AMP Episode 39: Plastic Deodorant

The latest episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast is up. Download it from talkshoe, iTunes, or use this widget to listen to it!.

 

This week AJ and April join us as we talk about upcoming minimates, the just revealed Hot Toys Joker 2.0, and who we would cast as the bad guys in a theoretical He-Man live action movie. Also, hear AJ's reaction when he finds out we've renamed the news segment to "The News Orifice."

Oh, and we reference this Dark Knight coloring page I drew a long time ago with MSPaint.

Series 10 Minimates (TRU Exclusive)

Hey, Toys R Us Series 10 minimates are out. I didn't pick up the characters I already had, which is half the wave, but the two Toys R Us Exclusives were interesting and unique enough that I quickly picked them up.

Hey look, it's X-Force versions of Rictor and Boom-Boom! Since I've already got Shatterstar and Cannonball from that era, I wanted to fill out the team because I'm a collector and I'm insane. This was my favorite costume for Boom-Boom (also known as Boomer, Meltdown, Time Bomb, and Tabitha Smith). But, you know, I love a lot of costume from the 90's. I didn't even know Rictor was a character until well into my twenties. I mean, I like the character now that he's in X-factor, but I had no idea he ever wore a character like this. In fact if the package didn't tell me this was Rictor I would have assumed he was a generic 90's character from an X-men comic.

Next up is a two pack of Mirage and Magma, two New Mutants characters. Mirage completes the original team from New Mutants #1 and Magma is a well remembered New Mutants character than I'm not familiar with but has some sort of lava/fire powers. For some reason she comes with the Frankie Nova fire hair, but doesn't have the necessary socket in her hair or head for the peg on the hair to attach to. So I don't know what's going on there.

Incidentally I passed on all of the Amazing Spider-Man movie minimates because 1)the exclusives were kinda dulls and 2) they looked nothing like the actors. If I get a minimate of a character played by Emma Stone or Dennis Leary minimate, they better at least convey the essence of Emma Stone and Dennis Leary. If they're not comic based and don't look like the actors then they just look like random civilian minimates, and I'm not paying for that without the most amazing accessories in the world.

Astronaut

When the Astronaut was first shown, I wanted one. Forget that it's an action figure of the Impossible Astronaut from Doctor Who and it's still a really good action figure of an Astronaut. And considering Doctor Who figures' recent upgrades in articulation, that means something. (To me anyway. Ball joint shoulders!)

They even revealed that when you flip the visor up you get to see the head of the little girl inside the suit. I wanted one of these so bad.

But then they showed off another wave and an Astronaut variant! This time the visor flips up to reveal adult River Song, looking surprisingly happy. The close up shot makes her look like she has crazy eyes, but really, her head just looks really small... Totally not in scale, but they had to get her head into the same space they allocated for a child's head. Ah well, he head still looks better than the River Song that came with the Pandorica.

Wolverine's Chopper Showdown

I thought it was coll when they announced the Marvel Lego sets, but I was wary about buying any of them because licensed Lego sets are usually disappointing when you consider how much they cost. For $20 you get a couple figures, maybe one of which is a character you actually want, and some sort of vehicle which is less robust than the vehicles you get in the Lego City line. 

Fortunately the first X-men Lego set features a pretty nice looking helicopter. I could see this as something from a low cost Lego City vehicle. And it comes with two minifigures I wouldn't mind owning, Wolverine and Deadpool. I think Magneto's a little overused in comics and as a result he's not my favorite X-men character, but if you were going to do an X-men set I can see why he was included.

I like how they tried to simulate Magneto's magnetism powers by giving him a metal plate to float on, but dude, he doesn't need to stand on a metal plate in order to fly. Wolverine's claws are a bit, meh. I understand why they did it like this. And I've noticed they've reused the piece with the Lego Wolfman in the new Monster Hunters series.

But really, I only got this set for the minifigs, and I only wanted the minifigs for the same reason I get the weirder minifigs in the collector's line. To see them interact with disparate Lego creations. Hence: Wolverine in Space!

