Hmm, my last post on this blog in 2010.
Yeah I got nothing.
See you next year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Scud the Disposable Assassin
It's Scud the Disposable Assassin. I enjoyed the comic book a little back in the 90's, but I really ended up loving the creator's later works, so I just enjoy having an action figure of one of his creations. This is a pretty neat toy too.
All the major joints are represented, allowing for some great posing. The ball joints attaching the arms and legs to the torso are a little loose, but they easily pop back in with minimal problems. The only thing I'm concerned about is that the feet are awkward to balance on, so the figure has troubles standing freely.
The packaging is awesome though. It's designed to be reusable, so you can always stick the figure back in after you're done playing with it.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Dharak
I've always been intrigued by the Bakugan toys. They all seem like crude transformers that turn into balls. If they didn't cost a ridiculous amount I would already have bought one. (Since technically they're game pieces and come with cards for the game. So, pretty much they're plastic miniatures.)
So now that McDonalds is giving out fully functional Bakugan, which are actually bigger than the toys, as one of their happy meal toys, I decided to bite the bullet. It's actually cheaper than getting one in a retail store, plus I get a burger.
It's pretty nice, I gotta admit. There's a button on the bottom of the ball which activates some springs, and BAM, it turns into like a robot dragon thing. I am totally unfamiliar with the Bakugan univers, although the Happy Meal box implied that all the characters are named something-oid or something-tor.
It's pretty nice, I gotta admit. There's a button on the bottom of the ball which activates some springs, and BAM, it turns into like a robot dragon thing. I am totally unfamiliar with the Bakugan univers, although the Happy Meal box implied that all the characters are named something-oid or something-tor.
Whatever, It's a nice cheap toy. Not bad. But I really don't need another one. I'll just stick with the trasnforming sphere I already have. Although according to the insert that came with it, I guess you can combine two transformed pieces together... Wait, no.
Friday, December 24, 2010
I'm beginning to think it's time to pull back on my Lego fandom
I just want to put it on record that Winter 2010 was when it officially became more expensive to collect Lego than it is to collect Minimates.
A typical Minimate 2 pack: $6.99-$7.49 at Toys R Us depending on the characters licensed.
Cost of a single blind-bagged Lego minifigure: $3.99 at Toys R Us, one of the only places selling them right now.
A typical Minimate 2 pack: $6.99-$7.49 at Toys R Us depending on the characters licensed.
Cost of a single blind-bagged Lego minifigure: $3.99 at Toys R Us, one of the only places selling them right now.
Yellowjacket & Kree Warrior
Hey look, it's Yellowjacket, the identity that Hank Pym (Ant Man) took when he went insane and beat up his wife. It's also one of his better designed costumes and he started wearing it again in the late 90's. Which is weird because that's when he started up a new relationship with his wife who had forgiven him for the spousal abuse. (To her credit, he had also gone through a lot of therapy and proven time and again that he had gotten better.) It's depicted pretty damn well here, so I like the figure.
There's a variant of this guy as Goliath, one of his versions of Giant Man, which is a much more boring figure so I don't want it.
Also: Kree Warrior. I don't really care that much about the alien races in the Marvel Universe, but hey, Kree look very much like 1950's aliens with their space man outfits. So I'll give it a pass.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Elite Heroes Fire Fighters Fire Chief
The Minimates Max Elite Heroes minimates are civilian hero minimates. So you get generic firemen, cops, soldiers, etc. The faces aren't distinct, but then no minimate face is, so feel free to army build. On the one hand the lack of licensed characters makes them a little dull, but on the other hand you get a bunch more accessories because that money doesn't have to pay anyone for image rights and you also get some background civilian minimates to round out your collection.
So I thought I'd try these guys out. You only get 2 figures per set, but they come with enough accessories and extra parts that you can easily dress up a third figure with it all and not know who it is under there. (Mine is Chekov.)
I mean, look at that. Three fireman hats. And awesome accessories for minimates. An axe! A fire extinguisher! A flashlight! Another axe! The Jaws of life!
I got the Fire Chief set rather than the Fire Fighter set. The difference is that the regular fire fighter doesn't have that open coat. A small difference, but one I wanted.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wolverine & Blob
I have not really been all that into getting Minimates from the Wolverine: Origins movie. I did get the one that had Agent Zero, since dude was Asian guy in a suit, but I really thought that would be the end of it. Until I found out that the Blob minimate had another figure under his belly and head piece.
