Mezzo Cosmos

Sanji has arrived.

2011-05-28T12:13:00.001-07:00

This is the fastest I've ever seen a package from Japan get delivered!

Marvel Legends: Icons - Time Tested

2011-04-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

The new Thor figures have come out and I wasn't impressed. Looking forward to the Captain America figures though. So in the mean time, I wanted to do an update review (and regular review) on all the Marvel Legends: Icons that I own.

The first, the one, and the only: Steve Rogers. Captain America. My figures have been kept in various locations in my room. Dusted very rarely over the years. Kept in one pose for most of the time. The room can get very humid. Let's see how it has held up against the test of time.

The articulation worth mentioning. The head can travel down, but can't look up. Each finger has its own hinged joint. The shoulders have nice swivel with ball hinged joints. The foot has the super awesome hinged at the ankle with a swivel to the foot. Time has only claimed one joint. The ball joint of his right leg is immobile. The left knee is also a bit warped. Everything else is in beautiful working order.

The figure is great. I only wish I had the masked version. This "variant" was the only one ever shipped to my store. I never once saw a masked version come out of a box.

Venom. Look at this beast. Ah! Just look at him! Magnificent. Majestic. Just plain awesome. Things worth mentioning about this figure. Just one. The head! The head travels up, but not down. Love it. I'll take up travel over down any day of the week. With the bendable tongue and loose hinged bottom jaw, this is exactly how a Venom figure should look like. Time has not done a damn thing to this figure. Everything articulates well just as if I had just unboxed it from the store.

Dr. Doom is the only Hasbro Icon I own. The articulation that it lacks, the figure's costume (almost) makes up for it. Head is only on a swivel. The fingers are grouped together on one hinge. The forearm lacks a swivel. The feet lack toe joints and the swivel from the ankle joint. Gee Hasbro. Way to charge more for way less. As previously reported, cloth capes are freaking awesome. I love the cape and the hood! Good material choice. Still, not enough to win me over. Hasbro fails. The figure looks good, but in limited poses. The lack of head movement is the biggest offense here. The joints are okay, time hasn't done any noticeable damage other than dust on the cape and hood.

Spider-Man. The skinniest Marvel Legends: Icon figure, and there are many big pluses because of it. The head has the epic up and down travel. It has the same shoulder swivels as Captain America. With it's smaller body, Spidey doesn't have the bulk that the other figures have to deal with. It can do an amazing amount of poses. This figure could only be improved with pallet swaps of the black, 2099, and Scarlet Spider costumes. The unmasked variant was lame. Time has been good to Spider-Man.

Iron Man. This purchase was just a "I didn't want a Wolverine" purchase. His mask comes off, so the variant was a super lame gold repaint. The sculpt of the hands prevent the hand from bending back. The head is on a ball joint with the neck on a hinged ball joint. The ball joint of the head allows a very small amount of up travel. The neck joint allows a good amount of down travel. The armor holds up well. I would still love an Extremis version in this size though. Time has not done any noticeable damage the joints. Some of the paint does have a permanent dust glaze to it though.

So, Captain America is really the only one who has sustained any real damage. Punisher and Thor are the only ones I feel like I might have liked to owned. Them being Hasbro made, however, makes me greatly doubt their worth had I bought them when I had the chance. Oh wait, Wolverine! I need to get me one of those. Toy Biz version of course. Venom and Spider-Man are definitely the most impressive of the bunch.

Marvel Universe: World War Hulk

2011-01-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

World War Hulk is hands down the best Hulk sculpt ever to be produced for the mass market. I want this sculpt in a Marvel Legends Icon scale!

Before I begin with the review, I want to take a look back at some of the past Hulk figures I could have bought, but passed on solely based on their terrible sculpts.

The Incredible Hulk movie brought the first Hulk figure I passed on. The sculpt was pretty good. The only problem I had was with the head. The heads of those Hulks were pretty derpy looking. Also, I had not yet encountered the awesome-ness that is Greg Pak's Planet Hulk and had no interest in the Hulk franchise.

The first Marvel Universe figure of the Hulk had a chest that was too big. It's like they modeled the sculpt off a Liefield drawing. The sculpt of the head was not that great either.

Planet Hulk was ugly all over. The head sculpt does a great job at mimicking the cover art of Planet Hulk, but that's not the Hulk I wanted a figure of. The painted arm and pants were too simple. I would expect this level of detail on a bootleg toy, not something branded with "Marvel Legends." The shield, helmet, and shoulder guard are really the only nice things on the figure. I bought a couple of Emmas from this wave. That entire first Hasbro Marvel Legends line was very disappointing to say the least.

I was so excited when King Hulk was among the list of this Hulk only wave. When I finally held it in my hand, I almost bought it....Almost. The sculpt was a huge improvement over Planet Hulk. The head was good and the legs were awesome, but the arm! Oh god, the arm! They actually sculpted something instead of just painting it, but the mold and paint was still lacking. It still looked out of place with the rest of the figure. The shoulder guard missing also didn't help.

