Shewsbury

Disney Princess Rapunzel - Tangled (2010) Version

2022-07-03T10:00:00.012+08:00

This is the review of Disney Princess Rapunzel doll from the film "Tangled" in 2010. Priced at around USD26.00 locally, I'm quite excited about this 12 inched tall doll or should I say figure LOL...

First the box/packaging:

I really like the concept of this "lift up" style for the box/packaging:

They includes the diorama backdrop thingy which is very cool:

And you will immediately see Rapunzel standing at the window of her tower:

And there is more actually.... the inside of the box basically is another nice backdrop showing the kitchen area as see in the film:

They also supplied this hair brush which is very useful especially for this Rapunzel because she is very hairy LOL....

This is the hair brush out of the box/packaging:

I use the hair brush many times during the course of this review and I really appreciate it a lot and I think without it, managing the hair is very difficult:

Just for fun, we measured the estimated hair length of this Rapunzel's doll:

That's more or less 30cm ? Rapunzel actual hair (at least in accordance to the Disney Bible) is 70 feet (21.33 meter) long. If we have such hair in real life, I can imagine that we need to use lots of hair shampoo LOL

Anyway, let's have a look at the princess:

A little bit of close up on the pretty face with all her freckles, just like in the film:

I think the face sculpt and finishing quality is absolutely brilliant!!! I really love it...

The dress are made from good quality materials and the final look matching almost perfectly to the film, I would say 95% - just because the sleeves parts are missing - but no complain from me, I think it's still beautiful:

No shoes - Yes this is in accordance to the film:

Time for a little bit of fun with that diorama backdrop thingy:

And yes, she have purple panties:

And just like many other things or toys nowadays, this is also made in China:

And a few more photos and a bit of posing here and there wont hurt, just for fun sake:

Last but not least, side by side with Snow White:

I have this (nonsense) personal theory that both of them are Germans and so their title should be something like this:

1) HRH Princess Snow White of Dortmund

2) HRH Princess Rapunzel of Cologne

Yes, I made that up but then again, this is toys, what matter most is our imagination....

Overall, I try not to be biased but I just can't help it because I really love Rapunzel as much as I love Snow White. This is a brilliant doll (or should I say figure) of Princess Rapunzel with beautiful and quite accurate face sculpt and beautiful dress from good quality materials. I like the fact that the hair is long and straight and that gives you the room to do that fun "braid" activities with the hair - if you wish to do so - or you can just leave it as it is....

If you really like Rapunzel from the "Tangled (2010)" film, I believe you should get this and you won't regret it. Collectors would love this and those young kids certainly would love this as well, no doubt about it.

end

Transformers Bumblebee Studio Series 83 Voyager Class Soundwave and Core Class Ravage

2022-06-15T07:00:00.016+08:00

This is the review of Transformers Bumblebee Studio Series 83 Voyager Class Soundwave and Core Class Ravage from Hasbro/Takara Tomy.

The box/packaging:

Out of the box/packaging:

OK, first thing first, let's look at the alternate/vehicle mode which is quite a boring mode for me personally simply because I don't like it and I don't even understand WTF is it actually, I guess I just call it the "Cybertronian Pancake Mode"

Perhaps we can put it standing like this and maybe it become like some sort of Cybertronian Boombox? or maybe microwave oven? or a fridge maybe?

We attached the weapons at either side and this is it:

Not much for me to say on the alternate/vehicle mode. It is what it is, what ever it is... I don't fancy it at all. Transformation process is not too difficult but not easy peasy either. That's the end of our review for the "pancake mode" LOL....

Moving on to the good part - the robot mode:

The color selection, painting and finishing, detailing and sculpt quality is excellent, I love it:

Orthopedics or articulation wise, it's very good:

The weapons, we got these:

You can mount them at the back here:

Something like this:

Some pose with the weapons:

All our other Soundwave (just a few actually), one of them is from 2008:

Although the alternate/vehicle mode is subject to each individuals personal liking and taste, so not much I will add on that, for me it's boring and it's WTF, not much more for me to add but I think this Soundwave in robot mode is brilliant. I really love it. Probably this is one of those best looking Soundwave in robot mode though that also varies from each individuals perspective but for me, it's absolutely brilliant!!!

Now let's have a look at Ravage, they call this "Core Class". The box/packaging:

Out of the box/packaging:

So basically you will get all these (plus that manual obviously):

So let's have a close look at Ravage:

And now we attach all those accessories/weapons:

And this is Ravage in the animal (or should I say "jaguar") mode, looking great and savage!!!!

Just a bit of fun, meeting the other Ravage(s) in our collection:

Transformation to the alternate mode, I guess it's a cube or.... oh well, I don't know but this is it:

Transformation process is not that difficult but can be bit tricky and the process required for the removal and relocation of those accessories/weapons.

And when you want to insert this transformed Ravage into the chest compartment of Soundwave, you need to again remove one of those accessories/weapon:

Let's do it:

Ravage now inside the chest compartment of Soundwave and basically made the Soundwave figure looks much better:

As for this particular thing:

We attached it to that shoulder mounted canon just like this:

And a little bit of posing for the camera:

Now Ravage shall exit from Soundwave's chest compartment:

And we need to pull out that thing again:

And re-attached onto Ravage again:

Ravage and Soundwave, looking great together:

Hasbro/Takara Tomy being generous by supplying that backdrop set that we can use as display decoration, something like this:

It's not the greatest thing in the world but I think it's quite decent and I don't mind at all, in fact, I think I can appreciate it - thank you to Hasbro/Takara Tomy:

After 4 years of waiting since 2018, I'm quite excited to finally get this Soundwave figure. It's like a dream come true even though the waiting period is quite tricky as you have that global phenomenon called "Covid-19 pandemic" to deal with but I'm glad and thankful to God that I survived.

I bought PS3 and PS4 to help me go through that 2 years of pandemic season and hence I end up getting hooked up with gaming and I love it and probably will spend more time gaming from now henceforth.

Overall, I think this is a very excellent Voyager Class Soundwave figure with all round excellent design, detailing, sculpt, painting finishing and articulation. I have nothing to complain about the robot mode but I sincerely dislike the alternate/vehicle mode though maybe some of other fans out there could appreciate or love it more than I could, so yeah... it is what it is....

As for Ravage, I think it is equally excellent in design, detailing, sculpt, painting finishing and articulation department. I don't really appreciate the need of part removal/relocation but I don't hate it all that much since transformable GunPla can do worse actually.

So, I guess I don't have to recommend this figure to existing and hardcore Transformers Soundwave fans and collector alike, I believe probably most of them will buy this for sure but for those who are new or still on the fences about this, all I can say, go grab them while stock last coz this Soundwave is exciting. Then again, it's your money and your rights, if you disagree, then don't bother and go get things that make you happier. Simple as that.

I will go back to my PlayStation game world now.... cheers mate, over and out!!!

end

Black Widow Action Figure from End Game and Infinity War

2021-10-27T20:18:00.002+08:00

So recently we bought these 6 inches (15.24cm) tall action figures of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) from the movies of Avengers End Game (2019) and Avengers Infinity War (2018) together and I will just go ahead and combined the review for both figures in this post.

The box, we will start with this "Avengers End Game" version:

Frankly speaking, I'm a fool for believing that the face of the actual figures will be exactly as per their advertisement in Shopee. If you refer to the picture on the box, that's basically the face I thought I would get. I forgot the fact that this is a knock off product made by one of those Chinese producers, so yeah silly me...

The price is MYR56.26 (about USD13.55 / EUR 11.70 / JPY 1,541.00) so from the price you know it's.... yeah!!!!

Anyway, let's move on...

Out of the box, you will get all these:

So let's have a look at the action figure:

So yeah, I guess this is more or less like those SH Figuarts from Bandai or maybe those Hasbro Marvel Universe action figures, those 6 inches (15.24cm) tall. The body detailing is surprisingly quite decent actually and I'm very happy with it.

Now let's move on to the face sculpt and yeah.... as you can see from the pictures below, its not the same like those from pictures we saw from the box. Bonkers!!!!

However, ignoring similarity accuracy issue aside, which let's be honest is quite challenging even for similar size figures produced by the licensed manufacturer, the face sculpt is quite decent actually.

