Friday, October 31, 2014

Wario



Hey, I found the final figure in the first wave of the Nintendo figures, and it's Wario. And he's huge, with 9 points of articulation, most of it in his arms. His feat are stuck in one pose but he has some cut joints at his ankles, so keeping him upright isn't impossible. But I am shocked that they made a Wario figure. And I really like this series, so I figured it would be worth a purchase.

His secret accessory is a coin that he can't hold and can barely stand on its own. But hell, under $9! Not bad.

Weird things I've seen on shelves

What?


Grimlock Potato Head

Actually this one I'm considering getting some day so I have a 1/6 scale Juicebar. But I feel like I own too many Skipper Dolls because they come with the more realistic looking Barbie playsets and accessories. (For the record, I own 1 Skipper Doll. If I ever have a daughter she's going to instantly get a bunch of cool toys.)

Monday, October 27, 2014

Minimate Monday: Munster Coach with Herman Munster


I'm not huge into minimate vehicles. I was once, but after having some in my hands, I realize that they're pretty serious shelf-space hogs and don't contribute that much to a display. That said, I will still pick them up if they come with figures I want.

Such is the case with the Munster Coach which comes with the only Munster minimate... well there's the black and white variant but I'm not counting that. Basically they only made Herman Munster, the patriarch of the clan and who has so many accessories hanging around his neck that his head won't stay on with any reliability. Shame, it's a nice head sculpt and the alternate head is nice. But overall... the inability of having a head stay in place kinda kills my enthusiasm.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Minimate Monday: Survivor Rick and Shot Zombie

I like to call this set: I can't believe they made a minimate of Rick after his hand was cut off . He doesn't even come packaged with an extra hand, just that bandage to represent his stump. He does come with an ax, in case you want to recreate the scene where his hand is cut off and holy crap that's sadistic of the toy makers.

As for the shot zombie, which is the real reason I got this set, they cast his torso, placed strategically under his shot up shirt, in transparent plastic, so you can see the light go through his bullet holes.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Minimate Monday: Prison Lori and Shoulder Zombie

One reason to get this set even if you don't like the Walking Dead is 1) it comes with a minimate swaddled baby and 2) the base body is of a woman in a tight fitting convict uniform and you one day hope to do a Babes Behind Bars minimate custom.

Also, I can't figure out a good way to get the shotgun to fit into her minimate hands and look like she is actually wielding it.

Incidentally, this set depresses me. Unlike the tv show, in the comic books that baby was killed in a gruesome way because Robert Kirkman... kinda a sadist.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Dinobot Slug



I'm suddenly interested in Hero Mashers now that they're making figures of the G1 Dinobots. Unlike all the other Hero Masher Transformers the Dinobots only appear in their dinosaur modes, which is smart because that's the part everyone loves.

Since the triceratops was always my favorite, I picked him up. It's pretty awesome. Now instead of having a robot triceratops that turns into a robot but which I will never transform into a robot because I prefer the look of a robot triceratops I instead have a robot triceratops.



One whose mouth is jointed like in the original toy. Actually most of his joints are ball joints so you get a surprising amount of possibility here. And his limbs are designed to be interchangable with Spider-Man figures, so they're pretty versatile too.

The arms leave a little to be desired.


He comes with a stegosaurus tail so you can try out the Masher/interchangable body part feature, but for me that's kinda an after thought. 


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Mongolian




I'm at a point where $4 for a Lego minifigure seems like a lot to pay. This the 12th wave, so the novelty factor is almost completely gone. But one thing Lego still produces in these sets that I'm compelled to search for, squeeze to find, and then purchase is minifigures depicting over-the-top portrayals of Asian people that could potentially border on the racist end of the spectrum.

This wave that honor goes to the Mongolian. Is it racist: not really, it plays into another ongoing theme in these waves: warriors theoughout history. Still, gotta love any Asian action figure with Asian facial hair.

(A quick reminder: I am an Asian American and I find toys depicting Asians to be fascinating in what they potentially say about how Western culture views Asian people.)