Seriously, they put the young thin character inside the older fat figure.
It's insane enough that they put Blob in a movie as part of the elite Weapon X program, but... No. No talking about the Wolverine: Origins movie.
Basically I wanted a Blob figure, but not this Blob figure, until I found out that it doubled as a thin Fred Dukes minimate. So essentially this is a Kevin Durand minimate, and that dude was awesome on Lost. And it even looks like his character on Lost. A Keamy minimate.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Uncanny X-Men Box Set
The problem I have with the Minimate Box sets is that too often I'll only want one or two of the figures, which means I have problems paying $15 for the set. Especially if like this sucker, it's a SDCC exclusive. I wanted this set for Jubilee and Bishop, but it wasn't until I was at a toy show where I could haggle the price down from $10 to $8 that I picked it up. Thank you toy show.
First up is Battle-Ravaged Wolverine and Asteroid M Magneto. Battle Ravaged because there's already a couple figures named Battle-Damaged Wolverine. Meh. Then there's Asteroid M Magneto wearing a what is a very un-intimidating costume from the 80's. Which makes sense, that was the emasculating era of Alan Alda talk about our feelings manliness. Or so I hear, I was 5. This is from Magneto's short lived period of being a good guy when he lead the New Warriors and joined the X-men after helping them out during the Secret Wars, when the Beyonder kept lumping him together with the heroes. It's a bad 80's costume design and should never have been made into a figure. Seriously, just give me another X-men.
Yay, 90's Bishop and Jubilee. Also known as the iconic looks of these characters because everyone stopped reading comic books in the 90's when it imploded on its own hubris... Or something like that. There's been a Bishop figure before, but it was the 2000's Bishop, when Bishop became boring and Marvel had to keep trying to revitalize him because he had been in the present too long to be the "Guy from the distopian future that is stuck in the past." So 90's Bishop is a welcome addition. Although considering we've gotten X-Force Cable and this 90's Bishop, that old Cable/Bishop 2-pack is looking mighty sad.
Also, we get our first Jubilee minimate, and yay, because Jubilee is awesome.
Oh, and they did the thing where they printed Jubilee's non-sunglasses face on the back of her head so you can turn it around.
I dunno, why give the Asian character an Anime face? Is that a comment? It feels like a comment on something.
First up is Battle-Ravaged Wolverine and Asteroid M Magneto. Battle Ravaged because there's already a couple figures named Battle-Damaged Wolverine. Meh. Then there's Asteroid M Magneto wearing a what is a very un-intimidating costume from the 80's. Which makes sense, that was the emasculating era of Alan Alda talk about our feelings manliness. Or so I hear, I was 5. This is from Magneto's short lived period of being a good guy when he lead the New Warriors and joined the X-men after helping them out during the Secret Wars, when the Beyonder kept lumping him together with the heroes. It's a bad 80's costume design and should never have been made into a figure. Seriously, just give me another X-men.
Yay, 90's Bishop and Jubilee. Also known as the iconic looks of these characters because everyone stopped reading comic books in the 90's when it imploded on its own hubris... Or something like that. There's been a Bishop figure before, but it was the 2000's Bishop, when Bishop became boring and Marvel had to keep trying to revitalize him because he had been in the present too long to be the "Guy from the distopian future that is stuck in the past." So 90's Bishop is a welcome addition. Although considering we've gotten X-Force Cable and this 90's Bishop, that old Cable/Bishop 2-pack is looking mighty sad.
Also, we get our first Jubilee minimate, and yay, because Jubilee is awesome.
Oh, and they did the thing where they printed Jubilee's non-sunglasses face on the back of her head so you can turn it around.
I dunno, why give the Asian character an Anime face? Is that a comment? It feels like a comment on something.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Box Set
In order these guys are: Chef Demassi, Architect, Black Slime Monster, Azetlor. As you might guess from the name of the box set, these guys are ghosts from the Ghostbusters video game. They were originally supposed to be an exclusive with the collector's Slimer edition of the Ghostbuster video game, but then they dropped it. Then it was an Amazon exclusive. But I picked it up at a toy show for a good deal.
