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More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
With all the attention that the Marvel Cinematic universe, several companies have jumped on the bandwagon to produce figures, especially Iron Man ones.
The Midas is one of "blink and you'll miss it" suits featured during the epic House Party battle at the end of the movie.
When the original solicitations were shown, this Revoltech figure featured painted gold and chromed gold pieces. Seeing how this was a Japanese release, the final product didn't typically differ from the prototype drastically, so I bit and preordered one. I was also interested in the figure because it has been quite a few years since my last Revoltech purchase, so I was curious to see how things had changed.
What I received was a poorly painted figure with qc problems. As my photos show, the paint finish is not very smooth, and I could not actually get the joints aligned properly so that the figure could STAND properly.
Also disappointing was the lack of a stand that would permit flying poses.
Gonna stick with figmas.
Day 121-I had preordered this a few months back and it came in! Vannen is a company that makes wristwatches, much like Swatch (remember them???), designer style watches that feature characters and bands. I have a Less Than Jake one I got a few years ago to coincide with their release of See The Light (and have another one en route for Sound The Alarm) and this one is for Blondie's new album Pollinator. Its a really lovely watch and I love the simplistic art style. The stickers are bad ass too!
Takara Legends Targetmaster Windblade.
Windblade is a relatively recent addition to Transformers lore. If you've watched the recent web series for the Prime Wars trilogy, she's one of the main characters. If you're look a bit further back, she was featured prominently in the comics, and received a toy after being the winner of the first toy design for mass production based purely on fan input.
Unfortunately, as Windblade has a very vibrant and colourful deco, the Transformers Generation toy didn't quite capture the character fully, and I missed the boat on the Legends release. With Windblade recently being featured in the Titans Return line, I immediately preordered the Legends edition as soon as I had a chance.
Like all of the Deluxes in the last wave of the recent Legend entries, Windblade has been deemed to be a Targetmaster, one of those characters with a little bot buddy that transforms into a weapon.
Fundamentally, the two toys are the same. Based off the Triggerhappy toy for transformation, but strangely doesn't share the articulation that the other toys enjoyed. Most notable would be the lack of waist movement. Other changes over her Generations appearance are that she is now a Headmaster, and that you can no longer remove the fan off the top of her head.
However, the two do differ in several ways, none of which should be overly surprising:
- Takara has the collectors friendly packaging
- Takara has more/different paint applications, translucent plastic, and the base red plastic is a richer colour
- Takara comes with the Targetmaster
- Takara comes with the sword the first Generations/Legends toy came with instead of the twin blades the Hasbro version comes with.
- Takara costs twice as much.
Obviously, there is quite a significant different in jet mode, with the fuselage being completely different colours as is the canopy, and the Takara version has painted VTOL fans. Also, the Titan Master/Head Master is missing some paint on the small robot face as well as on the arms and legs.
What I didn't expect was how subtle the changes in robot mode were.
The crest under her neckline is painted dark blue on Hasbro versus the translucent blue plastic used on the Takara. Takara version has blue knee paint applications and fully painted hands.
Even more subtle is her face - unlike the Generations toy, both have opted to go with the softer, more anime inspired face that the Legends version. The gold crest on the top of her head is slightly different, and you'll notice that the paint apps under her eyes are larger on the Takara, and that the Takara version is slightly smiling over the more neutral look of the Hasbro version. IIRC, Hasbro like neutral expressions on everything they make.
The blue paint apps on her eyebrows and sideburns, for lack of better terms, actually exist on both figures, but are very dark blue on the Hasbro to the point where I only noticed them when doing these pictures.
Unique to the Takara version is the Targetmaster. This is the first Targetmaster Legends I've purchased, so I don't know if the part is repainted from another figure or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't act anything like the Targetmaster I got with my Cyclonus years ago. It does have spiffy paint work, and decent articulation for a piece of that size. I'm thinking perhaps of the production costs for this piece (and possibly because of looks) the Targetmaster version went and reused the original Legends weapon rather than went with those twin blades the Hasbro one came with.
Overall, I feel the Takara version looks nicer, but the difference in robot mode isn't as great as it was on the Generations toy. Is it worth the extra $20 CAD? Ehh.. it depends - if you display in jet mode, the looks are significantly different ,but if you display in bot mode, it's going to come down to whether or not you like the extra pieces that the Takara version comes with.
eyes.
sorry, i'm one secret behind, i'll be posting another one later today. my sleep schedule is so f'd.
secret #5: i preordered it for you.
Original@twitter
Did I mention that I'm hyped
(*｀_´*;) "This pose is awkward to do...."
I am so excited for the MIKU EXPO in New York BluRay!! ( T _ T ) Well, that's coming from someone who went to the event, ahahaha;;;
(*｀_´*) "Ah, you did?"
Yeah, that was before you were around though, aha;;;
I preordered the limited edition, but now that means I need to buy a BluRay player so I can actually watch the disc... I'm wondering if they're just using the recording from the Wowow stream, because if that's the case, I already have the concert....
Novi Starz robe. ???? shoes.
Takara Legends Targetmaster Windblade.
Windblade is a relatively recent addition to Transformers lore. If you've watched the recent web series for the Prime Wars trilogy, she's one of the main characters. If you're look a bit further back, she was featured prominently in the comics, and received a toy after being the winner of the first toy design for mass production based purely on fan input.
Unfortunately, as Windblade has a very vibrant and colourful deco, the Transformers Generation toy didn't quite capture the character fully, and I missed the boat on the Legends release. With Windblade recently being featured in the Titans Return line, I immediately preordered the Legends edition as soon as I had a chance.
Like all of the Deluxes in the last wave of the recent Legend entries, Windblade has been deemed to be a Targetmaster, one of those characters with a little bot buddy that transforms into a weapon.
Fundamentally, the two toys are the same. Based off the Triggerhappy toy for transformation, but strangely doesn't share the articulation that the other toys enjoyed. Most notable would be the lack of waist movement. Other changes over her Generations appearance are that she is now a Headmaster, and that you can no longer remove the fan off the top of her head.
