Where have all the hero... no, villains gone?

Seriously where have they gone? I have a nice little collection of Marvel Universe figures but the line and my collection is lacking in villains. Currently my collections stands at a count of 14 figures (17 if I include the X-Men: Origins - Wolverine figures) and I only have 2 villains (3 if I count Deadpool). And of course I'm sure you're thinking as you read this "Why don't you just buy more villains?” And my reply is this, " I would if I could, but I can't so I won't" Actually that's not 100% accurate. I could buy more villains, just not from the MU line. Even with the 1/2 dozen figure I'm still waiting for in the mail from eBay (Hate them! Not! <3)

But wait, there's more!

Even with the army builder 3-pack, Secret Wars (SW) 2-pack and XMO: W line you only get 3 to 5 villains (yet again it depends on how you cast some of the figures). Quite honestly I have no idea what is going on and for that matter, who to point a finger at. I mean is it Hasbro's fault or Marvel's? I don't know, but quite possibly it could be both of their fault. Maybe it's Marvel's fault because either they don't give any input towards the line, therefore letting Hasbro doing what they want OR perhaps Marvel is telling Hasbro what to do and they're just like, "Okay...” My logic in the latter is that Hasbro has many, many, many years of experience in selling toys. After all I AM LOYAL to the company as a toy manufacturer. Most of my favorite lines to collect were or are made by them. But I digress; I don't think this the case, as Marvel does not have as much experience in this matter. I think it's Hasbro calling the shots a far as who goes in the line and who doesn't. A perfect example of this is Iron Man and Spider-Man. I love those guys but if I bought every Spider-Man that came out from the line I'd have like 5 of them. Seriously. There is one from wave 01, black costume, wave 5 black and red outfit, one from Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends 3-pack (God, I loved that show!), and ANOTHER black costume from the Secret Wars 2-pack. Ugh For the record I only have 1 1/2. I just got the 3-pack Spidey, black costume should be on its way in the mail and I'll be getting another black costume one w/ Magneto in the SW 2-pack. And don't get me started on Iron Man. Granted, he has an excuse, he upgrades often and I plan on getting them all. I'm gonna build a Hall of Armors (yay! :D)

Back to the point, Hasbro is out to make money. Don't misunderstand when I say this, because I'm not trying to say they're greedy bums or anything but they are a COMPANY. It's kinda of the point with them, besides putting out quality toys for children (or the child within :D) to enjoy. Spider-Man and Iron Man are big money makers. They may have Marvel and whatever other movie companies make tons of moolah, so why shouldn't Hasbro. I think don't blame them. But here's my point to this whole rant, if you have HEROES you MUST have VILLAINS. The situation as it stands is more like a gang rape when it comes to the amount of villains. Because you can argue that Marvel's villains are such that you DO need a group of heroes to defeat ONE villain and his machinations but I honestly don't think that children play patterns are like that. If they have one villain they only need one hero to defeat that villain. I think Hasbro shot itself in the foot. And I say only in the foot because fortunately the line is selling well. But Hasbro if you are reading this a little piece of advice from me, which I'm quoting myself because I said this on a message board @ marvelousnews.com:

"Just a crazy idea but wouldn't it be nice if they made some Skrulls or more Skrull heroes/villains? For instance a Skrull Spider-Woman or who else was a Skrull during Secret Invasion. That way we could have some more villains in the line. I mean I just got a SHS Venom to supplement my villains’ gallery, which brings my count up to 3 villains, 4 if you want to count the gray Hulk, versus 8 or 9 heroes. Good thing I found my 84' Secret Wars Dr. Doom."

Of course this is in reference to the upcoming Gigantic Battles subset that has a Giant-Man Skrull. But like I said, it's a good thing I found my 84' SW Dr. Doom.
Hey Hasbro here's a thought: Doombots to supplement the good old doc that's soon to be released in Secret Wars.

A small update...

It's been awhile since I posted anything but I've been busy with school and my "other" activities (mostly getting more toys). Botcon came and went and it was AMAZING. Granted I've done Botcons before but this show was great, especially since my friend Rob was there in California. Boy I did get a lot of things there. I literally had a bag full of Transformers on the plane going back home.