$5.
FUCK YES! I've been meaning to get more ghosts for the Ghostbusters, but I never felt it was worth it to pay $7 to get a ghost and another Ghostbuster minimate. Thanks, I've got the four, I don't need them again in new outfits I don't give a crap about. So this set, this set is awesome.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Dinosorb
From the Grayskull Wiki:
"Meteorbs were originally a Japanese toyline of transforming eggs from Bandai called Tamagoras (タマゴラス) and were released in the USA by Mattel as part of the Masters of the Universe toyline."
I've been looking for one of these all year, trying to indulge some childhood nostalgia. As a kid I had Dinosorb, who turned into a dinosaur and Tuskor, the wooly mamoth. Then today a friend of mine gave me his old Transformers from the garage he was cleaning out and in the middle of it I found this guy!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Ghostbusters II: "We're Back" Set
Like most young men of my generation, and all generations hence, I love me some Ghostbusters. But damned if the Ghostbuster toys coming out of Matty Collector were way to expensive. Which is why I was pretty much focusing on minimate Ghostbusters, but then Toy R Us put out this 4 pack featuring the boys in their Ghostbusters II outfits and a purchase was made.
I gotta say, out of all the likenesses, Egon's was the best. Technically Slimer's was the best, but of the humans, Egon's was most on target. Unfortunately on mine the Glasses are a bit skewed, and it's difficult to get them in the proper place. Egon is also the one with the most accessories, since he's the one packaged with the Ghost Trap.
I gotta say, out of all the likenesses, Egon's was the best. Technically Slimer's was the best, but of the humans, Egon's was most on target. Unfortunately on mine the Glasses are a bit skewed, and it's difficult to get them in the proper place. Egon is also the one with the most accessories, since he's the one packaged with the Ghost Trap.
The four are also packaged with Santa hats. There are actually 2 types of this set out there. One where the hats are already placed on their heads, and one where they are not. Slimer is placed in the packaging differently in both, but the contents of the boxes remain the same. If you can find it, and you want the hats on, get the one where they come with them on already. It's a bitch to get it on some of their heads. Winston's the easiest. Again, it's a pretty good likeness.
With Peter we're getting into tricky territory. The likeness isn't as great, the feet do that weird Mattel feet bend thing, and the hat is a bitch to fit on. (It's hardest on Egon.) Peter looks vaguely like Bill Murray, you can kind of see the similarities, but it's not anywhere near a dead on simulation. Also, I've posed Peter with Wonder Woman to show that these figures are clearly in the Movie Masters scale of the Mattel 6 inch line, which is a wee bit shorter than the DCUC figures.
And then there was Ray. Poor, poor Ray. It looks the sculptor really hates Dan Aykroyd. That's the only reason I can think of for why Ray looks like he's missing a jaw.
Also Slimer, which you saw in the background of the Egon figure. For $60 it's nice to have some larger Ghostbuster figures, but on the whole, I wish they could have all been the same quality as the Egon and Winston figures.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Martha Jones
It's Martha Jones, the Companion from the 3rd Season of Doctor Who. So of course they made a figure of her, and it turns out to be a pretty good one. The outfit they picked is pretty iconic (although to make it look glossy they painted it in a way that feels sticky to the touch, as if it's still half-wet. I swear I'm making finger print impressions every time I touch it and I'm afraid it'll smear or rub off if I'm not delicate.)
I picked Martha up to add some variety to the "Good Guy" shelf of my Doctor Who figures. I'm quite pleased with the figure, although I notice all the companion figures seem to feature this bland non-chalant expression, like they're a little bored.
One thing I like about the sculpt of her wide bottom jeans is that they result in a larger "foot" that serves to balance the figure more when standing up.
I'm really loving the articulation on the Doctor Who figures. If they had ball-jointed shoulders they would be about perfect.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Vashta Narada
Forget the name of this blog folks. I didn't buy this toy. I got this for my birthday from Mario. Considering my birthday was 3 months ago, I really should have gotten to writing about this earlier. But you know what, that didn't happen.
Clearly.
Clearly.
Hmmm, this is kind of becoming a Doctor Who week. Another one. Screw it, I love Doctor Who.