They only gave 2 face expression, this is the first one:

I'm not sure if that thing on the right side of her forehead is intentional by design or poor finishing/QC issue. It's not so horrible but still annoyingly visible:

And this is the second face which is a bit better, I guess:

Nw let's look closely on the body parts:

Articulation wise, it is very good and I'm very happy, that's all I need to say....

Just like in the movie of Black Widow (2021), her sister said "she's such a poser..." - so I guess it's action pose time:

Overall, I think this is a very good action figure/toys of Black Widow at such a cheap price. The painting finishing on certain parts may not be perfect but the body/costume looks perfectly fine, the joints are very good (at least on this copy that I have here) and the figure can perform reasonable variation of action pose depending on your creativity.

If you want a good action figure/toys of Black Widow at such friendly price, this is perfect and it I guess it should looks nice on your toys display rack or cabinet or whatever.

If you want an action figure with a perfect face of Scarlett Johansson, this is not for you, maybe you can try Hot Toys?

OK, so now let's move on to the figure, Black Widow from Avengers Infinity War.....

First thing first, the box:

Out of the box, you will get all these:

Noted that on this one, we get 3 faces, 1 on the figure and 2 extra faces. No guns on this one but we still get the usual "dual batons" and a "combined dual batons" which is longer (obviously):

Let's have a look at the figure:

I wont waste your time, basically I just copy paste my words from above = "The body detailing is surprisingly quite decent actually and I'm very happy with it."

Not much more to say because it's simply as good as that.

Now let's focus on the face sculpt and in my opinion the face sculpt on this one is much better than the one earlier and depending on the angle, you can almost get that Scarlett Johansson likeness, a little bit but I guess that is better than none, right? bear in mind the price is MYR56.26 (about USD13.55 / EUR 11.70 / JPY 1,541.00) so don't be such a wanker who is hoping for more....

This is the first face:

This is the second face, I don't know if it's expressing "concern" or maybe "constipation"....

This is the third face:

Now let's have a look at the body/costume sculpt finishing and detailing. Actually, on my eyes, they all looks OK and I have nothing to complain except for the size of her boobs/breast. It seems to me that they are not well balanced, the left side is slightly smaller than the right side. It's not that obvious unless if you are someone who are very sharp when it comes to looking at boobs/breast (like me LOL). This is pretty much a minor aesthetic issue but I guess for normal kids, they won't even notice.... the problem is we are adults, so we tend to observe and think more LOL...

Again, I just copy/paste = Articulation wise, it is very good and I'm very happy, that's all I need to say....

Yesssss.... she is such a poser, so it's action pose time:

At the end, I manage to get an angle where I can feel that "Scarlett Johansson" and this is it:

Overall, I think this is a very good action figure/toys of Black Widow at such a cheap price that comes with great articulation points, good detailing and finishing and beautiful face that is almost a little like "Scarlett Johansson" - at such a cheap price. Nothing more to it. So this one is a better Scarlett Johansson and Black Widow figure/toys.

Again, if you demand perfection and better, surely you are willing to spend the money and this is certainly not for you. Go ahead and look for figures from other brand/manufacturers at the price demanded by them. You paid for it and I guess you will get what you want...

end

LEGEND CREATION - NO. 7 CLOUD STRIFE

2021-08-06T21:00:00.002+08:00

This is the review of "Legend Creation - No. 7 Cloud Strife", a large size action figure in the region of those from Hot Toys or similar scale produced by a third party manufacturer which I believe is from China.

I don't know much about the producer or anything else related to it but I know this character is from "Final Fantasy VII", a popular 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console and and the animation film "Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children (2005).

Anyway, let's go straight to the review, first the massive box/packaging and the box art:

My hand can only cover a quarter the box:

And now, out of the box:

You will get all this stuff:

And now the 10 inch (about 25.4cm) tall figure, Cloud Strife:

The sculpt, detailing and finishing quality is quite good actually, coming from an unknown Chinese factory. I'm quite happy with it.

Articulation wise, for a typical figure at this scale, it's not bad but not great either but even when we look at the more premium segment like those 1/6 scale figures from Hot Toys, they don't offered much on the articulation department either. As long as you don't expect for "SH Figuarts" or "Figma" level of articulation, I think this is quite decent.

The optional left arm and optional hands:

And of course, the highlights of this figure is basically all these swords that comes with it, these 6 sets of swords called "Fusion Sword":

And of course this iconic "Buster Sword"

The "Fusion Sword" is composed of six swords that assemble into a single large sword with a shape identical to the Buster Sword. The individual swords consist of the main blade, a hollow front blade, a pair of back blades, and a pair of side blades. Cloud carries the weapons in a harness on his back, the handles emerging from the sides for him to reach behind him and draw them. The harness only has slots for four blades in Advent Children, but in other media and merchandise, it usually has six slots to hold the full set.

I found this picture below from Google Search explaining about the theory of how Fusion Sword combines becoming Buster Sword:

Note: I do not claim any rights for the above picture of "Fushion Sword" combination theory. All rights belong to the owner.

Let's have a look at the iconic "Buster Sword":

"Buster Sword" is Cloud Strife's trademark weapon, and was wielded before him by Zack Fair and Angeal Hewley (in Sony PSP video game - "Final Fantasy Crisis Core"). The Buster Sword serves as an iconic image for Cloud and Final Fantasy VII due to its massive size and is wielded by Cloud in most of his appearances.

The detailing and finishing of the all the swords are good but far from excellent because I spotted a few notable minor paint chip here and there. Then again, this figure is quite cheap, about USD42.00 (about EUR36.00 / SGD57.00 / JPY 4,632.00) so I guess we get what we paid for, though I'm not sure either if this is only happened to my specific unit or is this normal throughout the finished products.

There's a harness behind the figure with 4 slots only so you can do this:

Would be better if we can have 6 slots but yeah, it is what it is...

Action/display base is provided, you need to do some simple assembly and screwing here and there, it's not difficult and this is the result:

And now, just for fun sake, it's posing time for some extra photos and to my surprise, I don't really need to use the action/display base while doing the photo shooting because the figure seems to be able to stand still on it own without the need of any support from the action/display base:

Overall, yes this is a knock off copy of that "Play Arts Kai" figures series thus justify the cheaper price but then again the quality is far from terrible and truth be told, I'm quite pleased with it actually. If you dislike it and only prefers to get the original, then by all means go ahead and buy them but for those who are low on budget and can only afford certain amount of price bracket, then you may consider this accordingly.

end

NEW AGE REALGEAR NO. 21 COMMUNICATIONS SCARAMANGA (SOUNDWAVE)

2021-08-06T14:00:00.002+08:00

This is the review of New Age Real Gear No. 21 Communications Scaramanga, at least that's the information from the box but some reviewers also refer this model as H21, in short this is basically Soundwave from Transformers series but because it was produced by neither Hasbro or Takara Tomy, hence they don't use the "Soundwave" name on the box/packaging - it's the usual licensing issue bla bla bla....

The box:

Out of the box:

You will get all the stuff you can see from the picture below:

1) The transformable Soundwave figure

2) 3 transformable Soundwave's minions in the form of "cassettes"

3) Optional hands

4) The usual shoulder mounted cannon and rifle, both are extendable

5) Some sort of canon arms or what ever it is

6) A box thingy with some electronics board and LED light that requires CR927 coin battery (which is not included and during this review, I cannot find the battery from local shops around me and I have to ordered it from online retailer)

Anyway, the Soundwave in his robot mode:

The height of this Soundwave is in the "Legend Class" of those from Hasbro equivalent, basically around 4.7 inches which is almost 12cm.

The price is around USD63.00 including shipping and honestly I think it's quite expensive for such a small sized figure. However, the overall design, transformation steps, sculpt quality and painting finishing of this Soundwave is very good and it comes with die-cast material on certain parts and magnet gimmick.

Articulation is also very good for most parts they are using ball joint but they also incorporates sliding and double joint mechanism here and there which is nice.

The face/head design is simply Soundwave, spot on, accurate, nothing else to say. On the other hand, that eject button on his left shoulder only exist for cosmetic reason, it has no function at all but it's still look pretty solid.

