M12 Warthog LRG

So full disclosure, I don't play Halo games. I played a few levels of the first one and nothing ever since. I'm only vaguely aware of the mythology because I consume videogame media. But I always take a second to look at Halo figures because of my enjoyment of the web series Red vs. Blue which uses in-game characters to create hilarious videos.

And one of their first, and most popular, jokes was about the name of the Warthog... or the Puma.... Or the Chupathingy.

So hey, Minimate version under $15? Sure why not. It reminds me of the laughs.

Also, I like that this is the first (I think) minimate vehicle that can hold more than one minimate. It hearkens back to the GI Joe vehicles that could hold a half-dozen guys. Kinda. Very vaguely. At least in my head it does.

X-Force Cannonball & X-Force Shatterstar

I don't think I've ever read an entire issue of the 90's version of X-Force. It was essentially New Mutants XTREME!!! Maybe I read an issue if it was part of a crossover event, but I can't really recall that well. I got a sense of their characters through osmosis, and I remember this being how I always remember Canonball dressing, with aviator goggles he admitted not needing because his powers protected his eyes but he thought they looked cool. (Back in the day Xavier's school had a machine which would produce any costume you designed in a matter of minutes.)

Also, I read the current run of X-Factor and Shatterstar is in that. In the comic he's portrayed as bisexual, but in a dedicated homosexual relationship. So in many ways this is the first minimate portraying an openly homosexual character. I think. They've done some pretty insane minimates in the past.

Neither minimate is very impressive, and in fact in many ways they're seriously flawed. I have trouble getting Shatterstar's hair-piece to fit on his head, it's too small to slip on smoothly, or sometimes at all. As you can see from their legs, there are paint problems, and it's really difficult to keep them standing without placing some sort of support system in place.

You can see what I'm talking about with the Shatterstar's hair in this picture, which also feature's Canonball's alternate leg base.




But if there's one thing I've learned about the Toys R Us exclusives, if you don't pick them up when you get the chance then there's a very real possibility you'll kick yourself later. Besides, I wouldn't mind making a definitive X-force/New Mutants minimate line-up.

Six-Armed Spider Man & the Lizard

Who's got six arms and comes with the Lizard?

This guy!

I don't know why Spider-Man's rogues gallery makes for such great minimates, but I love them so. Now I just need to get the Vulture from the Friends & Foes box set and I can rest for a while.

Oddly enough this is one of the few 2-packs available both through the direct market and from Toys R' Us where the figures vary a little. The Spider-Man minimates in the different sets have slight differences in coloring and the size of the eyes on the head.

Silver Centurian Iron Man & Crimson Dynamo

I've been considering getting this set for a while now. I don't give a crap about the Silver Centurian Iron Man. They've already made a minimate of him and they're pretty much identical for all intents and purposes. I think this one is a little shinier. But the Crimson Dynamo is new, and there aren't really that many minimates of Iron Man villains, although that could just be because there aren't that many iconic Iron Man villains. You get the same problem with Thor. But I also don't read Iron Man, I prefer him in team books, so this set was never a big deal to me.

Until I saw what they did for the face under the helmet.



That's right, take off the dude's helmet and it's Joseph Stalin! Or at least a Russian villain during the Cold War that looks like Stalin, because you know, comic books. This would be like if they had an alternate Red Skull face and BAM, Hitler.

I love minimates of real historical figures. So I had to get this... when it was on sale... which it finally was.

The Mandarin

So I bought a Bowen mini-bust. Why? To class my apartment up a bit. Also because it was insanely cheap. There's a slight chip (so slight it's almost impossible to see) that brough the normal price down to $15, and I found it during a sale where everything in the store was half off, so I got this guy for under $10.

SCORE!

But why did I decide to get this guy? Well, for one thing, it's the Mandarin. A Fu-Manchu, yellow peril archetype villain who has somehow stuck around through sheer inertia. And this bust depicts him back when he was at his most silver age. Which is to say when his character was essentially was Chinese McAsian: Mystical Far East Terror.

Did you know that the Mandarin is half-caucasian? His mother was white. But he was raised by his father's mother, who taught him to be an Asian villain. Then he found 10 alien rings that essentially gave him power over the reality of a limited space. He seemed to be magic and voila: horrible stereotype!

So I got this out of an ironic fascination with artifacts of racism against Asians in American history. Based on how the dude is posed it's hard to see the fu-manchu mustache, which is a shame since that's the most obvious sign pointing to his yellow peril status. Well that and the fricking dragon on his base. Nothing says mystical Asian better than a dragon.

Let's take a look at that chip which robbed this bust of 66% of its value. It's on left tip of the mask.

Did you spot it? Look carefully. It's that white tip on the top. Yup, that's the chip that brought down the price of this bust so damn low. You can barely see it when you look at it further than two feet away. And really, since I don't collect this stuff for the resale value, I think I'm fine with a chip like that. Especially if it means I can buy it for 17% of it's current price.

The only real downside to this bust is that due to his cape, the bust is a little back heavy. It balances well, but the slightest knock or jolt sends it toppling back. I'm going to have to figure out a display option that eliminates that part.

Doctor Who Micro Figures

I guess the UK is having their version of "ToyFair." Words can not express how much I want the quasi-"lego" TARDIS that was displayed. These better come out in the states, or some UK store better have reasonable shipping rates.



Got this picture from: doctorwhotoys.net

Archie McPhee Surprise Bag, pt. 4

Let's finish this sucker up!

Parasite Pals stationary and grooming supplies: Your guess is as good as mine really. Parasite Pals are cute animal mascots based on paraistes, as you would assume. I don't know if that adds anything to their stationary or in the case of Dig Dug, a comb and mirror set.

I would have paid: $0.50 for each

Parasite Pals Valentine's Day Cards: This on the other hand is my cup of tea. Valentine's day cards which feature puns about love and being sucked of your blood by small creatures. It is awesome.

I would have paid: $3

Prize bags: Imagine these as being cracker jack prizes. Slightly larger cracker jack prizes. My friend opened one of these and got a cheap plastic pan flute and a cheap plastic model plane. The other bags include similar cheap dime store prizes. I opened a couple and got the following.

A plastic model of a seal and...

A drumming strawberry figure. I like this one just for the "WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE!" value.

I would have paid: $0.05 per bag. I didn't count the bags but let's say that for the lot I would have paid $2.00

That brings the complete total of value that I would assign this Surprise Bag as $39.50 Would I be tempted to get another one of these? Sorely. The surprise element actually is worth maybe a few more bucks, but if I had to be honest, I would never even think of buying a lot of this stuff if I saw it in a store or catalog. That said, the stuff I would buy, that would probably cost me $30 or $40 to acquire, so I don't know if the surprise bag was truly worth it.

If I can give the crap I really don't want away as gifts to appreciative people, then yes.