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Monday 31 March 2014

Marvel Legends SDCC 2013 Exclusive Thunderbolts Ghost

I was never a big Iron Man fan, not too big on the whole superhero team thing either. Most of the time, superhero team comics are infighting, betrayal and forced drama, so it's no surprise that i have no idea what the Thunderbolts are. All i know from some articles online is that the team is mostly made of villains trying to turn over a new leaf and they keep switching the players around. The current team members are Red Hulk, Elektra, Punisher, Deadpool, Agent Venom and Ghost Rider, but there was once a time when the team members were Ghost, Moonstone, Juggernaut, Crossbones and Man-Thing led by Luke Cage. So Hasbro decided to release this team as 2013 SDCC's exclusive box-set. But only Ghost appealed to me (thanks mostly to the stealth suit and transparent plastic, god i LOVE transparent plastic), so i had to scour the webs for someone to split the box set with me. So after some searching, here's Marvel Legends Ghost!


So, from what i've read, Ghost is a tech wizard that has a special suit that gives him phasing abilities and super hacking prowess. He's also a brilliant tactician and inventor. Have i mention how much i love transparent toys? Cause i love transparent toys and Ghost here is made entirely of transparent plastic. His body is based of the Bucky mold with some new details molded on him, most noticeably his head and hands. Paint wise, it's minimal. With gold tint for the mask lens, yellow Thunderbolts insignia and grey gradient, there's not much room for sloppy work.

  

 There's only one accessory, an extra head that's a bit more cooler and meaner looking. It's nice but i still prefer the dopey one more, it's cuter.



He's the standard height for Marvel Legends.




He looks like a certain villain in a certain game series doesn't he?



I've certainly paid alittle too much for him and he's not that spectacular, but i just love how he looks. I can't really recommend him for retail price, but if if you can find him cheap, he's a pretty cool figure. Anyway, thanks for viewing!







Thursday 27 March 2014

Transformers Generations Legends Class Payload and Autobot Cosmos

Cosmos was one of those transformers that i have no idea who he is or what he does but i just gotta have because of how unique he looks. So what can i say about Cosmos? He's a squat fat Autobot that keeps a watch on Decepticons while hanging out in space and somehow he has the alt mode of a flying saucer. That's pretty much all i know bout him. Then there's Payload, 1 of the trio of mini-con that forms the most powerful weapon in the transformers universe, the Requiem Blaster. So Hasbro decided to make the duo under the new Generations legends, packing him with the ever annoying Swerve. How does Cosmos fare against the fantastic transformers Hasbro been making? He's FANTASTIC!


Just look at this cute little thing! How could you not love it??? It's amazing how well they managed to make the alt mode so sleek and compact. Although the shape is simple, Cosmos is littered with little details really brings out the sculpt. Payload turns into a tiny space shuttle that's also cute as well.



Both of their robot mode looks cool as well, especially Cosmos, with giant Hulk hands and giant boots. You wouldn't have guessed he turned into basically a saucer. The transformation is simple and fun, while Payload is just the space shuttle standing up.


Articulation wise, Cosmos has everything he need. With swivel shoulder, ball jointed arms, ball jointed hips, swivel feet and swivel head, he can achieve plenty of action poses. While Payload can swivel his arm up and down.


Knee guns!



Payload turns into a cool gun that actually good without looking out of place unlike the other recent minicons(Waspinator).


He scales with the commander class and legends, standing as tall as commander Prime Shockwave. 




I just love him! Pure fun to fiddle around with, i highly recommend him.  With his cool look and great articulations, there's clearly lots of effort put in designing him. If you have a chance to purchase 1, GET HIM!!!
 Anyway thanks for viewing!

Monday 24 March 2014

Revoltech Yamaguchi No.131 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - Snake

Metal Gear is an ongoing stealth action adventure game series that spanned from 1987 on the MSX2 to 1998 on the PS1 to now.  The brain child of Hideo Kojima, MG can arguably be one of the most famous game series ever. Love it or hate it, there's no denying MG bought the stealth game genre to the mainstream. So based on the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, here's Big Boss aka Snake!


Let me start by saying, i'm not a big fan of the MG series. I feel they take themselves too seriously, with out of context philosophy but still trying to add in weird campiness. That's why i like MG Rising Revengeance for realizing how silly their premise was and just have fun with it. Anyway, back to the figure, Kaiyodo finally acquired the MG license and released a super articulated Big Boss figure.


Yamaguchi is known to stylize figures that he sculpts, so it's no surprising he did it here. Snake looks like he came from a manga instead of the realistic look of the game. The sculpt looks good in dynamic poses, but left in neutral poses, it looks odd. With elongated neck and cartoony face, he might not be what the fan wants, but dammit if he isn't cool as hell.



 He has so much articulation due to the fact they stuck Revol joints anywhere you could think off, he even has an articulated eye!


Also who could forget one of the funnier props in the game,  the box. Kaiyodo included a DIY cardboard to make your own box. It's just a tad tinier that it should be, so you couldn't hide Big Boss fully in it.