Hulk comes with a shield, axe, sword, removable shoulder guard strap, and figure stand. I was very happy to see the shoulder guard return on the chest strap.

The head has excellent up and down travel. The head joint is connected to a small neck piece. The neck piece raises the head up and allows it to look up. It doesn't look all the way up, but the up travel is still good. The sculpt of the head is also perfect. King Hulk's head was good, but this one goes above and beyond. I don't think I'll ever love another Hulk head like I love this one.

This left arm is what sells this figure for me. It's molded and painted beautifully. If the paint on King Hulk was like this, King Hulk would have been buy-able. The arm articulation for these big figures still aren't good. A good articulating Hulk would be able to do a thunderclap pose. When this is possible without it being a gimmick figure, Hulk will be perfect.

The rest of the articulation is pretty good. It's a step above Juggernaut. Juggs is pretty loose now and is hard to put into a good pose. Hulk's hands have a twist swivel joint. I really wanted it to have a hinged joint. The hands also don't hold the weapons very well. You will need to hold the hands closed to force it to grip anything. The legs are double-jointed and his thighs have the weird cut swivel just below the ball-joint. The loincloth and mold of the leg straps is good. The whole body paint is beautifully weathered. The only other paint job that is on the same level of awesome-ness as Hulk is modern Thor.

Overall this Hulk is awesome. This is the biggest bang for your buck Marvel Universe figure. I hope the Skaar figure coming out will be just as good. *crosses fingers*

Pros:

Sculpt

Paint

Accessories

Cons:

Hand articulation

Arm articulation can't do the classic thunderclap

I got Hulkbuster Iron Man during the holiday season too, but he's not worth a full review. He's okay. I think he really needed articulating fingers. His left hand is open for a blasting look, and his right hand is a fist.

Hulk is a larger figure and only needs to pass one pose test, and that is the thunderclap pose. Unfortunately, it fails.

Hulk's hands aren't even close.

Star Wars Vintage: General Grievous

2011-01-17T17:55:00.000-08:00

Star Wars Vintage: General Grievous is, like previously stated, the current best Star Wars figure to ever be released. It's sculpt and articulation is amazing. It also comes with the amazing cloth cape. Finally, I can use something other than the Jedi/Sith robes on other figures. He comes with a blaster, two unlit light sabers, and two lit sabers.

First, lets compare it to my first Grievous. It's a little taller and the paint job is much more better looking. My old Grievous has a gimmick action when you press down on its head, his arms would swing. It also has holes in the bottom of his feet for use with a figure stand. Good because it only looks good standing up.

Let's get on with the review. Starting up top, the head is limited in movement to side to side motions. The travel for up and down is like one centimeter, probably a little less. Ever since Iron Man: Extremis, I just wish Hasbro would use that neck joint for most (if not all) of their figures.

Coming down to the body, the shoulders are ball-jointed. The arms are halved and can be moved independently from the shoulder. There is a shoulder-guard piece on the joint that restricts it from moving back all the way. A minor inconvenience in terms of live looking poses. At the double elbows are two smaller ball-joints with full 360 swivel movement on the pegs connected to the ball. There is one final peg swivel joint at the wrist. This little bit can slip off easily when posing. I wish this bit also had a hand swivel. The hands hold the light sabers and blaster okay. The hands need to be bent closed sometimes to get the proper grip strength. The waist has a ball-joint with adequate movement.

Moving to the legs, the hips are peg swivels. Typical Star Wars. The knee is ball-joiiii....wait...is that....double-jointed knees?! What sorcery is this?! Double-jointed knees on a Star Wars figure?! Wow...

And finally, the feet are ball-jointed, but lack holes for a figure stand. The leg above the knee is molded in soft plastic. This kind of helps with the lack a hip ball-joints to make poses look better. The legs can be softly bent to look good, but this figure has no balance. I was tempted to break out the Play Arts Kai stand, but I managed to find balance for all but one of the poses pictured.

Last thing to cover, the cape. God this cape is awesome. It's not made from a dress cloth thankfully. The pattern on the cape is nice, but on the inside is the most awesome detail. They have sewn four little pockets on each side of the cape to hold unlit light sabers. To complete the epic package, the cape is removable! It's not stuck to the figure in any way so I can use this on any other figure in the same scale!!!!

It's not the perfect Star Wars figure, but it's by far the closest one.

Pros:

Cape

Arm articulation

Knee and feet articulation

Can be posed in many different ways and look good

Cons:

Head movement

No hip ball-joints

Has bad balance and can't use a regular stand

No wrist joints

Here it passes the Orton pose test and simultaneously fails the Masataka pose test. (Fails because wrist can't be positioned right.)

This is my new testing pose, the CM Punk pose. Grievous fails. (Because of the wrists and head.) Revoltech Revy shows what a pass looks like.

Top Five Figures of 2010!

