xenom0rph - movie collectibles and more xenomorph stuff

Hot Toys Iron Man Mark III / IV / VI color fading and how to fix it (tutorial)

2012-02-23T23:11:00.002+01:00

Today I've got a little How-to-fix / tutorial for a special issue on some of the Iron Man figures by Hot Toys:

Some of you may be aware of the problem on the Hot Toys Iron Man Mark III, IV and VI figures: The panties of the figure are made of a rubbery plastic and the deep red color will fade away in time. This process definately has to do with the light and air exposure since I had my Mark VI always out in the open (detolf). Some people say theirs are without problems although having diplayed the figure at daylight - so maybe the issue is not on every figure present and its only happening with invidiual figures.

As for my case: after about a half year of owning the figure I already experience the fading issue on the panties and they went from a dep ferrari red to a shallow red color.

The issue is discussed widely in the following sideshowcollectors.com forums thread:
1/6 Hot Toys Iron Man Fade Issue Thread

- in there was a solution posted by a member and I was informed on the matter because a youtube friend that saw the faded panties on my Mark VI in the Mark II review. Creditgs also go to sideshowfreaks forums member mywii who came up with the original idea of this color mod / fix.

Since there's no actual tutorial video on the internet I decided to give it a shot and will guide you through the process - see for yourself:

You have to seperate the figure to get the panties down ;-) - mine were slightly glued at one spot , just pull it! Also with the legs - just rotate and pull them. Don't hesitate - in this step you can't do anything wrong.
Find a thinner or a nail varnish remover from your mother or girlfriend. Also you will need a cloth.
Start rubbing on the inside of the panties. You'll see the silverish color layer which you can just rub off in seconds. If you rub more you will see the dark red plastic of the panties. So for some reason hot toys decided to give 2 layers of paint on this part of the figure when its actually a red plastic underneath.
Continue on the outside if you're sure that your tools (thinner and cloth) will do the job. Rub with quite some pressure to get away all the color on the outside - first the outer layer which is red, and the second layer which is silverish.
After rubbing the whole color off you will have the plain but deep red plastic left - and if not overdone it you will also still have the black lines between the "armor plating". If you don't see the black lines anymore you can use a fine water-proof pen to redraw those lines. I didn't had to do this since my thinner / nail varnish remover wasn't that aggressive it seems
Take some clear coat of Tamiya or a clear nail polish coat and apply it on the outside. Personally I used a spray gloss - you can definately use a little brush and liquid coat also. Let it dry and you have the shiny look of the armor back
Cheer and enjoy your renewed and unfaded colors on your Mark III, Mark IV or Mark VI.

Hot Toys Nick Fury 1/6th scale Preview

2012-02-20T22:26:00.002+01:00

Hot Toys released final sculpt photos of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in the Avengers. Sideshow put it up today for preorder for an IMO expensive USD 189.99, see: Nick Fury at Sideshow

Not sure yet guys about this one. The whole head just looks to round if you ask me. Tailoring looks definately cool though, accessories are okay (suitcase, some weapons). No day one buy for me - let's wait for in-hand pics in some months.

Hot Toys Iron Man Mark II / 2 in Detolf with table - photos

2012-02-16T21:55:00.002+01:00

I got some requests to show the Mark 2 / II on its additional table in a detolf.

As I have to say...not much spare left for other stuff. Not so cool IMO. But I hope it helps for other peops to decide.

Palisades Toys Alien Special Edition Pewter Mini-Bust

2012-02-16T11:13:00.001+01:00

Check out my video presentation of the 2004 Alien Special Edition mini-bust Pewter exclusive Mini-Bust (limited to 500 pieces in the US, offered via aislesniper.com) .