The optional hands:

Using those optional hands, you can do this:

The weapons:

I only have 3 complains about this figure:

1) The shoulder mounted cannon seems to be a little bit too long on the front end

2) The elbow joint is OK but it can be better

3) Complex transformation process for the legs part

The 3 minions in "cassettes" mode - Ravage, Laser Beak and Rumble (or maybe Frenzy?, up to you):

First, Ravage the phanter:

Laser Beak the birdie:

Rumble (or Frenzy?) the mini robot:

They also supplied us with a pair of "pile driver" which can be attached on to the arms of Rumble:

Note: That pile driver is extendable, I forgot about it during the photo session:

Soundwave with his 3 minions:

The magnet gimmick are as below, which is very cool:

Even at this position, the magnet works very well and hold the Laser Beak steadily:

And of course the cassette bay:

You have to open it manually using your nails or whatever:

And you can insert any of the 3 minions (in their cassette mode) into that chest compartment:

The provided this manual for transformation process. The transformation process is mostly easy and straightforward but the legs part is quite complex. Naturally for me, I will just search and follow those video reviews from Youtube as my main reference. It's faster than trying to understand those pictures in the manual....

And this is Soundwave in his alternate mode - cassette player:

As you can see from the pictures above, the sculpt quality and the detailing is very good.

This how it looks like on my palm:

And a little bit of extra pictures just for fun:

Size comparison with the Soundwave from Takara Tomy and/or Hasbro:

This Titan version Soundwave which is around 11 inches tall in the picture below, I only paid USD43.00 after 40% discount, which means the price without the discount is more or less the same as this tiny Soundwave from New Age, hence I said earlier it's quite expensive but I guess at the end I'm willing to swallow it because the quality is so good that made me forgot about the cost.

Overall, this is a very good transformable Soundwave figure produced by New Age. It's a bit pricey, yes, but it comes with great quality finishing and detailing. Unfortunately for me, I'm a sucker for Soundwave, so yeah, at the end this is a must grab for me...

end

TOMICA PREMIUM - TOYOTA SPRINTER TRUENO AE86

2021-04-30T07:00:00.002+08:00

This is the review of Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 from Tomica Premium series and as the name suggest "premium", the price is also quite expensive, around 3 times higher than the normal Tomica series.

The box:

And out of the box, both of them the white and the red:

We will look at the panda white first:

And now the red:

Overall, from what you can see above, the premium series provides extra detailing, the most notable of all is the wheels which probably followed the original car model when it was first sold in Japan, or so I believe. Other than that, you get the usual "suspension gimmick" and the openable doors and... that's it...

I have several units of this model in the past, I'm not sure why I bought this again, I guess I'm a sucker for the original Trueno AE86....

end

TOMICA - TOYOTA GT2000 (TOMICA 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

2020-09-27T07:00:00.001+08:00

This is the review of Toyota 200GT from Tomica 50th Anniversary Edition Series where the box is sightly larger than the normal Tomica series and the color of this Toyota 2000GT is in blue (or is it torquise?).

The box:

Out of the box and this is the Toyota 2000GT

It comes with the usual standard features of openable doors

Overall , this is the usual Toyota 2000GT with the typical finishing quality you can expect from Tomica of Takara Tomy, Japan (though the factory is in Vietnam). The detailing is simple but are of high quality and the new metalic pain color scheme is quite pretty.

end

HaroPla - Haro Diva Red

2020-09-26T07:00:00.016+08:00

It's been quite a long time since I work on plamokit but this Haro Diva Red is really gorgeous and I decided to grabbed it and this is the result....

I lost the box, probably I miss placed it and/or threw it away. Anyway, for the sake of reference purpose this is the picture of the box art from Hobby Search, one of my favorite online shop for toys and hobby stuff.

The building and assembly process is very easy peasy Japaneasy as advertised "no-tools required" and even a young kids can do it without much problem.

As always, I never bothered to show the WIP but rather only focus my review on the completed model.

The picture below are taken using Figma Stand but due to some photography and picture photo editing works, you wont be able to see the stand:

Features and gimmick is not much apart from this openable ears , I guess....

With that opened, you can also attached the arms/hands/legs provided in the package and do this:

Overall, this is a very simple plamokit, easy to build and most of all, once completed, they look gorgeous. I personally love red color and that is the only reason I pick the red. If you want something super simple and fun, I guess you can try this. The price is around USD5.00 and that's quite cheap, you get what you paid for.

end

AOYI MECH - Sai Star Commander

2020-06-14T18:50:00.001+08:00

This is the review of the Sai Star Commander which is the knock off copy of Optimus Prime (Studio Series Optimus Prime from Bumblebee film) produced by AOYI MECH from China. Looking from the box you might think this is one of those bad China made copies of Optimus Prime for kids but when you actually open it up and take out the figure, you will be surprised with the high level of accuracy (or rather similarity) if compared to the original version produced by Hasbro.

As usual, first thing first, the box:

Out of the box and you will get all these stuff:

And now let's have a look at the figure:

A little bit of close up to see the detailing and I think they look exactly the same as those from Hasbro:

Articulation wise, this figure is as good as the original and basically we can do the usual kneeling pose and that also means you can do plenty of other action pose you can think off:

This is the weapon, the one and only you get:

And some action pose with the weapon:

Just to add some fun, I use some swords from other toys and I think this Optimus looks good with the sword:

Maybe 2 sword is better than 1:

Another just for fun thing - we do side by side comparison with the "KU BIAN BAO MCS-01 KBB MP10-V OPTIMUS PRIME":

In case if you're wondering, the size of the figure is basically around the modern Voyager Class of Hasbro:

This is how it looks like in vehicle mode or trailer truck mode:

Again another side by side comparison with the KBB and one thing that I noted is that even though the KBB looks slightly bigger in robot mode but when they both transformed into the vehicle mode, they look more or less the same (in size):

I think since it's fun to display them both together this way, the AOYI in robot mode while the KBB in vehicle mode:

Overall, considering the cheap price of SGD 17.00 (about USD 12.20 / EUR 10.80 / JPY 1,300) this is indeed a very good action figure/toys of Optimus Prime and I think this is a very accurate copy of the original from Hasbro and I'm happy with it and I think if any of you who don't mind to get the so called good knock off toys/action figure into your collection, you can't go wrong with this. I have no problem about the missing autobot transformer logo which you should get when you buy the original from Hasbro. With or without the logo, however way you look at this figure - it is Optimus Prime - most kids knew his his name. The painting finishing and the plastic quality is not bad and I think I have no issue. I can't compare it to the original from Hasbro because I don't have one but as it is, I think it's a good plastic, feel pretty solid and I have no complain.

end

JINBAO DF04 Optimum Warrior (Optimus Prime - Convoy)

2019-10-13T20:44:00.002+08:00

Yes it's another Chinese knock-off (KO) version of Transformer toys and this time it's time for the one and only the lonely Optimus Prime produced by JINBAO of China (says the label) but don't let the box fooled you, this toy is indeed pretty fun even for an adult collector like me.

First and again, the box:

Out of the box:

I paid USD19.85 for this and so far I'm impressed with it because for such a cheap price you basically get a smaller size MP-10 Convoy with almost all the accessories and additional parts minus the human figure and at around 1/64 scale of Hot Wheels die cast car model.

Let's have a look at this Optimus Prime in his robot mode:

As I said, quite impressive, so far so good. The painting finishing quality is very decent and the plastic quality is equally impressive considering the cheap price we paid for this.

And now, the features of the figure and all the accessories and additional parts:

Openable chest part to store that matrix thingy:

Articulation is pretty decent as well:

You wont get this jet-backpack in the original MP-10 Convoy but you can get it from this KO version which is cool:

And this is the blaster or the gun which again is quite decent:

They provide additional hands which is an added bonus:

And of coz this flame axe thingy:

And you get this small vehicle:

And you get this trailer that comes with all the features you can get from the original MP-10 Convoy:

The Hot Wheels Nissan Fairlady in the pictures below is not supplied together, I just add it for the the sake of photography and having fun with this trailer features:

And yes you can do this repair mode thingy or whatever it is:

They also provide this clear action base and stand to support some sort of mid-air pose:

Optimus Prime in his alternate mode which is this trailer truck head:

Again, it looks pretty decent in his truck mode and I think I like it a lot.

