CONFESSIONS OF A PLASTIC JUNKIE

Transformers Tuesday #6

2012-02-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

LUGNUT!!!I love this guy! He's big (Voyager size, I think), mean, stupid and loyal. Almost the perfect Decepticon soldier. I found him in a Marshalls during the holidays and he just HAD to come home w/ me. He's a great substitute for the Animated version which was only released in Japan. Of course they got the better paint scheme for this toy too. Damn you HASBRO!!!! We have a love/ hate relationship... :)

Mini Monday 10

2012-02-13T07:00:00.006-05:00

Actionmaster Jazz!?!

Foreign Friday #7

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Transformers Tuesday #5

2012-02-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Dare to be stupid! It's Wreck-Gar. This has the ONLY one I've EVER seen in the wild. Glad I grabbed him when I had the chance.

Mini Monday #9

2012-02-06T07:00:00.006-05:00

Yet ANOTHER Dragon Quest bottle cap figure.
Looks vicious doesn't he?

We now return to our regularly scheduled program. Already in progress...

2012-02-03T03:00:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody! Happy New Year (a whole month late and all)!
December and January have been... odd and hectic, hence the lack of updates. I missed out on a few things that I said I'd deliver, like the nativity scene and such. Sorry about that guys!

I didn't get ANY toys for Christmas! But that doesn't mean I didn't get any toys during the time I was away from the blog. Pics and reviews will trickle out in the next few weeks along with some of the classics like Then and Now, Foreign Friday and Mini Mondays. Planning some changes around here but nothing is set in stone. So who knows? Either way there will ALWAYS be toys in this blog! Shoot as I write this there's a stack of figures (mostly Star Wars) I have yet to open!

More for the pile...

2011-12-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

Found these last night on a last minute late night hunt.
It's nice having TRU open until 11 or 12 during the holidays.

More coming soon, including achievements and goals, nativity scene and some group reviews!

2011 in piles

2011-11-27T17:11:00.002-05:00

And that's not everything!

EXTERMINATE!!

2011-11-23T02:50:00.000-05:00

A look in to the world of the Tuttz

2011-11-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

We're closer to announcing a release date for the Tuttz Glyos. Keep an eye out!
The drawing was done by me! :)

Tuttz Glyos sneak peek

2011-10-29T03:00:00.003-04:00

There time is near my friends, start saving your money, because the the Tuttz/ Kings of Atlantis Glyos line is about to be released soon. We haven't set down a specific date but I'm only a day or 2 away from painting the final few figures in WHOLE line. On some days we took photos of the completed figures, which you can tell from my previous posts. So as we near the release date check here and Argonaut Resins for more updates and a little more on this new entry to the Glyos universe!

Ever wonder how the Tuttz get around? They know! ;)

New York Comic Con 2011

2011-10-15T23:45:00.002-04:00

If you're going to at NYCC Come by

Big Kev's GeekStuff

Booth #E7
2-5pm

Saturday and Sunday

And pick up one of these:

It's a Argonaut Resins x Jelly Empire x Soundwave810 crossover figure.
Yes, I worked on this figure and made into the upkeepers of peace for the Jellatic Empire!
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UPDATE:
I forgot to mention that I will be at Big Kev's Geekstuff table also on Sunday from 10am until 11am. So come on by even if you just want to say hi or talk about toys and stuff!

Glyos Update part 2!

2011-09-27T13:15:00.000-04:00

Here's the latest press release from Argonaut Resins on the Glyos project I've been working on.
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Here are some newer teaser images of the second half of the Glyos Tuttz project I'm collaborating on with Matt Doughty of Onell Design creator of the famous Glyos. This second part of the project will feature the return of the Kings Of Atlantis in Glyos form action figures! I will also finally reveal all of the Kings powers with this release finally. As with the Tuttz Glyos we teased earlier the talented Victor Durango will be handling the paint work. As we near completion on this project everything will be fully revealed by Matt Doughty with all images of assortments and pricing.

The story...
The Tuttz are looking for a ancient relic that was taken from their home world a very long time ago. They have finally found the location of a world they believe to hold their relic but it is inhabited by a race of beings older and more powerful than them. The Kings of Atlantis have settled on this hidden planet for thousands of years after plundering many galaxies of their riches. Everyone who has come the Kings of Atlantis's planet in search of the Universes greatest treasures have all perished. The Tuttz Bad Luck Squadron will have their might tested trying to recover their ancient relic on this hostile world hidden deep within the outer regions of space....

On a alien world - there will be war!

Foreign Friday #6

2011-09-16T03:00:00.001-04:00

Today's Foreign Friday is also a Kamen Rider Motion Revive Series Figure. This is Kamen Rider Zeronos: Altair form. From what I gathered from the 'net, the Altair form his is base form which explains his Emperor form which I'll show you guys next week.

For a blind box series of toys this figures are fantastic and if you're a fan of Kamen Rider and the 3 3/4"- 1:18 scale, these figures are right up your alley! Too bad the line got canceled after 6 or 7 waves.

Feline Heroes stands

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

So if you loyal readers haven't seen the new Thundercats series, I highly suggest that you do! In my opinion it's WAY better than the original, and it's so much better that I've actually gone a bit out of my way to get as many of the toys as possible. At this moment, all I want is the Tower of Omens because I have just about everything else minus the 6" Panthro, Lion-O and the role-playing toys (sword of omens).

One problem I had, was that my Cheetara had warped legs from being packaged and all the hot water in the world couldn't warp it back. I tired. So what does a smart, individual like myself do? We make a stand! Pretty neat huh?

A project like this is not as easy as you may think but somewhere in those cracks of free time I had, I managed to craved this out. It came out SO well that I've made it my featured item in a new venture.

I've opened up a new web store "Cassette Man Studios" dedicated to toys. Either extra stuff I'm selling off or custom projects like this. So head over there is you're interested in stands for your 4" Thundercats!
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Contest time!
The first person who can post in the comment section, what the reference to the name of the webstore "Cassette Man" is, gets a prize! What that prize is I'm not sure but it'll definitely be a toy!

Toy Fail #6

2011-09-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Apparently someone returned this "mini rig" with a bunch of accessories and kept the figure. Doesn't anyone take pride in their jobs? ugh...

TUTTZ Glyos press release

2011-08-17T12:43:00.006-04:00

So I finally got the ok to preview one of the MANY projects I've been working on.

Here's the press release written from Argonaut Resins.

Hey all,
as promised here are some teaser images of the secret project I'm collaborating with Onell Designs Matt Doughty creator of the famous Glyos. Rob Losito introduced me to Matt at the New York Comic Con last year and suggested we work together since I was a big fan of the Glyos figures. What we came up with is the Bad Luck Squadron! A fighting squad of mini Tuttz action figures. This project was going to be a lot of work so we brought in artist Victor Durango (that's me!) to help with designing the bodies, accessories and all the paint work for the entire line and the One Cam and When Giants Meet to do the the project photography. We will be releasing more images and pricing of the first wave in the near future on the Glyos site....and you know me - there will be lot's of surprises in store!

As always thanks for your tireless support!

So there you have it, one of the many projects that I've been working on.

Hope you guys like it and keep an eye out for more info on this blog!

Summer Break

2011-07-28T02:28:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! I know there hasn't been a any posts lately but I've been busy. I've got multiple toy projects going on at the same time and I've hardly had time to go toy hunting. All I've been doing is waking up, working and going back to bed mostly.So I'm taking a break from blogging for a bit.

UNLESS it's about a toy project that I'm working on because I know SOME of you guys out there are into designer toys and that's what I've been working on. Including helping END of Argonaut Resins produce Sneakerheads for Cookies N Cream. So check them out!

On a side note, I gotta say, Jboypacman is a BRO! We worked out a trade a while back and I've been meaning to show you guys what I got, he really hooked it up. Not only that but Jboy CONSISTENTLY posts comments here. If that doesn't make him BRO I don't what does. Btw, Jboy, I still got your Warpath, I'm just having trouble finding an extra I'm gonna throw in.

Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying your summer, remember to play with your toys and be sure to send me b-day gifts as mine is coming up VERY SOON.

Nah, just kidding, you don't have to, though my b-day is August 10th!

Foreign Friday #5

2011-07-15T07:00:00.004-04:00

Motion Revive Series: Kamen Rider Series 2, The Bee by Bandai.
I don't know much about the Kamen Rider: The Bee but I know he was featured in Kamen Rider Kabuto, looks pretty cool and I got him at a rockbottom price of only $3.99!

Toy Haul Thursday

2011-07-14T12:00:00.001-04:00

Sorry guys no Then & Now this week. Haven't had the time to set it up. So instead you get a toy haul. Haven't gotten much, but these past few weeks was somewhat fruitful. Also, if you're having trouble finding Marvel Universe figures, I suggest Marvelous News' forums. That how I scored Archangel and Crossbones!

Random pic of the week

2011-07-13T15:00:00.001-04:00

On the prowl for trouble.

GOOD NEWS!!!

2011-07-12T10:21:00.001-04:00

You guys remember this, right? Well, this project is moving full steam ahead after some hiccups. I'm hoping to have this done on or before New York Comic-Con but I'm not making any promises. I'll keep you updated though!

Transformers Tuesday #4

2011-07-12T07:00:00.006-04:00

Kup here is from the Transoformers Generations line. Really digging how Hasbro is slowly updating their way towards the 86' figures, even though they missed a few of the 84/ 85 figures.

Mini Monday #8

2011-07-11T07:00:00.009-04:00

Another Cap Monster from Dragon Quest but this time it fits over soda bottles. Japan sure does have some interesting toys, don't they?

Toy Fail #5

2011-07-09T07:00:00.004-04:00

Found this one at the local Target. The worst part of this isn't that it's a movie Starscream but the fact that he doesn't even fit the tray. Shouldn't that have been obvious to the person who took the return?

Foreign Friday #4

2011-07-08T07:00:00.010-04:00

Lupin the 3rd here hails from the Lupin the 3rd Action Figure Collection from Banpresto and was released in 1998. There's 5 figures in the set and have your basic 5 points of articulation. Which puts them on par with vintage Kenner Star Wars figures. Of course Star Wars figures don't have the charm and sophistication that only Lupin can have! He comes with a Walther P-38, which for those who don't know, is the very same gun that Megatron from Transformers, transforms into! Unfortunately I seem to have lost/ misplaced the gun but it could be in the box with all the GI Joe weapons.

Anyways, Lupin here is pretty awesome and I wouldn't give him up, even if I was offered the very tempting Microman version.

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Update: Thanks to Jboypacman, he reminded me that I wanted to post a pic of the whole line.

Then & Now #1

2011-07-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

With the revamps and remakes of pop culture TV shows and movies a number of toys/ action figures are also being made. This series of posts will showcase some of these toys.

Today's action figures are from the A-Team! Galoob made the figures in the 80's and are on par with G.I. Joes from 1982/ 83, articulation-wise, but the sculpting is isn't as well done as Joe's. Another issue witht the Galoob figures that they usually look like they're wearing lipstick or have a goofy look on there face. Not very manly for ex-soldiers on the run.
Read more »

Toy Street haul

2011-07-06T07:00:00.130-04:00

Looking through my pictures I noticed I failed to show you my haul from Toy Street.
I didn't get much but it certainly was an eclectic haul.

First we have a mini Evil from the RealxHead Mutant Zone collection. There are 4 figures in the the set but I could only afford one of them. The paint job is supposed to pay homage to the Ninja Turtles. Pretty cool for a vinyl figure with one point of articulation.

Transformers Tuesday #3

2011-07-05T07:00:00.006-04:00

Jboypacman, this one is for you, TF: Generations Warpath! I've seen them floating around so next time I see one, it's yours! And yes, it's awesome!

Mini Monday #7

2011-07-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

Akira here is from a blind box series that has scenes from the comic. It's been awhile since i got the little guy so I don't remember who makes the figures but I can guarantee you, it's from a Japanese maker. ;)

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-04T07:00:00.004-04:00

Toy Fail #4

2011-07-02T07:00:00.004-04:00

Yet another, what is likely a return with some bootleg figure in the packaging. At least this time it looks like the figure it's supposed to be.

Foreign Friday #3

2011-07-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

Perfect Cell here is another gashapon figure from Dragonball Z. I also found him here in Chinatown about 15 years ago. He used to be pink, until I painted him. Apparently I never finished painting him. Gonna have to fix that...

Transformers Tuesday #2

2011-06-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

Scourge

Mini Monday #6

2011-06-27T07:00:00.006-04:00

Transformers Tuesday #1

2011-06-21T23:59:00.013-04:00

Transformers: Generations Thunderwing, one of few original Transformers from it's later years to get a modern update. Pretty snazzy even though he doesn't have an inner robot like his original Pretender toy!

Mini Monday #5

2011-06-20T07:00:00.039-04:00

Today's Mini fig is a blind box pencil cap from Japan. The characters are all monsters from the Dragon Quest Monster Cap series as in the role-playing game series. They're made by Square Enix.

Unfortunately I only managed to get one of these, Muscle Wutan, but it's pretty cool to have the little ape dude with a cap hanging out on a pencil!

Mini Monday #4

2011-06-13T07:00:00.013-04:00

How could you not recognize the beautiful Mary Jane Watson as a mini-fig?

Toy Fail #3

2011-06-11T07:00:00.003-04:00

Yet another unscrupulous collector strikes! This time replacing a Rhino figure for a bootleg Masters of the Universe looking Spider-Man. It's things like this and scalpers that REALLY piss me off about toy collecting.

Foreign Friday #2

2011-06-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

This weeks Foreign Friday figure is a gashapon figure from Dragonball Z. I found Super Saiyan Trunks here in Chinatown about 15 years ago and he used to be gold, until I painted him.You can see some of the gold on his right leg were some of the paint has chipped away.

Mini Monday #3

2011-06-06T00:00:00.009-04:00

Lemy Koopa from Furuta's New SMB Wii line.

Foreign Friday #1

2011-06-03T12:00:00.003-04:00

Being an anime fan I also collect toys from movies and TV shows I like. So in these features I'll showcase toys from the land of the rising sun.

Today's figure is from the Banpresto's Tatsunoko Action Figure line.
This line had characters from various Tatsunoko Production animations including:

Gatchaman! Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, only Ken the Eagle was made in to a figure.

2011-06-01T23:59:00.006-04:00

It's been awhile since I got this small package from BubbaShelby.
I'm one step closer to completing my Titans set!
Thanks, a small package is on it's way to you. :)

Happy Memorial Day

2011-05-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

Here's to all the men and women who fought to keep our country free.

Mini Monday #2

2011-05-30T00:00:00.004-04:00

Roy Koopa! Also from the Furuta New SMB Wii line.

Simply astonishing

2011-05-29T17:00:00.002-04:00

Toy Fail #2

2011-05-28T23:30:00.001-04:00

This one isn't as much of a fail of the last one for 2 reasons.
1) it seems to be a mis-package and
2) it worked towards my advantage since I got another Soundwave to add to my collection.

Mini Monday #1

2011-05-23T00:00:00.005-04:00

New feature, random mini toys, mostly from Japan and blind box, some American stuff. Hope you like this. See, I just don't get 3 3/4"/ 1:18th action figures!

This mini toys are made by Furuta and feature characters from the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game, which is hella fun! They're all blind box and come in a capsule within a chalky chocolate egg. I don't recommend eating the chocolate. A small bite made me feel nauseous. Today's figure is Mecha Koopa!

DO NOT EAT THIS CHOCOLATE!!

Play with this instead!

Toy Fail #1

2011-05-19T15:00:00.023-04:00

So I've decided to fill this blog with certain features on certain days because work I'm doing keeps me busy and sometimes it taking me too long for me to write reviews or post picture from events. I'll still have those but the features are for those of you who enjoy toys.

