Birthday haul

Yesterday was my birthday and I got a pretty good haul of action figures. As they're all gifts and not purchases I made myself, I figured I'd cover them all at once.

I'm going to start off with a number of figures my brother picked up for me over the last few months, but only got around to sending me with my birthday gifts, so I might as well in include them in this post.



First up is the Jawa & WED Treadwell Droid. I always like adding Jawas to my collection. The Treadwell Droid is a nice addition to justify the cost, since Jawa figures are so small. The Jawa comes with one accessory--a tiny canister--that is meant to fit in its hand (and apparently did quite easily for the original release of the figure last year), but the right hand has since been resculpted so it can no longer hold it. That especially sucks because it's one of those accessories that can get lost easily if one is not careful.



Action Ranger Timmy previously posted about his General Clayton "Hawk" Abernathy figure from the GI Joe: Rise of Cobra line. Now I've finally got one of my own. It's a great figure, and possibly the best I've gotten in a long time. The only flaw is there's an odd disparity between the two halves of the head sculpt. The left side is a dead-on likeness of actor Dennis Quaid. The right side looks oddly more like Harrison Ford.



Now to make many of you jealous. Yes, that is Man-Bat from the Wal-Mart exclusive wave 10 of DC Universe Classics, the wave that many collectors are going insane trying to track down. I've been waiting for this figure back when it was supposed to be released as part of the DC Superheroes line over two years ago. It's always great to get a new Four Horsemen DC character sculpt, and this figure really demonstrates how hampered the toy-making team is by having to rely on reusable base bodies as much as possible for the line.



Yeah, Playmates' toys for Star Trek weren't all that great, but I figured I'd at least get the 6-inch scale Spock. Above the waist the figure is fine; the head has a good Zachary Quinto likeness and the arm articulation is pretty good. However, is seems as if rest of the figure was designed to replicate a straight vertical line as much as possible, which robs the figure of character.



Now onto actual birthday presents. My brother got me the Toys 'R Us reissue Insecticons set. I love Generation One Transformers figures, and I've wanted these forever. They were reissued in Japan a few years ago and I could've got them back in for import prices, but I figured they'd eventually get a domestic release. I was right. These are great figures: they are fun to transform back and forth, and they contain more articulation than the average 1980s Transformers. I was also struck by how shiny these things looked out of the box (both the chrome and the plastic). I was almost afraid to touch them.



Mario got me Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars Legacy Collection. Prequel Obi-Wan is one of my favorite Star Wars characters, and as a result I own five figures of the character as portrayed by Ewan McGregor, the most versions of any Star Wars character in my collection. On the other hand, none of those were the classic Alec Guiness portrayal. I had no interest in getting that version in plastic form . . . until I saw this figure. Originally intended for an Obi-Wan-themed Evolutions set that got cancelled, it's one of the best Star Wars figures in recent years, and the best version of the character from the original trilogy. The only problem I have is that the head balljoint on my figure is really loose.



Finally, my friends Janie and Francesca decided to combine two of my favorite things in the world (cats and Transformers) when choosing my gift. The result? Ravage from Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. This is actually the first figure I've gotten from Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Sure, the alternate mode is crap (it didn't even appear in the movie), but who gets this for that? It's a robot cat!

K9 Bot

Hey' it's a Lego robot dog.

It's! A! ROBOT! DOG!

The Lego corporation aren't really big on giving you the context of their playsets anywhere on the box. Sure you get a picture that seems to imply a story, but no details on the backstory... I guess that means it's up to you to figure it out.

So here's my guess.

The Space Police are actually the iron hand of a corrupt police state who unfairly target space aliens out of an unjustified xenophobia. As part of their efforts, they've programmed a robot attack dog to carry out their persecution.

Not so adorable now, is it?

Thor & Nick Fury

Okay, clearly these are the Ultimate Comics versions of the characters. I wasn't planning on getting anything from this wave, except for one thing:

Nick Fury IS Samuel L Jackson.

Yeah, I'm pretty much considering this a SLJ minimate rather than a Nick Fury one. Because seriously, that doesn't look like he did in the movie Shaft?

3rd Doctor & Death to the Daleks

My 3rd Doctor came in the mail! He's one of those exclusive "only available in America through 5 authorized retailers" figures.

Most people think each Doctor had a specific identifiable costume, but actually the 3rd and Fourth Doctors tended to switch it up, keeping key aspects of their dress sense the same while swapping out shirts, jackets, vests, coats, and everything else. The 3rd Doctor is seen here in his costume from the story Death to the Daleks. Incidentally, in that story he thought he was taking Sarah Jane Smith to a beach planet, so this is his beach attire.

He comes with a Dalek from the same story. This is a 70's era Dalek, back when they had streamers exploding from their gun stalks to indicate that they'd fired the gun. It's shorter than my other Dalek toys, but only by a smidge.