BTW for those that don't know, this is an off year for me collecting-wise. I really don't buy TF movie toys. It's not that I don't like the movies, it's just that the toys don't really appeal to me for some reason. Perhaps it's the fact that it's not the same experience as watching the ILM animated characters. IDK. But what ever the case may be, Hasbro is lucky.
Why do you ask?
The reason is simple and can be summed up in two words:

Marvel Universe

FINALLY someone, Hasbro in this case, has since I was old enough to love G.I. Joe and superheroes I've ALWAYS wanted my favorite heroes in the same scale as G.I. Joes. FOr the record I LOVE the 3 3/4" or 1/18 scale size. I feel as it's a magical size. Think about it this way, they're big enough to fit your pocket or bag and vehicles/playsets are feasible at that size. Who could ask for more? It doesn't hurt that Hasbro is the king at working at this scale. They have 25 years of experience and possibly more since they also work on Star Wars, which also at this scale.

So yeah, Marvel Universe or MU. Their first year has been in my opinion, a very good start. Granted some of their body types and limbs are not so great. YEAH, Punisher and all your mold buddies, I'm talking to YOU! Seriously, the Punisher mold was kinda disappointing after I acquired some more figures like Daredevil and The Human Torch. While the sculpting is very well done Punisher's articulation is not as desirable. He has NO joint in the torso, no bicep swivel, terrible positioned hands and no double jointed knees which Daredevil and Human Torch do. For a company that has churned out millions of G.I. Joes, you would think they givee the Punisher better hands. But no, they give the hands of 70 year old arthritic person. Though Punisher has one thing that DD and HT don't have, a hip joint. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher can move his body from side to side at the HIPS! Though overall, between having a hip joint or not but with a lot more articulation, I'd pick not. While Punisher has this joint it's not deal breaker for me. If I had to give him a grade I'd give him a C+. After all he does have swivel knees and elbows.

Wow that was a lot.

Anywho, MU is good and seems to be getting better if the pictures from the San Diego Comic Con are any indication. In the meanwhile enjoy these pics for SOME of my latest acquisitions.














UPDATE: Pulled out my Ratchet from stasis lock and gave him is new head.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2009: the year I get broker

2009 is shaping up to be a costly year it seems. With Botcon being in California (expensive plane tickets) and AWESOME fan made kits like the Optimus Prime trailer pictured here to the side made by Best Toys, makers of the Ironhide/Ratchet heads reviewed here, it seems all of my money will be gone. It's a good thing I'm managing my money fairly well.

Hopefully I'll pick this up at the Botcon instead of having to order this and the Shadow Commander set. It'd be really nice if you can connect the 2 trailers together. *fanboy squeal*

You can't win them all...

So last night I attempted to dye my spare Sunswipe (Sideswipe w/Sunstreaker head) black so that I'm one step closer to making Deep Cover and the experiment failed. And what an epic fail it was!

Granted I did manage to dye all the parts I wanted black but it came at a heavy price.
Apparently MOST of the parts shrunk in the dye solution. I don't know if it's because I left the parts in for too long, had a too much acetone in the mix (1 cup of acetone w/ 3 cups of dye and water) or something else. Even worse is that the hood of the car got warped, so even if it didn't shrink it could even line up evenly with the rest of the parts. Perhaps my friend @ COTU World could help me out? Either way I now have spare parts that'll probably go towards Tigertrack.

Here's a example of the warping of the hood. I'd show more but the hood alone shows everything.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday and hoping that you get what you wanted! I got a bunch of Transformers (obviously) so I'll have a bunch of reviews up as we go into the New Year.

2 Characters, 1 mold

Transformers Universe/Classics 2.0 began shipping earlier this year and was known about since last years Botcon. At the show they announced that they will be releasing Sideswipe and Sunstreaker as redecos of each of other. Fans rejoiced and I was satisfied. Of course much like catalogs "products may vary from picture" but after acquiring 2 (more on that later) of each figure I was surprised by the work that went into creating these figures.