Today's feature isn't specified to a certain day since these events happen randomly but I thought I'd share which I like to call a TOY FAIL. It's when when some unscrupulous person buys a toy, switches a part or figure with a junk toy and returns it. Not cool and unfortunate.

In this TOY FAIL someone not only switched the Ultron for a Power Rangers knock-off but they switched the Secret Wars comic for a Marvel Fanfare. Obviously the person who took this back was asleep at the wheel.

2011-05-18T07:00:00.002-04:00

Been wanting to just lay about and do nothing like this little dude up here, but there's much to do!

Toy Street 2011

2011-05-10T23:59:00.000-04:00

Wow, I've never had 8 hours go by so quickly for me!
Toy Street was pretty successful and it was great to meet people in the toy/ art community.
I won't bore you with many details, so on with the pics!

I'm gonna start with the table I was at, Toy Dungeon Studios. Our table was full of zipper pull/ keychains of our mascot character: The Dungeon Master. We also had a few prototypes that should be released soon.

Diagonally to our left was Jesse Destasio. I really like what he has but I generally find his items to be a bit pricey. Either way I HAD to walk away with Tankopula which is a collab with Onell and Tarantulas, and is Glyos compatible.

To our right was Eric (END) of Argonaut Resins and Selina Biggs (hiding on the right in a pink hat) AKA The Jelly Empire.

Selina's Jelly Bots are super cute and often try to recruit Stormtroopers to join the Jellatic Empire!

The Cookies 'N' Cream crew had a awesome display of Jumbo Machinder/ Shogun Warriors!

They also had a set of custom Sneaker Heads which were customized by END, Sucklord, Steve Talkowski and 2 others that I can't remember. I helped to make these so it was great to see something I helped with displayed.

The Mishka NYC table manned by Lamour Supreme, a very awesome artist. They had alot of Japanese kaiju vinyl like...

these kaiju by Gargamel.

The crew from Halfbad Toyz. Awesome guys who make...

Skelkiltor.

And at the end of the night a bunch of us including Big Kev went out for a nice Japanese dinner.

Super quick review!

2011-04-21T23:59:00.001-04:00

Some day, earlier this week I opened up the Heavy Alien Devastator Unit from the Crysis 2 line made by Gamestar Collectibles. It's not a bad figure, a little rubbery and bulky but light. Ankle joint are a little loose on my but still stands well. If you've got the $$ to spare or a fan of the game go for it, otherwise it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Ok back to work preparing for Toy Street, which is tomorrow. Come visit me if you're in the New York area. After this show I'll catch you guys up on more action figure goodness!

A reason...

2011-03-31T23:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging as much is because I've been working on "projects". Fortunately, I've been given the ok to sneak peek a Glyos "collab" w/ END of Argonaut Resins.

Also, toy haul pics within the weekend. Hopefully. lol XD

Ravage and Soundwave

2011-03-06T05:22:00.001-05:00

Ravage and Soundwave a photo by "Orion Pax" on Flickr.

Done by Orion Pax, this custom Lego Soundwave is pretty cool.
He's done some other Transformers that transform too, so check him out if you get the chance.

Post Toy Fair 2011 report

2011-03-06T01:42:00.000-05:00

Been really busy, so this one is REALLY late. Sorry guys!
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Really cool display
@Diamond select area

Well Toy Fair 2011 is done as of this past Wednesday and it's been an interesting to say the very least. As everyone knows it is an annual event where toy companies come from all over the world to show off their latest wares for the year to come. Thanks to the fact that I am doing some work for a new, small company know as Toy Dungeon Studios, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to this years event. And while I wasn't able to get into showrooms to huge companies like Hasbro, Mattel and Bandai, I was still able to peruse the rest of the event and managed to learn a thing or two that some of the other toys sites missed to didn't take note of.

At the Gamestars Collectibles area, a division of Panache Place (no relation to the company Panosh Place, who made Voltron figures in the 80's), I really got a good look at the figures from Crysis 2. Now I have to admit that I had seen these figures at Target and considered buying them but didn't just because there were other figures/ toys to buy. But actually seeing the whole line of 6 figures there, at Toy Fair, I was actually impressed. Initially I'd only seen the characters in Nano-suits which weren't bad and no aliens but I have to say, the aliens are probably the best part of the line. And they're all in 1:18 or 3.75" scale. So the Heavy assault aliens was really like 5" tall but totally in scale. While I have yet to get any any figures from this line, I think it's definitely worth giving a shot. That's what I plan on doing tomorrow when I go to Target. Plus from the bit of research I've done on the line, they are generally well liked, especially the aliens. Hopefully these do well so that they release the Assassins Creed the rep told the plan on releasing!

Also on the 1:18/ 3.75" scale front, is Jazwares who is working on both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat lines! The last time I remember a company having both IPs was Hasbro during the 1990's. I'm glad that they are both being produced at the same time by the same company. There's nothing like a good SF Vs. MK match.

Unfortunately what was on display for MK was just what I believe was card art and a pic for the the character from various incarnations of the games. The good news is that they are starting the predominantly with the ninjas. I mean who does love the MK ninjas? Judging by the art on display they are using the MK3 versions for sub-zero, scorpion smoke and reptile. And if you love the cyber ninjas, Jazwares has you covered with a 3 pack!

On the Street Fighter side of things, I believe Jazwares will have an impressive showing. Much like the MK figures they are iin the scale. While most toy sites report that the figures are in the works most fail to report that Jazwares did have "rough" prototypes. I suppose this toy equivalent of a 1st draft of a report. Either way I did see the sculpts and they looked fantastic. Let me tell you, scale is VERY important to Jazwares. While they only had 5 or 6 figures on display, you could clearly tell who was who just based on size. Sagat was the tallest and bulky like his SF Alpha incarnation, Chun-Li was smaller but with thighs that were obvious that it was here and Bison who smaller than Sagat but bulky also. I REALLY wish I got to take a pics of them but there was NO WAY to take a pics without them knowing.

While I didn't get to visit showrooms to bigger companies, I will give my 2 cents on what was show based on what other sites have reported.

Mega Bloks- while I didn't see much coverage on them I did find pictures on Blok forums and Cool Toy Review. From what both sites had to offer picture-wise, I'm happy with what they had. I believe it's safe to say that Mega Brands (name of the actual company) has impressed Marvel Entertainment, enough to grant them the license for both the Thor and Captain America movies in addition to continuing the Marvel line. It seems that MB is planning to release blind packs of characters for Marvel and hopefully sets to, but I'm happy with mini-figs. I feel that MB is really starting to push to gain more ground from Lego and I believe it's going to work.

Speaking of Lego, their showing was pretty cool. I especially love the new Millennium Falcon. Their games seem pretty cool and I found some cool reviews of them on YouTube. But what I thought was REALLY cool was a game that had a monkey mini-fig. Not too many ppl know this but I love monkeys, and when I saw this game on the outside of their showroom it made me stop in my track just to stare at it. The new Heroica game looks cool and reminds me a bit of Hero Quest. Do you guys remember that game? Their selection of new mini-fig are cool too and I have to make sure I the punk/rocker from the next wave. That mohawk it SO me. Especially since I have one for real.

Mattel, hmm... what can I say about Mattel..? They canceled the Infinite Heroes lines after improving them and then they bring out a Green Lantern line that is barely moving me. Seriously. I LOVE Green Lantern but what they have to offer in the 3.75"/ 1:18 scale is just a bit short of adequate. I mean in this day and age I find it insulting to myself and kids all over the world to offer a figure with 5 points of articulation. While it may have been the norm 20 to 30 years ago, I feel that you're phoning it in when you are the largest toy manufacturer in the world and 5 points of articulation is all you can muster. But then again it is the "kids" line. Ugh... kids aren't stupid Mattel. Either way I'm just going to get the aliens (I really do applaud the choice to add them to the line though.) and I'll think about maybe getting GL himself. As for the Retro-Action line, it looks good, no complaints. Is it me or is Mattel just not with it when it comes to working at smaller scales?

Hasbro- I gotta got say, they have surprised me in two ways. First with Transformers, which virtually no showing from the Generations. I really hope that they continue this line but from past history, I'll assume the worst and expect it to go on hiatus. At best they're holding back and anyone who makes to Cali for Botcon will be treated to a viewing of new figures then.