However, the two do differ in several ways, none of which should be overly surprising:
- Takara has the collectors friendly packaging
- Takara has more/different paint applications, translucent plastic, and the base red plastic is a richer colour
- Takara comes with the Targetmaster
- Takara comes with the sword the first Generations/Legends toy came with instead of the twin blades the Hasbro version comes with.
- Takara costs twice as much.
Obviously, there is quite a significant different in jet mode, with the fuselage being completely different colours as is the canopy, and the Takara version has painted VTOL fans. Also, the Titan Master/Head Master is missing some paint on the small robot face as well as on the arms and legs.
What I didn't expect was how subtle the changes in robot mode were.
The crest under her neckline is painted dark blue on Hasbro versus the translucent blue plastic used on the Takara. Takara version has blue knee paint applications and fully painted hands.
Even more subtle is her face - unlike the Generations toy, both have opted to go with the softer, more anime inspired face that the Legends version. The gold crest on the top of her head is slightly different, and you'll notice that the paint apps under her eyes are larger on the Takara, and that the Takara version is slightly smiling over the more neutral look of the Hasbro version. IIRC, Hasbro like neutral expressions on everything they make.
The blue paint apps on her eyebrows and sideburns, for lack of better terms, actually exist on both figures, but are very dark blue on the Hasbro to the point where I only noticed them when doing these pictures.
Unique to the Takara version is the Targetmaster. This is the first Targetmaster Legends I've purchased, so I don't know if the part is repainted from another figure or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't act anything like the Targetmaster I got with my Cyclonus years ago. It does have spiffy paint work, and decent articulation for a piece of that size. I'm thinking perhaps of the production costs for this piece (and possibly because of looks) the Targetmaster version went and reused the original Legends weapon rather than went with those twin blades the Hasbro one came with.
Overall, I feel the Takara version looks nicer, but the difference in robot mode isn't as great as it was on the Generations toy. Is it worth the extra $20 CAD? Ehh.. it depends - if you display in jet mode, the looks are significantly different ,but if you display in bot mode, it's going to come down to whether or not you like the extra pieces that the Takara version comes with.
One of the most memorable Sega Arcade Classics is Golden Axe. My time was mostly spent with the Master System version, so it blew my mind to find out that there were actually three characters to choose from, as opposed to just Ax Battler.
Storm Collectibles "recently" started their lineup from this beautiful game. Bored out of my mind due to lockdown, I preordered one directly from Storm in HK, as our local "dealer" in Toronto is not really reliable.
The figure itself follows the tried and true Storm design, featuring a base figure that has all the major bases covered, with a soft rubber upper torso, which normally would have allowed for neck motion without visible joints.... but they seem to have gotten rid of that a while ago.
Not that there was a non Deluxe version, but I suppose for the $128 its a decent value. You get 8 additional hands, her sword, and her noble steed the Blue Dragon. It's a shame that you don't get any little elves to beat up for meat and magic potions.
The Blue Dragon itself is nice and hefty, and also has a decent amount of articulation. Flame effect is meant for use with it... unless you're bored like me.
I’ll be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with Trick or Treat Studios. They make stuff I dreamt about owning my entire childhood, but many of the expensive items I’ve purchased from them have poor paint jobs and the colors literally wipe off when I dust them...they also have THEE worst customer service of any company I have ever encountered. They treat their customers like absolute shit. But I won’t get into that now.
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I have to give it to them here...they totally knocked it out of the park with this one. I am HIGHLY impressed with the sculpt and overall look. The photos they released several months ago teasing this figure looked just ok. And the hands looked too smooth and “girly”. But it actually looks better in person, which is seldom the case.
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For a price tag of $130, I’d say it’s worth every penny (if you’re a Myers freak like me)
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I preordered the Sideshow Myers statue a few months ago, that cost $600. It is twice the size of this guy, has real hair and comes with a light up jack o lantern...this is gonna be hard to beat, though. I’m just hoping for $600, it does. Haha.
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My only issue with it is the knife is super cheapo. It broke while I was inserting it into his hand (he comes with two hands, one opened, one in a fist to hold the knife). I had to super glue it twice. But other than that, I love this thing.
Figma Lily Saber (1.0 and 2.0)
I've always liked Figma over Figuarts. Though from a quality perspective they're pretty close, it usually comes down to the licenses. One such license is the Fate Series, which is an anime adapted from an eroge (erotic game) which pits various spirits called servants, which are based off of historically important beings, into battle for each other.
I've only watched the first series, Fate/Stay Night, but it did leave a lasting impact on me as it was quite well adapted and introduced many interesting characters. One of these characters is the sword wielding Servant (aka Saber class) Artoria Pendragon, aka. King Arthur of Camelot.. but, you know, turned into a female.
For a while there (and to a certain degree even now), whenever you mentioned the name Saber in relation to the Fate series, most people turn to the though of this particular version.. effectively making her into the mascot for the series.
As she was quite popular, she spawn two addition versions, as it were - an Alter or "dark" version, which made an appearance in the game if you took the bad route, as it were, and Lily Saber, which I honestly have no idea, but I believe is sort of a prequel version to the more traditional version, as she is still somewhat kawaii and all that. Lily Saber was introduced in the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game.
Lily Saber is the focus of this particular discussion.
Having stated she was an original creation of the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game, the only way originally to get the Figma of this character was to buy the special edition of the game. Naturally, this lead to her being pretty expensive. There were Figma of Lily Saber not in her armoured dress, but I have no idea how hard they were to get.
Of course, things change, and a new armoured Lily Saber Figma ended up a general release figure as part of the Fates/Grand Order mobile game lineup.
There was about a decade of time between the original release and this newest one - surely it wasn't just a repackage, right?
Well, I'm happy to say that no, that is not the case.
Somewhere along the line of releasing 350+ figures, the Figma system got upgraded. They weren't bad to start with, but the new 2.0 bodies were generally bigger, had better designed bodies and limbs to allow for greater freedom of movement, and got rid of one of the most annoying things of the 1.0 bodies, the stupid needle thin plastic posts used to attach hands to the bodies.. I say stupid because I broke mine.
So with that out of the way, lets look at Lily Saber 1.0 & 2.0.
