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This is the Sevans Models Cyberman kit. This is the second one that I got on E-bay some time ago. I am posting this to show how a typical vacuum formed kit comes from Sevans Models, which is now discontinued. This as well as the original that I have are early versions with no cast metal parts on helmet. These are more time consuming to build and require patience and skill to cut out and glue together with liquid cement. Will do some youtube on techniques when I start working on these again. My other cyberman kit was ordered directly from Sevans models when they first came out. I preordered that model from across the pond and if I recall correctly, it took more than a year to ship. Sevans was very polite and apologized for the delays as issues kept rising in the production. I had even moved and had to do an address change. Many offers of refunds were made but I figured the Cyberman was worth the wait and I trusted the company from my Dalek model. He was worth the wait. Still have all correspondence with Sevans Models on this one.
Elli, the Elephant.
Preordering now at: www.etsy.com/shop/TheMushroomPeddler
or contact me personally at TheMushroomPeddler@gmail.com
Layaway is also available. Please send me a note if you would like to inquire about the details.
Wonderling dolls are hand sculpted in clay by Sarah B. Seiter and then cast in resin.
I would like to invite you to join my new forum at www.TheChamberofDreams.com where
we can discuss and post photos of my Wonderling dolls as well as all other BJDs.
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.
Available daily after 4:30PM (pick up at Tartine) but requires pre-ordering. So I preordered and brought 3 loaves back to Toronto. Because I love bread.
Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero Street
San Francisco, CA
(415) 487-2600
Owners and Chefs: Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson
I preordered an Integrity Toys Homme body on their direct store and decided to buy their Dynamite Girls "Black" body cuz hey it was half price (IT said they would receive the body late Jan but I’ve heard nothing yet). From what I saw online A Tone was usually IT’s second or third most dark skin tone so I hoped I could articulate one of my painted body dolls.
Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near the skin tone of my vintage Live Action Christie.
It’s closer to the Grace/Kara skin tone (Afra and light black) but it’s a lot less orange.
In the end I chose to put my late 70s/early 80s Malibu Christie on here since she has the same issue with being too grey for modern dolls. My Pink N’ Pretty Christie from 1981 is the exact same skin tone so I guess IT (light) A-tone would match the 80s AA mattel dolls.
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.
The second of two scale statues that I preordered in 2022 was the Mai Shiranui from the Kotobukiya Bishoujo lineup. Well she arrived along with a crap ton of other things I'd been sitting on in October or so, and I've finally had time to open her up.
The statue is, as always, based on the artwork of on Shunya Yamashita, who in case I never mentioned it, is the artist for the entirety of the Koto Bishoujo stuff, including those.. delightful My Little Pony things and the Optimus Prime and Megatron.
She (I believe it's "she") has a distinct art style, with very distinctive face, eyes and curves. Not really much for musculature unless it's absolutely necessary, which on Mai is definitely not really an issue provided you get the curves.
It's a nice piece of art, but I much prefer the art of Kinu Nishimura, and I do wish I still had my 1/6 Mai Shiranui based on her artwork from back in the day.
The statue itself is roughly 1/8 scale, so it's not tiny, but it's certainly not going to take up too much room, even if the base is a bit on the wide side. Stance is Mai's classic fighting pose, though I suspect her facial expression is a bit more flirty than her on the battlefield.
Transition to statue from art handled like they typically do, meaning the overall shape is about right. This time, there were no real liberties taken with the pose. Eyes are their usual smidgen off accuracy.
Overall finished product appears good. Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I did not notice any seamlines or other blemishes that usually annoy me, even in the hair. Paintwork is great, with no overspray or other similar issues. Texture is smooth overall.
You might notice that Mai appears to be kind of glossy, especially for a relatively higher end statue. Well, from what I've read, it seems that Kotobukiya made her this way in order to replicate the heavily oiled look Yamashita gave her in the art work. I can sort of see it, though I personally feel that limiting the gloss to the fleshy sections would have been sufficient.
As several others have stated, this does make the entire statue look like it's supposed to be about two price points lower than the MSRP. I don't think I'm bored enough to spray the statue with matte clearcoat in order to remedy this.
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.
I JUST recently got the Fujifilm Finepix X100. I preordered it on March 14, 2011 and it arrived in my hands on April 02, 2011.
I was lucky enough to find a store that had a LOW preorder list! The store had 8 preorders, and they received 3 from Fuji Canada. Luckily for me, i made the cut, and I was #3 of 3 cameras.
Anyways, today, I decided to walk around Steveston, BC for a quick street test of the Fujifilm X100. All I can say is, WOW! This camera is FANTASTIC! I feel invisible when I am taking street shots! I definitely feel a lot more liberated as oppose to when I use my 5D Mark II. I'm still getting used to the camera so I hope to improve my speed when handling the camera. It'll probably take a week or something to do just that.
Anyways, here's some test shots from Steveston, BC.
Just picked up the Lost Planet game. Since I preordered, I got the action figure and also picked up the guide book.
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.
Giving stuff away!
This framed 16.5 x 16.5 print will be given out to a lucky customer that preorderes a Bill the Butcher shirt! Names will be randomly drawn and announced Tuesday the 24th!