The second thing that surprised me was Kre-O. This comes to a surprise to me for two reasons. one, because after the Built to Rule line failure, I did not expect Hasbro to get back into construction toys. Second, even though the transforming brick toys seem to be based on the live action movies, the mini figures are G1. I think Hasbro has done this to appeal to two different targets. The movie aesthetics to attract the kids who are growing up with them and the G1 mini-figs to appeal to the grown up/ parent fans. Good move Hasbro, you got me.

HERBIE!!!

Marvel Universe was pretty impressive for a line that relies on reusing and frankensteining their parts. Despite the reuse of bodies it's nice to see that new heads were created for Thor and Iron Man, besides the nearly brand new body for the Hulk in the Classic Avengers box set. But even more surprising is that despite FINALLY getting a Sue Storm figure, and we're getting a HERBIE figure! Add that to all that has been announced or mentioned before and I think Marvel Universe is going to have a great year.

Thor and Captain America will be great additions to the expanding Marvel Universe line and I'm happy that the Cap movie line is starting with mostly comic series figures. It'll give me a chance to switch to other lines when a slew of different movie Caps hits the shelves. Not that they aren't good figures but I'm not a big fan of buying the same figure just for different accessories. Same goes for Thor. This can only kind of work with one superhero in my opinion, Iron Man. And that only KIND OF works because he does have different armors for different situations, even then, I didn't go out and get EVERY Iron Man that was made for the IM2 line. Hopefully there will be some Thor comic figures too.

While it seems like GI Joe is dropping the Pursuit of Cobra part of it's name, that's all it seems to be dropping. Hasbro is continuing to put out amazing Joe figures and I'm happy that Renegades is included and not animated looking like the way the Clone Wars series is compared to the Star Wars Vintage Collection line. Not that there is anything wrong with Clone Wars, I have a good deal of Clone War figure that I love, but you can clearly tell one from the other. Regardless, Renegades seems to have a strong start and I hope to see more once Joecon hits. I hope to see more of the the 30th Anniversary collection at Joecon, which looks great and is starting this Fall. By the way, new Skystriker repainted as Starscream with pilot Cobra Commander, who can hold Megatron in gun mode is full of win, SDCC exclusive, fail.

And finally but not least, Bandai. The new Thundercats series looks promising but knowing how the quality of figures can vary from figure to figure (Damn you Goldar!) I'll be taking a wait and see attitude. The quality changing from figure to figure is quite evident in the Mumm-Ra figure. The mummy version seems to lack ANY articulation while the Ever Living version is fully articulated. Either way the new line looks promising on a whole and I hope it does well.

And on that note I wrap this up but before I go I just want to say that if you're a fan of 1:18/ 3.75" and/ or 1:48/ 2" figures, this is the year for you. Most IPs are either/or sizes and I believe that we currently living a new age of the 1:18 scale figures.

Halo Hi-Jinxs

2011-02-21T23:59:00.001-05:00

Guess who decided to make Snow Angels since it snowed again in NYC?

From the trenches of Toy Fair 2011

2011-02-15T23:50:00.006-05:00

It'sa me, Mario!

I found this little guy! He was stuck in a FREE claw machine and he begged me to take him home. lol

Haven't had time to write and post since I'm attending Toy Fair 2011 but it's been a blast and I've seen some really cool toys that most likely will be reviewed or shared with, when they get released in stores. Anyways back to work. Working on a secret figure for Toy Dungeon Studios!

Keep an eye on...

2011-02-11T02:16:00.000-05:00

Toy Dungeon Studios. They're a small up and coming studio that makes "designer toys" and I've been working with. I really can't say what's in the works (NDA and all) but some really cool stuff is gonna drop from them. So please support them and buy a zipper pull or two. Thanks :)

Toy question of the week

2011-02-09T02:36:00.000-05:00

Collectors case or not collectors case. How do you store your figures?
How interested would you be in seeing posts about action figure collector cases?

Random pics of the week

2011-02-08T23:59:00.008-05:00

Alley-Viper: Do you think we can make it past him?
Nitro Viper: When I'm driving, sure.

These Hulkbusters never had a chance.

Retro Review: Tron Legacy pt. 2

2011-02-07T00:39:00.001-05:00

Here's a review I wrote before Grandma died but never got to post.
Enjoy

_______________________________________________________________________________

So I broke down and got the rest of the Tron: Legacy figures and vehicles. What can I say? I got a good deal. That said let me say that this series, is a mixed bag.

I'll keep this brief as I already have reviewed Sam Flynn and with the exception different color of light, pattern design and accessories (barely on both accounts) most of the are pretty much the same except Kevin, who I'll go into further detail later.

As with Sam, Clu, Rinzler, Black Guard and Clu's Sentry all have the same articulation. Which means these figures are like Marvel Universe figures but w/o torso and double knee joints. Not bad articulation wise, I just prefer the double knee and torso, but I understand the lack of torso since the light up gimmick is in the way.

Accessories are pretty much the same as well. They all come with their own ID discs except for Rinzler who comes with two discs, two batons and a nunchuck. Also of interest, Clu comes with a katana. It's yellow and the handle is the same as the standard baton all the figures come with. I guess they do some martial artists in the movie.

And now for Kevin Flynn. In a word, he sucks. The scuplting on his face is horrible and looks like a bad sculpt from the Kenner Star Wars era. Not to say those figures were bad but they often did not look like the actors, except this is worse. In this day and age where figures in this scale are masterpieces, this is trash. I'm under the impression that Jeff Bridges didn't do the final approval of the sculpt and if he did, with all due respect, he needs to have he vision checked. This figure looks SO bad that even if I squint my eyes it does look like him. Even worse is that this figure has a soft plastic robe so it's rather difficult to fit him into his Light Cycle. Hey SpinMaster, wtf? If you MUST own this figure, by all means, go for it, but I, in good conscience CAN NOT recommend it.

On the other hand, Kevin Flynn's Light Cycle is pretty cool. Despite the fact that it can not accommodate Kevin, all the other figures in the collection fit well. It has a light up feature like all toys in this collection, which nice but the kicker is that when you place a figure in it and close it, the lights stays on longer than w/o a figure. Pretty neat and it sort of adds to value of owning one of the figures.

Sam also has a Light Cycle which is different from his father's model. It doesn't close around the rider, like his dad's and is more open. It comes with already posed figure of Sam who has three points of articulation, at his neck and at each shoulder. But the cool thing about it is that you can take the head off of this Sam and put it on the regular 3.75" figure. Which makes a difference since it's a different head on this Sam. As with Kevin's Light Cycle this one also has lights and sounds when you place a figure on it, the one difference that it lights
up when you roll it.

The Light Runner is also another vehicle in the collection and is a sort of F1 formula car but seats 2 passengers. I really like this vehicle for it's styling and features. It has similar light features to the Light Cycles and has a spinning front wheel section which turns up and down from the main part of the car. When I say this I don't mean up and down like with an suspension system but the whole axle spins on an axis. I'm not really sure how to explain it but it's cool.

One other thing to note with the Light Runner, be careful when removing your figures from it. To make a figure fit, you have to push the rear circle part of the figure into a crevice with a button to activate the light features, on the seat which also holds the figure in place. When I first placed Sam in it and took him out, he split in half. I don't know if it's because the glue was weak or there isn't any glue but he opened up like an egg to the edge of a frying pan. Luckily it wasn't broken so I put back together fairly easily. On a side note this car, if you're into customizing, in my opinion could be the base for a Batmobile. Not anyone Batmobile in particular but it has enough to make up your own design.

Once again like my previous review, this line is definitely clearance fodder for it's pricing and not because it's a horrible line, and that's when you should pick it up. And unless you're a completest, avoid Kevin Flynn as he's a total waste of plastic. Well I'm off to finish my Prince of Persia collection because that's on clearance.

And now for something different...