2011-01-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

I have some time off coming up, and I plan on doing reviews for all the figures I've snagged during the holiday season. Until then, I'll just do a quick top 5 of 2010.

The only criteria for this list: be released in 2010 and bought in 2010.

Number Five: Toynami's Bender

This is a re-release, but it was re-released in 2010 and I did buy it. The awesome eye options and good "bending" articulation made this the best figure, from an American animation, I've ever seen. Every Simpsons and Family Guy figure I've come across never quite got the transition from 2d to 3d just right. Something about it usually off, but here with this figure, they really captured the essence of the great Bender Bending Rodríguez.

Number Four: Marvel Universe's World War Hulk

This figure is one of the figures I picked up during the holidays and will be getting a proper review in the future. This is the first ever proper Hulk figure. The Legends' version of King Hulk and Planet Hulk were lacking the key details that this figure got perfectly. Compared to the first Marvel Universe Hulk figure, this is a fucking masterpiece.

Number Three: Star Wars Vintage's General Grievous

Another figure that will be getting a proper review later. He has no balance on his own, and he has no figure stand holes in his feet. As you can see in the picture, I'm currently using Lightning's stand to pose him. This figure got here for the ingenuity of the arm articulation. Both his arms can split into two while keeping the same wide range of movement whether together or separate. Coupled with the surprisingly magnificent cloth cape, this right here is the Star Wars figure of the decade! Does it have ball-jointed legs? Nope. Is it still awesome? Hell yes.

Number two: Hasbro's Marvel Legends Deadpool

Released just in time to make this list. Upsized from the Wolverine movie release, they made him keep the horrible looking red dot and silver straps harness. I believe I saw a guide on how to make a better one on /toy/. I'll have to find that one of these days. Other than the harness, this figure is fucking fantastic. His articulation is awesome. It has a shoulder blade joint that swivels back and forward. The last time I saw that was in a Gundam Wing model! His head has great up and down travel. The rest is pretty much on par for a Legends figure. The one thing I wish it, and many other figures, had is a double cut wrist joint. The shoulder blade joint is an okay substitute for a double cut shoulder joint, but a simple wrist swivel is only good for face palming.

Number one: Play Arts Kai's Lightning!!!! Take a bow girl!

So despite having one of the ugliest sculpts of hair on a figure, she still takes the top spot for being able to pull off poses like that and keep her balance. And without the help of a stand no-less! This figure does have a full review already. I do have a mini-update. You can't see it in the picture, but the paint is beginning to crack at the bottom of her jacket. One of the downsides of being rubber I guess. All her joints still feel very stiff, and it's still an epic figure overall.

Honorable mentions worth noting:

Marvel Universe Galactus - While epic is size, the skirt kills it (and its articulation).
Big Sister - Unlike the Big Daddy, it was articulating spectacularly. The Little Sister figure it comes with is very awesome too. It narrowly missed the top five.
Slave 1 - If only it were the right (Empire Strikes Back) colors. It would've made the list even though it's a vehicle.
Vintage Boba Fett - While only behind Grievous as best Star Wars figure, Hasbro needs to upgrade the Star Wars line to get on par with Marvel and Joe figures.
Revoltech Woody - Released in 2010, but I haven't bought it yet. This creep-tacular figure would probably have made the list had I bought it. I do plan on getting it sometime this year. Along with...
Figuarts Luffy - My first Figuarts figure still alludes me, and this is one I will be getting this year.

Devourer of Worlds review!

2010-09-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

Before the Galactus review, I also got Juggernaut and Mystique to review.

Juggernaut and Mystique. $7.49 each. I liked the sculpt of Juggs and picked him up because of it. I was disappointed that the helmet isn't removable. His bulkiness inhibits the articulation of his arms a lot. His hands can't reach his face or the other hands. His legs are surprisingly articulated. He doesn't come with any accessories, which is fine.

Mystique is a typical female figure. She comes with a rifle. There is one interesting thing about the paint job. It looks like the figure was painted all blue for the base and the white parts painted on top of that. The white paint wasn't applied as well and it makes the blue show through. Particularly, her top looks like it's see through. Not that I'm complaining. It's quite funny. Mystique is my second favorite female figure behind modern Ms. Marvel.

Now for the main event.

Galactus. $49.99. He comes with Silver Surfer. This will be my second Galactus figure and first Silver Surfer. First Galactus was a Marvel Masterworks diorama. Easily the tallest figure I now own. Previously held by the Marvel Icons and 1/60 Freedom Gundam. He has a button on his chest you can press and he'll say a couple of phrases. The sculpt is really nice. There are two blemishes. On the back of the upper arms, there are visible tears from the molding process.

The chest piece and the skirt are rubber. The chest piece is fine, it doesn't hinder any arm articulation.