Some specs:

comes with a nice collectors box and 2 spare clear plastic domes
weighs 6 kg / 12 pounds (!)
retail price about 300 USD - value today unknown (rising)
500 pieces in the states, 250 in Japan
there was a painted version with a much higher limited number (5000)
aislesniper.com and palisades toys quit business some time after releasing this piece

How to support this site: donations & sideshow affiliate program

2012-02-15T16:06:00.000+01:00

Hi my dear blog readers and followers

On the following subject I want to very honest with you:

This site is run privately and at the moment I got no sponsorship going on. So all the stuff I get in and review is part of my own collection and paid by my own earned money. When I got into reviewing and started doing video and photo presentations of the collection there were some bigger asset costs to be made.

The invested money went into building this site and buying equipment for reviewing. The big part I invest is actually in taking my free time to get the things out to you, this is definately supported on just my true passion for this hobby.

In the long term I definately want to continue doing high quality posts and develop this site. So to cover some of the running costs of this project I thought why not do setup and intoduce you to the following means to help out:

Setting up a PayPal donation button:
With the following button I give you the option to do a donation to my site. Just a click and you get to a Paypal site where you'll send money to my e-mail address - it's safe & secure, a 100%.

There is of course no must at all - but any donation of anyone of you out there is much much appreciated. When I get the chance to do a little give-away the people who donated definately will be in the raffle. You'll find this donation button across all the site and in any blog post - so keep an eye out for it if you think that some content was worth your time and maybe a little donation.

Sideshow collectibles affiliate program
Spread across my blog you'll come across differenct product banners of Sideshow Collectibles. Sideshow has a great affiliate program going on. So if you click on these banners and end up buying something on Sideshow I'll get about 5& of commission on this deal when its completed.

So if there are any people out there who buy often on Sideshow Collectibles then you definately can support this site when doing it over my site

For example you could check out their upcoming offer on the new Real Steel 1/1 bust:

Thank you very much for your support and
continued interested in my work,

Andre

Horizon Stargate Horus Guard Model kit 1/5 scale

2012-02-14T13:08:00.000+01:00

Today I can present you something a bit older - the Horizont Stargate Horus Guard Model kit.
Please check out the following video presentation and continue for reading some more details:

To be exact this item is based upon the original Stargate movie release in 1994 - a definite Sci-Fi Classic in my opinion. The horus guards were the protectors of the Sun God Ra and fought Kurt Russel an its team until death. I really dig the animatronics and specials effects they used in the movie on the armor plating / helmets - quite iconic and something totally new. Bringing old mythology together with hi-tech devices is something that totally caught my attention.

The kit released by producer Horizon arrived in 1994 as well and remains until today as one of the greatest Stargate kits. In general the Stargate franchise was never that popular in terms of collectibles, which is a bit unfortunate (at least compared to other franchises like Alien and Predator). I always thought that the movie design was a perfect theme for making scaled replicas and other things for us movie buffs.

Also check out the next photos of other build ups - there was also a nice Anubis model kit of the same producer:

Build-up of both Kits by Louis Armour

You still can buy this kit on eBay - form time to time you will see the original Horizon kit. Or if you can't track it down there are lots of sellers who can offer recasts of the original kit, including painting and building services.

Edit on 15th of February 2012:
Just saw that I missed the Ra model kit by Horizon - have a look:

About myself and xenom0rph.com

2012-02-10T18:20:00.000+01:00

This site is up and running for some months now and I got in general very good feedback. Thanks to all you out there around the world who follow this blog. Much appreciated.

I decided to give you some background info on who I am and why I am doing this little project here. See for yourself on the new about webpage:

About myself and the project xenom0rph.com

Hot Toys Predators Classic Predator - photos

2012-02-09T22:07:00.001+01:00

Tried capturing some crispy shots of the HT Classic Pred - hope you enjoy.

Brother Production Inception Cobb - Photos

2012-02-09T20:47:00.001+01:00

Brother Production nailed the headsculpt if you ask me. Enjoy the photos.

Brother Production Inception Cobb Leo Di Caprio 1/6 figure video review

2012-02-08T01:55:00.002+01:00

No Hot Toys review today. Was impressived with the work of Brother Production on their Inception or "Exception" figure and sculpt of Leonardo di Caprio. So I decided to give it a try - no let down at all. Spread the word so we can see even better stuff by Brother production.