And since I recently picked up a Deadpool minimate, I though I would be interesting put it next to the Lego Deadpool for comparison. The minimate has more elaborate paint, better accessories and more articulation. The Lego is a Lego. The Lego stud on his head makes him look like he's wearing a beanie or a ski-cap. Which of the two is superior depends on what you prefer. Personally I give the advantage to the minimate. But I would.

AMP Episode 38: Mario Needs to Buy April Things

Hey everyone, the latest episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast is up. This week we our friend April, an artist out of San Jose, joins our conversation. We talk about SDCC exclusives, Hot Toys Black Widow, and throw around ideas for who should be cast in a He-Man movie. We only go over He-man and the Masters this week. Next week we'll come up with ideas for Skeletor and the Skeleteers.



And ignore the Techno Music if you can. It was an in-joke. Actually I'm not 100% sure how the background music is working. Should I drop it? Keep it? Feel free to give me your input.
And if you subscribe to us on iTunes, don't forget to leave us some feedback, won't you?

Avengers vs. X-men minimate fan poll

Can anyone else vote on the Toys R Us Avengers vs. X-men minimate fan poll? I can't, but I wonder if I should try again later in the day/week.

Unlike last year's Heralds of Galactus poll, I don't really have a horse in this race. Picking 4 out of 6 minimates for a box set is less exciting if I've already got minimates of most of the characters already. So the new costumes they're wearing better be impressive. I'll just vote for whatever looks cool. But first I need to see better pictures of the prototypes.

I feel like I'm probably going to pick the ridiculous anti-Phoenix Iron Man armor. Also the Phoenix powered X-men look like they might be groovy.

Joseph Stalin

There's something in my head that won't let me buy an action figure of a living historical figure if the atrocities they committed are recent enough that joking about them wouldn't get you a shout of, "Too Soon!" Joseph Stalin is not one of those people.

One of history's greatest monsters, and King's Toys made an action figure of him in the 1:6 scale. Then someone was selling a loose version for cheap on ebay and I picked it up even though it was nude. However that person was also selling the clothing in an alternate auction, so I picked up what I thought was his most iconic outfit. No shoes though, bastard can go barefoot.

I'm not certain how I want to pose this guy. Preferably in a way that takes the piss out of him. Because making fun of Stalin is hilarious.

Hello comrade, can you spare change so I can eat cupcakes?

About Hot Toys New Black Widow figure

I gotta say, I was a lot more exited about this Avengers Hot Toys Black Widow figure back when I believed the rumors that it would have sculpted hair. Rooted hair always makes me think its too much like a Barbie doll. I don't know why this is surprising. The Iron Man 2 Black Widow had rooted hair, why should this be different?

Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown

You've got to love that the first sentence of the character profile points out that this figure was solely made to create a Quentin Tarantino figure. That's certainly why I bought it. So I could have a 1:6 scale figure of Quentin Tarantino.

Mr. Brown comes with a number of character specific accessories, like his cigs, his gun, and an alternate head if for some reason you prefer to display him as he looked after he got shot in the head.

Oddly enough, I like the expression on this head better. The other one kinda looks like he's slack jawed all the time.

The other interesting accessory is a CD of "Like a Virgin," the song the character analyses in the beginning of the movie. It's very much the "over examination of pop culture" speech that Tarantino is considered to have spearheaded and which made indie movies insufferable through much of the 90's. Even Tarantino knew it was over done: he removed a scene from Pulp Fiction because it sounded too much like an indie filmmaker trying to do a "Tarantino scene." The CD never shows up in the movie, so this is very much a prop that exists solely to symbolize a memorable monologue. I like that its clearly a bootleg copy of the song.

You know what I said about the figure's face looking slack jawed? Yeah, it really does. It makes the figure look like it's worried all the time. I really wish they hadn't sculpted his mouth that way.

I'm not buying a Roadblock

I was interested in getting one of the GI Joe movie Roadblock figures because I figured it would be a neat way to get a 4-inch figure of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. But then I saw the figure in person and I realized the face sculpt made him look far more like Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon.

So it looks like I'm not getting a Roadblock figure until a better face sculpt comes out.

FLASH! AAA-AAA! He'll save everyone of us!

AMP: Episode 37: Hole, Orifice, or Aperture?

The new episode of the Articulated Monster Podcast is now up. We talk about some SDCC exclusive news: minimates, GI Joe, My Little Pony, and others! And we need your help to choose a segment name!