It's car mode is based on 2 types of Lamborghini, the Gallardo and the Diablo, to avoid legal issues and it works. They even included a roof mounted rear engine similar to G1 Sunstreaker's for each of the twins, which is nice because it's can double as Sunstreaker's engine intakes a la his G1 mold or for Sideswipe, as his jet pack from the More Than Meets the Eye mini-series. Overall it is a very nice car mold that harkens back to the 1984 molds.



I won't bore you with details on how to transform them as you basically "unfold" the car into the robot. The really cool part is when you get to the torso. Depending on which way you rotate the legs, either the car hood or the the car roof will become the chest for Sideswipe or Sunstreaker. It's like Punch/Counterpuch from G1 but with better, modern technology. The engineering that went into this mold is amazing and quite possibly the best Transformer mold ever created. So it is possible to achieve a Sideswipe body with a Sunstreaker head and vice-a-versa. Of course you would have to pop off the hands and switch them or have a robot with upside down hands.



Of course if you're into the Japanese releases and have a spare Sunstreaker and Sideswipe you can just switch the heads and and make Tigertrack, which is what I did. Granted now I have a Classics/Universe 2.0 red Sunstreaker but with a little work I can convert him to either Clamp Down, Deep Cover or Red Alert. Or even a G2 version of Sideswipe, but I think I'll go with Deep Cover as he's mostly all black, which I can dye all the red parts with Rit Dye and mold new hands, lower torso and head in blue. Here's a quick digi-bash I did of Deep Cover.

Just a small update for all of you followers out there. -_-"
Getting a new camera thus no new entries but I'll have a new one before Christmas.
w00t!
Expect a few reviews soon.

ME SO HAPPY!!!
E-Hobby is re-releasing SUNSTORM!!!!

Everything new is old again(?)

So this little company out of Hong Kong named BEST TOYS has released a small set called TRANSFOR GO!! ENCO 05 06 KITS.Being called a "KIT" seems a little odd to me and has me torn between a "KIT" or a "TOY". Either way Transformers fanboy around the world knows this set as the "set" that gives heads to their G1 Ironhide and Ratchet.



I managed to snag this set of heads from bigbadtoystore for $17.99 plus shipping. As you can see in the pic above they come in a small box with G1 like styling. Once you open the box you'll find the 2 heads (1 for Ironhide, 1 for Ratchet) encased in 2 clear plastic cases.



Once placed on Ironhide by simply sliding the head on to the what would be the seat ion vehicle mode, Ironhide looks very close to his 1980's animated counterpart. Even though his face is literally flat, it looks great and almost like his animation model sheet. Not bad eh?



Unfortunately this set is not 100% perfect. First of all, even though they look like their respective animated selves their heads are flat in the back. Yes completely and utterly FLAT! Like someone cut off the back of their head and let the front to suffer the humiliation of not having a back. The other problem with this set is not really a problem of the heads but caused by the HEADS. Because of their true purpose as driven robots in the Diaclone line in Japan before they became Transformers, Ironhide was a power load of sorts. This means that without a head the arms are place proportionately, once the the head is added though, it looks like his arms are slumped.



Despite it all it's a beautiful set and highly recommend it. Oh, and for wondering about the Ratchet, all that I said applies, I just didn't have my Ratchet handy. But just to appease the Ratchet fans here's a pic of his head on Ironhide's body. Enjoy!

Tha plastic has been SLOWLY rolling down, not pouring lately.

Ahh... it's fall, the world is a little cooler now, Christmas is just 'round the corner and been awhile since I written anything here. Quite honestly, I've been busy. Even now as I type this I'm technically busy because I should be working on a final project for school. That's going well as you can see. lol.

Anywho I haven't gotten much of anything lately. I did win that lot of Legends figures from eBay, from my previous post. That's a fun little (literally! XD) lot.Wish I had my Skywarp and Sunstorm to hang out w/ Screamer but haven't had the time to liberate them from storage. That's okay though because if I play my cards right I'll have the "Aerial Rivals" 5-pack exclusive from Target which have his buddies Ramjet and Thrust. Though that's about 2 months away, so there's plenty of time to scheme. Bwahahahahahahahahaha...