2011-02-04T04:11:00.001-05:00

January is a horrible month for toys. I say this because as a collector I usually don't find anything to buy, as the stores around here don't seem stock their shelves. So instead of finding new releases like the Return of the Jedi wave from Star Wars, I find the older waves. To further add injury to insult, other collectors seem to have no problems finding certain toys like the Iron Man 2 wave with the Mandarin or Comic Iron Monger. Either way, on a trip to Target I picked up a couple of Mega Bloks Halo Hero Pack on a whim and boy, did this clear up my lack of new figures on the shelves blues!

Now I've heard people refer to Mega Blocks as the poor man's Legos but this is far from true, especially in reference to the Halo series. While Legos have their blocky charm the Halo line is far from blocky. These are figures are fully formed mini- figs with ball and socket articulation and in my opinion the next evolution of the building block figure.

Gone are the squared legs and round pumpkin like head of their Lego compatriots. In their stead there is a fully sculpted figure ready to kick either Covenant or UNSC butt. Ironically the only evolutionary holdover from their Lego brethren are the hands, but in fairness to the Mega Bloks, they do have lines to indicate their fingers and what could pass as a thumb.

In addition the Halo figures also have knee and elbow joints. Though only simple swivel joints, they are amazing to behold on such a tiny figure. These joints add more depth to the poses that they can take. Especially since Halo figures can look up without having to lean back due the ball and socket neck it has. The possibilities of poses are greater than Legos.

If you like Halo and want figures without plopping whatever McFarlane charges (what, $10?) for their figures, try the Mega Bloks line. They're only $2.49 at my local Target and well worth the price in opinion. Or if you're daring enough, pick up a vehicle, you might like it.

Winter Wonderland

2011-02-01T22:18:00.001-05:00

So we, in NY, are up to our 3rd or 4th snow storm of the season and when I could,
I took pictures of some toys in action in the snow.

Enjoy!

2010 collecting achievements and goals for 2011

2011-01-17T16:38:00.009-05:00

I'd like to preface this by apologizing for the lack of a presence here. Unfortunately on New Years Day my Grandmother passed away so I haven't been keeping up with this blog. Things have slowly been getting back to normal though, so I'll start posting regularly soon.

We now join our show already in progress.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following Eclectorama and Doc Atomic's Attic of Astounding Artifacts, who got this from Rebelscum (great Star Wars site btw!) and listed their achievements for the year and goals for next, so in that spirit I will do the same. Plus it's a nice way to look back at the year in this blog.

ACHIEVEMENTS

While I didn't set out to do anything this year as far as toy collecting goes because other than the schedule of new toys coming out I’m usually at the whim of my pocket and how much money is available and I really don't go to cons other than Botcon or swap meets and whatnot but there are a few things that I'm happy about.

Inhumanoids - not only did I finish the whole Earth Corps. Team but I got my first Inhumanoid, Metlar. Considering how many incomplete figures are available and Liquidator seeming to be the hardest, I'm glad I finished the team.

Visionaries, Knights of the Magical Light - I managed to get a few this year after finding one in a local toy shop years ago. The fact that I found one without an o-ring but complete otherwise helps. Thank the gods that Hasbro constructed these figures just like G.I. Joes. So from one figure I moved up to seven and never paying more than ten dollars!

Dungeons & Dragons - I got a complete Warduke! While he is a common figure, he is popular and I always did want him. He is just SO badass with that skull shield while being half armored. This is also another collection that I'm glad has increased even if it's only to a few figures, as I only owned Kelek and a 2 monsters previously.

Star Wars - I'm just glad I got back into collecting them. The increased point of articulation and beautiful sculpting is what brought me back. Build-A-Droid helped too and thanks to eBay I managed to finish a handful, which makes me happy. Unfortunately Hasbro has stopped this but it doesn't deter me.

We should have made that left at Albuquerque!
Dammit!

G.I. Joe - while not an achievement for me I'm happy the line has switched to Pursuit of Cobra. I love this line! As far as achievements I'll go with getting the attending exclusive figures from this year's Joecon, the troop building I've done for Cobra and getting Big Lob from the fan club. The Joecon and Big Lob figures represent in my honest opinion a wonderful merging of the a more unified Joe universe and I hope I can cement this even further with the Adventure Team Joes. Troop building in this line was amazing to me because I was lucky to find troops at Marshalls at rock bottom prices.

Transformers - getting the Cobalt Sentries is an achievement here as they filled the hole in my collection of Soundwave's cassettes. Which is a big deal to me being that Soundwave is my favorite Transformer. Oh and I almost forgot that I got a BUMBLEJUMPER for a really good price! He is SO cool and a beautiful addition to my minibot collection.

Marvel Universe - Galactus and X-Force Archangel would be my achievements here. For a while I wasn't sure if I was going to the NY Comic Con or even make it there in time to get one. Fortunately I did and even if I didn't I think I would've because I saw an old friend from my intern days at Marvel who would've hooked me up. Galactus is just expensive so I didn't think I'd get one but a friend made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

DC Universe - this is kind of a mixed bag as I made purchases I didn't think I’d make. First and for most I got a Retro Action Green Lantern, I haven't had an 8" action figure since the early 80's. Getting the "Superfriends" 3-pack from the Justice League collection is another "haven't since" as I haven't bought a DCUA figure since 1998 (Batman Rogues Gallery). This is SO cool to me that I haven't even opened them yet but eventually I'll free them from their plastic prison. And finally, the Doomsday 6-pack from the Infinite Heroes line, to be honest I didn't even think Doomsday existed and was a figure that was just unreleased. Luckily I found the set at a National Wholesale Liquidators on a random trip there.

On a whim I got Brock Samson and the Monarch from the Venture Bros. 8" line and I think I'm hooked on 8" again! Like I said before, I haven't a figure in this scale since the early 80's. Let's hope my wallet holds out!

GOALS FOR 2011

Other than keeping up as best as I can with the current lines and getting the new Green Lantern, Captain America and Thor figures the rest of my goals are all vintage action figure related.

- I'd like to get at least one more Inhumanoid figure, probably Tendril as D'Compose seems to be harder to find on eBay and usually also goes for more.

- A few more Visionaries would be nice, at least another 2 or 3.

- Drex is another badass looking character from the Dungeons & Dragons line and I think he'd look awesome just hanging out with Warduke.

- More droids from Star Wars, vintage and/ or build-a-droid. I don't know what it is but I like SW droids, especially astromech droids. Which reminds me that I REALLY want a "Goldie" astromech. I like the fact that he was an "evil" droid counterpart to Artoo.

- More troop building for G.I. Joe! Other than that a Quarrel would be nice. Does anyone know if she was released as a 25th figure? I'd settle for a vintage as I really don't care which era she is from.

- Omega Supreme or Sky Lynx re-issue or vintage are nice lofty goals but may be a bit out of reach. Getting Trailbreaker and Sideswipe are more attainable and would complete the 1984 collection for me. Of course there's SO much more I'd like to have but those are the primary goals for Transformers.

- Like I said before, Cap and Thor movie figures. Especially Destroyer, who looks AMAZING, and Crossbones and from what I hear the Captain America line is starting off with comic figures which is nice and different from the Iron Man line that started off with movie figures. Not that I don't like them, I just like the comic ones better, plus they blend in better with the Marvel U figures.

- From my understanding Mattel is rebooting DCU Infinite Heroes with the Green Lantern line and hopefully I can get everyone.

- As far as 8" figures go, I want a Mego Spidey at least. I had one as a kid and I want one again. That was my favorite Spidey as a kid and I think it would fit in better with the Retro Action GL and Venture Bros figs. Speaking of Retro Action a Batman would be my goal there. I could add more but space is also an issue, even though I love my dollies!

On a related note I’d also like to get more carrying cases for my figures. After reading Reis' article on caring for them on About.com I noticed that most of my toys are in cardboard boxes, which is not good. I got a case that can be sectioned off into different sized but it's kind of pricey as they can hold 16 figures on the average and run about $13. Carrying case that holds 24 figures on eBay, about $10. Not a bad deal huh?

