Keep an eye on...

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

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

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

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

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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...

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

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

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.
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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!!!

 

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!

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

Busy, busy, busy...

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.