Alice

You know what's an iconic movie? The answer is not Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D. That movie... oy. I could write a whole essay about Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson's weird vanity series based loosely on a video game. They've done 5, met on the first movie then had a kid and got married. But all that's really important is that the people at Hot Toys put out a figure based on Alice (played by Milla Jovovich) from the aforementioned 3D movie.

This is my first Hot Toys figure that wasn't a nude base body I got on sale. Don't get me wrong, I picked it up on e-bay where I got a deal since the box was messed up and it was missing a few accessories (oh no, I only get 31 of the 35 accessories that I'd just put in a drawer anyway? And you'll shave off $20? Okay.)

The face is a pretty good likeness, and I really like the articulation, although I find that the rubber boots restrict some of the movement in the ankle joints, limiting some of the posing potential.

And this might be superficial, but for some reason I think the harness makes her look bulky.

One thing, although in these pictures you can see that the Alice face has a slightly open mouth, revealing two teeth, when you see it in person that isn't immediately visible. So it doesn't take away from the figure as much as one might think, although now that I see it, I can't help but see it in every close up picture I take. OH GOD, WHY WON'T IT STOP STARING AT ME?!

On my version the magnet holding the hair in place came off, so I've got to re-glue that. (The hair can be swapped out with another set of hair, hence the need for a magnet system to swap out. Other than the fact that the magnet came loose, I really like it as a system for the interchangeability.)

Space Shuttle

I don't know what kind of city the Lego City takes place in, but it's got a space program. I picked up this set a while ago, like last year I think, but I've only now gotten around to opening it. It's a lot more badass than I thought it would be. I'd say it's well worth the $30 it's going for nowadays, although I got it on clearance so it was more like $25. The shuttle is very substantial and a solid bit of Lego engineering. I also love that the bay doors open to reveal a mechanical arm that can hold onto the satellite. And you can pull off the nose-piece to reveal a chair for the astronaut to sit in.

And I even like how the astronaut has raybans, a smirk, and two space helmets. One based on the classic Lego space helmet and one based on the Atlantis diving helmets.

Hawkeye and Black Widow

I didn't feel the need to get any of the other Avengers movie minimates because I already had them thanks to all the other Marvel Movie Minimates they've done over the years. Sure my Thor isn't in Asgard garb, but I haven't even seen that movie. Or Captain America. Or Iron Man 2. I'm just picking up minimate sets to complete character line-ups or because I think they look good.

But Hawkeye and Black Widow, movie versions: don't have them yet, so this was an easy decision to make. Although I think its odd that they only included one base. Is the theory that one of the figures can balance all the time, but the other has issues? Because they both have issues. Just because the Black Widow is supposed to be very agile doesn't somehow imbue the minimate with those same abilities. Otherwise I'd be really reluctant to own any of the radiation based characters.

AMP Episode 35: This One Doesn't Count

So we've decided to do the Articulated Monster podcast weekly and record earlier in the week. Unfortunately my editing program wouldn't render the damn audio, so it took a while to get out. And since this was our first of the weekly episodes we ended up rambling on. We're hoping to be more structured next week, but we do talk about Hot Toys, Play Arts Kai, and some movies we've seen. So check that out.

Deadpool Corps

Quick rundown: Deadpool, from the 616 universe which everyone knows from the comics. Kidpool from an alternate universe where he's student at a daycare run by Xavier. Zombie Deadpool, from the Marvel Zombie universe where everyone is a zombie. He came to the 616 universe, and then had his head cut off, during Marvel Zombies 3 which is an amazing comic that everyone should read. Then we have the Champion, an alien from a classic comic where he challenges the world's strongest heroes and then beats them up but he's so impressed by Ben Grimm's unwillingness to ever give up that he spares the Earth. Apparently he wanted to help the Deadpool Corps stop some cosmic threat and they forced him to dress up like them. Then there's Lady Deadpool from a universe where Captain America's a oppressive jerk and Deadpool is a woman. They kissed once but realized it was like kissing your sibling. She's actually a pretty awesome character given that she's more like  Looney Tunes character than Deadpool, plus she has the added benefit of being a female character which tends to subvert the trope of the wacky/crazy/dangerous mercenary that Deadpool embodies.

Man, did I say this would be short? I guess I lied. So why did I buy this set when I've already got 2 Deadpool minimates? 2 reasons: Flying zombie head Deadpool with his propeller beanie and Lady Deadpool. Incidentally, if you question the logic of having a zombie head on your team when he'd just try to eat you, Marvel Zombies have a thing where if they go cold turkey from eating people for long enough they lose the hunger. They get it again if they taste human flesh, but... that has nothing to do with anything. He's a flying head. AWESOME!

Albert Einstein

Continuing my obsession with specific historical figures in one sixth scale, it's Albert Einstein. There was a photorealistic 1:6 version of Einstein, but it goes for like $500 now. So screw that. So instead I got the version of Einstein from Toy Presidents. Had to get it used, of course, it's long been out of production. (Incidentally, the limited edition run information says I got #12.) This is still recognizably Einstein, but it has a little more of a caricature-esque head sculpt. I'm okay with that though. It's a good head sculpt and I'm not paying $500 just for an accurate looking head. Also, this guy has a suit on, the $500 is wearing what looks like a sweater he got for Christmas, you know... if Einstein got Christmas presents, which is unlikely because he was Jewish.