Both releases have their strengths. The 1.0 release only came with two expressions, but had an extra hair effect piece for that windswept look, an extra piece to convert the standard Figma stand into one with a grip rather than a peg, and one extra set of hands for a tilted hand grip. Furthermore, the paint on the armour pieces are a metallic silver versus a flatter pearl grey.
The 2.0 release, as mentioned, is a larger figure. It doesn't come with a windswept hair effect, but it does have a posable ponytail. This release comes with three expressions (with a bonus 4th one if you had preordered through the GSC store). Due to the nature of the wrist pegs, the tilted wrist fists are no longer needed and not included with this package. Furthermore, it's not your eyes, but rather, yes the colours seem to be brighter and more vibrant on the 2.0 release. Her face is different and more "formed", but I'm not sure if that was an artistic thing, or a source material thing.
Both only come with her entry level weapon, Caliburn, even though every PVC statue I've seen of her comes with Avalon, her second more powerful sword. Both figures feature the white lace stockings and undergarments.
I think what you'll find as the biggest difference between the two figures (and the dealbreaker/game changer) is that the 2.0 doesn't just have greater movement for the limbs (and hair), but it also has a much more articulated skirt. This allows for a greater variety of display options, presuming you're willing to take the time move the various panels into position.
So overall, while they both look nice, I think if you're going to add one Lily Saber to your collection you're probably better off just going straight to the 2.0 release. It's bigger, has more display options, and is more durable. But as I said before, 1.0 is no slouch either.
ホテル網走湖荘
Dinner at Hotel Abashirikoso. We had preordered two kani-gozen and two menme-zukushi meals when making the hotel reservation.
I had originally preordered an X100t when they were announced, but got tempted away by the LUMIX LX-100. It was a fun experiment, but I missed the look, feel and performance of the Fuji X100.
Takara Legends Targetmaster Windblade.
Windblade is a relatively recent addition to Transformers lore. If you've watched the recent web series for the Prime Wars trilogy, she's one of the main characters. If you're look a bit further back, she was featured prominently in the comics, and received a toy after being the winner of the first toy design for mass production based purely on fan input.
Unfortunately, as Windblade has a very vibrant and colourful deco, the Transformers Generation toy didn't quite capture the character fully, and I missed the boat on the Legends release. With Windblade recently being featured in the Titans Return line, I immediately preordered the Legends edition as soon as I had a chance.
Like all of the Deluxes in the last wave of the recent Legend entries, Windblade has been deemed to be a Targetmaster, one of those characters with a little bot buddy that transforms into a weapon.
Fundamentally, the two toys are the same. Based off the Triggerhappy toy for transformation, but strangely doesn't share the articulation that the other toys enjoyed. Most notable would be the lack of waist movement. Other changes over her Generations appearance are that she is now a Headmaster, and that you can no longer remove the fan off the top of her head.
However, the two do differ in several ways, none of which should be overly surprising:
- Takara has the collectors friendly packaging
- Takara has more/different paint applications, translucent plastic, and the base red plastic is a richer colour
- Takara comes with the Targetmaster
- Takara comes with the sword the first Generations/Legends toy came with instead of the twin blades the Hasbro version comes with.
- Takara costs twice as much.
Obviously, there is quite a significant different in jet mode, with the fuselage being completely different colours as is the canopy, and the Takara version has painted VTOL fans. Also, the Titan Master/Head Master is missing some paint on the small robot face as well as on the arms and legs.
What I didn't expect was how subtle the changes in robot mode were.
The crest under her neckline is painted dark blue on Hasbro versus the translucent blue plastic used on the Takara. Takara version has blue knee paint applications and fully painted hands.
Even more subtle is her face - unlike the Generations toy, both have opted to go with the softer, more anime inspired face that the Legends version. The gold crest on the top of her head is slightly different, and you'll notice that the paint apps under her eyes are larger on the Takara, and that the Takara version is slightly smiling over the more neutral look of the Hasbro version. IIRC, Hasbro like neutral expressions on everything they make.
The blue paint apps on her eyebrows and sideburns, for lack of better terms, actually exist on both figures, but are very dark blue on the Hasbro to the point where I only noticed them when doing these pictures.
Unique to the Takara version is the Targetmaster. This is the first Targetmaster Legends I've purchased, so I don't know if the part is repainted from another figure or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't act anything like the Targetmaster I got with my Cyclonus years ago. It does have spiffy paint work, and decent articulation for a piece of that size. I'm thinking perhaps of the production costs for this piece (and possibly because of looks) the Targetmaster version went and reused the original Legends weapon rather than went with those twin blades the Hasbro one came with.
Overall, I feel the Takara version looks nicer, but the difference in robot mode isn't as great as it was on the Generations toy. Is it worth the extra $20 CAD? Ehh.. it depends - if you display in jet mode, the looks are significantly different ,but if you display in bot mode, it's going to come down to whether or not you like the extra pieces that the Takara version comes with.
The Little Lodge at St. Kate's Wood
On Pioneer Trail, southhwest of Heavenly Ski resort in South lake Tahoe surrounded by 80' pines, this stunning new 2 master suites 2.5baths, diminutive and dramatic lodge style house with 3 gas fireplaces has become available for Christmas December 23th-26th @the reduced 3 night minimum rate of 225/night. Fully equipped and furnished in comfort and contemporary high fashion mountain decor as devoid of the usual kitsch as it is yet full of the charm and romance of a Europeon hunting lodge, a parodized "hermitage des chasseurs".
In addition to cable and wifi connections pricing includes welcoming upon arrival valet service ensuring shoveled drive and walkway, purchase and stocking of preordered groceries, unloading and unpacking of luggage and departure maid service.. Promotional video on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PIZj-1TrKU depicts additional bedroom and bath renditions prior to upgrades.
Pricing reflects offer for a respectful, non smoking occupancy of 4 guests only please
Coveniently located off of Pioneer Trail near Heavenly Ski resort.