The skirt, however, prevents him from doing anything but stand straight. His head has excellent up and down travel. His hands are a great let down. For a figure this size, articulated hands is a must. I can't believe his hands are this lame. If he can't look like he's about to crush someone, why have an action figure this size at all! Icon figures are only a third less bigger, but their articulation blows Galactus's out of the water. It's nice to have a somewhat pose-able Galactus, but his flaws pretty much take away from the coolness of the figure. The electronics are mediocre. The light are orange and are not bright enough to look good. They should have just made it so it would light up the blue crystal they already have in the head instead of the orange. I would have loved it if they had some kind of attachable stand to have Silver Surfer flying around Galactus. I don't have the Legends build a figure Galactus, so I can't compare anything but looks. I like the Marvel Universe sculpt way more, but there is still so much to be desired.

Last pic will be size comparison. Galactus stands with Marvel Icons Venom, Play Arts Kai Snake, Marvel Legends (Ultimate) Nick Fury, and Marvel Universe Juggernaut and Mystique.

Slave I review!

2010-08-30T17:30:00.000-07:00

The Rise of Boba Fett Ultimate Battle Packs. $109.99. Five figures: Anakin, Mace, R8-B7, Boba, and Bossk. Last three are exclusive to this set. Two starships: Mace's Jedi Starfighter and the motherfucking Slave 1! I don't give a crap about the starfighter or the figures. I dislike the Clone Wars style figures. The droid is pretty nice though. It has a ton of gimmicks.

Slave 1. I've been waiting for a re-release of this vehicle for many years. This is, however, a great improvement over the Kenner version. It doesn't have the colors of the Empire Strikes Back ship, but it will do. Plus, this thing is huge! Look at Boba standing next to it!

First, let's look at the cockpit. Now the front seat here is designed for the young Boba Fett figure in this pack. There were no instructions on this, but you are able to take the "seats" out and use the rear ones in the front.

Now this is ready for the real Boba Fett to pilot. (Or whatever full size 3.75 figure you choose.)

So this Slave 1 has a compartment that opens up here and you can pose figures in a variety of positions. They put a couple of foot pegs to stick figures on. You can also see the holding cell from here.

There is a neat little ramp you can pull out.

Here the holding compartment is pulled down and the holding cell is out. It may not be able to hold a carbonite Han, but it's still an awesome little thing.

On the back/bottom of the ship there are two ship bombs. Another nice little addition. Also worth noting, the little canons on the bottom/back can shoot projectiles.

Now, there is one little flaw that I really can't overlook. The cockpit opening does not snap shut very well. So the cockpit will fall open when in use.

This is still by far the greatest Slave 1 release so far. If another Slave 1 with ESB colors is released, I unfortunately will still get it.

Another Combo Review

2010-08-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Super combo review. Sneaking suit Naked Snake, Fry, Bender, and "Vintage" Boba Fett.

The Big Boss came in from Kid Nemo. He comes with fist hands, handgun hands, two pistols, one silencer cap, and a shield. I wish it came with one more set of hands that are just open. The handgun hand is terrible when using it with no gun in it. His sculpt is one of the most awesome ones I have ever seen on an articulated toy. His actual articulation leaves a lot to be desired though. Let's compare to my other Play Arts Kai figure, Lightning.

Snake's face is leaps and bounds better than Lightning's. Snake's sculpt is highly detailed, but is also quite bulky. Something I was worried about when I picked and looked at Chris Redfield back at AX. He had a similar build to Snake, and when I saw him up close, he was incredibly bulky. Now that I have him, his sculpt does indeed hinder his articulation quite a bit.

His joint at the shoulder is very limited. Lightning can bend her arm back further than Snake's. This one thing prevents a lot of poses from looking right. I really can't stress how much this sucks.

His legs are on par with Lightning's. That is the only other good thing about him aside from his good looks. If you don't have the money for a Medicom Snake, this is an okay substitute. I would avoid it otherwise.

Boba Fett with a "Vintage" card. Who cares? This is a terrible scalpers product. This is actually an awesome figure, but the "Vintage" card makes it "collectible" and scalpers will sweep these up. Forcing people like me to pay more. Thankfully, I work at a toy store. Suck it scalpers.

This is my fourth Boba Fett. I thought my second one (an old Legends) had articulation. I found out I was wrong when I finally opened it up after forgetting about it for a couple years. So I probably should have bought the Evolutions pack with Boba, Mandalore, and Jango so I wouldn't have had to beat scalpers to buy this. My first was a Kenner, and my third Boba Fett was the Mcquarrie version.

This Fett has a helmet and a jet pack that comes off. He has a small cloth cape. He comes with two blasters. All of these are awesome things. His actual face is nicely detailed, but I don't really care for it. It's a typical modern Star Wars figure in the articulation department. His head is on a ball joint, so he has great movement. No ab swivel though. Great figure. Hope anyone who wants it, can pick it up themselves in store.

Fry and Bender. Normally I skip these cartoon figures because they normally don't have articulation. I saw that Fry had joints, and I naturally assumed Bender's arms and legs could bend into poses. I ended up buying both.

