Batwoman & The Question

They're in a well written book now! Also lesbians! Guess which one the mass media decided to focus on!

These minimates came out years ago but I never picked them up. Batwoman & the Question, DC's most prominent gay super-heroes emerged from the 52 event but then got relegated to the mini-series ghetto. But now that Batman's dead they've inherited one of the Batman titles (Detective Comics) and although I don't read it, I hear it's pretty good. So as part of my ongoing mission to maybe pick up all the DC minimates (there's a finite number since the line got cancelled years ago) I decided to pick this 2-pack up.

Overall it's fairly standard DC Minimate fare. Batwoman's face is actually a single piece mask that fits tightly over her 2nd secret identity head. (Real tight. I'm going to have to get a push pin or something if I ever want to get it off.) The paint on her hair (it's a huge mask piece) is lacking in places. But in a twist, the Question (Rene Montoya version... I would have prefered a Vic Sage version but you take what you can get) does have a face on the back of her head so you can switch it around. The hair piece is just big enough to hide it when you want the figure to go into "Question" mode. Although based on how the hair/hat piece is designed, the figre looks better with the blank face. The hair line seems to high otherwise and it looks like Rene has a huge forehead.

Space Speeder

Containing just 14 pieces (4 of which are used to make the minifig alien) it's the Space speeder. See this, this is what I remember Legos being about. As a kid I rarely got the big Lego sets, I usually got one of the smaller sets, like this, which contained a minifig and a token vehicle, like a motorcylce. (Man, I want a Lego motorcycle.)

As a vehicle, the Space Speeder is pretty unimpressive. But the minifig is cool, and that' usually the reason to get these smaller sets.

Halloween Lego impulse item (8907)

I could have sworn they used to sell Halloween Lego treats. Like a big bag filled with smaller bags that you could give out to Trick or Treaters instead of candy containing small lego sets like you used to get in Happy Meals. I could have sworn.

But when I went around all I found were some $3 Power Miners sets in plastic bags, containing roughly what you'd get in the small $3.50-$5 impulse Lego boxes, but in a bag. (In fact the scanning system lists it as "Halloween Impulse.") The Rock Creature set contains a small catapult to launch the Rock Creature, but it's only made from 12 pieces, so it's a very unimpressive catapult.

So I picked up set 8907. There's no name anywhere on the packaging, so I'm calling it the Poker. I got it because the packaging and the toy remind me a lot of the old Lego sets I used to get as a kid. Also a minifig and a vehicle with wheels for $3 is a pretty good price. Plus the Lego minifig has the reversable head with 2 expressions on each side, which I really dig on the newer minifgs.

Comic: Lost at Sea

Originally posted at my old minimate blog a year ago.


Click to Enlarge the image

2nd Doctor & Cyberman

Inching ever closer to a full set of Doctors, here's the 2nd Doctor. He's one of my favorites, since it was one of his episodes that got me into Doctor Who. He played his Doctor like a whimsical clown, who could secretly destroy you with science. The likeness is amazing, and the articulation is on par with the best from this line, even if his long coat restricts the hips a little. But I like his coat. It helped make the character.

The Cyberman is the same as the Tomb of the Cyberman from the Cyberman wave, minus the cybermats and the build-a-figure piece. It's a bit disappointing having to buy the same figure twice, but when it comes to Cybermen, I don't mind. Especially since part of the point to the Cybermen is that they're an army of identical creatures. It's part of what makes them scary... Unless you make them hold hands.

I like this set. It's one of the best Doctor Who figures I've seen, certainly one of the best face sculpts.

Holographic Count Dooku

Just came in today! Another cheap eBay purchase, this figure reuses the Count Dooku mold from one of the Sith Evolutions set. It's a great sculpt, and to be honest it's one of the best Star Wars figures I have in my possession. However, it is a holographic representation of the character, which creates a few problems. Firstly, it really can't fit in with other figures unless you want them surrounding a Dooku hologram. Secondly, he comes with his lightsaber. Essential for a regular Dooku figure, but completely unnecessary for a hologram. Thirdly, due to the translucent plastic, some of the joints show throw, particularly the ankles and waist.

Still, a great figure for a really low price.

Krusty Krab Adventures

The Lego Racers McDonald's toys got me back into Legos, although ironically not into Lego Racers. Of course one of the drawbacks of Legos is that they're kinda pricey. Someone once told me: You know when Lego's started got so expensive? When you started paying for them yourself.

So I've been wavering on this Krusty Krab Lego set for a while now. The price was just to steep for me. Then I found it on clearance at Target and I was very pleased. (Each store clearances different items. It's like a treasure hunt with only a small chance of happiness!)

The Krusty Krab structure is rather nice, offering some ingenious play value. There's a safe that opens and closes, a grill, cash register, and Lego burgers. They're all made very simply, but they look great. There's some ingenious use of blocks and pieces to create a building structure that's more complex than it seems. And I really like the glass door pieces. They make it seem like a real building.

But the reason I wanted this set is the Patty Wagon... GET IT! It's a hamburger car! A CAR DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE A HAMBURGER! INGENIOUS!

