Update: Broken Kamen Rider Meteor Driver

So today I received a reply from Amiami regarding my malfunctioning Meteor Driver. Here's what they said:

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Thank you for mailing us.

We are sorry to hear about the problem with your item. Unfortunately we are completely sold out of the item and are unable to provide a replacement. We would like to offer you a 1000 JPY refund for the defect. Please let us know if you would like to accept this offer and we will process the refund by PayPal as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience.
Thank you for shopping at AmiAmi.

Sincerely,
AmiAmi

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I think it was nice of them to offer 1000 yen refund, but let's be honest 1000 yen is nothing lol. So I am going to pass on it since I found out the source of the problem.

I opened the driver up to see if I could fix it myself. I've examined the mechanism of the slider and I actually don't see anything wrong. It seems like the problem just stems from how the mechanism was designed. I guess the reason why some people will have this problem and some do not is just because of tolerances on the parts. When the slider is released from the locked position, it engages a gear that turns the wheel assembly shown in the front and then when the slider is at the "rest" position, the gear disengages. The problem with mine is that when the slider is released from the locked position, it pushes the gears together, but then bounces back to disengage it, therefore it only rotates the gear by not even a tooth on the spine. I found out that by slowing down the release of the slider (just use my finger to prevent it from suddenly releasing), then letting go, the gear will engage properly. I am thinking of adding some thin piece of foam to the side of the slider chamber to slow down the initial force from releasing.

Display update

Got some new figures and rearranged the shelf top display. New additions include Mr.Fantastic, Hawkman, and Lex Luthor. Hawkman and Lex are my first DCUC figures and I am somewhat disappointed. They look good, but man the articulation sucks. I really don't like how Mattel does their hips, it looks good if they are just standing there, but they look sort of weird in any other poses. Articulation is limited, but aesthetically they are excellent. These two figures I've been wanting for a long time, but never had the reason to buy them since I don't collect DC stuff. But while picking up Mr.Fantastic, I figured why not and grabbed them too.

Still gotta get Invisible woman and the human torch for the team.


I only have 3 DC figures lol

Kamen Rider Meteor Belt

This is one of the two Kamen Rider henshin belts that I got from Amiami. Unfortunately, this belt has some mechanical problems. For the henshin sequence, the slider on top is supposed to be pulled out to the side and then when the blue knob is triggered, the slider slowly retracts making the ball in the middle spin. But on mine, instead it just pops back without spinning the disco ball thingamajig. Being that this is the only feature on the toy and the fact that it doesn't work sucks.

I can probably open it up and tinker with it to fix it, but possibly break it as well. I will shoot Amiami an email to see what they say, although I think I will just get a nicely put "Too bad" reply LOL

February Haul from Amiami

Received a massive box from Amiami today. When I was saw my invoice last weekend, I was surprised since the shipping was $130 (EMS)!!! I immediately asked how much it would be to ship it through SAL registered, but it was not a big difference so I just went with EMS. I haven't received a order this huge in a while. When I went to the post office, I finally knew why the shipping was so expensive, the box was MASSIVE!!!

This is also the first order containing Kamen Rider henshin belts LOL! I never collected them but I found myself wanting the Kamen Rider Decade, W, OOO belt after the show is over and when the prices are insanely high for them (except for Decade, can get the Korean version for $50). So this time I saw the Fourze and Meteor belt on sale, I grabbed it right away. Luckily there's a rerelease of the Decade and W belt in April, hopefully I will be able to grab those when they are released too since I know they will go fast!

Here's what I received:
SIC Kiwami Kamen Rider Kaixa (for my friend)
SIC Kiwami Kamen Rider Side Basshar (for my friend)
SHFiguarts Kamen Rider Fourze
SHFiguarts Kamen Rider Fourze Stand & Effect Set
Revoltech BATHING APE
Revoltech Iron Man Mk2
Hasegawa 1/12 Posable Figure Accessory - Meeting Room Tables & Chairs
Kamen Rider Fourze Transformation Belt DX Fourze Driver
Kamen Rider Fourze - Transformation Belt DX Meteor Driver
Kamen Rider Fourze - Fingerprint Reader Bracelet DX Meteor Galaxy

Marvel Legends Ghostrider (Part 2)

Just totally digging this figure so I snap another picture of it tonight. I bought two feet of metal chain from the local hardware store today and smack it together with some hot glue and some paint to make him a "flaming" chain. I thought it came out pretty good.

I am still looking for some type of spike for the ends of the chain, will update when I find some.

Marvel Legends Ghostrider

Opened up the new Marvel Legends Ghostrider I bought on Thursday, after messing around with it for a while, I thought he was definitely worth the $25 I paid for him (although I'd be even more happy if I got him for $15 like Collin did). The only thing I thought he was missing was some short of weapon since he looked sort of awkward standing there empty-handed. Easy fix though, stole the chains from my figma Black Rock Shooter figure.

Today's haul

Like my previous post, one of my wants were the Marvel Legends Thor and Ghostrider, now guess what? I just got them today! The Marvel Legends series 1 has just arrived at the local comic stores yesterday. I couldn't wait to get there after work today and luckily the two I want were still there. The price for each figure was $25 which I think is quite high, good I only want these two the most. I sort of want the Iron Man too, but I am not willing to pay $25 for him, I'd pay max $20 for him.