Fry comes with a holophonor, ray gun, Slurm can, and a tin of anchovies. His articulation is terrible. His shoulder, waist, and head are cut joints. His elbows and knees are pin joints. Very limited movement. Increased a bit with cut joints above both of the pin joints. Still, it's better than just a statue of a cartoon figure. I wish Fry came with interchangeable eyes like Bender.

Bender comes with a pile of cash and coins, can of robot oil, bottle of booze, and three sets of eyes. This is one of those characters that I thought wouldn't transfer well to a figure. They managed to do it here. The interchangeable eyes are fantastic. They should of had one more set that was just normal. The arms and legs are bendable, but are still very stiff. The fact that you can actually open up his chest is awesome. The only bad thing about this figure is the fingers. It's hard to have him hold anything well. This is still a very good toy.

I hope to see Leela, Zap, and Zoidberg soon.

Next review should hopefully be Sylvanas and maybe Thrall.

Re-release Darth Vader and....old Batman review

2010-08-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader. This is actually the first Vader I have ever bought. Personally, I don't care for him. More so after the train wreck of the prequels. I needed him for something I'm working on.

I liked the idea of a removable helmet, but there are two problems. It doesn't really snap into place. It just a pressure hold and I think that is very flimsy. It doesn't fall off with a light shake, but it does pop off if I try to twist the head. Which brings me to the other problem I have, the head can only twist to the left and right. There is no up-down movement. Another thing I'm disappointed about is that there is no ab swivel. The Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker really spoiled me for Jedi articulation. I know his chest piece was the likely culprit as the reason it wasn't done, but I still think it could be engineered to work. The cut swivel legs are still there. This is the one thing I can't believe Hasbro is still using. I just don't understand why they can't upgrade it to G.I. Joe leg standards. I don't need double jointed knees and elbows. Just give me ball-jointed legs!

Vader comes with his red lightsaber, display stand, dice, card, and random blasters. Another thing I don't understand, why the blasters. Stop making these and use that money for better leg joints!!!! The dice and card are for the "game" they made so they could justify re-releasing figures like this one.

One last thing I didn't like about Vader. His cape is see-through. This makes the figure look like he's wearing a dress. If his cape was made out of the same cloth as the magnificent Batman figure here, it would be badass. The use of the cloth on Vader is spectacular, if only it were made of a different material.

So while I've got this Batman here, I'll share some thoughts. There are two figures that I find that stand far above the rest. The first one, a Revy Revoltech. Its double cut shoulder and wrist joints allows it to do some of the most epic poses that have not been seen since in any other line. Figma almost had it. Play Arts Kai almost has it. McFarlane probably had it back in the day, but it certainly doesn't have it now.(Don't care for Halo, so no go there.) Note: I still have yet to experience a Figuarts figure. The other figure is this Batman.

It was a Toys R Us exclusive two pack with Robin. I bought the variant where Robin had a blue costume. Robin was not amazing. This Batman, however, blew my mind because of its cape and sculpt. The articulation on this figure is actually about the same as a "good" Star Wars figure. It has an ab swivel joint, and it has the stupid leg cut joint. The sculpt and colors on this Batman ooze awesome. I've seen a lot of Batman figures, but almost none of them feel like it jumped off the pages of a comic book like this one. At the base of the cowl, there's a rubber piece. Under that, is a big cloth cape. It's the most epic cape I've ever seen. Caped figures I've encountered thus far were almost always rubber. This always limited how the figure looked in different poses and angles. With a cloth cape, it can look more alive. With one this big, it's simply epic in nature. I only own two other Batmans. Batman Beyond from the DC Classics line, and a 10" Batman from the Justice League cartoon. Other Batmans I'm looking to acquire at some point: Red Son Batman and Ame-comi Batman. Red Son Batman is the only other figure that looks like it jumped from the pages of a comic. Ame-comi Batman just looks awesome.

Batgirl IV!!!!!!

2010-08-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

I pre-ordered this as soon as it was announced. I love Batgirl and all who have taken this mantle (in continuity). It came in last week from Things From Another World.

Batgirl IV, Stephanie Brown. Paint job is slightly botched in some areas. Her eyes look like they missed the center. Her belt is a separate piece. She comes with a bright yellow batarang, a baton, and a small circle display stand. It should have come with a full display stand. I really hate small circle stands. The cape is nice. I like how it starts from the chest symbol and goes over the shoulders.

Poor Tim. Dwarfed by Steph. XD

My Batgirls. I'm still struggling with whether or not I should buy the Ame-comi Cassandra Cain statue. It would be an awesome addition, but I don't know if I want to spend $40+ getting it. Also...

Attention DC Direct: When are you going to make another Oracle figure damn it?!

Two Marvel Universe and One Transformer review

2010-08-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

Bought Rodimus today, and Mary Jane and Luke last week.