But hey, it's a toy based on corpse in a hazmat suit being controlled by spores that look exactly like shadows. A corpse that was stripped to the bone and eaten by those same spores. Doctor Who, folks. A kids show. Cheery! Let's see Disney make something like that... oh wait, they probably did. They were much darker back in the 60's and 70's.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Cyberwoman
Lord, I can't believe I own a Torchwood toy. Yes, I have a Captain Jack Harkness figure, but that's from the Doctor Who line. This is from a completely seperate company (kinda. Different in the UK, in the US it's distributed by the same company that does the Doctor Who stuff.)
I'm not a fan of Torchwood, but they did a godawful episode that sort of involved Cybermen, and then they made a toy of the half-naked, half-converted Cybercharacter... and I'm a big Cyberman fan and want to collect as many of the 5-inch Cyber figures they make so... I bit the bullet.
Man, this makes the line-up look weird. I've got a Cybermen army lined up and in the middle of them all, a half-naked Cyberwoman. It's like someone is doing a Crossplay swimsuit calendar. Sheesh.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Sea Devil
The Sea Devils are one of those Classic Doctor Who monsters that became iconic despite only appearing twice, and even then with about 10 years in between appearances. This toy is based on their first appearance when they wore netting. In their second appearance they wore samurai armor. No, it doesn't make a lot of sense why.
Considering this toy is based on the limited monster design of the early 70's, it looks pretty spot on. It really conveys the cheap rubber mask look from the serial. (Which was about prehistoric creatures, cousins to the previous season's prehistoric creature the Silurians, who woke up after sea mine testing reactivated their cryogenic stasis pods. The Sea Devils decided they wanted their planet back from the monkeys that had taken over, and so teamed up with the Master. Because that year all the bad guys teamed up with the Master. Seriously.)
And since I'm trying to build a collection of what I consider to be iconic Doctor Who monsters, I knew I'd eventually need this dude.
He comes with the middle torso piece of the K-1 Robot, which is good since I've only got the top and bottom torso pieces. So now I can connect the three of them into a no-head, no-limbs, torso-only robot freak.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Dalek Drone
When the last series of Doctor Who aired and they introduced the new Dalek design, in five brigh colors, I said to myself, man, they're really pushing for new toys.
And I was right!
This dude was the easiest one to get. It's larger than any other Dalek toy in this scale, but something about it looks wrong. It juts out too much in the back whereas Daleks in the past usually jutted out to the front. As a race that always moves forward and doesn't retreat, that makes sense. But going after years of traditional design, it's very jarring. The Dalek looks like it's hunched over.
This guy is red. I've never had a red Dalek before, and I kind of like it. (I never got the Dalek Supremem when that was easy to find.) I told myself I'd wait until I got this one before I decided if I'd try to get my hands on the other colors. And now that I've got one in my hands... I think I'll pass. The design still freaks me out and the paint is kinda poor quality on the base.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Toy Show Purchases
I went to a toy show in San Jose. While I was there I saw this.
It cost $45 so I did not buy it, but here is what I did buy.
It cost $45 so I did not buy it, but here is what I did buy.
3 Farscape figures. Even though I love Farscape, I never bought the toys because they had horrible articulation and spotty actor likenesses. But then I went to this toy show and found a bunch of Farscape figures at $2 each. I picked up these three after negotiating a 3 for $5 deal. These will actually be the first action figures I've ever purchased with the intention of never opening. I'm going to use them as wall decorations, which is why I'm listing them here instead of giving them a proper entry all to themselves.
Next up is a Lego Advent calendar from 2004. The guy selling this was desperate to unload it once the show was over, so I was able to talk him down to $8. Which is really the best deal ever. Seriously, I just checked, this thing goes for $100 on Amazon and is going for $26 on ebay with 4 days left to bid and $14 shipping. Original price: $15. The dude had no idea about Legos. And I had to explain to him what an advent calendar is. So it's not surprising that he didn't care. Now unfortunately we're already pretty far into December for me to start doing entries on this, so I think I'll save it for another month. We'll do some Advent Calendar entries in January or July or something like that.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Imperial Speeder Bike
Yeah, clearly not the cool Speeder bike Lego set, this is the $4 gimp version they sell with a figure in a poly-bag as an impulse item at Toys R' Us. I got it because of the Storm Trooper minifigure and because I was sort of impressed by the tiny speeder bike. If you think of it as like a Speeder Vespa, it sort of works in a hilarious, oh the Empire is so nice letting its little brother play too, kind of way.