So thanks to this set I currently have on my shelf

5 Doctors
4 Daleks (including Davros)
7 Cybermen

Peter Parker & Eddie Brock

These are the minimates from the Spider-Man 3 wave, so these guys are meant to represent Toby Maguire & Topher Grace. I don't see the likeness myself, I guess Brock looks a little like Topher, but Maguie... no. Although it's emo Parker from the much mocked "dark Peter" segment of the movie.

I got these guys for half price in order to fulfill the "buy amount x and get free shipping" for a toy order. For that, they're pretty good. I'm not certain if I should be putting Brock in my civilian minimate box or the Villain minimate box. Could go either way.

You know, come to think of it, I don't think either one of them wore these clothes in the movie.

Classic Iron Man & AIM Soldier

Man, we better be getting a Minimate MODOK at some point.

Minimate Organism Designed Only for KUTENESS!

OMG! YES!!!

Red Hulk & Ska'ar

I'm trying to remember why I ordered these minimates.

Wow. Red Hulk. DO NOT WANT. So yeah, turns out no one who orders comic books likes how Jeph Loeb is writing this whole Red Hulk storyline, but we have to keep getting them because they're popular. WHAT THE HELL PEOPLE?! Stop making me support bad comic stories!

I'm not too into Ska'ar either. For those not in the know, Ska'ar is the son of the Hulk, born to an alien mother whose biology allowed her to give birth despite being dead. The Hulk, thinking his wife and unborn son were dead, left the planet but now Ska'ar wants revenge. His series was kinda... well I didn't care because I thought his story would never matter, but now that he's teamed up with Bruce Banner in Incredible Hulk I'm starting to dig him. He's written like the Hulk mixed with Conan the Barbarian. But I ordered these before I started reading the new Incredible Hulk run, so that didn't influence my decision.

I think, THINK, it's because I wanted to make sure I had every minimate Hulk Villain ever created, but I know I didn't get the Emil Blonsky/Abomination movie figures. I guess I decided they didn't count. Hmmm.

Got to stop writing these things so late at night.

Captain America & the Red Skull

Finally, a Red Skull minimate. Up until now the only Captain America Villain made into a minimate was... actuall none. Admittedly, the Captain doesn't have the most impressive Rogue's Gallery. Pretty much his most major foe is the Red Skull.

Also, Hitler, but they're never making a Hitler minimate. So instead we get the Red Skull, packaged with the "Bucky" version of Captain America who will sadly be leaving soon. This is actually a pretty good way to do a Captain America variant. It's a different costume and a different character, so people will actually want this as opposed to a "Captain America with different pattern on the blue part" variants we've been getting for a while.

The minimate actually is making me like the new costume. I wasn't impressed when I first saw it, but here it sort of works. Good job toy.

Batgirl

There's only a few Asian American super-heroes in the DC Universe and most of them are ninjas or martial artists of some sort. And the most ninja-rific and high profile of them (until recently when it was decided to replace her with a blonde white girl) was Batgirl. They made a minimate of her back in the C3 miniflyer days.

I finally got her on e-bay, which means I did not get her non-mask hairpiece. But whatever, it's Batgirl, she can keep the cowl on.

Although that means you don't get to see her big Asian anime eyes.

Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara

Oh Scarlett, your beauty is only surpassed by your comically oversized phallic weapon.

The Dark Avengers #2 Box Set

The Dark Avengers barely register on my radar. I know they exist, but I just don't care. Everything about them screams at me, "Don't bother caring."

So why would I buy the minimate box set? (Well one of them. There's 2 box sets.) Especially when I already own minimates of 2 of the characters contained within?

ANSWER:

Ares.

Ares is pretty awesome. He's a superhero for a paycheck. A god who turned his back on his family because they didn't respect him, but who didn't give up being a complete prick.

I want him as a minimate. As for the others Miss Marvel is cool, but the others are remakes of figures I already have without enough tweaking to make it worth getting them if they had been sold seperately. (If you're wondering, yes Hawkeye's mask does come off to reveal Bulleseye, using the same head from the Bullseye/Moonstone 2-pack.) Although I do have the odd dilemma of trying to figure out if I should put these guys with in my Villain minimate case or my Avengers minimate case.

Thunderbolts

Let's talk about Thunderbolts Minimates.

No, different Thunderbolts. As in the team of superheroes made up of a team of villains. They've been on various sides of the "corrupted" line through their career, and had even more varying popularity with the comic buying public, but they only made one incarnation of the team into minimates so let's talk about that one. We've already seen Bullseye & Moonstone so let's check out the rest of the Thunderbolts Initative team (minus Songbird & Swordsman, who are pretty long shots to ever getting minimates... although they're making the fricking Vault Guard, so what do I know.)

There's civilian clothes Norman Osborne, Radioactive Man, Penance and the new Venom. 3 Villians of attempting to reform in various ways and a New Warrior given an angsty backstory that doesn't really work. I'm trying to remember why I wanted this set so badly. Because I've got to admit, I'm having trouble remembering.