Floorplan: www.flickr.com/photos/57320325@N06/
CALENDAR:https://www.homeawayconnect.com/cale ndar.aspx?propertyid=659828&culturename=e n-US&mode=1
15 years of loyalty to the Xbox brand and I'm not gonna stop anytime soon. My buddy and I preordered the new Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition today.
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
Takara Legends Arcee and Nightbird
As part of the Legends series, Takara released 6 figures nicknamed the Fembots because.. well, they were female. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, I completely dropped the ball when it came to preordering ALL of them, so it's a slow, painful crawl to acquire them all.
I'm finally up to three of them, with the focus of this blurb on two toys that share moulds - Arcee and Nightbird.
Arcee is a character that I've gotten a few figures for, and should super very familiar to those even only remotely interested in Transformers lore. The Legends toys was released by Hasbro as part of the Generations line... sort of.
Arcee was one of the toys that Canada got completely shafted out of due to some language law kerfuffle, so my choices were pretty much to either buy a scalper price US version, or just go Takara.
Easy choice.
The toy is of course, based on her G1 appearance. The silhouette of the figure is quite nice, definitely quite feminine in appear without being over the top. Arcee is armed with two swords and two guns. I don't exactly remember her ever using the swords in the original series, but this could have been influenced by her Animated appearance as well.
The only real sore point of this figure is the absolute lack of waist articulation, which is unfortunate, but not quite possible given the transformation she uses. I also noticed the upper right shoulder on mine looks like it was stressed by being pulled the wrong way, but I suspect I got a bum one from the QC department.
Vehicle mode is nicely sculpted, and even has a painted interior with some nice detailing.
The main differences between the Hasbro version and the Takara version are the strength of the pink used, and the paint apps on her face. I don't think Hasbro Arcee had a pink face, and definitely it's a Hasbro "No No" to have any form of actual expression on their toys.
Nightbird is a character that I'm not familiar with myself, but it seems she was a G1 character that was the creation of a Mad Scientist, designed to be a robotic Ninja.
It was the 80s.... all Mad Scientists did WAS cause shit.
Her toy is a predominately silver and black repaint of the Arcee toy, and while in vehicle mode the two look very similar, they are almost like two different toys.
For starters, the use of of metallic silver paint is a stark contrast to the black plastics and highlight various body parts more so than with Arcee, especially in the legs. Obviously, there is that new headsculpt, and equally obvious should be the addition of two melee weapons, a pair of Sais.
Naturally, as one would expect, the two figures share the same strengths and weaknesses. I guess if I had to add one more thing to the Nightbird side of the equation it's that I wish the wheels weren't black as aesthetically they tend to blend in with the chassis of the car.
Takara Legends Arcee and Nightbird
As part of the Legends series, Takara released 6 figures nicknamed the Fembots because.. well, they were female. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, I completely dropped the ball when it came to preordering ALL of them, so it's a slow, painful crawl to acquire them all.
I'm finally up to three of them, with the focus of this blurb on two toys that share moulds - Arcee and Nightbird.
Arcee is a character that I've gotten a few figures for, and should super very familiar to those even only remotely interested in Transformers lore. The Legends toys was released by Hasbro as part of the Generations line... sort of.
Arcee was one of the toys that Canada got completely shafted out of due to some language law kerfuffle, so my choices were pretty much to either buy a scalper price US version, or just go Takara.
Easy choice.
The toy is of course, based on her G1 appearance. The silhouette of the figure is quite nice, definitely quite feminine in appear without being over the top. Arcee is armed with two swords and two guns. I don't exactly remember her ever using the swords in the original series, but this could have been influenced by her Animated appearance as well.
The only real sore point of this figure is the absolute lack of waist articulation, which is unfortunate, but not quite possible given the transformation she uses. I also noticed the upper right shoulder on mine looks like it was stressed by being pulled the wrong way, but I suspect I got a bum one from the QC department.
Vehicle mode is nicely sculpted, and even has a painted interior with some nice detailing.
The main differences between the Hasbro version and the Takara version are the strength of the pink used, and the paint apps on her face. I don't think Hasbro Arcee had a pink face, and definitely it's a Hasbro "No No" to have any form of actual expression on their toys.
Nightbird is a character that I'm not familiar with myself, but it seems she was a G1 character that was the creation of a Mad Scientist, designed to be a robotic Ninja.
It was the 80s.... all Mad Scientists did WAS cause shit.
Her toy is a predominately silver and black repaint of the Arcee toy, and while in vehicle mode the two look very similar, they are almost like two different toys.
For starters, the use of of metallic silver paint is a stark contrast to the black plastics and highlight various body parts more so than with Arcee, especially in the legs. Obviously, there is that new headsculpt, and equally obvious should be the addition of two melee weapons, a pair of Sais.
Naturally, as one would expect, the two figures share the same strengths and weaknesses. I guess if I had to add one more thing to the Nightbird side of the equation it's that I wish the wheels weren't black as aesthetically they tend to blend in with the chassis of the car.
269
it's funny how even though this photo is very low quality camera wise, it is still a meaningful picture to me.
Jon Foreman is really one of the people i look up to the most, he is so inspiring and just seems like such an awsome guy. I went to a Switchfoot/Amberlin concert sunday night [which was great], and afterwards got to go to this aftershow in times square he did. It was really just such a cool experience. Someday I'd really like to meet him [if any of you have connections, yah know... ;) ], and this aftershow was just kinda cool to hear him talk a litle more about the songs [even if i couldn't stay for the whole thing, last train and all.. lol.].
but yeah, wish i'd brought my nice camera, but just being able to remember this will be so cool. such a perfect early birthday present :)
switchfoot's new CD, Vice Verses came out TODAY! go take a listen, it's really good! [i preordered it so i got it saturday, and can't stop listening to it. ]
Broketober never fails... Every year.
A bit of story time:
I preordered a Sigma APO Teleconverter 2x EX DG using BIC Camera's website as there were 2 BIC Camera shops near my hotel in Nagoya. I was told that both shops didn't have the 2x teleconverter and I then opted for 1.4x teleconveter (thinking that it may be a better choice anyway as I will only lose 1 stop of light as opposed to 2 stops of light with the 2x teleconverter). Upon picking up the item in Nagoya and paying for it, it turns out, they didn't have the 1.4x teleconverter and actually had the 2x teleconverter.