Well I hope you enjoyed reading this and it's been great year on this blog. I appreciate all the responses and new friends I've made here. Hopefully I can continue to have fun with this blog and share more with you in the year to come.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidaze!!!

2010-12-24T22:12:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas fellow toy junkies and Happy Holidays to those of you who doesn't celebrate X-mas! Taking a cue from fellow toy bloggers Reis from Hey! Look at my toys! and Bubbashelby from Toyriffic I decided to decorate the house with a nativity scene for Christmas. Due to the holidays I'll be taking a short hiatus but will be back for New Years. Hope all of you are enjoying your respective holidays and are getting tons of awesome toys!

Jedi, troopers and dollies... oh my!

2010-12-24T18:17:00.001-05:00

So the past 2 days have proven to be fruitful also. Man talk about a streak!

Busy, busy, busy...

2010-12-21T23:27:00.003-05:00

The past 3 days including today have been just a joy as far as actually finding stuff on the shelves go, so yet again I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

2011 Marvel Universe wave 1 and a TRU exclusive henchmen 3-pack
Yeah, I'm a troop builder.
Crap forgot to take a pic of the 2 Guardsman from Iron Man 2!
Oh well...

DC Infinite Heroes Doomsday 6-pack (National Wholesale Liquidators. Who knew!?!)
A GI Joe Pursuit of Cobra Alley Viper (from Sunday)
Carnage
3 Wal-Mart exclusive Hulkbuster soliders from the Incredible Hulk movie line (eBay)
The head to the R5 and leg to the yellow droid (eBay)
Ugnaughts and white droid form Power of the Force (local comic shop)

4 more Alley-Vipers (Monday)

Most of the new wave of Clone Wars figures except for the Zombie Genosian

Zarak from Dungeons & Dragons (eBay)

By the way, does anyone need a Ben Reilly Spider-Man, Rhino, or World War Hulk?
I have extra to trade.

2010-12-18T23:46:00.001-05:00

Had a good day @ Target today.
I'll let the pic speak for itself.

Oh Iron Man... what will we do you with you?

2010-12-17T19:43:00.001-05:00

Yes it's time for a review and today's pick is none other than Iron Man himself, but this is no ordinary Iron Man, this is the Iron Man of 2020! I really don't know much about him so I'll just post the blurb for the back of his card.

Arno Stark isn't quite the hero his cousin was, but he does his best - as long as the best is what pays. The world of 2020 is less about right and wrong, and more about the bottom line, which is why IRON MAN always works for the highest bidder. Of course, he's also got to answer to his Board, so he tries to keep his eye on the big picture.If a mission won't enhance Stark Industries' stock price, then he almost always regretfully declines.

Huh... interesting... Tony's cousin from the future, and he's kinda a jerk? Well this figure has potential as a villain! This notion is even mentioned in standard HAMMER file, so character-wise he's worth it.

Is the rest of figure worth it? Depends. Let take a look.

Iron Man 2020 is one cog away from being steampunk!

2020's body uses the classic body as a base so it's upper torso is sculpted with it "pecks" too high. Luckily this covered by 2020's extra armor which adds a slighter bigger repulsor and some wicked cog-like shoulder armor. There's also a new belt which covers up the low place crotch armor. What where thinking when this was sculpted Hasbro? Either way this belt also adds heft and replaces the hip discs with some kind of star and a cog. Arno sure loves his cogs!

The last new piece to this figure is it's head. While at a glance it looks like the like the original, it's not. It is a completely new head. The head is bigger and has a jagged mouth that gives it a ferocious look.

The rest is the same as the original Iron Man but with the new additions I think it a figure worth getting but not necessarily on the top of the list. Besides it's an Iron Man so this one will probably be clogging the shelves well after the holidays.

Meanwhile, at Castle Grayskull...

2010-12-16T12:59:00.000-05:00

A meeting of villainy takes place.

2010-12-15T01:29:00.001-05:00

He hungers...

2010-12-14T11:43:00.001-05:00

Are you my daddy?

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice...

2010-12-10T14:33:00.001-05:00

I wish I could blog about all the new goodies I got since the Tron Legacy review but unfortunately I am currently in the Dominican Republic for one of my many cousins wedding, best man no less too, but luckily for you I have some pics stashed of one of my many diorama/ action figure projects.

If you go through my blog or have been keeping up since day one, you notice I blog alot about Marvel Universe out of all the 3.75"/ 1:18 figures but that's not all I collect. I also collect Star Wars, GI Joe and DC Universe: Infinite Heroes. Infinite Heroes is good, notice good, not great but good, line from Mattel that I managed to acquire alot of by buying group lots on eBay. Having such population growth of figures prompted me to build something since I didn't have a case or box to put them in and they were just hanging around on a shelf. The shelf itself was rather square so I came up with the idea to build a diorama of the Hall of Justice from the Superfriends cartoons. It also helped that I was in the middle of a Superfriends watching kick.

So after some research (watching the Superfriends) I came out with plans to build the first part of the Hall; the TroublAlert computer. This is the computer, that just about every episode would feature because this was how they found out what was going on in the world. Heck, it was even featured in the new Young Justice cartoon.

I started out by cutting out the sides and base out of foamcore, which is cheap and light but not as thin as styrene sheets, which I cut out for the console and monitor areas. I also used foamcore because if I made a mistake it wouldn't bother me as much as styrene. Taped them all together to make sure I cut them out well and viola, the beginnings of a TroublAlert Computer.

Unfortunately this is as far as I got with this project. More work has to be done such as planning the console's layout and etching in details for underneath the console area. I also have to glue in some slotted styrene for the monitor. I'm making it so you can switch what is showing on the screen. All in all a good start and Superman seems to agree.

2010-12-06T16:17:00.003-05:00

He's coming...

Tron Legacy - Sam Flynn review

2010-12-03T07:00:00.007-05:00

So I final broke down and got a Tron Legacy figure. And I say this because since these figures started popping up about a month ago or so and I was intrigued but skeptical. Mostly because while I love the original movie, it's sequel had yet to prove itself to me. Once the new trailers gave us some more story about the film it was just a matter of finding it for right price as I've seen them priced as high as $11.49.

I never get lost in the dark!

The main feature of the Sam Flynn and most figures in the collection is the light up feature. This is done to emulate the look of the film. It's a neat feature and it's super bright. So bright as a matter of fact that it could be used as a mini flashlight. Seriously it can, I tried it myself. Unfortunately this feature uses 3 small watch batteries, so the figure loses its torso articulation.

The rest of the figure however, is fully articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and feet. If you're familiar with Mattel's DC Universe: Infinite Heroes line then you know how the figure is jointed together. Which is nice and well done but i prefer Hasbro's style of joints. Oddly these figures are made by Spinmaster, which amazes me that they landed such a property. You would think Disney would have their favorite toy makers Mattel make the Tron Legacy toys.

Can you see me?

Out of the 6 figures in the collection only 2 figures have and real scuplting to talk about. This stems from the fact that the other 4 figures are wearing helmets despite the fact that Clu, a character both films, is shown NOT wearing a helmet. I suspect that Spinmasters did this as to not spoil some of the mystery of the movie but astute fans would know what Clu looks like under the helmet. Either way, Sam has an okay face sculpt. It's hard to say much more because his face is partially obscured by the clear part of his helmet. I know this sounds weird but it's true.

Sam also has accessories. He comes with an identity disc, baton and stand. Not much to say here as they just make the figure complete but offer none to very little playability. It also doesn't help that the baton doesn't stay very well on the peg to place it on the figure and the ID disc has nowhere else to be held except Sam's hand. Pretty lackluster...

At the end of the day Sam is an okay figure with a nice light up feature. From what I've read on various message boards, I'm inclined to agree with the popular consensus and wait for the rest of the figures to go on clearance. Well except for the Light Cycle, because who DOESN'T want one, real or just a toy?

Indiana Persia...?

2010-12-01T20:22:00.004-05:00

Thought this Indiana Jones background would look good with Prince of Persia figures.
What do you think?

