Thursday, February 27, 2014

Monday, February 17, 2014

Holy crap, they made Lego MODOK


But he's part of a $50 set where I don't want any of the other Legos enough to pay for them, so I'm not buying it. I doubt they'll sell MODOK as a single figure, and ebay is going to be  prohibitively expensive. I hope they make a keychain.

Monday, February 10, 2014

11th Doctor



I picked up an 11th Doctor in classic tweed costume on e-bay to finish off my set of Titans vinyl Doctors. Of course at London Toy Fair they showed off wave 4, with the War Doctor and probably Peter Capaldi vinyl figures that I will also have to go on ebay to get. I'm expecting to pay more than I'm comfortable with for the War Doctor. I think those figures are coming out later in 2014.

But for now... for this brief moment, I have all the available Doctors. (Not all the Titans Vinyl Doctor figures, since there are so many variants that it would be a fool's errand, and I don't care that much.) So for now... for this short period of time, I am content.... No I'm not. I REALLY WANT THAT WAR DOCTOR FIGURE! NOW!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Neca Simpsons figures

So now that I've seen the Neca 25th Anniversary Simpsons figures, the Celebrity Guest wave 1... I gotta  say, not impressed. For $11 (which seems oddly affordable due to the ever increasing cost of action figures... sadly) I wanted more. And I certainly wanted better sculpts.

The only figure I wanted from this wave was Tom Hanks, but now seeing the figure... it doesn't look like Tom Hanks... it doesn't even look like the Simpsons version of Tom Hanks. It looks like generic background Simpsons character in suit. Here's both the 5" version and the minifigure version.




I thought the Yao Ming figure was better done, even if you can only really tell who he is because of the basketball and the fact his sweater says "YAO."


Actually, the best sculpted figure was the James Brown figure, which I'm not talking about here because I actually bought it and might go over it at a later date. But knowing me, probably not.

Ultimately, I think these figures are a step down from the Playmates Simpsons figures. The Neca versions are too angular and sharp, losing some of the cartoon feel. Also, it's really only of interest if you want an action figure of a celebrity done in the Simpsons style, which seems like a really niche market. But these are nicer than the Macfarlane Simpsons, since these are actual action figures and not stationary dioramas with no play value.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Phoenix Five Colossus and Emma Frost

The other two figures not chosen for the Toys R Us poll driven AvsX minimate set were then released in a later wave of minimate figures that were exclusive to Toys R Us.


Oddly enough, they came with an accessory for the Phoenix 5 Cyclops that came in the AvsX minimate box set to make him more accurate to the comic. So now the question is: will they ever make a Phoenix 5 Namor and Magik? Especially since the story is now over a year old?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A vs X, Toys R' US Poll set

So for the Toys R Us box set of A vs X, they had a poll where people could choose the 4 figures that would be included in the set. Of course they later just released the other two figures as their own 2-pack in a later wave of Toys R Us exclusive minimates, basically making the whole thing a sham. But I remember when they did it, I was insanely disappointed by the choices. Because really, I don't give a damn about a bunch of variants for characters that already have minimate figures. New characters: that excites me. So I pretty much wrote off this entire set.

Until it was on sale for under $10 because of how beat up the box was.


The figures still underwhelm me, although the number of insane extra parts for the Iron Man figure amuses me. But the rest of them aren't really amazing if you already have figures of the characters (which I do.) The Protector is the most different, looking radically different than the Marvel Boy figure that was released as part of the Dark Avengers set. Of course the character no longer looks like that so, what's the point. In fact, I think Scarlet Witch looks exactly like her old figure.

But I will say this, I appreciate the fact that they gave the characters accessories to make them all look different.


That extra bang for your buck is why I love minimates.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Articulated Monster Podcast #86.5: mini episode

Due to illness, we provide only a mini episode this time.

 

Hooded Michonne and Crawling Zombie


The Toys R Us version of Hooded Michonne is much better than the direct market version because of the Crawling Zombie's alternate legs. Actually I wasn't going to get this set until I found out what the outfit under Michonne's parka was.


I love the way the neon skirt and top make Michonne look like she's headed towards an 80's theme party. Also, the guts on the crawling zombie are awesome and a neat variation to the typical minimate design. And I really appreciate that they give you his legs in case you want a more traditional shambling zombie. They've really been doing great jobs with the zombie figures in this line, giving you enough spare parts to customize the zombies any way you want (so if you don't like armless figures you don't feel cheated out of an arm) or letting people use them as variable army builders

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Buyer's Remorse: minimate addiction edition

So many minimates were discounted at Toys R Us this week. For some reason the newest wave of Marvel minimates are $3.99 each. I only wanted one set, but the Walking Dead and previous Marvel wave minimates were available at comparable prices. 

So my buyer's remorse is based more on my rational mind telling me not to buy even more minimates.