Enjoy the following vid review:

Hot Toys Mark II - photos in natural lighting

2012-02-04T14:06:00.001+01:00

Just some quick snapshots of the new Mark II armor unleashed - not much postprocessing here (brightened it up a bit).

Update:

Some new photos under a lightspot:

Hot Toys Classic Predator - unboxing and video review

2012-02-04T01:12:00.000+01:00

So I finally got my christmas 2011 present...2 monts of delay. I don't know the details, but what I know is that I preordered the figure in August 2011 at a HK eBay seller. Then months went by...sideshow got it first...all had their Christmas Predator...but not me. Was quite a bummer to see all the other people receiving theirs, but what can you do.

Check my vid for a unboxing and presentation of this awesome figure. His name says it....an instant Classic (Predator). :-)

Enjoy and have a good time 1/6 collectors and Predator fans.

Quick review in text.

The good:

Paint application is super realistic, spot on and very realistic
lots of cool accessories, like the holographic panel
the custom base is more than a throw in, very detailed, nicely painted
metal wristblades - oh yeah :-)
4 different face expressions: masked normal, damaged battledamaged, closed and open mandibles
high quality materials for clothing

The ugly:

not much here to say, may be the paint application of the forehead where the pain suddenly gets into a white / beige

Hot Toys Mark II Armor unleashed video review

2012-02-02T12:44:00.002+01:00

Hi guys, hope you're having a good time. Something completely fresh today. Check out my video review of the Hot Toys Mark II armor unleashed figure - sorry didn't go for the exclusive.

A must-have for any iron man collector!

Some sort of short review:

The positive:

A definite chrome-look as paint application, not greyish and also not silverish. Check out the video for seeing all the reföections on the body. Of course its no where as shiny as the movie counterpart, but it will stand out in your Iron Man collection for sure
Huge lot of parts and accessories, there's so much stuff to discover on this figure
Light up feature works like a charm and is real bright
Cool box - like it a lot more than the Iron man 2 Line, classy look
In my opinion still a very good Don Cheadle face sculpt, slightly different from the war machine one (at least on mine, see the video)

The negative:

definately the cardboard table - it's only a throw-in, nothing durable, but in the end Hot Toys did what they could in time, money and especially regarding to the limited box space

And for closing a more in depth look in moving frames:

Neca 22" Alien review and collection update

2012-01-26T11:37:00.000+01:00

Well guys...good and bad news. I got quite a good deal on the 22" Alien figure by Neca - read lots of good aspects in terms of movie accuracy and the sculpt. So I thought why not give it a shot. But see for yourself how this odyssey turned out for me:

So the whole joint / ankle quality problem was quite a let down, especially regarding the superb sculpt and size of the figure. Non the less a must have!

Hot Toys Classics - Terminator 2 T-800

2012-01-19T23:59:00.001+01:00

My first Hot Toys figure and still an awesome piece of 1/6 art. The Terminator 2 T-800. I was checking out Terminator 2 on Blu-ray out a that time and stumbled upon some Hot Toys prototype pictures on google image search - it was unbelievable. And it shortly after got soaked into collecting Hot Toys.

Still to this day this is the best 1/6 scale incarnation of the Terminator 2 Arnie. Discussions arised in the past weeks because of Enterbays 1/4 T2 scale figure - but if you ask me the Hot Toys one still is a very good match.

Macro videography Part 2

2012-01-19T08:34:00.001+01:00

Here's another example of super macro videography of some older Palisades collectibles (Alien an Predator lines). So please enjoy!

Macro lens testing on movie collectibles

2012-01-13T14:28:00.001+01:00

Hi guy, I hope you had a good start in 2012 and wish you all the best right away. Not so much going on at the moment. Lots of delays on collectibles!

Today the Hot Toys Mark I 2.0 was in depth announced - coming a long very nicely. Just wanted to share something new - I bough a universal macro lens of Raynox (DCR-250) for my Panasonic HDC-SD90. Decided to do some test shoots - maybe I will use this way of filming a bit more in the future.