So, was it worth it? For $4? No. $3, maybe. The Storm Trooper minifigure is pretty cool.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Doctor Who ebay Lot: The Doubles
These are the figures that I got in the ebay auction but already had. Since I have already reviewed them in this blog, I figured I'd just lump them all together. You've got Professor Yana (and if you'll remember I got him in an ebay auction right before I won this large lot, so hey, money wasted), Jack Harkness, Davros, a Dalek from "Death to the Daleks", a Cyberman from "Tomb of the Cybermen (of which I already have two), and a Dalek that came with the first Doctor.
Okay, so the Daleks and the Cyberman I'm cool with having extras to army build. Those guys thrive on uniformity. But Two Jack Harknesses? (Is that the proper plural?) Two Yanas? I'm probably going to give Davros to Mario for Christmas. I dunno. I gotta find a really big Yana fan. I'm pretty sure there are big Jack Harkness fans out there.
New Widget
So yeah, we're pretty much slowly increasing how much we copy Mario's Blog by adding the "If you like this article you might also like" widget at the end of each post. Yay progress.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Flying Mummy Attack
See, that this set is fricking awesome. You get a biplane, an obelisk, an adventurer minifigure and two mummy minifigures. And the Mummies have wings!
The obelisk is nice, the jewel at the top can be snatched off by a hook on the bi-plane. The Biplane is pretty nifty itself, it's more solid thatn I thought it would be. The only thing I dislike is the guns at the top of the plane. There's a couple pieces that form those guns that are looser than I think Legos have any right to be. But the landing gear at the bottom of the plane is amazing.
But hey, Mummies. The wings and helmet are seperate pieces. The wings are attached by a hook that goes around the neck peg before the head, so they wiggle around something fierce. The heads are actually double sided. There are exactly 2 Mummy faces in this wave, it would seem, one with one eye and one with two eyes. Each head has both faces printed on them. So if you want you can have an army of identical mummies, with loose fitting wings. But damned if those wings don't look awesome. Well worth the $20 price tag.
The obelisk is nice, the jewel at the top can be snatched off by a hook on the bi-plane. The Biplane is pretty nifty itself, it's more solid thatn I thought it would be. The only thing I dislike is the guns at the top of the plane. There's a couple pieces that form those guns that are looser than I think Legos have any right to be. But the landing gear at the bottom of the plane is amazing.
But hey, Mummies. The wings and helmet are seperate pieces. The wings are attached by a hook that goes around the neck peg before the head, so they wiggle around something fierce. The heads are actually double sided. There are exactly 2 Mummy faces in this wave, it would seem, one with one eye and one with two eyes. Each head has both faces printed on them. So if you want you can have an army of identical mummies, with loose fitting wings. But damned if those wings don't look awesome. Well worth the $20 price tag.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Toys R Us purchase
I haven't opened this yet, but I wanted to share it with you.
I went to Toys R Us the other day, possibly for the last time until after Christmas. I found a Lego set I didn't even know was coming out because I pretty much ignored all the news about the Pharaoh's Quest line.
Then I saw this:
And I'm sorry but that's pretty fricking awesome. Flying mummies. FLYING F*ING MUMMIES!
Also a bi-plane which I've wanted in Lego form for a while now.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Doctor Who ebay Lot: Amy Pond
And here we have Amy Pond, the second main reason I purchased this auction. She's hard to find as a single figure, and I really don't give a damn about the Roman Autons enough to buy the 6 pack with her in it. (Although a Dalek made out of stone is kinda cool.) Also, the loose figures were going for an insane amount on ebay, so this was actually a fairly good way to get her in my collection.
So far she's my 2nd favorite companion from the new series (possibly tied with Donna Noble.) Part of that is because damn they picked an attractive actress to play her. Also Scottish accent. The figure shares the actress' likeness pretty well, although the expression is a bit dull. Othrewise this is a great figure and a good compliment to the 11th Dcotor figure.