Mary Jane Watson. Wife of Peter Parker. What's that? One More Day? Never happened... Anyways, I always liked MJ and I actually didn't remember she was going to get MU treatment. I wanted it just to own it. The figure itself is pretty plain. The head sculpt is pretty. The shirt design is meh. She comes with a little puppy. Meh. Female MU figures I'm still waiting on: Emma Frost and (Young Avengers) Hawkeye.

Luke Cage, he's been shelf warming the pegs for a while. Picked him up because of a 2 for $9.99 sale we had. He comes with a beanie, bling necklace, and a contorted I-beam. His head sculpt has sunglasses. That really should have been another accessory instead. The I-beam is a lame accessory. The bling necklace is also pretty tacky, but at least it looks funny. The I-beam is just lame. I don't like the jean paint job. It just looks off.

Rodimus Minor. My third Animated Transformer figure. I bought him because I liked his vehicle mode.

Hot Rod looking good in vehicle mode. The bow ruins the look, so I prefer to leave it off. There is one thing about the vehicle mode that sucks.

There's a gaping hole on the backside. It should have been covered here. I still like his vehicle mode way more than his robot mode.

Robot mode isn't too bad. The head sculpt looks good, but the chest is too big. Articulation is about average. His head has great flexibility. The molding of his arm limits his hands. He would have awesome wrist articulation if the arms were molded differently. He's still better than Blitzwing, but he can't top the queen of Animated.

5 Gundam Review

2010-07-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

From Gundam00, Kyrios and Arios 1/100. Arios is the Designer Color version.

I've always been partial towards the "transformers" in Gundam. In ship form, I love Arios way more than Kyrios. Arios in ship form looks right, and is very firm. Kyrios isn't as streamlined and is flimsy.

In robot mode, things are quite the opposite. It's here where Arios is too bulky and has too much excessive mass. Kyrios on the other hand looks quite normal. His articulation is typical of Gundams. His hands pop out of the sockets way too easily though. Other than than little annoyance, I like Kyrios robot mode way more.

Also from Gundam00, Dynames 1/100.

In Gundam Seed, I grew to love the extra-long canon wielding Buster Gundam. I pretty much instantly loved this long range sniper Gundam in 00. His shielding looks lame, so I only keep the two smaller panels of it on. His thrusters make his backside look bulky. I like the beam handles being recessed into the thrusters though. Dynames overall is pretty good.

From Gundam Wing, Wing Zero Custom 1/100 Master Grade. Pearl Gloss version.

I've bought a Wing Zero Custom 1/144 as part of my first couple of Gundams. A 1/60 Perfect Grade is too big for my liking, so I wanted a Master Grade. This Master Grade is the first time I ever saw one, and even though the white parts all look like "lotion," I had to have it.

This is the second Master Grade I've built. Destiny from Gundam Seed Destiny was the first. Even though this was a Master Grade kit, I was expecting the build to be loose and finicky as the other Gundam Wing models I've built before. It didn't disappoint. I broke a small piece that was supposed to be on the head. His arms were also so loose, that it couldn't hold the rifles in any of his iconic positions. The smaller wing pieces pop off quite easily when I try to reposition them. The rubber feathers also pop off easily.

Despite all it's flaws, it's still quite awesome. Like many others, I just love it's wings. Both the big and small wings can spread out and look amazing.

From the Gundam Seed series, Strike E with I.W.S.P. 1/100 Master Grade. Lukas O'Donnell colors.

The best for last. The best looking and most fun accessories because of the I.W.S.P. I did break a piece off of one of the guns on the I.W.S.P. Other than that blip, it was a solid build. Like Destiny, it has some cool moving parts on the legs. After doing only panel lines, stickers, and decals, it is the best looking Gundam out of all the ones I've built. The I.W.S.P. is the best looking weapons pack of any Gundam. It can only be posed with the I.W.S.P. on a stand because it makes it back heavy. With it off, it's firm and can hold some nice positions.

I'd highly recommend this Gundam.

Anime Expo 2010

2010-07-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

I got back from Anime Expo last night. I feel reintegrated with the normal home feeling now. So now for some Anime Expo 2010 thoughts.

Some good things this year:

Nokia Theatre was back.
Tickets for main events had a booth that was available on Days 0-3. You could pick up all the tickets at once.
This year had a ton of Guests of Honor.
Yui Horie had a very entertaining video message for Closing Ceremonies. She spoofed Terminator, putting on sunglasses and fading the video with a red glow in her eye.
Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at one of the concerts.
I never had to wait in line to get into the Exhibit Hall.
Free Magic the Gathering mini-deck inside attendee bags.

Having the Nokia Theatre meant seats were awesome no matter where you were seated, and no waiting in long lines to get into a Main Event. Letting people get tickets all at once meant no waiting in long lines to pick up tickets. Aside from Opening Ceremonies, they were assigned seating.