And of course, you can combined them together to formed a complete trailer truck vehicle:

Size comparison with the other KO Chinese made transformer figures we have:

Overall, this is a very decent and solid KO version of Optimus Prime (or Convoy) in a complete package at the size of about or almost 5 inches. The painting finishing and plastic quality is indeed pretty good and it comes with all those things that you can see from the picture of these review and considering the cheap price, I have nothing to complain about this figure and I can safely say that I think I like it and maybe some Transformers toy collector out there might also like or love this thing. It's cheap, i's decent, it's fun - simple as that.

end

Mech Fans Toys Zero Destroyer (Megatron)

2019-10-13T20:18:00.002+08:00

I found this from a local DIY Store at USD5.50 and I thought, it's kind of cheap and it wouldn't hurt to check it out and just like that I grab it and let's have a look at this Megatron.

First, the box and as it says from the label, this is produced by Mech Fans Toys (MFT) of China and yes this is indeed a knock-off (KO) version made in China (obviously) the world leading manufacturer of toys and almost every other global products:

Out of the box:

OK, let's have a close look at the figure - Mr. Megatron in his robot mode:

And now the additional accessories/parts:

You can attach that thing there on his right arm:

And just like that, he looks complete now almost the same like what you see from the animation series in the 1980's:

For such a cheap KO version, the head and face sculpt is pretty decent - I can like this a lot:

Articulation is not bad and far from being horrible, at least you can do these:

And now the alternate mode which is a pistol or a gun. The transformation process is quite cumbersome (at least for me) but it is not impossible, with some patience even a novice like me can handle it (it took me half an hour to understand the manual and figure it out slowly)

I personally think that it turn out quite good in this pistol or gun mode, I like it:

Overall, I think this is a very solid knock-off version of Megatron figure. It has that very decent classic look, very decent face/head sculpt, very decent articulation capabilities and it can transform into a pidtol/gun and still look decent and most of all the cheap rice of USD5.50 is indeed decent. I'm not sure if this qualify to be your personal collectibles as you might have different taste but for me it's cheap and I can bring this figure anywhere, play with it, drop it, burn it and have fun with it and all that for a mere USD5.50 - not bad. Like they said in Zombieland, Rule #32 - Enjoy the little things... and I think I'm happy with this Megatron.

end

Mech Fans Toys Mechanical Commando (Ultra Magnus)

2019-10-13T19:59:00.001+08:00

Found this cheap knock-off (KO) Chinese made (of coz) Transformers figure/toys of Ultra Magnus which I believed is based on the Leader Classs Ultra Magnus of Transformers Siege War for Cybertron Trilogy originally produced by Hasbro/Takara Tomy though this KO version is made by Mech Facs Toys (MFT) or so says the label on the box.

Anyway, let's have a look at this Ultra Magnus, first the box:

And now, out of the box:

OK, let's have a look at the Ultra Magnus in robot mode closely:

And these are the weapons and/or extra parts available for him:

OK, I'm gonna start from the vehicle mode first and so this is how he look like in his truck mode, whatever it is:

And you can attached those weapons anywhere you like:

As you can see, this truck have plenty of wheels/tires but none of them rolls/move:

And when you look at the design, it is a self explanatory of cheap engineering design that at least work cosmetically:

OK, now let's go back to the robot mode:

I think the robot mode looks quite decent but if there is anything that I wish could be better is maybe the head should be a little bit bigger that it is now, just a little bit would be great.

Articulation wise, I think it's pretty decent as well, the usual kneeling post is not a problem:

Apart from that gun or blaster, we also get this extra weapon mode which is some sort of hammer or whatever:

I think the gun or the blaster in full plain white is pretty boring, hence I did a bit of simple painting job using marker pen and then I sprayed some top coat and this is the result:

It's not the greatest in the world but I personally feel it looks better than the original full plain white.

And I did some minor red coloring on that hammer thingy, again, it's not revolutionary but make it looks a bit better than the plain white:

Overall, considering the cheap price of USD7.88 this is quite a decent figure though I personally feel USD4.50 would be a better price for this thing. The size is in the region of Voyager-ish class of typical Transformers toys from Hasbro/Takara Tomy but the transformation process is indeed quite simple to do. It's a cheap Ultra Magnus figure that comes with decent weapon and decent articulation capability, you get what you paid for.

end

Pocket Toys TS04 Tuner S (Soundwave)

2019-08-23T19:50:00.002+08:00

This is an exciting transformable action figure from Transformers series not produced by the usual official Hasbro/Takara Tomy brand but rather by a third party manufacturer/brand from China called "Pocket Toys TS04 Tuner S" which is basically Soundwave and 3 pieces of his minions (Laserbeak, Ratbat and Ravage).

You can find this from many of those online retailers and the price varies from one to another but the average price range will be from USD13.00 to USD16.00 (presumably excluding shipping), we paid USD16.00 for this from a local online retailer and I think it's a great value for the price.

First, the box:

Out of the box, you will get all these:

And also the product transformation manual and a character card made not from paper but rather from a decent hard plastic:

Considering the price, I'm pleased with the manual being printed in "picture type" and with colors - something that we don't get from Hasbro/Takara Tomy at such price range:

OK, let's have a look at this Soundwave (or rather Tuner S) in his robot mode:

I think it looks great. The back section of the body is impressive and while they are some minor paint scratches here and there but it's not bad actually and probably wont be noticed with naked eyes. The pictures above were shot using close up/macro lens hence we can see a lot of "details". The size of this figure is only about 9.5cm (3.5 inches) tall, hence they call it "pocket toys" - I guess that means something that you can easily fit into your shirt pocket.

This Soundwave is kind of "manual" type, which means that eject button have no function whatsoever apart from being a decoration to complete the looks and essence of Soundwave figure.

Which means, those storage compartment on the chest must be opened manually using your finger or whatever you think suitable.

Once that done, you can put 1 cassette at a time inside that compartment - you can try 2 cassettes at a time but the cover can only close up to 95% - so I guess it's a NO for 2 cassettes.

And this is now Soundwave complete with his typical weapons, the usual shoulder mounter canon and the blaster,

Articulation is very good, the ball joint despite being minimalist can perform accordingly and I'm happy with it:

Now let's have a look at the cassettes, starting with Laserbeak:

And then the Ratbat:

Lastly, the Ravage:

And here it is Soundwave with all his minions:

Size comparison with all the other Soundwave that I have in our collection now - the biggest on the right is Leader Class (TITANS) which is at about 22.5cm (8.8 inches) followed by the Voyager Class at about 17.78cm / 7 inches (Fall of Cybertron) and another Voyager Class (Siege) at about 16.51cm / 6.5 inches and the purple/black version from Music Label at about 13.97cm / 5.5 inches and finally this pocket size which is at about 9.5cm / 3.75inches.

And now - the Boombox Mode - or maybe you can call it Cassette Player Mode - whatever you like...

As you can see, it looks the very decent and very Soundwave in his Boombox Mode - what more could you ask for at such price. The transformation process is typical like many other similarly designed Soundwave - again, I'm very pleased with this.

Overall, this is a very decent Soundwave from Pocket Toys. Yes indeed this is a "knock off" character, product and/or design from Hasbro/Takara Tomy but as a figure or toy product itself, everything is fine. Not much for me to say, I simply love it so much!!! Probably one of the best Soundwave I've ever had in such a tiny "pocket" size. I personally not sure if Hasbro/Takara Tomy ever produced such Soundwave at such scale and price but if I have to guess, probably no, not yet. Furthermore, if Hasbro/Takara Tomy were to produced them, the price might be slightly higher and they probably sold the minions (those cassettes) separately, like they always do - nothing new about it.

end

1/43 Bburago Ferrari 250 GTO by Shell Malaysia

2019-08-08T17:49:00.001+08:00

This is the1/43 scale model of Ferrari 250 GTO from the recent Shell retail promotion series in which they introduced a new set of limited-edition Ferrari collectible toy cars in 1/43 scale consisting of 8 Ferrari icons from the 1950s onwards, in conjunction with the Prancing Horse’s 70th year anniversary.

