the Rock, although maybe for old man Bruce Willis

Super Skrull vs. C. Viper


Because I'm trying to collect a pretty awesome set of Street Fighter minimates. Sadly C. Viper doesn't come with any lightning fist effects. But that may be because Super Skrull came with so many alternate "Fantastic Four" power imitation limbs. They're all just parts from other Fantastic Four minimates, so not as impressive as you'd think. (Although it's fun to realize that even though the Mr. Fantastic giant fist was originally intended for the upcoming Fantastic Four wave figure, they're releasing it almost a year earlier with this figure.) This is a superior Super Skrull from the one that came out almost a decade ago, but that's to be expected. If nothing else, there's been more F4 figures to steal parts from released since then.

The Other possibility for no C.Viper lightning is that her hair must have taken up all the new parts budget... but come on, they've got lots of lightning fist parts from previous figures.