Some bad things this year:

Opening ceremonies and the AMV contest were the only Main Events to be free of charge. All the concerts and Masquerade cost $20 to guarantee a seat!
Yoko Kanno made a surprise appearance at a concert I did not go to!
Yui Horie's panel was too short because they showed an episode of ToraDora!
No Wizards of the Coast booth.
Less exhibitors in the exhibit hall.

With having a free MtG deck in the attendee bag, I thought Wizards of the Coast would at least have a booth in the exhibit hall. There was a noticeable drop in attending exhibitors in the hall. It was definitely smaller, and yet attendance only got higher. I overheard exhibitors complaining about the cost of their booths, and I hope next year AX lowers their fee. I need more options to buy stuff!!!!!

This is the first year in which the Masquerade and concerts were paid only tickets. Before, if you had a badge and were willing to wait in line, you could get these tickets with out paying anything. I wasn't planning on going to any of the concerts or Masquerade when I read that they were charging for these tickets. Then they ended up passing out free tickets right when the events began. I ended up going to the Mell concert and got into Masquerade for free. I can see why they decided to do this. It will basically get AX the most money from people who need to get that guaranteed seat. I think it's wrong to have charges on these tickets, but if they continue to do pass out whatever is left over at the start of the events for free, then it might not be so bad.

My friends went to the concert where Yoko Kanno showed up. I did not. Had I known she would be there, I would have bought a ticket when they were first available. I cannot believe AX would not advertise that Yoko Kanno would be at a concert this year!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!

Yui Horie is my favorite voice actress/singer in all of anime. I went to the panel expecting to have a lot of fun, but before it began they wasted time showing the first episode of ToraDora! Why the fuck would they waste precious Q & A time with that?! There was a whole US premiere event for it already!! Why did you take time away from Yui Horie to interact with her fans?! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The good was, in the little time she did have at her panel, she was cute and entertaining. Her closing ceremony video message really showed how much fun that could of been had with her having a whole hour for her panel. I really hope she comes back next year.

The Loot:

$48 Gundam Wing Zero Endless Waltz - Master Grade (pearl gloss wings)
$28 Gundam00 Arios - 1/100
$20 Gundam00 Kyrios - 1/100
$24 Gundam00 Dynames - 1/100
$54 Gundam Seed Lukas's Strike + I.W.S.P - Master Grade
$20 Yuffie - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$20 Tifa - Playarts Final Fantasy VII version
$35 Emiya Shirou - Figma
$27 Tonfas - red oak
$30? 2 Final Fantasy XII H-doujins featuring Ashe
$10 MtG random box
$10 Gurren Lagann Drill necklace
$40 Zelda and Link fanart
FREE Lightning fanart

I was able to walk away from the charity auction without buying anything!

Pricing reference:

PoP Mihawk - $75
PoP Shanks - $60
Figma Lelouch - $100
Revoltech Yoko - $40
Trafalgar Law - $30 (6" Box figure)
Revoltech Rin - $10
Revoltech Prof. Layton - $40

Misc:

1 Pizza
4 Cup of Noodles
4 Denny's entrees
1 Curry House plate

The A-Team!

2010-05-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

A-Team figures and vehicle by Jazwares. Cost: Figures - $5.99 each Vehicle - $24.99

I first heard about these on /toy/. I also heard that they had been sighted at Target on /toy/. These are toys I've been waiting to own for twenty years. Albeit they are not of the original cast, they are a fine substitute.

Here, the A-Team figures are flanked by a Marvel Universe Hydra soldier and a Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker. The figures are okay. They are simple things with simple paint apps. Nothing extraordinary about them. With the exception of Hannibal with his silver machine gun, they all have the exact same handgun and machine gun pieces. Articulation is mostly typical of this size. The feet are connected by a ballpeg and it only swivels horizontally. The legs are attached by ball and socket. It gives it more freedom than a regular Star Wars figure, but not as much as a Marvel Universe figure due to the way its molded. The upper body articulation is about the same as a Star Wars figure. Out of the four, Face is my favorite one. The suit just looks good. I might have to get another so I can put Hannibal's head on it.

The first thing I noticed about this toy was the sliding door. It simply looks like shit. I pretty much knew I wasn't going to be pleased with this.

After taking it out of the box, my fears were confirmed. The door is crap.

They even have a sticker on there explaining how shitty the door is. The back doors hide the sound electronics and don't open. I really wanted to be able to use the back doors. They really should have forgo the sounds and put more into the engineering of the door(s). The two front doors are fine. They open wide enough to fit the figures in. The figures fit fine inside the van.

The front of the van has a rubber bumper which is warped to hell. Why the fuck wasn't this made plastic?

The red stripe is poorly painted around the van.

Overall, this is a terrible A-Team van toy. The figures are simply alright.

Beggars can't be choosers, so this is all I can have until they decide to make new toys out of the original TV series. And if that happens, maybe I can get a proper A-Team van toy then.