These are the list of the 8 models offered:

You can also check it out from the picture of the packaging (at the rear):

And Shell Malaysia is also being kind by providing the diorama design (in PDF) from their website so that you can print them and do a bit of work and produce the diorama set as below (assuming you have all the tools required for printing and suitable papers and cutting item as well as some decent hands and finger skills to actually do it, some glue might be required as well):

If you interested and as long as Shell still keep the page up and available, you can try and go to the link below and download them:

Shell Malaysia

(https://www.shell.com.my/motorists/promotions/koleksiferrari/craft-your-own-miniature-set.html)

I don't know how long it will be available but as at early August 2019, today, now, it's still there....

I only interested with 3 out of 8 of them, you can read the review of the other 2 that I have from the lin below:

1) Ferrari 488 Spider

2) Ferrari 250

And this 250 GTO is the third and final car that I'm interested with.

By the way, this is some sort of purchase with purchase offier - you need to spend minimum of MYR30.00 (about USD7.27) of petrol or diesel before you can buy the car model at MYR 15.90 (about USD3.86) - OR you can buy their full synthetic engine oil and you will get 1 for free.

Moving on, let's have a look at this 250 GTO, first the box/packaging:

And out of the box/packaging:

Considering the price factor, the exterior detailing is not great but then again it's quite sufficient while still trying to be minimalist. I'm happy with what being offered and I think it's a decent representation of the actual car on a budget.

Looking at the body of this car, it reminds me of the Japanese Nissan Datsun 240Z or was it also called the Fairlady? Probably Nissan took the design inspiration of that car from this beautiful 250 GTO - oh well, who knows... I certainly don't...

Moving on, the interior detailing is again as minimalist as it should be, nothing spectacular but I think it looks quite decent:

Maybe you can do a bit of interior detailing work, added some color here and there - whatever - you can do that if that's what you want:

Overall, I think this is a very decent representation of Ferrari 250 GTO and as much as I prefer the red color, I think this yellow is not bad either. Only 36 units of the actual car were made by Ferrari which means this car is one of those rare models and it should be very pricey (millions of US Dollars) and that also means typical poor farmer like me and probably most of you can't afford or don't stand a chance to buy the actual car, hence we should be grateful to at least able to own this 1/43 scale model LOL LOL LOL...

With the rest of the siblings from the Shell Malaysia promotion series:

end

Transformers Siege War For Cybertron - Micromaster Laser Beak and Ravage

2019-08-05T11:31:00.003+08:00

Just like Dr. Evil have his Mini-Me in Austin Powers trilogy and Snow White have her own The 7 Horny Dwarves in her self-titled stories, Soundwave is not complete without his spy minions Laser Beak and Ravage and the rest (to the minimum he should at least have Laser Beak and Ravage) - or at least that's what I believe...

Hence, today we will look at this Micromaster figures from the same SIEGE: WAR FOR CYBERTRON toy line series and first and foremost, the packaging:

Out of the packaging, we will get both Laser Beak and Ravage in their "beast mode"or "animal mode" - some sort of bird and black panther.

Let's start with Laser Beak:

I think this version of Laser Beak looks pretty decent - in fact way better than the previous Laser Beak from TITANS toy line series.

I have no complaints about the previous Laser Beak from TITANS toy line series transform into some sort of tablet in their alternate mode, which is kind of cool, but this classic cassette form is the usual fan favorites so being a fan of Soundwave, again I have no objection what so ever.

And the usual features that should available to any reasonable Soundwave figure - the storage bay or the cassette bay...

And that's how Laser Beak looks like inside that chest compartment of Soundwave:

And now we move on to Ravage the black panther. In it's animal mode, it's not perfect but it doesn't look much different from the original classic version and I'm happy with that.

And of course it can transform into the cassette mode:

And that's how Ravage looks like inside that chest compartment of Soundwave:

In addition to the above, they have additional feature where they can be attached at the shoulder of Soundwave:

So that's how they look like mounted or attached on the shoulders of Soundwave - I don't really fancy but it's not a bad idea actually considering the fact that only 1 cassette can fit into the chest and I guess maybe some of you would enjoy this:

As for me, this how I would display this Soundwave and his spy minions:

Overall, just like any other Soundwave figures, you gotta need to have his minions hence when you bought the Soundwave Voyager Class figure, you should also grab this Micromaster figures of Laser Beak and Ravage to make them complete together as one happy family. Like they said, Batman have a Robin, Iron Man have a Pepper Pot and Soundwave should have his minions, as always....

end

Transformers Siege War For Cybertron - Voyager Class Soundwave (WFC-S25)

2019-07-31T21:43:00.001+08:00

This is the WFC-S25 Voyager Class Soundwave from Transformers Siege War For Cybertron toy line and Soundwave is basically my most favorite character of them all.

The WFC-S25 Voyager Class Soundwave figure comes with HI-KEP Concussion Blaster, LR-HD Sonic Cannon, and EMTX Blitz Charge Blaster. All 3 combine to form a USW HF Sonic Compression Mega-Blaster.

WFC-S18 Soundwave Spy Patrol figures fit (individually) inside the chest of this figure but they were sold separately (of course)...

I don't know much about the series title "Siege War For Cybertron" but for me, I saw Soundwave action figure, it looks great and I want it, simple as that!!!

The box:

This figure was made not China but rather in Vietnam but I guess nobody gives a damn about it...

Out of the box, apart from the manual (not shown in the picture below), you will get all these:

So, let's check it out:

In robot mode, I think this is one of the best representation of Soundwave with a lot of homage to the classic G1 looks.

He comes with the openable chest storage in which you can store either Laserbeak or Ravage in their cassette mode and this is certainly one of the most important if not the most favorite criteria for the fans of this character.

Articulation is quite decent:

The weapons, HI-KEP Concussion Blaster (I think this must be the one mounted on the right shoulder), LR-HD Sonic Cannon, and EMTX Blitz Charge Blaster.

You can combine all 3 of them to form a USW HF Sonic Compression Mega-Blaster but I'm not interested with it because it's ridiculously long and apparently not much pose you can do with it, I do like this pose though:

Fun articulation and well balanced, the robot mode is quite fun:

And this is the alternate mode which I'm totally not interested at all but yeah, this is it - some sort of Cybertronian Whatever Space Jet thingy, I don't know what it is but I guess it is something like that:

The other alternate mode - The Lamp Post mode:

And lastly the Boombox Mode:

Size comparison with the other Soundwave figures from various toyline series:

Sad but true, the Voyager Class figure size from this Siege series is a tad smaller than what it used to be, oh yeah, Hasbro/Takara-Tomy needs to make more money, love needs sacrifice they said, hence they reduce the size for a healthier profit margin:

Leader Class Soundwave from Titans series and Voyager Class Soundwave from Siege.

Side by side with the Music Label Soundwave:

Overall, this is quite a fun and decent figure of Soundwave and although I personally despise those "battle damage" painting and detailing (but they are not bad actually and I guess maybe many other fans love it), I can still love this figure simply because of the homage to the classic G1 looks and we can still at least keep 1 of those cassettes on his chest.

end

1/43 Bburago Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa by Shell Malaysia

2019-07-31T21:11:00.000+08:00

This is a 1/43 scale model of the famous Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. In the actual car, the engine top cam covers were painted bright red, the source of the name "Testa Rossa" - literally, "Red Head" - means nothing else apart for reference for the cam cover color.

The box:

And the car (I actually did a bit of additional color customization using marker pen on the front grill and around the interior to make it looks a bit better - or so I thought):

Detailing is absolute minimalist considering the cheap price:

Overall, I think this is quite a decent representation of Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa at 1/43 on a low budget. It doesn't offer any extra eye candy but it is enough to show 250 Testa Rossa. Since it's almost impossible to get the actual car nowadays (they're extremely rare and quite pricey in the range of millions of US Dollars), we could at least get this 1/43 scale model and keep it at home safely.

Side by side with Ferrari 488 Spider which came from the same production/promotion from Shell Malaysia.

And we add the 360 Spider produced by Hot Wheels:

I simply love all these roadsters...

end

1/43 Bburago Ferrari 488 Spider by Shell Malaysia

2019-07-31T20:51:00.002+08:00

Recently, Shell Malaysia has introduced a new set of limited-edition Ferrari collectible toy cars in 1/43 scale consisting of 8 Ferrari icons from the 1950s onwards, in conjunction with the Prancing Horse’s 70th year anniversary.