I got a teleconverter to be used with my Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DC OS HSM telephoto lens so I can get even closer to the Formula 1 action. Yes, I bought a Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO EX DC OS HSM telephoto lens for the main purpose of photographing Formula 1 cars. I then purchased a Sigma APO Teleconverter 2x EX DG also for the main purpose of Formula 1 cars. In short, I'm a Formula 1 fan (for 22 years now) and would love to get memorable photos in the races I attend.
I mean, of course, both the telephoto lens and the teleconverter can be used for shots other than that of motorsports, but the main purpose of this combo is for Formula 1 indeed.
Exploring Nagoya Castle
Shooting Information:
Nikon D7200 with MB-D15 Battery Grip
Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM
Aperture Priority
1/400th @ 17mm zoom, f/5.6
ISO 1000
Flash Not Fired
Post Processing Information:
Adobe Lightroom Classic CC 7.1
Cropped
Takara Legends Targetmaster Windblade.
Windblade is a relatively recent addition to Transformers lore. If you've watched the recent web series for the Prime Wars trilogy, she's one of the main characters. If you're look a bit further back, she was featured prominently in the comics, and received a toy after being the winner of the first toy design for mass production based purely on fan input.
Unfortunately, as Windblade has a very vibrant and colourful deco, the Transformers Generation toy didn't quite capture the character fully, and I missed the boat on the Legends release. With Windblade recently being featured in the Titans Return line, I immediately preordered the Legends edition as soon as I had a chance.
Like all of the Deluxes in the last wave of the recent Legend entries, Windblade has been deemed to be a Targetmaster, one of those characters with a little bot buddy that transforms into a weapon.
Fundamentally, the two toys are the same. Based off the Triggerhappy toy for transformation, but strangely doesn't share the articulation that the other toys enjoyed. Most notable would be the lack of waist movement. Other changes over her Generations appearance are that she is now a Headmaster, and that you can no longer remove the fan off the top of her head.
However, the two do differ in several ways, none of which should be overly surprising:
- Takara has the collectors friendly packaging
- Takara has more/different paint applications, translucent plastic, and the base red plastic is a richer colour
- Takara comes with the Targetmaster
- Takara comes with the sword the first Generations/Legends toy came with instead of the twin blades the Hasbro version comes with.
- Takara costs twice as much.
Obviously, there is quite a significant different in jet mode, with the fuselage being completely different colours as is the canopy, and the Takara version has painted VTOL fans. Also, the Titan Master/Head Master is missing some paint on the small robot face as well as on the arms and legs.
What I didn't expect was how subtle the changes in robot mode were.
The crest under her neckline is painted dark blue on Hasbro versus the translucent blue plastic used on the Takara. Takara version has blue knee paint applications and fully painted hands.
Even more subtle is her face - unlike the Generations toy, both have opted to go with the softer, more anime inspired face that the Legends version. The gold crest on the top of her head is slightly different, and you'll notice that the paint apps under her eyes are larger on the Takara, and that the Takara version is slightly smiling over the more neutral look of the Hasbro version. IIRC, Hasbro like neutral expressions on everything they make.
The blue paint apps on her eyebrows and sideburns, for lack of better terms, actually exist on both figures, but are very dark blue on the Hasbro to the point where I only noticed them when doing these pictures.
Unique to the Takara version is the Targetmaster. This is the first Targetmaster Legends I've purchased, so I don't know if the part is repainted from another figure or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't act anything like the Targetmaster I got with my Cyclonus years ago. It does have spiffy paint work, and decent articulation for a piece of that size. I'm thinking perhaps of the production costs for this piece (and possibly because of looks) the Targetmaster version went and reused the original Legends weapon rather than went with those twin blades the Hasbro one came with.
Overall, I feel the Takara version looks nicer, but the difference in robot mode isn't as great as it was on the Generations toy. Is it worth the extra $20 CAD? Ehh.. it depends - if you display in jet mode, the looks are significantly different ,but if you display in bot mode, it's going to come down to whether or not you like the extra pieces that the Takara version comes with.
Theodor followed PinkiPli. Clearly Annette Himstedt was trying to capitalize on the Harry Potter craze. ;D I think it failed pretty badly because they are such odd-looking dolls. I preordered both and have to admit that while PinkiPli grew on me, poor Theo doesn't have quite the same charm. I keep thinking I'll add lashes to these two and they'll look a little less vacant.
I preordered these girls from Toys R Us, and they arrived today! Hurrah! Which one is Meowlody and which one is Purrsephone?
With all the attention that the Marvel Cinematic universe, several companies have jumped on the bandwagon to produce figures, especially Iron Man ones.
The Midas is one of "blink and you'll miss it" suits featured during the epic House Party battle at the end of the movie.
When the original solicitations were shown, this Revoltech figure featured painted gold and chromed gold pieces. Seeing how this was a Japanese release, the final product didn't typically differ from the prototype drastically, so I bit and preordered one. I was also interested in the figure because it has been quite a few years since my last Revoltech purchase, so I was curious to see how things had changed.
What I received was a poorly painted figure with qc problems. As my photos show, the paint finish is not very smooth, and I could not actually get the joints aligned properly so that the figure could STAND properly.
Also disappointing was the lack of a stand that would permit flying poses.
Gonna stick with figmas.
Photo by: Michael Krakovskiy
Here's a preview unit from Tmobile. Here's my week's love affair with the Tmobile G1. I preordered one when it was first announced. Hope the love affair continues.
Figma Lily Saber (1.0 and 2.0)
I've always liked Figma over Figuarts. Though from a quality perspective they're pretty close, it usually comes down to the licenses. One such license is the Fate Series, which is an anime adapted from an eroge (erotic game) which pits various spirits called servants, which are based off of historically important beings, into battle for each other.
I've only watched the first series, Fate/Stay Night, but it did leave a lasting impact on me as it was quite well adapted and introduced many interesting characters. One of these characters is the sword wielding Servant (aka Saber class) Artoria Pendragon, aka. King Arthur of Camelot.. but, you know, turned into a female.