Marvel Universe: Iron Man (Extremis)

2010-04-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Iron Man (Extremis version) 3.75" Marvel Universe by Hasbro. Cost: $7.99. Hyped by Internet and had to buy. First Iron Man in 3.75" scale. Third Iron Man figure over all.

Browsing /toy/, I came to read that Extremis Iron Man had a head joint that could look all way up. For that alone, I decided to pick him up after passing him the first time thinking it was just another Iron Man. The paint job on this figure is pretty vibrant. The joints are annoyingly loose though.

Marvel Legends Icon Iron Man was my first Iron Man figure, and the first pose I put him in was him charging a kamehameha wave up. I added the blast pieces after a moment of laughing and continued after. So it is appropriate that I put this Iron Man to the same test. The 6" Movie figure failed horribly. The 3.75" passes, but just barely. It fails the other pose tests though. The shoulder guards are molded on and restrict it from a proper Randy Orton pose. The lack of a good wrist joint makes it impossible for a good Masataka pose. It does however pass an important pose that was the reason I bought it.

This head joint is awesome. The third figure I own without hair, this figure could look up if it wanted. It is the only one who can though. War Machine and Deadpool's heads don't have this head joint. I hope future figures will use this head joint wherever possible.

This Iron Man comes with a blast piece that is embarrassingly bad. Ms. Marvel showed me that blast pieces could be properly made and attached without it looking stupid. I would think they would have continued that excellence here. Sadly, it's just stupidly clipped on and looks all kinds of wrong.

Seriously, what the fuck were they thinking when they made this piece?! I really wish they had done what Toy Biz did with their Legends Icon figure and just put small blast pieces with pegs. Then at least, they could use it as a repulsor blast on either the hands or feet.

Ignoring the idiotic accessory, this Iron Man figure is still pretty nice to look at and is a little more posable. I like it.

Marvel Universe: Black Widow and Thor

2010-03-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Black Widow and Thor 3.75 Marvel Universe 2010 Series 2 by Hasbro. Cost: $7.99 each. Impulse buy. First Black Widow figure I've bought. First Thor figure I've bought.

The new series finally came into the store today. I decided on these two to add to my collection. I passed on Luke Cage. I may or may not get Bucky if he's still on the shelf next week. The last Marvel Universe figures I bought were Ms. Marvels. They didn't come with stands, so it was very nice to see these included. These stands have TWO pegs!!!! These figures are meant to be in a standing position, and I'm glad to see that they have done this for these stands. The last 3.75 figure I bought was comic War Machine, and it was the first 3.75 Marvel figure I bought that came with a stand. The stand that came with it was disappointing. It had only one peg and had a lame card gimmick.

Black Widow comes a gun that fits her trigger hand poorly. So poorly, I have her holding it in her left hand by the handle on top instead. Her belt is a loose piece hanging on her hips. I have no clue why they did this. It doesn't look any better than if they had just molded it on and painted it. Her face sculpt isn't incredibly sexy, and yet it's not ugly either. Overall, she's an average figure.

Thor on the other hand is a magnificent figure to behold. He comes with Mjöllnir which is easily held. His sculpt from helmet to boots is beautifully detailed. From the 3.75 line of toys, this is easily the most satisfying one that I own. Overall, Thor is an epic figure. I can only hope that Emma Frost, Mach IV, or Songbird get made as well as Thor has been.

FFXIII Play Arts Lightning

2010-03-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Lightning figure from Play Arts. Cost: $39.99. Impulse buy. Third Play Arts figure I've bought.

Upon unboxing Lightning, I noticed a fancy looking stand. It looked like an over sized Figma stand at first glance. Instead of a nut and screw, like on the Figma stands, Play Arts decided to use a plastic push-pressure thing. It feels pretty flimsy and is no where near firm enough. Play Arts' stand continues to use a clamp, instead of the much better joint into the back, to hold the figure.

Lightning comes with a folded sword that fits into her sheath, a folded out sword, and two open positioned hands to interchange with the closed fists that are already attached to her. Both swords have a tiny hole to attach to her right open hand. The left open hand does not have a joint for the swords to be attached. Lame. The folded sword has bits that can fold out for a gun look. These bits are rubbery and also feel very flimsy. I felt I was close to breaking it as I fiddled with it.

As for the figure itself, it's huge. Not Marvel Icon's huge, but still pretty damn big. Most of her clothes are rubber molds, which are very nice. Another nice touch, her cape has a joint. Articulation is almost typical Play Arts. There are two extra things Lightning has that my Play Arts Yuffie does not have. One, her knees are double jointed and they are awesomely poseable and still stiff. The other thing is her waist is also double jointed, and thus way more flexible. Lightning passes the "Randy Orton pose" test, but she fails the "Masataka pose" test. Only just barely though because of not having good wrist joint.

I think they failed to capture her hair. It's too pink and the hair looks awful. I would've liked it a lot if there were more hand choices. Interchangeable faces would've also been very nice.

Overall, it's still a nice figure. Her poses look lively, apart from her emotionless face. I like it.