From the ’50s, the decade being represented by the 250 Testa Rossa, followed by the iconic 250 GTO from the early ’60s. Next, there’s the 365 GTB/4 or the Daytona, which was produced from the late ’60s to early ’70s. The homage to the ’80s comes in the form of the 288 GTO from 1984, followed by the F50 from the mid-90s and through the millenium with the 430 Scuderia from 2007 and the 488 Spider, which came about in 2015, and Scuderia Ferrari SF71H (which is quite a lame car honestly).

I only interested with 3 of them and the 1st being this 488 Spider. Hence, let's have a look:

First, the box:

OK, moving forward with the car model at 1/43 scale:

From what you can see so far, this is one of those typical standard budget version from Bburago. The detailing is absolute minimalist but then again as they said "Limited Edition".... yeah right!!!

You can have a close look on the detailing part from several close up pictures below:

And just like almost everything today, this was made in China, of course....

Overall, I think this is still quite a cheap but fun model for your collection (if you are a fan of Ferrari models). The detailing is not great but quite sufficient considering the cheap price. I'm happy with it, simple as that.

And just for fun sake, we compared this model side by side with a 360 Spider produced by Hot Wheels many years ago which obviously was retailed at a higher price because it is meant to be for serious collectors.

end

Ku Bian Bao Master Classical Series - MCS-01 KBB MP10-V Optimus Prime

2019-03-10T21:28:00.001+08:00

This is the review of Ku Bian Bao (or KuBianBao or simply KBB) Master Classical Series - MCS-01 KBBMP10-V Optimus Prime or another way to call it is a Chinese Knock Off of Takara Tomy MP-10 in Voyager class size (about 6-7 inches tall) and it's quite a fun toys and I love it...

We bought this from a local online store for just USD 29.35 (about SGD 40.00 / EUR 26.11 / GBP 22.55 / JPY 3,263 ). The is the link = https://shopee.com.my/product/88485339/1654289553.

Millions of units sold worldwide and after viewing several video reviews about it in YouTube, I decided to join the fun and grab this item.

Nonetheless, let's get started, first thing first, the box:

For such price I personally think that the packaging and box material quality as well the box art is quite impressive.

As you can see from the bottom left of the box picture below, those 8 parts are made of die-cast (alloy).

And now, out of the box:

Like any other "transformers toys", they supplied a decent manual:

And these are all the items fresh out of the box/packaging, you get Optimus in vehicle mode (trailer head), 3 optional heads, the axe that comes in orange plastic parts, a sword, the typical buster rifle for Optimus (though the size is quite small), a pistol and some sort of jet back pack:

Now let's have a look at Optimus Prime in his vehicle mode, the trailer head:

As a side note, on the picture below I detected some annoying QC issues, that thing is not perfect but then again it's not totally terrible. Other than this, I don't see any other QC issues on this product.

Apart from the problem I mentioned above, overall, the vehicle mode is quite decent and quite similar to the TAKARA TOMY TRANSFORMERS MP-10 CONVOY which is the based of this knock-off version.

The transformation process and/or methodology from the vehicle mode to the robot mode is more or less the same as the MP-10 Convoy mentioned above with just a couple of minor modification

Anyway, now let's have a look at the robot mode:

Just like the original MP version, the fingers are articulated:

Articulation point for the figure (robot mode) are consistent with the original version. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing terrible either - it works fine as it should be.

The die-cast (alloy) parts made this figure feel quite heavy - certainly heavier than any other original Transformers figures Hasbro/Takara Tomy at the same size (Voyager Class - about 6-7 inches tall).

And now, those weapons and accessories, first up is this buster rifle or whatever you want to call it. I personally feel it's kind of too small in size and doesn't look convincing considering the size of this particular Optimus. I think it would be perfect if it's slightly bigger but then again, as it is, this is what you get for what you paid for:

Despite the diminutive size, the rifle still comes with basic transformation function:

And just like the original MP-10, you can store the rifle at the back of Optimus like this:

The next weapon is the axe that comes with a brilliant orange colored plastic parts, no complain from me on this one, it looks great and can be attached to the hand easily.

And you also get that pistol, not my favorite but then again that pistol is 100% die-cast (alloy) it has some weight on it.

Lastly, the sword which is also 100% die-cast, looks and feel solid with some weight but also not my favorite, I would prefer if the sword could be a little bit longer than this but then again that is just my personal preference.

And as an additional bonus, you also got this jet back-pack or whatever it is:

Attaching them onto the back of Optimus is as easy as it looks:

I like this jet back-pack or whatever it is but I have one complain about it which is the thruster color (clear plastic parts that made it look like some sort of glass). I would prefer if it comes with the same color of the back-pack body which is grey.

This is how Optimus looks like from the front after you attached those jet back-pack:

And eventually, to satisfy my desire, I really painted those thrusters using a silver colored marker pen and then I put a bit of top coat spray on it and this is the result:

I think they look much better now:

This Optimus also comes with that "Matrix of Lesbianship" thingy and just like the original, it is stored right on his chest:

The 3 optional heads are self-explanatory - basically, you can use whatever head/face that you like the most amongst the 4 of them but I personally prefer the original G1 look design. There is a screw right behind the head and it's pretty easy to remove/replace the heads accordingly.

The picture below shows how the figure looks like with each of the head/face design (basically the same it's just the head/face are totally different). It's up to you to choose which one suits your taste:

And now it's time to have a little bit of fun with weapons from Strike Gundam:

And oh... Just for fun sake, I have some crazy idea about those spare heads/faces - behold the 3 headed Optimus Primus - Defender and Proctector of Lesbianisme againsts the tyranny of Megatronius and the Decepticonius:

This looks pretty weird symbolising a bad-ass Optimus Primus - depending on his mood, he can just switch his head to intimidate you LOL:

Side by side with the Voyager Class Soundwave from Fall of Cybertron

Overall, this is a very fun action figure and toy representing the popular Optimus Prime from Transformer series in which the toys/action figures are commonly produced by Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Despite the fact that there is no Autobots logo on the shoulder many children, fans and collectors can easily identify this as Optimus Prime, no doubt about it. For a Chinese Knock-Off, this item is excellent and despite the QC issues I highlighted above, I'm still happy with the rest of this product. Ku Bian Bao (or KuBianBao or simply KBB) have done a tremendous job copying the original and scale down the size and yet give plenty of additional accessories and weapons which increase the play value of this figure.

Copyright issues aside, I have to say that KBB deserves my praise on this one and I really hope and pray that someday KBB will produce the MP-13 Soundwave in this particular size - I will certainly buy it.

I believe if Hasbro/Takara Tomy produce die-casted Transformers figures for their Voyager Class segment while maintaining a decent price - many of the fans and collectors alike would not hesitate to buy though it is unlikely to happen because Hasbro/Tomy wants better and bigger profit - simple as that.

Anyway, back to this Optimus Prime, it is a fun action figure with good quality and decent extra weapons and accessories and in my opinion this is a very good value for the money we paid. This is simply one of the best transformable Optimus Prime figure in Voyager Class size (about 6-7 inches tall). Highly and sincerely recommended to those who still thinking and/or undecided about it.

Talking about expansion, the trailer is also available from the link below:

https://shopee.com.my/Trailer-for-KuBianBao-MP10-V-KBB-MP10V-Optimus-Prime-i.31430019.1707223228

I personally don't fancy the features from the trailer (same opinion for the original MP-10 Convoy) simply because it doesn't combined with Optimus to become a more bigger/powerful version but rather it only serves as container for what ever those additional machinery and vehicle provided and other than that it become like some sort of service/repair bay for Optimus. The only thing that I actually love the most is the small human figure which I can put into the driver seat of this Optimus in his vehicle mode (or maybe also in some other Transformers toys with adequate space for driver/pilot). So at the moment I'm not really in the rush to get it, just keep it in my wish list.

end

Takara Tomy Transformers Titans Return LG36 Soundwave

2019-01-27T15:37:00.001+08:00

This is the popular Soundwave Transformers mecha figure from the series of "Transformers: Titans Return" which is an internet-based animated series created by Adam Beechen and F.J. DeSanto, and produced by Machinima, Inc. and Tatsunoko Production, in partnership with Hasbro Studios.