I had preordered her last January and I picked her up last Friday morning 5/6/2015. She is so tiny and I am glad to add her to my collection ^_^
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 woman above me was on line preordering the Wii for her son, who had school. She put his name in (parentheses).
Went and picked up a game named Scribblenauts that I'd preordered. The best part of preordering it? They gave me this awesome hat!
The Krillin by SHFiguarts model sure has taken a long time to get here, preordered by mistake well over a year ago, this model finally arrived today.
The doll that caused me to become a doll collector. Milou, by designer Wendy Roper, is made of white vinyl. She has a Art Deco air about her and a 40s wardrobe (well, just this one gown so far). I preordered her last December and production delays caused her to only just arrive last week. It was worth the wait for I am delighted with her!
The second of two scale statues that I preordered in 2022 was the Mai Shiranui from the Kotobukiya Bishoujo lineup. Well she arrived along with a crap ton of other things I'd been sitting on in October or so, and I've finally had time to open her up.
The statue is, as always, based on the artwork of on Shunya Yamashita, who in case I never mentioned it, is the artist for the entirety of the Koto Bishoujo stuff, including those.. delightful My Little Pony things and the Optimus Prime and Megatron.
She (I believe it's "she") has a distinct art style, with very distinctive face, eyes and curves. Not really much for musculature unless it's absolutely necessary, which on Mai is definitely not really an issue provided you get the curves.
It's a nice piece of art, but I much prefer the art of Kinu Nishimura, and I do wish I still had my 1/6 Mai Shiranui based on her artwork from back in the day.
The statue itself is roughly 1/8 scale, so it's not tiny, but it's certainly not going to take up too much room, even if the base is a bit on the wide side. Stance is Mai's classic fighting pose, though I suspect her facial expression is a bit more flirty than her on the battlefield.
Transition to statue from art handled like they typically do, meaning the overall shape is about right. This time, there were no real liberties taken with the pose. Eyes are their usual smidgen off accuracy.
Overall finished product appears good. Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I did not notice any seamlines or other blemishes that usually annoy me, even in the hair. Paintwork is great, with no overspray or other similar issues. Texture is smooth overall.
You might notice that Mai appears to be kind of glossy, especially for a relatively higher end statue. Well, from what I've read, it seems that Kotobukiya made her this way in order to replicate the heavily oiled look Yamashita gave her in the art work. I can sort of see it, though I personally feel that limiting the gloss to the fleshy sections would have been sufficient.
As several others have stated, this does make the entire statue look like it's supposed to be about two price points lower than the MSRP. I don't think I'm bored enough to spray the statue with matte clearcoat in order to remedy this.
My work colleague Daniel's new iPad. He preordered one about three weeks back, but Apple seriously screwed up his order - so he ended up waiting in line outside a store early on Friday morning and bought one.
I'm not an Apple fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, but I have to admit it's pretty cool. I'm almost tempted to think about getting one for it's photo gallery software. And that Elements app is awesome.
Oh, by the way, as part of Steve Job's attempt at world domination non-Apple retailers weren't allowed to announce that they were selling iPads before Friday. Daniel found a retailer who was selling them via the following method.
Daniel: Hi, are you selling iPads tomorrow?
Store Employee: Sorry, we're not allowed to say.
Daniel: Hmmm. Are you opening early tomorrow?
Store Employee: Yes! Yes we are!
:D
The second of two scale statues that I preordered in 2022 was the Mai Shiranui from the Kotobukiya Bishoujo lineup. Well she arrived along with a crap ton of other things I'd been sitting on in October or so, and I've finally had time to open her up.
The statue is, as always, based on the artwork of on Shunya Yamashita, who in case I never mentioned it, is the artist for the entirety of the Koto Bishoujo stuff, including those.. delightful My Little Pony things and the Optimus Prime and Megatron.
She (I believe it's "she") has a distinct art style, with very distinctive face, eyes and curves. Not really much for musculature unless it's absolutely necessary, which on Mai is definitely not really an issue provided you get the curves.
It's a nice piece of art, but I much prefer the art of Kinu Nishimura, and I do wish I still had my 1/6 Mai Shiranui based on her artwork from back in the day.
The statue itself is roughly 1/8 scale, so it's not tiny, but it's certainly not going to take up too much room, even if the base is a bit on the wide side. Stance is Mai's classic fighting pose, though I suspect her facial expression is a bit more flirty than her on the battlefield.
Transition to statue from art handled like they typically do, meaning the overall shape is about right. This time, there were no real liberties taken with the pose. Eyes are their usual smidgen off accuracy.
Overall finished product appears good. Admittedly, I didn't look super hard, but I did not notice any seamlines or other blemishes that usually annoy me, even in the hair. Paintwork is great, with no overspray or other similar issues. Texture is smooth overall.
You might notice that Mai appears to be kind of glossy, especially for a relatively higher end statue. Well, from what I've read, it seems that Kotobukiya made her this way in order to replicate the heavily oiled look Yamashita gave her in the art work. I can sort of see it, though I personally feel that limiting the gloss to the fleshy sections would have been sufficient.
As several others have stated, this does make the entire statue look like it's supposed to be about two price points lower than the MSRP. I don't think I'm bored enough to spray the statue with matte clearcoat in order to remedy this.
The Six-Pack team are from Long Island NY *(near New York City) They preordered our services during the tournament
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.
.
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.