Now I want a Rory Williams figure and all will be well. And not in his fricking Roman armor, just a casually dressed figure. (He's my favorite companion by the way.)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tow Truck
I love me some Lego trucks. I don't know why, so I probably knew somewhere in the back of my mind that one day I'd end up buying this tow truck. It was easy to put together and it looks good. I'm shocked how well the tow feature works, particularly since there's no knot to keep the string attacked to the pulley system. I had a little trouble with the tools coming out of their pegs, but I've got no complaints about this set. No hard praise either though. It comes with an unexciting City Maitenance worker minifigure.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Doctor Who ebay Lot: Face of Boe
Hey, it's the Face of Boe. Original MSRP $29.99, who knows what it goes for loose. This helped make the blow of how much the Lot cost go down a little smoother. It actually has an action feature, probably to make up for the complete lack of articulation. When you push a little tab on the back of the tank the Face of Boe's mouth moves. Which kinda means the articulation is incredibly accurate to the character. It also means this is basically a puppet.
For those of you in the know, it's been implied that the Face of Boe is a 5 billion year old Jack Harkness. It was a last minute retcon by Russel T. Davies, the writer and show runner for that period of the show, so the resemblance isn't perfect. Also, the Face of Boe didn't say anything that really implied he knew who the Doctor was.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Scary Cars
Hey, Target had a sale on Halloween items so I got 5 Hot Wheels cars for $2.50. Each one is designed to be Halloween themed. But are they any good? Let's find out.
This sucker is called Rodzilla. A silly name, but probably accurate given that it's a car with a giant dinosaur neck and head attached to it. It's Halloweenish because monsters are Halloween, right? I guess. I'd hate to drive this car in real life, the neck is a joint to allow it to turn it's head around, but it's also very loose, swinging around as it moves foward. It took a couple trips down the ramp before it even completed because the neck kept hitting the ramp as it was spinning around.
Next up is the '59 Caddilac Funny Car. This is Halloween because of the mummy, the pumpkins, and the flames in orange.
Since it's a funny car the body lifts up. I used to love that feature on toy cars when I was a kid. It's still a little cool now, but it also prevents the damn thing from successfully making the loop on the ramp. So it gets a DNF on the ramp.
Next up is the '59 Caddilac Funny Car. This is Halloween because of the mummy, the pumpkins, and the flames in orange.
Since it's a funny car the body lifts up. I used to love that feature on toy cars when I was a kid. It's still a little cool now, but it also prevents the damn thing from successfully making the loop on the ramp. So it gets a DNF on the ramp.
I like the Halloween decorations on the body. The orange contrasts well with the black. Even if it didn't have the pumpkins on, the flames give it a "car from hell" vibe. It looks very inimidating... scary might be a better word.
Okay, coming up next is The Gov'Ner. No idea why it's called that. It's Halloween decorations is that it's bright orange. Also a skull on the hood.
This is a surprisingly light Hot Wheel. The entire body is made out of plastic. I like the design of the body, although the Orange on Orange flames make it look silly. The skulls help a bit, but overall I can't help but look at this and think, "That is a very orange car." Orange isn't a scary color for a car. Not really. Not since the Dukes of Hazzard.
Next up: Phantasm. As you can see it's a translucent green and it has ghost decals all over. Because it's translucent it's made entirely of plastic, making it feel even lighter than the Guv'Ner. I think the only metl of it is the axels. The translucent green looks cool, you can even see the seats through the top and sides. It's not scary, but it does convey the ghost theme well. And those decals help remind you in case you ever forget. Like huge educational aids for stupid people.
Okay, coming up next is The Gov'Ner. No idea why it's called that. It's Halloween decorations is that it's bright orange. Also a skull on the hood.
This is a surprisingly light Hot Wheel. The entire body is made out of plastic. I like the design of the body, although the Orange on Orange flames make it look silly. The skulls help a bit, but overall I can't help but look at this and think, "That is a very orange car." Orange isn't a scary color for a car. Not really. Not since the Dukes of Hazzard.
Next up: Phantasm. As you can see it's a translucent green and it has ghost decals all over. Because it's translucent it's made entirely of plastic, making it feel even lighter than the Guv'Ner. I think the only metl of it is the axels. The translucent green looks cool, you can even see the seats through the top and sides. It's not scary, but it does convey the ghost theme well. And those decals help remind you in case you ever forget. Like huge educational aids for stupid people.