For a while there (and to a certain degree even now), whenever you mentioned the name Saber in relation to the Fate series, most people turn to the though of this particular version.. effectively making her into the mascot for the series.
As she was quite popular, she spawn two addition versions, as it were - an Alter or "dark" version, which made an appearance in the game if you took the bad route, as it were, and Lily Saber, which I honestly have no idea, but I believe is sort of a prequel version to the more traditional version, as she is still somewhat kawaii and all that. Lily Saber was introduced in the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game.
Lily Saber is the focus of this particular discussion.
Having stated she was an original creation of the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game, the only way originally to get the Figma of this character was to buy the special edition of the game. Naturally, this lead to her being pretty expensive. There were Figma of Lily Saber not in her armoured dress, but I have no idea how hard they were to get.
Of course, things change, and a new armoured Lily Saber Figma ended up a general release figure as part of the Fates/Grand Order mobile game lineup.
There was about a decade of time between the original release and this newest one - surely it wasn't just a repackage, right?
Well, I'm happy to say that no, that is not the case.
Somewhere along the line of releasing 350+ figures, the Figma system got upgraded. They weren't bad to start with, but the new 2.0 bodies were generally bigger, had better designed bodies and limbs to allow for greater freedom of movement, and got rid of one of the most annoying things of the 1.0 bodies, the stupid needle thin plastic posts used to attach hands to the bodies.. I say stupid because I broke mine.
So with that out of the way, lets look at Lily Saber 1.0 & 2.0.
Both releases have their strengths. The 1.0 release only came with two expressions, but had an extra hair effect piece for that windswept look, an extra piece to convert the standard Figma stand into one with a grip rather than a peg, and one extra set of hands for a tilted hand grip. Furthermore, the paint on the armour pieces are a metallic silver versus a flatter pearl grey.
The 2.0 release, as mentioned, is a larger figure. It doesn't come with a windswept hair effect, but it does have a posable ponytail. This release comes with three expressions (with a bonus 4th one if you had preordered through the GSC store). Due to the nature of the wrist pegs, the tilted wrist fists are no longer needed and not included with this package. Furthermore, it's not your eyes, but rather, yes the colours seem to be brighter and more vibrant on the 2.0 release. Her face is different and more "formed", but I'm not sure if that was an artistic thing, or a source material thing.
Both only come with her entry level weapon, Caliburn, even though every PVC statue I've seen of her comes with Avalon, her second more powerful sword. Both figures feature the white lace stockings and undergarments.
I think what you'll find as the biggest difference between the two figures (and the dealbreaker/game changer) is that the 2.0 doesn't just have greater movement for the limbs (and hair), but it also has a much more articulated skirt. This allows for a greater variety of display options, presuming you're willing to take the time move the various panels into position.
So overall, while they both look nice, I think if you're going to add one Lily Saber to your collection you're probably better off just going straight to the 2.0 release. It's bigger, has more display options, and is more durable. But as I said before, 1.0 is no slouch either.
The Little Lodge at St. Kate's Wood
On Pioneer Trail, southhwest of Heavenly Ski resort in South lake Tahoe surrounded by 80' pines, this stunning new 2 master suites 2.5baths, diminutive and dramatic lodge style house with 3 gas fireplaces has become available @the reduced 2 night minimum rate of 225/night.or 1000/wk
Fully equipped and furnished in comfort and contemporary high fashion mountain decor as devoid of the usual kitsch as it is yet full of the charm and romance of a Europeon hunting lodge, a "hermitage des chasseurs".
In addition to cable and wifi connections pricing includes welcoming upon arrival valet service ensuring shoveled drive and walkway, purchase and stocking of preordered groceries, unloading and unpacking of luggage and departure maid service.. Promotional video on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PIZj-1TrKU depicts additional bedroom and bath renditions prior to upgrades.
Pricing reflects offer for a respectful, non smoking occupancy of 4 guests only please
Coveniently located off of Pioneer Trail near Heavenly Ski resort.
Floorplan: www.flickr.com/photos/57320325@N06/
CALENDAR:https://www.homeawayconnect.com/cale ndar.aspx?propertyid=659828&culturename=e n-US&mode=1
Takara Legends Targetmaster Windblade.
Windblade is a relatively recent addition to Transformers lore. If you've watched the recent web series for the Prime Wars trilogy, she's one of the main characters. If you're look a bit further back, she was featured prominently in the comics, and received a toy after being the winner of the first toy design for mass production based purely on fan input.
Unfortunately, as Windblade has a very vibrant and colourful deco, the Transformers Generation toy didn't quite capture the character fully, and I missed the boat on the Legends release. With Windblade recently being featured in the Titans Return line, I immediately preordered the Legends edition as soon as I had a chance.
Like all of the Deluxes in the last wave of the recent Legend entries, Windblade has been deemed to be a Targetmaster, one of those characters with a little bot buddy that transforms into a weapon.
Fundamentally, the two toys are the same. Based off the Triggerhappy toy for transformation, but strangely doesn't share the articulation that the other toys enjoyed. Most notable would be the lack of waist movement. Other changes over her Generations appearance are that she is now a Headmaster, and that you can no longer remove the fan off the top of her head.
However, the two do differ in several ways, none of which should be overly surprising:
- Takara has the collectors friendly packaging
- Takara has more/different paint applications, translucent plastic, and the base red plastic is a richer colour
- Takara comes with the Targetmaster
- Takara comes with the sword the first Generations/Legends toy came with instead of the twin blades the Hasbro version comes with.
- Takara costs twice as much.
Obviously, there is quite a significant different in jet mode, with the fuselage being completely different colours as is the canopy, and the Takara version has painted VTOL fans. Also, the Titan Master/Head Master is missing some paint on the small robot face as well as on the arms and legs.
What I didn't expect was how subtle the changes in robot mode were.
The crest under her neckline is painted dark blue on Hasbro versus the translucent blue plastic used on the Takara. Takara version has blue knee paint applications and fully painted hands.