 Assault rifle.


Handgun with silencer.



And a stun rod. Other accessories include the hanging grips (which i have no use for), revoltech stand (crap), effect base and the ! prop.


I find this figure, although fun, might not be everyone's cup of tea. But Kaiyodo is still milking the MG cash cow for it's worth with Raiden, white Raiden, Ground Zero Big Boss and soon to be revealed Solid Snake, so if this doesn't appeal to you, you could pick the one that does.
Anyway, thanks for viewing!




Friday 21 March 2014

Transformers Generations 30th Anniversary Voyager Autobot Whirl

Whirl is not your typical transformer. Along with Roadbuster, they were originally from a obscure Japanese series called Armored Trooper Dorvack. Based of the Ovelon Gazzette with a simple recolour, he doesn't look like your typical transformer with pincer hands and mono eye. It's no wonder he was fairly obscure for a long time. But then, IDW came along and thanks to the pen of James Robert, Whirl is suddenly surged into popularity thanks his uncharacteristically violent personality for an Autobot. But i'm not here to talk bout the comics today, i'm here for the newly released voyager! Does he hold up to the standards of the IDW toys Hasbro has been releasing lately? Well... yes!

 

His copter mode is plenty solid. With an opening cockpit, and plenty of details, he looks like a pretty convincing copter. Alot people of complain bout the gaps underneath the cockpit and his thighs in copter mode but i don't really mind them, not when the everything transforms so well together. He comes with plenty of firepower, 4 weapons! Each with various pegs and clips so he's able to equip all of them together. He also comes with a sticker sheet, which i will almost never use.


The heliped mode isn't bad either. He reminds me of ED 209 from Robocop, which is a bonus. But... why the rotor dick??



The robot mode, it looks so weird that i kinda like it. He's based off his G1 look but the head and chicken legs are from his appearance in the IDW comics. It looks good, with solid articulations and beautiful blue plastic. The instructions doesn't mention this, but the shoulders can be collapsed in and the leg can be pushed back even further for the chicken leg look. By the way, you can turn the legs around if you don't like the chicken leg look. Also take note, the upper joint of the knees are reaaaaaaallllly stiff, i had to exert lots of force for the joint to click so take note of that. There are already documented breakages resulting that joint.


He's one of the few rare bots that can cross their arms.


And he's really expressive because of that.










All in all a pretty good voyager. If you have no love for the character or is turn off by the unique look, he's not a necessary purchase. But if you like the character and don't mind his design, give him a chance.
Anyway, thanks for viewing.

Thursday 20 March 2014

CHMS Bootleg Acid Storm

Back in G1 Transformers series,  the bulk of ol Megatron's army were made of the Seekers. Sharing the same body with Starscream, they were basically made to job to the Autobots to show how badass they were. Nowadays you have the Vehicons in Prime for that. You have the 6 most famous ones, Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Ramjet, Thrust and Dirge, and later,  Coneheads. The rest were basically just nameless recolours... until fans came along.


 Acidstorm, a member of the Rainmakers (dubbed by fans) appeared in the episode "Divide and Conquer" made an impact due to his unique eye-searing green palette. He was the only member of the Rainmakers to receive an official toy in the Universe line in 2008. But they decided to make him "realistic" so the green was toned down to a drab dark green with camo, not as interesting as his debut appearance, but that was all we get... until CHMS came along.


Using the Classics Starscream mold, CHMS gave him his original neon green and holy-shit, it's eye catching. Articulation is pretty basic, swivel head, shoulders, elbows, knees and balljointed hips. But who cares?? Look at all that green!


Okay, being a collector, i'm against buying bootleg stuff. Bootlegged toys normally will end only in tears, due to how shoddily they're made, a  waste of money and overall just plain crappy. But CHMS actually made quite a solid little figure. Plastic's solid, no missing details (except the face, but i'll get to that later) and tight joints (maybe a bit too tight, especially in the elbows). Paint's a little shoddy though.


His weapons hold the missiles quite well, not as sensitive as the official Starscream and his remolds. They are able to plug into his shoulders quite nicely.


But the face... what happened to your face??? All the details are gone. You can barely see his mouth and his eyes are just painted on. I have no idea why, the rest Acidstorm's details pop nicely... so why just the face???


Like i mentioned, the joints are tight. All of them work well except the elbows. They were too tight! I cracked the left elbow on mine trying to move it. But it still manage to hold up well.


Compared to the recent Waspinator which were also a nice shade of green, you can tell that Waspinator doesn't even hold a candle to how eye-catchingly green Acidstorm is.



After displaying him with the rest of my collection, my eyes are instantly drawn to him everytime.
Depending on how much you can find him, he's a pretty solid little figure. I bought mine of taobao.com for 15 shipped and he's pretty good for that pricepoint. I'll probably get the rest of the Rainmakers soon so i could have even more retina-burning goodness. Now i gotta sign off before my eyes melt.
Anyway, thanks for viewing!