This is an insanely light car, it has no heft to it whatsoever. I feel like I could shatter it if I dropped it. When you roll it it moves as though it has no weight to it whatsoever... like a ghost. Oh man, that totally makes sense now.
And finally we have "Torpedo Jones." It's another ghost car, although this one is actually diecast metal, with a plastic driver figure in it. What makes it ghostly, aside from the ghost decals (the same seen on the Phantasm), is that the driver figure glows-in-the-dark, toy shorthand for a ghost.
I like it. The Glow-in-the-dark feature isn't overstated and actually works. The car looks old-fashioned and so promotes the "car from the past" element. Not my favorite Hot Wheels car ever, and not one I would ever buy if it were sold individually, but not a bad car.
And if you're wondering how they all did on the ramp, well take a look.
As noted before: the '59 Caddilac Funny Car did not finish. Rockzilla performed poorly, barely making it past the Batmobile. Ironically both the Phantasm and Torpedo Jones were able to surpass the Ecto-1, and as you can see, the Gov'Ner became the car to beat as it sailed past every other Hot Wheels car I own.
And finally we have "Torpedo Jones." It's another ghost car, although this one is actually diecast metal, with a plastic driver figure in it. What makes it ghostly, aside from the ghost decals (the same seen on the Phantasm), is that the driver figure glows-in-the-dark, toy shorthand for a ghost.
I like it. The Glow-in-the-dark feature isn't overstated and actually works. The car looks old-fashioned and so promotes the "car from the past" element. Not my favorite Hot Wheels car ever, and not one I would ever buy if it were sold individually, but not a bad car.
And if you're wondering how they all did on the ramp, well take a look.
As noted before: the '59 Caddilac Funny Car did not finish. Rockzilla performed poorly, barely making it past the Batmobile. Ironically both the Phantasm and Torpedo Jones were able to surpass the Ecto-1, and as you can see, the Gov'Ner became the car to beat as it sailed past every other Hot Wheels car I own.
2010 Birthday Haul
I got a couple of figures for my birthday a few weeks ago, but since I've got a backlog of toys I've actually purchases in need of reviews (Deathstroke! Transformers Universe Onslaught! Crimson Dynamo!), I'll just discuss the two highlights here.
There are few figures that are still absolute must-haves for me in the DC Universe Classics line, and Martian Manhunter topped the list. He's just hitting stores now, and like a good friend Mario got me one as a present. Except when it arrived in the mail, it was the variant version--the one with the Martian head and the unremovable blade-hand. Luckily, the buyer he obtained it from on Amazon.com exchanged it for the regular version.
There are plenty of DCUC figures I would have normally acquired (Spectre, Mr. Terrific, Wildcat) if not for the blanding, homogenizing effect Mattel has wrought on the line by using the exact same base bodies over and over. Knowing Mattel, I was aware that Martian Manhunter would reuse as many parts as possible, but because he was one of the few truly essential figures for me in the line, I decided long ago that I could live with that. Aside from the all-new head, belt, harness, cape, and boots (which cleverly add height to the figure to replicate the character's towering stature), the lower body is the exact same thing you get with all but a select few DCUC male figures, while the upper body comes courtesy of Hawkman.
Despite the reuse, you could count on it being a great-looking figure, right? Well, kinda--there are some definite issues. The longer shin pieces do make J'Onn J'Onzz appropriately tall when placed next to other figures, but they don't look all that proportionate on the figure itself; the net effect is that his legs end up being too long. Furthermore, the length of the legs and the bulk of the torso piece makes the midsection look too skinny and the arms look positively puny. The figure looks alright in certain poses and these issues do not impact the fun aspect of the figure at all, but I still feel disappointed that Mattel's cheapness has restricted what line sculptors the Four Horsemen can do within the company budget, and has consequently prevented this figure from being the ultimate toy representation of the character.
Despite its faults, I still like the Martian Manhunter figure a hell of a lot. But it's not the most impressive toy-related gift I received this year. No, that honor goes to . . .