Black Friday finds

2010-11-27T11:19:00.002-05:00

If you managed to get out of the turkey induced coma you probably went shopping.
Lucky I did and I finally got a personal mini holy grail. Now you have to understand, I don't scour stores on the reg for new toys, I just walk in on any given day and see what they have. So to find ANYTHING that I'm looking for on a Black Friday is pretty amazing, and my find is pretty amazing.


DOOM!

Yes my personal mini holy grail is the Marvel Universe Secret Wars 2-pack with Dr. Doom. While MOST people seem to have him, I had yet to get him. I've never seen one in the "wild" and I check 2 Toy R Us' whenever I get the chance. Obviously scalpers and kids usually found them before me but that was okay because my patience paid off. I just walked in, saw that TRU had NO new figures other than a Team X Wolverine (yay..., ANOTHER Wolverine... ) and a peg full of 2-packs with a Hulk/ Cyclops in the front. Feeling that they MAY have something I decided to check the peg and there, lo and behold was the mighty Dr. Doom with his pal Absorbing Man. I quickly took him off the peg and I was off to acquire my find. So now not only did I find Dr. Doom but I've completed my Marvel Universe Secret Wars collection, something I'll never do with the Greatest Battle 2-packs. After all I really don't need more Iron Man and Wolverine figures.

Who is this Zod?
Kneel before DOOM!

The evil that lies within

2010-11-24T18:54:00.001-05:00

Guess what I got in the mail today?

It's funny but until you actually hold an Inhumanoid figure in your hands you have NO idea how big these figures are. Makes me wish I still had Krusher. Does anyone remember Krusher?

Random pic of the week

2010-11-24T02:11:00.002-05:00

Deep Cover update

2010-11-21T03:21:00.001-05:00

Awhile back I mentioned that was working on a custom of a
Japanese Transformers exclusive Deepcover.
So I thought I'd share some of the progress.

Here are the pieces I cobbled together from the Sideswipe that I ended up warping when I attempted to dye him black and the currently available Red Alert. As you can see I still had an undyed roof from Sideswipe.

After applying 91% Isopropyl Alchohol to the red paint areas It came off REALLY easily.
After awhile I got to this point.

Next update: black paint applied.

Blood for the BARON!!!!

2010-09-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

After getting the 2010 GI Joe Con Action Force attending exclusives, I figured I need a villain for them. So who better than the Baron himself?

Can't wait for him to show up in the mailbox!

Pity the foo'!

2010-09-09T00:08:00.002-04:00

This is a retro post which have been posted back in June but for various reasons I've been sitting on it.

When Jazwares announced that they were making figures for the new A-Team movie I was pretty excited. I have the original 80's team from Galoob but they used tooling exactly like the 1982 G.I. Joes, no arm swivel and swivel neck. It didn't help that the sculpting was average and were made worse by have all of their lips painted red. Yes. The 80's A-Team figures wear lipstick! All kidding aside these new figures are pretty cool by today's standards.

Unlike the 80's figures these are sculpted really well. While they are not totally spot on with the likenesses of the actors they are done well enough to recognize who is who, and this isn't even for all the figures. The worst figure sculpt-wise is for Murdock and that's because his cheek bones seem rather high. But as I mentioned before the likenesses come really close. Even their clothes details are excellent. Murdock has pockets that have gravitas to them, Hannibal's shirt has folds, Face has suit has buttons and and even the folds and wrinkles in B.A.'s jeans, all little details which help to breath life into these characters. One other minor thing is that all their arms seem a little thin to me but I can work around that.

Now while the sculpting was terrific on these figures the painting is a crap shoot. I say this because the painting is either really good on the whole figure, partially good, or just non-existant. For example, Murdock is painted extremely well and what I believe is drybrushing, really helps to accentuate the details of his jacket and pants, but Hannibal is lacking any of this detailing from the waist down. And his shoes are even the same color as his legs. And to take it even further Face is pretty much naked as far as detailing with paint goes. Even BA has some excellent drybrushing on his jeans but his lacks any depth. Either way overall the painting is pretty good just sure to check the figure before you buy them. My score is a 7.

I'm not gonna say much else because the articulation is pretty standard compared to a Star Wars figure but also borrows swivel wrists from G.I. Joe and ball and socket joints from Marvel Universe. Overall, not bad.

I gotta say, I'm impressed that Jazwares made such excellent figures. Not to knock on them or anything but I've never really bought, let alone looked at (I think) any of their figures, so as a first time purchase of any of their products, I am impressed. I feel as if they put out quality product on par with Hasbro and really hope they put out more like this.

2010-09-04T01:12:00.001-04:00

OMG! Have you seen the size of your butt Cosmos?

Happy Birthday America!!

2010-07-04T23:35:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July. Nothing says patriotic like new GI Joes.
I'd have Gung-Ho stand but he needs a O-ring!

The Sands of Time

2010-06-01T01:12:00.006-04:00

So I finally broken down and bought some Prince of Persia figures. I was skeptical when they announced them because they are made by McFarlane Toys, who for most of their lifetime, has made, in my honest opinion, limited articulated statues as opposed to action figures, but with these figures it's quite the opposite.

These figures surprise me as they have 14 points of articulation, which is 9 more points of articulation than any other McFarlane Toy I've ever seen. On a side note; while I know it sounds like I'm bashing McFarlane, I'm not really. I actually have a great deal of respect for the man and the company. I just think they should stop calling their products "action figures". If anything they are more like statues with odd, unnecessary points of articulations. These points of articulation are accompanied by the wonderful, detailed sculpting which they are famous for. See, I can say nice things about McFarlane Toys! The sculpting is very detailed even down to the rubber capes, which are not so heavy that they make it fall back. Though I do have a few quibbles in this department. Prince Dastan's neck seems to be a bit thick, otherwise, a great figure. On all the figures they have a ball and socket hip joint which makes it difficult to position them to sit. So on a scale of 10 I give these figures a 10 for scuplting and a 8 for articulation.

The next category is accessories. While these figures are full of rich sculpted details they are really lacking in department, especially at $7.99 a figure. The prince comes with two swords, different from each other but well detailed and nothing more. I was rather disappointed that the Dagger of Time was NOT included and is only available with Prince Dastan in his desert garb (w/or w/o the horse) and not his warrior version which I purchased. Zolm who is a the lead Hassansin (Idk what this means I just read it off the box), comes with a simple but detailed sword and an odd snake shaped dagger or something of the sort. It doesn't seem like much of a dagger but the details... whoa! I forgot to mention that both figures have scabbards to put away their swords, always a nice touch. And lastly Setam who is also a Hassansin. He is supposed to come with a sword but to be honest, I think someone messed up and he doesn't come with one as it says on the box. There's no molding for a weapon on the plastic tray which hold the figure in the packaging and not scabbard to put a sword away into. VERY disappointing McFarlane... AS far as accessories go, I give them a 5 because they're nice but the fact that one figure has nothing just brings the group score down.

Lastly we have packaging. I know what you're thinking: why packaging? And the answer is simple. The packaging is part of the appeal for any toy. It grabs peoples attention on the shelf or pegs and it helps describe the world that the toy exists in. It explains what a character in the packaging does and what where they are going. Without this explanation it's just a hunk of plastic. Unfortunately, these figures are pretty much that until I see the movie. I mean yes, I've see the trailers, so I know a thing or two about Prince Dastan but Setam and Zolm are absolute mysteries to me. Are they allies, are they villains? Who are these guys in the world of Prince of Persia? As for the design/ attention grabbing of the packaging, it's not so bad. They don't have any information about the characters themselves, the world they exist in or even about the movie itself but it does show you the whole collection of toys. It's a small collection but it's all there. This is the only highlight to the packaging as the blister card and bubble are rather blah. Yes, I just used blah as an adjective. To me it looks like a lazy designer decided to take a standard card and just have cut at angles to make it look more exciting and failing at that objective, same with the bubble. It's kind of a shame since I have seen packaging WAY more visually interesting with their other figures. Perhaps Disney has something to do with this? I don't know. Overall packaging score, a 5.