The figure comes with a stand and a timeline of Einstein's life.

The weird thing for me is the way his coat hangs on his body. It ends up restricting his shoulder articulation a little, preventing him from raising his arms very high. Also, when he does raise his arms, it looks like he has shoulders in the middle of his torso. Weird.

Episode 34: Skunk Viper

It's another episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast.



If you want to follow along during the news section, here's the links we took a look at.

Wonder Woman Potato Head
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=10&itemid=18655

Bif bang pow sdcc exclusives
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/bifbangpows-sdcc-2012-exclusives

Sdcc gohan exclusive
http://www.toyark.com/news/san-diego-comic-con-58/sdcc-2012-exclusive-sh-figuarts-super-saiyan-son-gohan-5781/

Droid factory at Disney world
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/droid-factory-coming-to-walt-disney-worlds-hollywood-studios
http://www.toyark.com/news/star-wars-toy-news-3/build-your-own-droid-coming-to-disneys-hollywood-studios-5764/

Your face in carbonite block
http://www.toyark.com/news/star-wars-toy-news-3/get-frozen-in-carbonite-at-disneys-hollywood-studios-5773/

Jazwares streetfighter cancelled
http://www.toyark.com/news/video-game-toy-news-8/jazwares-street-fighter-canceled-5768/

MOTUC Mekanek
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=1&itemid=18704

Refunds for Yellowing Stay Puft figures
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/ghostbusters-stay-puft-marshmallow-man-figure-refunds-offered-by-mattel

Funko Sex Pistols, Zach Galifinakas, Big Bang Theory
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/new-big-bang-hangover-sex-pistols-from-funko

90's Simpsons
http://www.vintageactionfigures.net/simpsons-action-figures-by-mattel/

Battle Droids: Infantry

When I first decided to get back into 1:6 scale figures, I didn't think I'd end up getting any of the Star Wars figures from Sideshow. The ones made back in the day by Kenner were horrible (Although I have a pit droid that is kinda cool but even that is pretty pitiful.) But then I saw something that made me reconsider.

Battledroids.

I don't know why, but I very much enjoy the Battledroids. But I also like Phantom Menace more than I did Revenge of the Sith or Attack of the Clones. I just like that they made these droids that look like they're made out of balsa wood. Who does that? And they're the soldiers? On tiny little toothpick legs? Really?

So yeah, I like the Battledroids. So when I found out that they're available from Sideshow with an insane amount of articulation and you get two for the cost of a normal Sideshow figure, I was like, okay. That works for me.

I've only taken pictures of one of the droids. They're pretty much identical. They each come with a backpack and guns, but I've found that some poses are hard to balance the figure in if you have the backpack on. (And don't think it's a backpack, but whatever. Sci-fi.) And damn can they do a lot of poses. This is pretty much all the articulation I want out of an action figure. Even a 12" one.

You can even get them to do the crouching pose! For when their Operating System goes into standby mode... Presumably so they can save battery life.

Yup, that neck retracts into the body. It has an extendable neck. Awesome.

Arkham City Batman and Catwoman

Look, I liked the game and all, but I'll admit that if I had one of the other DCUC Catwoman figures I would have skipped this set entirely. But it turns out that those figures are near impossible to get at a decent price, so it was actually cheaper for me to get this 2-pack than a used Catoman figure.

Not that these figures are bad. Although the surface are on the bottoms of Catwoman's feet prevent her from standing up unaided. It's like a delicate balancing act, and you have to sort of lean her on her whip to prop her up. And she has no hole at the bottom of her foot so using a DCUC stand won't work either.  It's a little disappointing. But at least she has the same articulation as a DCUC figure. I was worried she wouldn't.

Oh, and yes, she's a little bigger than the rest of the DCUC figures, but it's not that noticeable. She just looks like a very Amazonian Catwoman.

Batman is awesome. But he's Batman, so of course.

The Daredevil guy

Well, I broke down and bought the Daredevil Lego guy. I mean, look at his hair, how glorious is that? He's like a Mid-West Superhero!

Herbert Hoover holding a lightsaber

'67 Pontiac GTO

I've long wanted a Hot Wheels car that had the Hot Wheels logo emblazoned on it. I've considered other cars, but I just couldn't get into the model of the car to appreciate the paint job.

Until now. It looks good and the logo is well integrated in the design of the paint, it looks very natural in a corporate sponsorship kind of way. I love the meta aspect of it, not to mention the way it looks like crass commercialization. Low art as high art! POST MODERN HOT WHEELS!