"Transformers: Titans Return" is based on the Transformers franchise, it is the sequel to "Transformers: Combiner Wars" and the second installment of the "Prime Wars Trilogy". It was released for the U.S. audience in November 2017 and later for the international audience in January 2018.

Anyway, let's have a look at this Leader Class Soundwave from Takara Tomy. First the box:

And out of the box:

And this is Soundwave in the boombox mode with all the additional accessories and equipment and of course Soundblaster as the Titan Master Partner which eventually will transform into the head of Soudwave robot mode.

And the most popular essential features for most Soundwave figures is this eject button:

So when you press that, the front compartment will opened-up like this:

And you have this rocket-sled thingy that you can insert inside that opened compartment:

In this boombox mode (or soundbar or maybe you can call it "radio cassette player" LOL), you can actually mount the weapons (the rifle and the cannon battery) at the rear like this:

OK, now into the second mode of the "triple-changer" - the stage mode or maybe you can also call it as the battle base or battle station mode - whatever you like, it is as it is:

Let's have a closer look at this Soundblaster the Titan Master Partner:

Not much articulation on this mini figure but whatever he got is enough for him to transform into the head of Soundwave.

You can actually store him under that rocket-sled thingy:

OK, now it's time to look at the final mode of this "triple-changer" - Soundwave robot mode:

Being in "Leader Class" this Soundwave is quite tall large in size, more or less like those "Master Piece" figure size. If you're Gundam model kit people, the size is around almost those 1/60 scale GunPla. The articulation is very decent, the play value is also exciting and it comes with all the familiar gimmicks associated with Soundwave. This is a very fun toy and a decent item for collectors depending on their personal taste and preferences but kids will certainly love this "triple-changer" Soundwave.

In addition to Soundwave, we will also take a look at these Legen Class Transformers Titan Return Laserbeak and Ravage. Apart from their default condor and panther mode, these "spy-tablets" are also "triple-changer" type as they can also change to another additional alternate mode which is some sort of forklift and some jet.

The packaging:

OK, first let's look at this Ravage in this some sort of jet plane mode and yes I personally think it's ugly:

And now Ravage in his phanter or black jaguar (animal) mode which looks pretty decent:

And now let's have a look at this Laserbeak in his animal mode - which is a condor or whatever bird you would like him to be:

Apparently this version of Laserbeak have more black color than red - the tradition is that it suppose to have more red color on it.

In general, it does look and feel like Laserbeak but in my opinion it's not that great, just above average - it's kind of OK.

I couldn't be bothered to show you the other mode of Laserbeak which is some sort of forklift-like vehicle but not really or a rather roller thingy. I don't know what is it but you can see it from the packaging:

Laserbeak and Ravage, side by side:

And certainly you got to pose them around or with Soundwave because it is only then that all of them are complete as one.

And both of them in their "spy-tablet" mode:

Just like that rocket-sled thingy, you can also insert this "soy-tablet" into the chest compartment of Soundwave:

You can also play them this way - Soundwave reading and reviewing the information from his minions, the the "spy-tablet" of Ravage and Laserbeak:

There is one thing that I'm a bit disappointed with this particular Leader Class Soundwave and that is about the storage space on the chest compartment. I had this Voyager Class Soundwave from the Fall of Cybertron series and I really love the robot mode of that Soundwave because the chest compartment can store up to 3 of his minions (the data disc). On the other hand, this Leader Class Soundwave from Titans Return can only store 1 "spy-tablet" or that rocket-sled thingy. The size is bigger, so it's normal for me to have such expectation but it ain't so.

This is the very reason why I don't bother to look up further for the 3rd Soundwave minions in this series which is "Rumble". He is the best out of the 3 of them especially in his tank mode. I would buy it if I happen to accidentally found it in any local toy stores with standard original retail price or discounted price but beyond that, I wont be rushing.

Comparison with the other Soundwave (minus the MP-13) that we have over the years:

Overall, despite my little disappointment about the single storage space for the spy-tablet on the chest compartment, this Soundwave is a fantastic toy with great play value, a triple-changer with nice detailing and fun articulation capabilities. If only it can store up to 3 of his minions - those "spy-tablets" - into his chest compartment then I wouldn't have any complain and I would regard this as the second best Soundwave after the MP-13 but in this case - it is not!!!

I got this with 40% discount and free shipping (USD43.00) during Christmas 2018 clearance sales from a local online shop as Christmas gift to my self and I would say that it's a very good bargain. A few months ago I thought I would never had the chance to buy this item anymore as most online retailer is running out of stock and some of them is selling it at slightly higher price and just like that, thanks to God, miracle happens, Christmas come with great discounts - sometimes being late can be rewarding LOL LOL LOL...

end

Hasbro Disney Princess Snow White

2019-01-26T22:57:00.003+08:00

This is the Hasbro Disney Princess Snow White from the famous Walt Disney Animation Studio first fully animated feature film - Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs in 1937.

The film was a tremendous critical success, with many reviewers hailing it as a genuine work of art, recommended for both children and adults. Snow White's success led to Disney moving ahead with more feature-film productions. Walt Disney used much of the profits from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to finance a new $4.5 million studio in Burbank – the location on which The Walt Disney Studios is located to this day.

For many, Snow White is probably the first Disney Princess ever but actually before turning Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into his first animated film, Disney did a trail run with a Greek mythology-based goddess named Persephone.

Nonetheless, not many knew about that and probably don't care much about it anyway because the most important thing is that for many decades now, Disney have proudly parading Snow White as the most senior princess in their Disney Princess line and/or series and for many kids nowdays that's all they knew and that's all that matter most - it's Snow White and the gang, Rapunzel, Ariel, Cinderella and all the way to the Elsa and Anna from the modern Frozen.

I personally question the eligibility of some of those Disney Princess especially Cinderella who happened to quite popular as well because in my opinion Cinderella is not a real princess with true royal blood - she was maid who got lucky, met a prince and bla bla bla... OK, originally she is not really a maid, she is the daughter of some rich noble men but she is not from the true royal blood like Snow White or Elsa and Anna. Then again, no body really give a damn about such facts... so let's just get on with this review.

The packaging:

And finally now, out of the packaging, Snow White standing firm with her glorious simple standing post...

Typical with the figures from this toy series, they have absolutely poor articulation point hence not much pose you can do apart from standing straight and some head, neck and shoulder adjustment but that's all of it...

As for the detailing, well she has that standard red hair band with red ribbon on her head:

She comes with the standard blue colour blouse with the red coloured decoration on the shoulder and that yellow skirt and shoe though from time to time the toy designer will modify and updates this uniform a little bit here and there with some additional customization but they somehow retain the traditional colour of Snow White which is blue top and yellow skirt...

Overall, this is quite a decent Snow White figure with the young kids as their main target audience but if you are a big fan of Snow White and a collector, this figure can also serve as a decent starter for your collection. The product finishing on this figure is not terrible and although the lack or articulation and play value are probably well expected when you pick up this figure from the shelves but if you want a decently pretty looking Snow White, this should be a decent pick.

Snow White, the fairest of all, sweet, caring and kind... that's why we love her, right???

Snow White is a princess from the German royal family and as she gets older, she changed her name to Angela Merkel and she ruled the whole German land serving as The Chancellor of Germany - As a reminder, you shouldn't believe everything that you read here LOL LOL LOL...

end

Hot Wheels - Nissan Fairlady Z

2018-12-02T07:25:00.000+08:00

This is the Nissan Fairlady Z which I assume is from the second generation Nissan/Datsun 280ZX (S130) though I can be wrong either but that is just my guess since no model year provided on the packaging.

It's pretty hard to get a Japanese model from the stores nowadays and this is just one of those "lucky day" for me to be able a Japanese model with the typical British/Japanese right hand steering wheel position as I wouldn't like a Japanese model with the steering at the "wrong side" LOL LOL LOL..

Though I personally would prefer to have this Z in darker color like the typical royal blue or maybe black if not pink (LOL) but somehow I'm able to appreciate the white color with the minimal decals as decoration (thank god they then use those fire decals which is too American) making it look like a track racing car ready for action.