Even more subtle is her face - unlike the Generations toy, both have opted to go with the softer, more anime inspired face that the Legends version. The gold crest on the top of her head is slightly different, and you'll notice that the paint apps under her eyes are larger on the Takara, and that the Takara version is slightly smiling over the more neutral look of the Hasbro version. IIRC, Hasbro like neutral expressions on everything they make.
The blue paint apps on her eyebrows and sideburns, for lack of better terms, actually exist on both figures, but are very dark blue on the Hasbro to the point where I only noticed them when doing these pictures.
Unique to the Takara version is the Targetmaster. This is the first Targetmaster Legends I've purchased, so I don't know if the part is repainted from another figure or anything like that, and it certainly doesn't act anything like the Targetmaster I got with my Cyclonus years ago. It does have spiffy paint work, and decent articulation for a piece of that size. I'm thinking perhaps of the production costs for this piece (and possibly because of looks) the Targetmaster version went and reused the original Legends weapon rather than went with those twin blades the Hasbro one came with.
Overall, I feel the Takara version looks nicer, but the difference in robot mode isn't as great as it was on the Generations toy. Is it worth the extra $20 CAD? Ehh.. it depends - if you display in jet mode, the looks are significantly different ,but if you display in bot mode, it's going to come down to whether or not you like the extra pieces that the Takara version comes with.
Figma Lily Saber (1.0 and 2.0)
I've always liked Figma over Figuarts. Though from a quality perspective they're pretty close, it usually comes down to the licenses. One such license is the Fate Series, which is an anime adapted from an eroge (erotic game) which pits various spirits called servants, which are based off of historically important beings, into battle for each other.
I've only watched the first series, Fate/Stay Night, but it did leave a lasting impact on me as it was quite well adapted and introduced many interesting characters. One of these characters is the sword wielding Servant (aka Saber class) Artoria Pendragon, aka. King Arthur of Camelot.. but, you know, turned into a female.
For a while there (and to a certain degree even now), whenever you mentioned the name Saber in relation to the Fate series, most people turn to the though of this particular version.. effectively making her into the mascot for the series.
As she was quite popular, she spawn two addition versions, as it were - an Alter or "dark" version, which made an appearance in the game if you took the bad route, as it were, and Lily Saber, which I honestly have no idea, but I believe is sort of a prequel version to the more traditional version, as she is still somewhat kawaii and all that. Lily Saber was introduced in the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game.
Lily Saber is the focus of this particular discussion.
Having stated she was an original creation of the Fates/Unlimited Codes fighting game, the only way originally to get the Figma of this character was to buy the special edition of the game. Naturally, this lead to her being pretty expensive. There were Figma of Lily Saber not in her armoured dress, but I have no idea how hard they were to get.
Of course, things change, and a new armoured Lily Saber Figma ended up a general release figure as part of the Fates/Grand Order mobile game lineup.
There was about a decade of time between the original release and this newest one - surely it wasn't just a repackage, right?
Well, I'm happy to say that no, that is not the case.
Somewhere along the line of releasing 350+ figures, the Figma system got upgraded. They weren't bad to start with, but the new 2.0 bodies were generally bigger, had better designed bodies and limbs to allow for greater freedom of movement, and got rid of one of the most annoying things of the 1.0 bodies, the stupid needle thin plastic posts used to attach hands to the bodies.. I say stupid because I broke mine.
So with that out of the way, lets look at Lily Saber 1.0 & 2.0.
Both releases have their strengths. The 1.0 release only came with two expressions, but had an extra hair effect piece for that windswept look, an extra piece to convert the standard Figma stand into one with a grip rather than a peg, and one extra set of hands for a tilted hand grip. Furthermore, the paint on the armour pieces are a metallic silver versus a flatter pearl grey.
The 2.0 release, as mentioned, is a larger figure. It doesn't come with a windswept hair effect, but it does have a posable ponytail. This release comes with three expressions (with a bonus 4th one if you had preordered through the GSC store). Due to the nature of the wrist pegs, the tilted wrist fists are no longer needed and not included with this package. Furthermore, it's not your eyes, but rather, yes the colours seem to be brighter and more vibrant on the 2.0 release. Her face is different and more "formed", but I'm not sure if that was an artistic thing, or a source material thing.
Both only come with her entry level weapon, Caliburn, even though every PVC statue I've seen of her comes with Avalon, her second more powerful sword. Both figures feature the white lace stockings and undergarments.
I think what you'll find as the biggest difference between the two figures (and the dealbreaker/game changer) is that the 2.0 doesn't just have greater movement for the limbs (and hair), but it also has a much more articulated skirt. This allows for a greater variety of display options, presuming you're willing to take the time move the various panels into position.
So overall, while they both look nice, I think if you're going to add one Lily Saber to your collection you're probably better off just going straight to the 2.0 release. It's bigger, has more display options, and is more durable. But as I said before, 1.0 is no slouch either.
Connor at the local GameStop midnight 3DS event.
He saved every dime he had from the time the 3DS was first rumored and later preordered it.
Here he is admiring his sales receipt with its '1' tag marking him as first to receive them once they can be handed out at midnight.
This CD was supposed to be released on the 4th of March so I preordered it from sideonedummy and it got here early YAY!!! (Now I need to see if I have time to go see them at Virgin on the 4th)
I havent listen to it thoroughly but so far my favorite songs off the album are:
-(No more) Paddy’s Lament : (this one is my favorite of them all)
-Float
-Man with No Country
-Requiem of a Dying Song
-You Wont Make a Fool Out of Me
-The Lightning Storm
I found out something sad... Converse dont make the "loose fit" chucks in all white =(
Look who came! This makes my fourth Play Arts Kai Cloud! And this one has the best face and hair mould in my opinion! Very true to the remake game :). I've already preordered another one locally, since I want to have another one to keep mint in box! I'll take some better pics of his face when the lighting's better ^^ I still have so many doll photoshoots to do!!!
I preordered these girls from Toys R Us, and they arrived today! Hurrah! Which one is Meowlody and which one is Purrsephone?
More Transformers goodness that has been sitting there for about 6 months now.