What should our new segment be called? The News Hole. The News Orifice. or The News Aperture.

Personally I'm advocating for News Hole, but I'll go with whatever gets the best response. So let us know either by e-mailing us at articulatedmonster@yahoo.com or leaving a message at one of our blogs. Like this one. Or on Mario's blog. In fact, yes, people should leave responses on Mario's blog.

Cobra Commander

So I've been thinking, I won't mind the 6 month delay for the new GI Joe movie if they change the movie so that Roadblock only speaks in rhyme. And in other news I bought a Sideshow toys 1:6 scale GI Joe.

These suckers cost $100+, but I bought mine loose from e-bay, so I didn't pay quite that much. Cobra Commander comes with all his accessories and its a fine figure. All the articulation you would hope for and the costume looks great, not at all like a dude wearing a Halloween costume, which is what you kinda get with the Hasbro 12 inch GI JOE Real American Hero figures.

Zoo Ranger Cobra Commander

Pac Man Ghost costume Cobra Commander

Yeah, compared to that, this Sideshow figure is like the statue of David. (It's art, is what I mean.) Sure, the hood may be a permanent part of the figure's head, but look at the detail of the face that you see solely from the eyeholes!

That is art, man. Pure art. I assume that the other figures in this line are of similar quality, although I can't be certain. So far all the Joes look like regular army dudes and I'm not paying $100+ for that. Once they get to doing the Joes that wore more eclectic garb then I'll look into it. But Cobra Commander has just enough of that flair of ridiculousness that made the 80's cartoon so great. He's wearing a hood for cripes sake.

AMP Episode 36: Now We're Weekly!

Oh holy crap this took forever to upload. But yeah, the Articulated Monster Podcast is weekly now. Wooo! Episodes uploaded after I'm done editing and uploading them.

In this episode we talk toys! Star Wars, Play Arts Kai, Gi Joe, SDCC exclusives!

Give it a listen.

Baller-Annie and Christmas Wizard Duncan

So I like that show Community, but I'm also savvy enough to know that while I might like the show, the chances of them making action figures based on the show is very rare. Mugs? Sure. T-shirts? Maybe. But action figures for the small audience that watches the show is unlikely since that audience isn't large enough to justify the finances that would inevitably be involved.

Fortunately there apparently is a collector's market for figurines, and so I was able to go to the NBC store and pick up a couple. They're collector items, so they're $15 a pop for what are essentially mini statues, but Mighty Muggs and other vinyl figures have prepared me for that. And when I say there's a market, it's apparently a very small market. The figures are based on the claymation versions of the characters that appeared in last year's Christmas special. They made 7 figures, but curiously left out two of the most important characters, including the central character for that episode who also happens to be one of the most popular characters of the show. So that's weird and seems to indicate that the initial batches didn't sell very well.

But whatevers, I got a figure based on Annie as Baller-annie, although she's missing the windup dial on her back that she had on the show. (Part of the claymation concept was that one of the characters was delusional and saw all his friends as misfit toys.) I got this one because Annie is one of my favorite characters on the show since the way Allison Brie plays her is this weird combination of adorable, psychotic, and sexy.

The other figure is of Duncan, a recurring character from the show played by John Oliver, as the Christmas Wizard. Yes, a Christmas Wizard. I sort of wish he came with his remote control that summons the Christmas Pterodactyl. (It was an awesome episode.) I got this figure because I love John Oliver. His podcast, the Bugle, has pretty much become my favorite thing to listen to. So damn straight I'm going to get a statue of him dressed like a Wizard. Because what the hell is happening to the universe.

These figures are in the 3 to 4.5 inch range, and that includes the bases, so they're pretty small, so to get an idea of how small they are, I've posed them next to my Scarlet Spider from the Marvel Universe 4 inch line. I'm lucky I didn't get the shorter characters, supposedly those come in at 2.5 inches.

The paint looks a little sloppy on these close-up pictures, but looking at them in person, they look great. I'm happy to have them, but at $15 a pop and with shipping extra, I'm probably not going to get the other ones. (Although Britta-bot and Teddy Pierce do look great in their online solicitations.)