Oh right, it's because the concept for each character is so ridiculous that I couldn't resist. "Let's make a minimate of an over-the-top angsty Speedball. See, he feels guilty for being partially responsible for a bunch of people dying so he dresses up in S&M gear." Genius.

Also, they all have costume changes! It's like Barbie mixed with Minimates.

Winston Zeddemore & Zombie Taxi Driver

Everyone loves Winston, the only Ghostbuster without a Doctorate. He represents the everyman, he's the one who made your dreams possible. He answered an ad in the newspaper and then got to be a Ghostbuster. No question of skills, intelligence, or anything. He just answered an ad in the paper.

He's how you wish you could become a superhero.

The Zombie Taxi Driver (or Zombie Ghost according to the back of the box) looks kinda meh in person, but hell, he's a minimate ghost.

Ray Stanz & Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Happy)

Ray comes with ghost seeker goggles & ghost trap!

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man has crap articulation due to how he's constructed! Seriously he can move his head around and his ams up and down. And his head? Mask.


Other than that? PURE AWESOME!

Ghostbusters 2 Louis Tully & Slimer

5 things about the Ghostbusters 2 Louis Tully & Slimer Minimate 2 pack.

1. I now have a Rick Moranis action figure.

2. He isn't wearing his earmuffs like he should be.

3. Why does Slimer have a nose?

4. Louis was wearing Venkman's uniform in that scene, not his own.

5. Ghostbusters 2 logo on the arm patch? Nice touch.

Peter Venkman & Energized Terror Dog

Huh.

The back of the box states that Peter Venkman is the leader. Never really thought of it. Makes sense. It also points out that his powers of persuasion are very useful to the team. Also makes sense.

Death Star Escape playset

The deals I find on eBay keep getting better and better. I got this playset along with its counterpart, the Detention Block Rescue, together for less than ten dollars. I'm reviewing this set first because it was the one I primarily wanted.

I've wanted to get this Star Wars playset ever since I saw it in stores in 1997. Unfortunately I only ever saw it in Rite Aid, which meant it wasn't the most affordable piece (regular retail price for the set was ten dollars). One of its appealing aspect to me was the fact that a mutli-tiered structured, something I always find handy when displaying lots of figures.

Even though I had wanted to get this set for years, Mario told me the Detention Block set was better. Still, I knew pretty much why I wanted it, and thought I wouldn't be disapponted.

Well, I was. Slightly.

Judging from pictures, the set always seemed to be pretty narrow, which would have made it fit nicely into my IKEA cabinet on my designated Star Wars shelf. The walkway is narrow, but the set as a whole isn't. Not only do the cardboard and plastic at the base nearly double the width, but the platforms behind the doors stick out a bit. I spent around half an hour moving items around on my shelf and removing various pieces from the Death Star Escape set until I gave up.

It still looks nice. There's some nice features like the removeable bridge and blast shield door to replicate the scene from Star Wars I'm not too fond of the missle launcher, and the swinging rope doesn't attach well, so I stored it in the smuggling compartment of my Millenium Falcon. Since it's doubtful Harbso will make a large-size Death Star playset any time soon, this set is decent enough for your Imperial display puroses. Just make sure you have enough room.

Squidman Escape

Actually, to be fair, I didn't buy this toy, I got it as a birthday present from Mario.


The space bike works a lot better than I thought it would. Although Squidman's head lacks a little something on a practical articulation aspect, probably because his eyes are pointing straign up and due to Lego articulation issues, he can't exactly tilt his head to look forward.

Also, it's a little unfair that they're hunting down a guy on foot on a Space Bike. But then in the Space Police world all aliens are dirty dirty criminals. I bet Squidman didn't even steal that money, it's just his weekly paycheck.

Space Police: opression in the future.

Bullseye & Moonstone

Man, I've been trying to find these guys for a while. They're a Toys R' Us Exclusive, apparently were ordered in ridiculously low quantities, and the closest Toys R' US to me are either 1.25 hours away or through a toll bridge. So searching for these guys have not been pleasant. I finally found them in my grandparents hometown 2 hours away when I went for a visit.

There's already a Minimates Bullseye, but that was back in the more cartooney days of the line. This one's more "realistic" and features his head tattoo that they copied off the Daredevil movie. (Because lord knows that's where they should get their inspiration for how to handle Bullseye. That movie did everything so right. Sarcasm.) Personally I kind of like the old designs, back when they were simpler. Although some of the figures look damn silly.

The other figure is Moonstone and I have no idea who she is, really. All I know about her is she's in the Thunderbolts and I the profile says she's a psychologist. I mean if someone showed me this figure and never told me who it was, I would never have guessed who it was. The costume's a bit generic and I don't know if that's supposed to be a gold colored transparent cleavage window or gold fabric. The internet isn't helping either, all the pictures of Moonstone in this costume could go either way. Pretty much I just wanted her to help fill out my Thunderbolt Minimates line.