Leave to to my brother to present me with the American release of Masterpiece Grimlock as my primary birthday gift this year. Part of the Masterpiece line that deals with creating large-size ultimate interpretations of iconic Transformers characters, the arrival of the Dinobot Commander finally provides me with a figure that can go toe-to-toe with my Masterpiece Starscream. Now, I am a massive Transformers fan, but I've felt progressively let down by Hasbro and Takara's joint efforts on the line in recent years, particularly when it comes to updating old figures, my main gripe being unnecessary changes that end up making the new figures come off as subpar (see Titanium Soundwave's massive crotch piece and Classics Mirage's weird lanky torso with wheels sticking in the air). No such problem are to be found with Masterpiece Grimlock, though: he's a straight update of the original figure from the 1980s, with alterations made to enhance its resemblance to the character's cartoon representation. As with all modern Transformers figures, the new plus-sized Grimlock boasts loads of articulation, and the larger size of the toy accommodates tons of intricate sculpted details. He comes with two weapons--his trademark double-barreled rifle and sword--and features a Dinobot crown (not pictured) that's exclusive to the American release. The figure is loads of fun, and it's one of the few Transformers toys I have where I struggle to decide which mode to display it in.
There are few figures that are still absolute must-haves for me in the DC Universe Classics line, and Martian Manhunter topped the list. He's just hitting stores now, and like a good friend Mario got me one as a present. Except when it arrived in the mail, it was the variant version--the one with the Martian head and the unremovable blade-hand. Luckily, the buyer he obtained it from on Amazon.com exchanged it for the regular version.
There are plenty of DCUC figures I would have normally acquired (Spectre, Mr. Terrific, Wildcat) if not for the blanding, homogenizing effect Mattel has wrought on the line by using the exact same base bodies over and over. Knowing Mattel, I was aware that Martian Manhunter would reuse as many parts as possible, but because he was one of the few truly essential figures for me in the line, I decided long ago that I could live with that. Aside from the all-new head, belt, harness, cape, and boots (which cleverly add height to the figure to replicate the character's towering stature), the lower body is the exact same thing you get with all but a select few DCUC male figures, while the upper body comes courtesy of Hawkman.
Despite the reuse, you could count on it being a great-looking figure, right? Well, kinda--there are some definite issues. The longer shin pieces do make J'Onn J'Onzz appropriately tall when placed next to other figures, but they don't look all that proportionate on the figure itself; the net effect is that his legs end up being too long. Furthermore, the length of the legs and the bulk of the torso piece makes the midsection look too skinny and the arms look positively puny. The figure looks alright in certain poses and these issues do not impact the fun aspect of the figure at all, but I still feel disappointed that Mattel's cheapness has restricted what line sculptors the Four Horsemen can do within the company budget, and has consequently prevented this figure from being the ultimate toy representation of the character.
Despite its faults, I still like the Martian Manhunter figure a hell of a lot. But it's not the most impressive toy-related gift I received this year. No, that honor goes to . . .
Leave to to my brother to present me with the American release of Masterpiece Grimlock as my primary birthday gift this year. Part of the Masterpiece line that deals with creating large-size ultimate interpretations of iconic Transformers characters, the arrival of the Dinobot Commander finally provides me with a figure that can go toe-to-toe with my Masterpiece Starscream. Now, I am a massive Transformers fan, but I've felt progressively let down by Hasbro and Takara's joint efforts on the line in recent years, particularly when it comes to updating old figures, my main gripe being unnecessary changes that end up making the new figures come off as subpar (see Titanium Soundwave's massive crotch piece and Classics Mirage's weird lanky torso with wheels sticking in the air). No such problem are to be found with Masterpiece Grimlock, though: he's a straight update of the original figure from the 1980s, with alterations made to enhance its resemblance to the character's cartoon representation. As with all modern Transformers figures, the new plus-sized Grimlock boasts loads of articulation, and the larger size of the toy accommodates tons of intricate sculpted details. He comes with two weapons--his trademark double-barreled rifle and sword--and features a Dinobot crown (not pictured) that's exclusive to the American release. The figure is loads of fun, and it's one of the few Transformers toys I have where I struggle to decide which mode to display it in.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Doctor Who ebay Lot: Dalek with Mutant Reveal
I actually have one of these already, so this is the first "double" that I got in the Lot. That said, I like the figure a lot and wouldn't mind having 2 of them. If nothing else, when you put the "arms" back on it looks like a regular Dalek so you can display it in both states.
They're actually releasing a version of this as part of the Series 5 figures. The only difference, as far as I can tell, is that there is no mutant reveal feature. So really, this is the better figure.
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