One of the more awesome things to come out of the PotP line was Abominus, the combiner formed from the Terrorcons. This combiner was, as expected, a G1 character that was released to oppose Computron, whose updated set was release during the Combiner Wars line. Unlike Computron, however, Abominus saw zero screen time during the recent animated trilogy, which is a shame because I'd like to have seen him interact with Computron.
I had cracked open Hun-Grr and Rippersnapper last year, but gotten the rest of the team by the Summer. didn't really open anything else up because I was waiting for the one thing to bring them all together - the Transform Dreamwave upgrade kit.
Transform Dreamwave (TDW) is one of the newer 3P companies to come on the scene, and effectively presents itself as better valued Perfect Effects (PE) alternative. I only have one PE upgrade kit - the one for Computron, so I can't really comment on any of their hands and feet options. But the PE stuff I did get was very well made, and Abominus needed some love so I figured why not?
Well, the set finally arrived, and I unpacked everything and did some photos, made some notes, and now present to you my findings, starting with my assessment of the rest of the Terrorcon team.
As with most combiner limbs, regardless of the era, they're generally functional in all modes with no real winner as there is reuse and remoulding of parts as much as possible to reduce production costs. To complicate matters, as it were, the Terrorcons are all monsters of sorts, so even their alt modes are kind of arbitrary. Also, as is the new norm, the accessories they came with are rather meh, though I'm trying to decide which is more boring - the weapons, or the fist/armour bits.
Having said that, some are less boring to look at than others, and my vote for best Terrorcon limb goes to Blot, the black and purple fellow. I love the colour scheme and the "not quite a block with arms and legs" look he's got going for him.
Overall, winner by a large margin.
So back to TDW. They actually came to my attention first with their Volcanicus upgrade kit (soon to be discussed) but when I preordered the Abominus kit the Volcanicus kit had not arrived yet, so I did so with blind faith.
For those who are unfamiliar with TDW and PE, as you suspect, their upgrade kits make the default combiners from Hasbro/Takara into magnificent looking bastards which sadly still have the underlying problems of really crappy loose joints.
Much like the PE set, the TDW set has their combiner fists and feet being able to separate and transform, as applicable, into weapons for the smaller bots and wield. The TDW sets try to one up PE by making EVERYTHING into a weapon or accessory for the smaller bots, thus increasing it's value as it were, but honestly I don't know of many people who would be taking advantage of I'm fairly confident that most folks would stick with the combined mode anyway because lets face it, the individual bots are above average overall.
Unlike PE, however, I've noticed that TDW has parts to increase thigh thickness of the combined mode, as well as in the case of Abominus, additional parts to expand the torso size due to the installation of the chest shield.
Installed, the set does definitely do the job of making the combined mode much more visually appealing, which as mentioned, is limited by the crap joints that are in the base product.
I know there are lots of people who complain about the QC on Hasbro products, but generally it's an issue with poor paint apps. The QC with these sets is all over the place, which I guess is not out of the realm of expectations for a smaller manufacturer, but it really does put the reality of Hasbro and Takara being better at something in perspective.
Between Volcanicus and Abominus, the biggest issues I saw were:
- poor paint apps, most prevalent on the silver guns in the feet
- poor hinge tolerance on the feet, leading them to split apart when weight is applied
- peg tolerances being too large resulting in difficulty inserting into the figures
So yeah, buyer beware, but again if you're not looking too closely you're generally good to go.
Student Cassandra Chapman, from Ranson, W.Va., picks up her preordered books in the College Book Store. Also pictured is Bookstore Employee Laurie Clem.
#preordered #gamestop #infinity #marvel #marvelsuperheroes #rocketraccoon #gamer #nvrmorefamily
53 Likes on Instagram
20 Comments on Instagram:
jcmilone: Honestly, I think its the best system on the market @amberlador
gurriapu: Is that for me?? My boys want it too.
doctornvrmore: @amberlador @jcmilone My son loves his 3DS too. I have not played on since DS! Lol
doctornvrmore: @gurriapu Lol. Um, well, if you're in the neighborhood we'll play around. Lol
amberlador: @jcmilone absolutely!!! It's so perfect!!!! I love all systems.....mostly. But my 3DS or my WiiU take the cake
amberlador: And not much had changed Jason!!! Just cool features for the 3d aspect of it!!!
doctornvrmore: @amberlador lol. I just suck. So don't matter. I'd love to take a crack at MarioKart8
amberlador: MarioKart 8 is definitely all it's cracked up to be
With all the attention that the Marvel Cinematic universe, several companies have jumped on the bandwagon to produce figures, especially Iron Man ones.
The Midas is one of "blink and you'll miss it" suits featured during the epic House Party battle at the end of the movie.
When the original solicitations were shown, this Revoltech figure featured painted gold and chromed gold pieces. Seeing how this was a Japanese release, the final product didn't typically differ from the prototype drastically, so I bit and preordered one. I was also interested in the figure because it has been quite a few years since my last Revoltech purchase, so I was curious to see how things had changed.
What I received was a poorly painted figure with qc problems. As my photos show, the paint finish is not very smooth, and I could not actually get the joints aligned properly so that the figure could STAND properly.
Also disappointing was the lack of a stand that would permit flying poses.
Gonna stick with figmas.
One of the most memorable Sega Arcade Classics is Golden Axe. My time was mostly spent with the Master System version, so it blew my mind to find out that there were actually three characters to choose from, as opposed to just Ax Battler.
Storm Collectibles "recently" started their lineup from this beautiful game. Bored out of my mind due to lockdown, I preordered one directly from Storm in HK, as our local "dealer" in Toronto is not really reliable.
The figure itself follows the tried and true Storm design, featuring a base figure that has all the major bases covered, with a soft rubber upper torso, which normally would have allowed for neck motion without visible joints.... but they seem to have gotten rid of that a while ago.
Not that there was a non Deluxe version, but I suppose for the $128 its a decent value. You get 8 additional hands, her sword, and her noble steed the Blue Dragon. It's a shame that you don't get any little elves to beat up for meat and magic potions.
The Blue Dragon itself is nice and hefty, and also has a decent amount of articulation. Flame effect is meant for use with it... unless you're bored like me.