It's unbelievable what you get out of the detail with this macro lens. The camera was standing about 4 inches away from the collectibles, then you turn on the telemacro zoom and enjoy the world of macro photography!

Detolf and Dioder LED strips

2011-12-23T20:05:00.002+01:00

Just got my first christmas present this year - another detolf to put the collection in. And the best - my girlfriend got it for me. Didn't expect that! *cheers*

In addition I got the Dioder LED stripes and mounted them in the glass cabinet. I had no lightning in the first detolf, so I was curious if this product for about 40 USD will be worth aynthing.

You get 4 LED stripes that you can put on each level of the detolf. The three on each level you have to fit under the glass shelves and tilt them downwards a bit.

The fourth you put on the ceiling diagonally. The cable management can be a bit of a pain but with some scotch tape you can fit them along the metal rods.

The four cables plugin to the power converter outside of the detolf, where you fit the converter with some more tape on the upper or backside. In the best case you have something on your cabinet that hides the little converter. In my case I got the huge and heavy Queen facehugger by Sideshow collectibles.

Then you run the rest of the convertable to your power plug along the outer side.

DONE and it looks awesome. Even from far away.

Promotheus Trailer Premiere

2011-12-23T00:28:00.001+01:00

Finally it's here - the official Promotheus Trailer. Check it out on iTunes:

Link to Promotheus Trailer

Seems we got the Space Jockeys in there. Can't wait - Ridley Scott bring it on.

Update on xenom0rph.com sale - still stuff available

2011-12-20T16:43:00.000+01:00

Hi guys,

Wishing you all to best for christmas folks! Happy holidays.

No reviews or presentations coming up - it's a bit calm at the moment (but be sure to watch my youtube channel for recent video updates: xenom0rph youtube channel ). Just wanted to give you an update on the sale I posted recently. Just checked on the image what is sold - the rest is still available, see the list below the image. Just get in contact if you need anything.

Still available are:

Predator 2 Mini-Bust - Video
Predator 2 Micro-Bust and stealth Variant - Video
Custom Painted Palisades Elder Predator Mini-Bust - Video
Aliens Mini-Bust -
Alien Queen Mini-Bust - Video
Alien Queen Micro-Bust - Video
Alien S.E. Aislesniper Pewter exclusive Mini-Bust, est. 350 USD
Alien Chestburster
Predator statue (lock in with alien statue)
AvP Scar Predator statue (no wristblades)
AvP Grid Alien statue
Fewture Alien Newborn statue - Video
Movie Maniacs Army of Darkness Ash, unopened on card
Terminator 3 T-800 figure / statue

Alien Enterprises AvP Genocide Model Kit video presentation

2011-12-03T03:20:00.001+01:00

Here's an overview on the rare Alien Enterprises Genocide AvP Model kit. Enjoy. Let me know if you have any more details on the kit.

Hot Toys Mech-Test Tony Stark and Mark V

2011-11-29T08:58:00.001+01:00

Again a new youtube video presentation - this time on the awesome Hot Toys Mech-Test Tony Stark and the Mark V figure. Enjoy.

Check out my channel on youtube and subscribe.

Hot Toys Super Predators on youtube

2011-11-19T03:56:00.001+01:00

The release of Hot Toys Clsasic Predator is near. So I decided to do a video presentation of the 3 released Supr Predators. Berserker, Tracker and Falconer. Enjoy.

Palisades Aliens and Predator: Mini- & Micro-Busts

2011-11-17T10:40:00.001+01:00

Check out my youtube channel for a short presentation of some nice Alien and Predator Mini- & Micro-Busts by Palisades Toys from 2002 - 2004. Content:

Alien Queen Mini- & Micro-Bust
Predator 2 Mini- & Micro-Bust , and the Stealth Special Edition Micro-Bust
Alien Queen Chestburster

Hot Toys DX 05 Indiana Jones unboxing and photos

2011-11-15T02:30:00.001+01:00

Haul today! DX 05 Indiana Jones - what a great figure. Check out my unboxing on youtube and some HQ photos.