I dislike the "widen" body works on to facilitate the wheels but then again since they styled this as typical track racing car then I guess that is unavoidable and probably a must for the very same reason they serve McD Cheese Burger with a single cheese on it.

I also dislike the rear spoiler design (I personally prefer to have none) but then again at least I still can tolerate this design rather than those types used in Subaru Impreza or those that make the car look as if they gonna fly.

The back comes all in white and I do a bit of customization by painting the brake/rear lamp with red marker pen.

Both the front and rear wheels comes with the same size and I love it that way as I wouldn't like it if this Z comes with bigger rear and smaller front - certainly not my thing.

Number 94 and Greddy logo at the side and on the hood - nice!!!

I don't open up this car like I usually would as I don't have intention to do any further customization for the interior - I think to leave them all in black inside is good enough.

Overall, this is a very decent representation of the classic Z with a little bit of body works to make it look like a track racing car but even son they managed to retain most of the original body design element close to the normal road version looks and I really like it and that makes it worthy to be included into my collections.

end

1/144 HGBF Hi-Nu Gundam Vrabe

2018-06-12T17:36:00.002+08:00

This is my first ever GunPla from the Gundam Build Fighters (GBF) series. My favorite from the series is obviously the "GAT-X105B/FP Build Strike Gundam Full Package" which is of course another version of Strike Gundam from the Gundam Seed series but since I the discount is pretty delicious for this Vrabe hence, I end up with theisVrabe for now...

The box:

Out of the box... all the stuff:

And after spending several hours in the course of several days building it, this is the result:

It comes with quite a decent amount of weaponary and accessories, some standard from the original Nu Gundam and some are new addition and/or modifications:

These blades for instance is a very nice modification from the original Hi-Nu, I like it a lot:

This claw something like that Wolverine thingy is not favorite and certainly I dislike it:

Another modification from the original Hi-Nu Gundam that I like the most on this model is removable back-pack the can be combined with the shield to form some sort of bird:

I think this is the purpose of that thing that looks like a penis but not really.... LOL...

Overall, this Hi-Nu Vrabe is quite decent. The articulation is not outstanding but nothing terrible either considering the original source of this kit is from the year of 2009. The weaponary and accessories supplied with this kit is pretty good though not perfect but then again since this is under the "HG" class price point so we can't expect everything to be perfect right. I think Bandai is doing very well in trying to be minimalist and yet reasonable. I like this kit, I'm happy with it. Simple as that...

With the rest of our Gundams - not many really:

end

Hasbro - Star Wars The Black Series - Darth Vader

2018-04-09T11:00:00.000+08:00

Again, thanks to the clearance sales at Toys R' Us, I finally got my first ever big size "Star Wars - The Black Series" action figure of Darth Vader produced by Hasbro. The usual price is SGD 39.90 (around USD 30.48 / EUR 24.81 / GBP 21.63 / JPY 3,258) which I think is quite reasonable but recently at TRU, it's available for only SGD 19.90 ( about USD 15.20) and that is certainly a great bargain and a no brainer for me, an immediate grab!!!

The box:

Out of the box, you will get all these.... well, not much really... just the figure and his weapon (light saber):

As you can see above, the light saber parts can be separated and you can mount it on Vader's waist, like this:

Let's look at the Darth Vader:

The cape cloth is really impressive, I like it a lot... so this is what we get from the big size The Black Series, not bad!!!

Hasbro did a great job on Vader for their regular 3.75 inch action figures as well as those in The Black Series for similar size (3.75 inch), hence there is no surprise here that there is nothing much for them to do for the bigger size Vader, maybe just a few minor things there and there and that's about it. Everything else is as it should be, absolutely brilliant!!!

The overall detailing and finishing quality is very good considering the product price segment and size. Well done, Hasbro!!!

The light saber:

Vader wielding the light saber:

The articulation capability is also as good as I expect, more or less like those Darth Vader (with similar articulation point) in the 3.75 inch size. You can pose him the way you like so long that the joints allowed.

Size comparison with SH Figuarts figure of Kamen Rider OOO SaGoZo, Vader is slightly bigger than the Kamen Rider and obviously way much bigger than those usual 3.75 inch Star Wars figures:

With the rest of Darth Vader in my collections:

Overall, this is a brilliant articulated action figure of Darth Vader from the bigger size of "The Black Series" by Hasbro. The detailing is very good and thanks to the good articulation points, you can do various action pose for this Vader and so far this is a very good experience and exposure to me on figures produced in bigger size under "The Black Series". I don't plan to have many similar size figures from The Black Series but if they are available at an attractive clearance price like now, I may grab some selected characters but it wont many that's for sure, maybe another one or two and that's it.

end

Hasbro Star Wars - The Last Jedi - Rey (Jedi Training)

2018-04-08T20:00:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the recent clearance sales at Toys R' us, I grabbed this for the sake of getting Rey. The original price was SGD 36.00 (about USD27.50 / EUR 22.38 / GBP 19.52 / JPY 2,940) - which for me is very expensive for such a 3.75 inch figure who no longer have articulation on the elbows and knees like they used to be 10 years ago but at the discounted price of SGD 9.00 (about USD 6.87 / EUR 5.59 / GBP 4.88 / JPY 735) - I think it's perfect and a must grab!!!

This is the box:

OK, let's start with this "Elite Praetorian Guard" which I will throw away by giving it away to my nephew.

It's red and it's beautiful but the lack of articulation made me don't really like it much...

Unlike Hasbro Star Wars figures of around 10 years ago that came with articulation (joints) at the elbow and knee, nowadays only those from "The Black Series" can have that hence we end up getting this minimal movement at the shoulder and a little bit on the hip (end up it looks like a stiff stupid robot) but we still need to pay the same price we paid during those good old days. Hasbro, please stop this!!! Please give us back the articulation and you can think off something better for "The Black Series" and charge more. I can understand that Hasbro is merely using their "business and marketing" strategy but this is bad. The one who will suffer the most is those retailers (like Toys R' Us) who took large bulk orders from Hasbro - the sales figure is poor - end up they have to clear the stock by selling it cheap and sometimes even then, not many people would want to buy anymore. Probably they are some like me who love great bargain but they are plenty of others who really think long and hard before they spend their money....

Look at the picture below, if this is the future of the standard retail pack of 3.75 inch Hasbro action figures... I guess I wont buy as often as I did in the past and probably will eventually lost interest and just don't bother anymore....

OK, that's the end of that "Elite Praetorian Guard" - he is now at the hand of my nephew who will play with it and smash it with his other toys like cars and dinosaurs and so on.... you can guess how the ending...

Now it's time for Rey, I don't have any 3.75 inch ~~action~~ figures of Rey in my collections yet simply because of the articulation issues I mentioned above.

Those days, I used to spend around USD 15.00 for each of those 3.75 inch Star Wars (or any action figures from Hasbro) and I think that is the fair price because the figure is decently detailed, it comes with decent articulation point especially on the elbow and knee and they promise better play value.

However, nowadays, they have "The Black Series" with the same features we enjoyed last time but slightly higher price and they have this "regular series pack" which retailed at the standard USD 15.00 price but now they are as stiff as a broom, no more articulation at the elbow and knee (those days on some figures we also get articulation on the ankle), probably looks a little bit better as a standing statue or some sort of decoration item in a temple but extremely less play value.

Even my nephew is complaining that he cant make the "Elite Praetorian Guard" sit on his other toy car properly....sigh...

So OK, back to Rey, we will get these and also an additional shoulder mounted bazooka in which I have no interest with it and I simply throw it away.

The face sculpt and the overall detailing and painting is decent:

And oh... we also get this blaster pistol mounted on her right hip:

Articulation wise.... sigh... the picture below can tell it all:

Not much we can do, let's try all those weapons and accessories:

And maybe you can try to do something like this and that's about it:

Look at this Princess Leia figure from around 10 years ago, no matter how simple it is, those articulation points is indeed useful and make it more fun and enjoyable:

Overall, thanks to the discount, I finally got my "Rey", it's decently crafted, very good painting finishing and detailing but with much less option when you wan to play around with it. At such low discounted price, I can't complain much, I'm quite grateful and a little bit happy but not so much...

end