Seriously, I love this thing. It's ridiculous but plausible at the same time!
The final thing in this set is the Lego figures themselves. Mini-figs they call them. This has always been my sticking point with Legos. Since I'm big into minimates, the Lego figures feel like a letdown. They're not as detailed, have less articulation, and their accessories aren't all that. I feel like Lego mini-figs are there so it doesn't look like the vehicles are driving themselves, but I guess I'm in the minority. For some reason Lego's decided that each mini-fig tends to be worth $3-5 a piece. So if you've got a lot of mini-figs in a set it costs A LOT more. I just don't agree with that, but I'm not in charge, so I'll try not to rant on this in the future.

These Spongebob mini-figs are a mixed bag. One the one hand they look good. To match the cartoon's look they've customized the figures with new pieces and paint that's more detailed than you usually see in a Lego mini-fig. But to meet the scale of figures, the smaller pieces have smaller leg pieces which are made smaller by not having the joing in there that allows them to sit. Yup, Spongebob & Mr. Krab can not sit down. They stand only. I found that amazingly disappointing. Still, Spongebob is an ingenious mini-fig.

Comic: I love the 90's

Originally posted at my old blog a year ago.

Plans... of mice and men or something like that.

I still haven't unpacked my toys, which means I've got quite a backlog to write about. And on top of that, ugh, the last of my SDCC '09 orders came in. I estimate I've got about 20 or so toys I plan to write about but haven't gotten to you.

Just so you know, as a rule, I tend to write about figures once I open them. So I've got a number of figures that I purchased a while ago but never got around to opening. These ones aren't even factored into my backlog estimate.

So once I've got this move finally settled, expect a lot more from me. Until then, if I get itchy and open something, I'll write about it.

Mine Mech

I've been considering getting this for a while, but my renewed interest in Legos sealed the deal. It's the Mine Mech, which I wanted to get because it's a Lego Exo-suit. Now I know there was that whole Lego line of Exo_suits a few years back (and boy do I regret not getting back on the Lego train then) but this one is a Miner's suit. It's not a sci-fi action pack military suit. It's a mech suit meant for hard labor. This is a practical suit.

And it's being used to kill rock creatures to steal their food.

For profit.

Lego sure is taking a dim view of humanity. GO CYNICISM!

The suit itself didn't live up to my expectations. It's stockier than I thought it would be. Shorter too. The articulation of the limbs is pretty good, but I was hoping for more. But for a Lego creation it's still impressive. I do like the clamping.

This hasn't killed my love for Legos, but it's made me more cautious about which sets I get. Because DAMN: Legos be expensive. Especially for the larger playsets.

First Doctor & Saucer Commander

Hey, it's the First Doctor. Originally released as a UK webstore exclusive then a SDCC exclusive which was also offered to official retail vendors. Which is where I got it.

The First Doctor was never my favorite Doctor. The actor was cool and I liked the novelizations of his stories, but watching the stories is hard because they're so dry and slowly paced. But I respect the First Doctor's place in history, and from a mythology standpoint, he's pretty cool. Even so I never meant to get this figure. Because its a two pack, it was more than I was willing to pay to just get the 1st Doctor.

Until I realized that 1) I sort of wanted a classic Dalek, 2) there was a good shipping deal with combined orders, and 3) I sort of want to collect all 10 Doctors. This is complicated by my refusal to buy a 9th Doctor toy until I've got the others, but its a goal. So I got the 1st Doctor figure and it's kinda okay. The likeness is close and he comes with the cane he used to beat the crap out of people. (The First Doctor's moral grey area was pretty neat.)

There's a black & white variant of these figures, to simulate the look of the original b&w episodes, but damn did I not want that. I mean if I want to simulate that look, I've got a black & white setting on my camera.

Lego Racers 6-8

From left to right those are cars #8 (Sport Racer), #7 (Curve Chase) and #6 (EZ Rally). So yeah I went back for more. I skipped #4 because I thought it looked ugly and I was too late to get #5, but I was able to get these three. So far my favorite is #8, with its green complexion and grey window definition.

My favorite part about these cars is the mix and match parts. For example, take the all yellow car I made from the parts.



And my favorite combination, which pretty much just adds a new bottom peice to car #8. Now it looks vaguely like the tank from that game Spectre. Man that was a good game.



These Happy Meal toys have totally gotten me back into Lego's. So I guess mission accomplished. Although ironically, not into the Racer Lego series, because the Racer cars you can buy at the store don't appeal to me the way these toys do.

The imperial fleet

After taking my X-Wing down from a bookcase to inspect it after years of ignoring it, I took an inventory of all my Star Wars vehicles. I have more than I anticipated.

In roughly chronological order of when I got them:

*Speeder bike w/ Scout Trooper
*X-Wing
*Millenium Falcon
*TIE Interceptor
*Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter (Attack of the Clones)
*TIE Bomber
*TIE Fighter
*ARC-170 Starfighter
*Armored Assault Tank
*Obi-Wan's Jedi Starfighter (Revenge of the Sith)

That's ten vehicles there. Three of which are TIE Fighter variations (and two of those I have to keep in the boxes because they cannot support their own weight). Aside from behemoths like the Royal Starship and the AT-AT that are impractical to acquire for a number of reasons, the only Star Wars vehicle left I really want to get is an AT-ST. That's why I'm excited that a new mold of it is being released as a Wal-Mart exclusive soon.