Even the packaging of these figures are very nicely done. The art on them is excellent, even so much that I sort of want to keep them MOC haha. I compared this ML Thor with the Marvel Select Thor and they are practically the same thing, except this one should have more articulation so I chose this over the MS.

Upcoming Toys for 2012!!!

It's that time of the year again where toy companies show off their new offerings for the year and us toy collectors drool at the coverage pictures while our wallets weep silently for their impending doom...

Currently there are two toy shows going on, the Toy Fair 2012 which I am following on Toyark.com and the Wonder Festival 2012 for Japanese goods which I am following on tomopop.com.

So go over there and check out what we have in store for us this year, it sure looks like another great year for us toy collectors! Especially for Transformers collectors now that the movie line is FINALLY over!

So far on my "To buy" list:

- Playmates Classics TMNT
- Marvel Legends Series 1 Thor and Ghostrider
- Transformers Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Shockwave
- Transformers Prime Rachet, Voyager Megatron
- Mezco Spongebob figures
- Figma Link figure (from Legend of Zelda)
- NECA Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2 figures

Beast Wars Optimus Primal

I lied, I am not going to capture Injector's bot mode today. I was just itching to take a picture of this guy which I also received yesterday, THE Optimus Primal. He is somewhat of a grail for me since I had him when I was a kid but he was unfortunately donated to Salvation Army by my mom when I was in my teen years when I could care less about toys. I've been wanting to get him back for a long time but he was very hard to find for a good price. I stumbled upon this guy when I just felt determined to get one no matter what last weekend. I figured with all the recent purchases of all my WANTS, this one is a MUST on the list, so I started hunting. After going through pages and pages of sale posts on the local forum, I found him. He wasn't complete though (missing missiles and sword I think), but I remember I lost those parts when I was young too so they don't matter to me. Finally receiving him and Injector just brought on a rush of nostalgic feelings to me, I felt like I was a kid all over again. I couldn't help but transform him and play pretend "flight" with him on my desk (at least for a few seconds LOL).

Beast Wars Injector

Got this guy in the mail today. It's Injector from Beast Wars. He actually wasn't featured in the TV show, but he was in the Beast Wars comics. He is one of the ugly ducklings in the toy line, but for some reason I got him when I was a kid. He is just so weird that it makes him cool! I am sooo glad I got him back again because he is such a cool toy. Robot mode will be shown tomorrow!

How much better can it get!? Ugly fish comebined with wasp!

Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy (Part 2)

And here's the robot mode of the big mammoth. His trunk is actually suppose to be part of his missile cannon weapon, but I never really liked TF's with massive weapons so I just kept it in the back kibble there. Because of the kibble, he topples over extremely easily. I really like how the tusks is in the back there in robot mode, really adds a fierce look to the whole thing, especially since it adds missiles looking things on top of his shoulders. Another cool thing on this toy is how the left arm is opaque red plastic, but the right arm is translucent red plastic, I have a thing for another colored translucent plastic on toys haha. All in all, he has one beastly robot mode!

Beast Wars Neo Big Convoy (Part 1)

I received this guy in the mail today, all the way from Korea. He's a figure that I've fallen in love with after getting back into hunting for Beast Wars toys. He is from the Beast Wars Neo series, a Japanese-only series which I have no idea about. I only knew about this character in the Beast Wars comics I got. As for the toy, I've been on the look out for one locally, but have never seen one for a price that I was willing to pay. One day I was on Ebay and saw this toy on sale in new but with no box from Korea, so I jumped on it. The figure came in mint condition and was still in the factory plastic shrink wrap. He is one amazing toy, here is his mammoth beast mode. I will show you guys his robot mode tomorrow.

Beast Wars Scorponok

So as D guessed from the previous post, the figure is Beast Wars Scorponok. His character is basically the same as Lugnut in Transformers Animated, he is the loyal servant to Lord Megatron. I've been hunting for this figure for a while, but most of them that I've seen were over $100. I lucked out on this one since the seller had posted this for a while, but it was buried by all the new posts. One of the cool features onf this figure is his bee drone, which was also featured in the show (check out previous post to see a better picture of the bee drone).

Guess who?

I just received this figure today, he is one of the more rare figures that I have been after. Does anyone know who it is? The picture is a big giveaway. I will reveal the answer tomorrow.

No...it's not Dracula...although he does quite look like him in this picture LOL

SIC Kiwami Wolf Orphnoch

Logically, today I would show off SHF Piccolo, but I just had the urge to open a new toy today, so here it is: a SIC Kiwami Wolf Orphnoch. Orphnochs originated from the Kamen Rider Faiz series. They are supposed to be the next evolution of humans. From the Faiz series, some humans can become Orphnochs after death and some can be created after a human is attacked by an existing Orphnoch. After a human becomes an Orphnoch, they basically gain superpowers. The Orphnochs can also change back to their previous human forms at will.

I actually just got this Wolf Orphnoch earlier this month in my monthly haul from Amiami. I really like how the Orphnoch looks in SIC styling, they are a perfect match. The details on this tiny figure (about 4") is amazing. The only accessories that came with this figure is an extra pair of half open hands (the ones that came with the figure are closed fists). I get the same feeling every time I open a SIC Kiwami figure and it's the feeling of impressiveness. I am just impressed at the level of details, the wide range of articulation, and the amazing quality at this price point (around 1000 yen), which makes me think how poorly made the North America 4" figures are made (Marvel Universe, Joes, SW) in comparison with these SIC's.