Justin Bieber Concert Tour Onstage Playset

Before you go and get the wrong idea, let me explain that I bought this playset for the accessories because it turns out, perfect for 1:6 scale action figures. As far as I'm concerned the part where I end up buying a Justin Bieber doll is a necessary evil. But for a cheap fashion doll it's pretty well constructed. It has rooted hair with enough paste/glue in it to hold its shape while giving it a natural appearance. It's surprisingly well articulated too, not great, 12 points of articulation, but much better than some Mattel figures. Hell, the hips, ankles and shoulders are ball and lever joints. If there were wrist joints of any sort I'd call this a success in the 1:6 scale, but as it is, the figure is just pretty good..

But enough about Bieber. (And holy crap I wrote more about him than I thought I would.) Let's talk about the accessories. You get the microphone and heart shaped scaffolding seat, which I guess is from his concert show, but more importantly you get a bunch of 1:6 scale instruments.

A Keyboard! A acoustic guitar! A drum set! with chair! Okay, sure the drums display a Justin Bieber logo, but that's easily fixed with a piece of construction paper. Besides, the drums even feature a kick pedal. You can't see it because it's on the back. But the point is, now any of my 1:6 scale figures can be musicians! And that's great!

Undressing Dr. Manhattan.

13" high and out of scale with most other 1:6 scale figures, this is the DC Direct 13" Classic Dr. Manhattan figure, the figure that has me realizing that I'm not going to buy another DC Direct 13" Classic figure unless I see one for $5 or something ridiculous like that.

Manhattan comes dressed in his suit, but underneath he's wearing his superhero duds and that's how I want to display him. Which means I had to spend about an hour undressing him. Why an hour? Because his fricking shoes are stuck on there pretty tight. If it weren't a piece of plastic I'd use a shoe horn. Instead I used my finger. The tip of my finger was numb for five days after. So let's go over the process of undressing Dr. Manhattan.

1. Fully dressed.

 Step 2. Remove the jacket to create Steampunk Manhattan.

Step 3. Remove vest to create Office Job Manhattan.

Step 4. Remove shirt and tie to create Romance Cover Manhattan... Actually I'm shocked that they've actually tied the tie onto him, no elastic band or clip on tie here. An actual Four in Hand knot. It made me a little reluctant to take it off, afraid I might undo the knot, which I wouldn't be able to retie without a lot of time, patience, and tweezers.

 5. And here's where it got to be a pain in the ass. Removing those shoes. I had to go online and look at what other frustrated collectors did. They recommended heating the shoes with a hair dryer and then pulling them off. Still difficult but at least there was some give after doing that. I had to reheat them a few times before I could finally get the blasted things off. Had to untie the shoes too.

6. All so I could get him in the Superhero Dr. Manhattan style.

I admit that I ordered this guy online before I was fully informed about Alan Moore's complaint about DC and the Watchmen liscense. Now that I know, I feel kind of bad buying this guy and being part of the problem. So I'm never going to buy another bit of Watchmen merchandise ever again, unless it's super low discount. That way I know the retailer is losing money on it and won't be likely to buy Watchmen merch from DC again.

AMP Episode 33: The Crying Game

Oh hey, episode 33 of the Articulated Monster Podcast is up.



We talk about SDCC news, racially offensive toys, and theme songs for blogs. Also, Mario suddenly brings a friend of his to join us in the middle of the podcast.

Here's the links we talk about:



Mattel SDCC exclusives

http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=241&itemid=18628
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/a-closer-look-at-mattels-2012-sdcc-exclusives

Tranformers Exclusives
http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/official-images-of-sdcc-exclusives-transformers-prime-rust-in-peace-cliffumper-and-transformers-fall-of-cybertron-bruticus-giftset/24712/

Hot Toys Thor & Hulk
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/hot-toys-the-avengers-thor-revealed
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/hot-toys-teases-new-avengers-figures

Oktober Gaurd Joe-Con Exclusive
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=9&itemid=18647


Also, I brought up a couple toys when we were talking about racially offensive toys I own, and the other James wanted to talk about the Wrestler head swap figure I did with John Morrison's body, so here's the pictures I promised.

First up is Skallox head with John Morrison body

Second there is the Generic Lego ripoff toy.



And finally there is the Doctor Who: Mr. Sin figure.

Knight Rider

When this set was first announced I was insanely excited. Knight Rider! In minimate form! And while I'll admit that having a minimate of David Hasselhof is cool, KITT doesn't survive the minimate translation that well. Maybe its because KITT never had a defining characteristic aside from the Cylon light, or maybe it's because the minimate boxy car style doesn't really complement the sleek style of KITT's design, or maybe it's because this is the Super Pursuit Mode KITT, which apparently means he detached the front bumper and pushed it out... or the lights came out...

I have no idea what's going on with this car, but it's weird. It just looks weird. The Back to the Future Deloreans are great, but they also have a distinctive look. A style as it were. This... this is some plain black spy car. Without the voice, it's meaningless to me.

So yeah, buyer's remorse a little. But at least I've got the Hoff minimate

Barbie MyScene Scooter

I bought a Barbie MyScene Vespa scooter off of eBay. Why?

Because some Barbie accessories are in scale with 12 inch figures! (Although not so the Barbie clothing, which is a shame.)