After all is said and done this line, from what I own, which is most of the line, has an average score of 7. Which means they're not bad figures, they are actually great figures, they just lacking in accessories and in packaging. Which if you take your figures out of the packaging gives the a score of 7.66 (taking out the packing score) but just to make it even I'll say an 8. Well done McFarlane Toys, well done. Now make some Spawn figures like this and we'll be in business!

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T23:18:00.003-04:00

Just thought I'd salute, with the newest additions to my GI Joe collection, all the men and women who have fought in the name of liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

I love it when a plan comes together...

2010-05-14T23:15:00.003-04:00

YES!!! Finally Jazwares Inc. has released images of the movie action figures!!!
If anyone wants to send me some my birthday's in August. lol XD

Image from Toy News International

Destro = Nazi?!?!

2010-04-30T18:20:00.012-04:00

As any hardcore G.I. Joe fan knows, this weekend is JoeCon, the annual official convention. Looking through pictures for upcoming products I notice something peculiar about the new Destro which I believe is from the Resolute animation. This version and the Rise of cobra figures have very Nazi-ish look to them.

I find it interesting because while Destro is not a Nazi, customizer, myself included, see Destro as a great base for Captain America's most dreaded enemy, the Red Skull. The hardest part of making the Red Skull is finding a suitable head or making one yourself thanks to the great Nazi-like bodies that Hasbro has created.

Image from HISSTANK

I'M JOHN CONNOR!!!

2010-04-12T14:59:00.002-04:00

My Terminator: Salvation display. All that's missing is the Hunter-Killer jet.

Randomness

2010-04-07T11:02:00.013-04:00

Just random pictures for reviews I meant to put up but that time has passed. So, enjoy!

These are NOT the droids you're looking for!

Hey, that's not right!

Yes Mr. President... Luthor?

2010-04-04T23:36:00.021-04:00

Been slowing things down as far as eBay goes but here's the latest batch of purchases. Mr. Luthor and his cohorts Gorilla Grodd and Major Force are part of a 6-pack exclusive set available @Target. Of course I'm sure you're wondering "Well why don't you just get the 6-pack I saw it in the stores?" Well, I would but 1) it's like $30 and 2) I already have the other 3 figures which are Superman, Batman, and Hawkman. So buying them like this was a good deal.

I also got some more Star Wars droids. I don't know why but I like them.

And finally but not least, I'm one step closer to building my Cantina scene with the band!

These ARE the droids I was looking for!

2010-02-20T02:02:00.035-05:00

So even though I hadn't posted these little guys as eBay wins, that's where I got these them. Oddly enough eBay was not the first time I encountered them. I recall seeing them at Target during the holidays and thought they were pretty cool because the last I had a radio controlled astromech unit was back in the 80's and R2-D2 was easily 4 times bigger than these guys. Either way, I believe I passed on because I was broke or just didn't want to get back into Star Wars at the moment. Not sure if it's a good or bad thing but I have two out of the four, so I'm happy. Especially since they ALMOST got sent back to the person I got these from. The people at my local post office are weird, don't ask. I just thanks the gods for delivery confirmation with tracking numbers.

So after a quick jaunt to the post office, I quickly opened these guys one by one with the giddiness of a child on Christmas morning and I have to say, they ROCK! They're the same scale as regular Star Wars figures but are slightly taller than any astromech because of their wheels. Well painted and come with a mini lightsaber shaped remote control. I would definitely recommend these droids. Very cool :D

Star Wars Junkie

2010-02-18T18:05:00.042-05:00

So here the latest batch of wins. As you can see I went kinda crazy on the Star Wars figures. But hey, this blog isn't called Confessions of a Plastic junkie for nothing! You have to admit the selection is rather interesting, mostly Jedi and aliens. Normally I'm not that in to Jedi but The Clone Wars series has passed the Jedi bug to me. It doesn't help that Clone Wars also featured unique Jedi like Foul Moudama and Robb Coron, which I picked up. That now Ben Kenobi is vastly superior to the Power of the Jedi I currently own. Gotta work on upgrading that muscle bound Lando...

I also want to build dioramas of Jabba's Palace and the cantina at Mos Eisley, hence the aliens. Anyone else I just feel is cool enough to get, like Porkins or Kyle Katarn (Dark Forces!).










	More to come as I've been making trips to Toys R Us! :P

2010-02-05T21:55:00.001-05:00

w00t! Found a Star Wars: Force Unleashed 3-pk for $10 @ Toys R Us!

2010-01-21T19:08:00.005-05:00

Great, just GREAT!! I got a set of Universal Studio Monsters figures from Burger King, put up the Gillman on eBay, grab Frankenstein and accidentally opened Gillman

Return of the... Star Wars?

2010-01-21T12:17:00.009-05:00

So I got my Star Wars figures out of storage and I realized something. My Star Wars figures suck! And it's not because I have suck ass characters like Bossk (j/k Bossk fans), it's because with the exception of my vintage figures the bulk of them are from the 90's. I mean how cool can a super buff Lando Calrissian be? Not very very much in my opinion. I look at current SW figures and they are almost as articulate as GI Joes. But the T-hips are fine since Star Wars is not really about kicking the crap out of each other like GI Joe is. T-hips and torso joints aside (I'm not getting into that), Star Wars are just about on par w/ GI Joe. They have elbow and knee joints which something they never had until recently. Granted those elbow joint seem to switch between swivel and ball/hinge joints. The latter being my preferred choice. But I believe that this is due to Hasbro using older molds and/or flat-out re-issuing others molds.

So what does my mini rant mean? Well to begin with, it means that certain characters will be updated. Yeah, Lando I'm looking at you! It also means that I'll be collecting SW figures. Hunting the toy aisles for the latest and greatest SW I can get. It also means I'll have less $$$ in my pockets. So much for building a little cantina on Tatooine...

Barack Obama

2010-01-18T18:08:00.001-05:00

Found this after making a detour for pizza @ 2 Bros. @ Toy Tokyo. Who knew they made an 8" action figure of him?

eBay haul

2010-01-18T14:03:00.032-05:00

Just thought I 'd share a few pics for my latest eBay hauls.

Terminator 3.75" figure are done really well despite the fact that any Hasbro 3.75"/1:18 scale figure is better. The sculpts aren't bad and they do have decent articulation.

Back on the Star Wars front, I picked up another droid from that was from some Hoth Battle Pack. I don't know, kinda don't care as he'll probably be hanging out with the Jawas I've amassed throughout the years. Gonna put them all in a diorama with a cut out Sandcrawler I found at Erikstormtrooper's Imperial Gallery.

Meanwhile back at Avenger mansion... I picked up the Wasp and Antman to round out my team of Avengers. Once the Secret Wars 2-pack with Thor comics out I can recreate the original team. Sorta. I just remembered that the armor that Iron Man had when they formed isn't out YET. But for now, I'm one step closer. hehehehehe....

eBay haul

2010-01-10T18:33:00.027-05:00

Just thought I 'd share a few pics for my latest eBay hauls.

Won a lot of Star Wars figures w/ a Snowspeeder. I haven't really collected Star Wars since the 1990's but I thought this would be a nice lot to pick up. Granted, I'm sure I have have the Ben Kenobi and pilot Luke but the Biggs (I believe) and female Jedi
are welcome addition to my collection.

The real gem of this lot is the Snowspeeder. I used to have one as a kid and it was the only vehicle I had for the longest. My aunt bought it for me as a birthday present and it was one of the coolest gift I'd ever gotten. Aside from the Millennium Falcon my mom bought me. :D It needs a few parts but since this Snowspeeder is a re-release of the vintage one I can cobble some old parts and give it
that cobbled together look.

I also got this nice little lot of Indiana Jones figures. Much like the Dukes down below I also wanted Indy figures as a kid too. During the holidays I managed to pick up 2 3-pk figures from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So that sated my thirst for Indy figures but the real gems of this lot are Short Round and the Monkey Man who ratted out Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That's it for now. Some reviews of other items coming soon!

2010-01-10T14:01:00.003-05:00

I don't care about the RPM car but that stuffed Soundwave?
SO COOL! Want one!