Monday, April 30, 2012
The Kiva team is complete
Received this Kamen Rider Kiva Dogga form from Hong Kong today. This had got to be my favourite out of all the Souchaku Henshin Kiva figures. He has more armor pieces than the others AND he has a friggin huge hammer!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Review: Play Arts Kai Cyborg Ninja
A friend of mine helped me pick this guy up from the comic store in downtown. It is the Play Arts Kai Cyborg Ninja from the Metal Gear Solid series. I've been waiting for this figure to come out for a looong time and I finally have it in my hands.
My first impression of this figure right out of the box: DISAPPOINTING!
The paint apps on this figure is incredibly bad. It reminds me of Hasbro's Marvel Universe line (at least the first few waves). But this big guy here was $70 so I was definitely expecting some cleaner paint apps. From the outside of the box, it is hard to tell because of the reflection of the plastic cover on top. But there are a lot of paint blotches, paint runs, poor panel lining, paint marks all over the figure.
Let's show off the ugly of this figure...
One big blotch on his chest...
On the insides of his legs...
And the outside...
And the back...
And his back...
As you can see above, you can tell I was pretty disappointed with this figure especially since it was $75. The first Play Arts Metal Gear figure I bought was the Sneaking Suit Snake and his paint apps were much cleaner and he only cost $50. With the price increase, I thought at least there would be some improvement. But it looks like Square Enix is going down the path of Hasbro; lower the quality and increase the price to maximize their profits.
Although as I messed with the figure more, some of the initial disappointment started to rub off. After all, he is a Ninja AND a Cyborg, what's not to like? Especially since I just saw this character while playing Metal Gear Solid 2 last night! (same suit but different characters)
If you can forget the poor paint apps (just think of them as battle damage), he is not a bad figure.
There are a lot of fine details all over his exoskeleton suit.
He only comes with a few accessories though, the sword and the hand that needs to be switched out to hold onto the sword.
And a gun that can be switched with his arm.
Another issue about this figure is that he is very hard to balance. I had to use a stand on several of these pictures just to get him to stand up without falling.
Overall, I think this is an okay figure. If I had to give it a rating I would give it 3/5 stars. The biggest issue with this figure is the poor paint apps, especially at this price range. I mean, if it were only several small spots here and there, I'd understand since everybody makes mistakes right? But the mistakes are all over this figure which is unacceptable in my opinion. The only reason I would give it a 3/5 stars is because I love this character and I am a big fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. If you are not a fan and just want to pick up this figure because it looks cool, I suggest you pass on it.
Although this maybe just an isolated incident, maybe it was the last figure of the day and the painter just wanted to get home so he/she rushed through it. If you want to pick up this figure, I suggest checking the paint apps as carefully as you can before buying it. I didn't think I would get such poor quality from Square Enix so I figured it would be fine for my friend to pick it up, but obviously not.
Now that he is in my display case, he looks pretty good...from far away LOL
See the paint mark on his chin? =(
My first impression of this figure right out of the box: DISAPPOINTING!
The paint apps on this figure is incredibly bad. It reminds me of Hasbro's Marvel Universe line (at least the first few waves). But this big guy here was $70 so I was definitely expecting some cleaner paint apps. From the outside of the box, it is hard to tell because of the reflection of the plastic cover on top. But there are a lot of paint blotches, paint runs, poor panel lining, paint marks all over the figure.
Let's show off the ugly of this figure...
One big blotch on his chest...
On the insides of his legs...
And the outside...
And the back...
And his back...
As you can see above, you can tell I was pretty disappointed with this figure especially since it was $75. The first Play Arts Metal Gear figure I bought was the Sneaking Suit Snake and his paint apps were much cleaner and he only cost $50. With the price increase, I thought at least there would be some improvement. But it looks like Square Enix is going down the path of Hasbro; lower the quality and increase the price to maximize their profits.
Although as I messed with the figure more, some of the initial disappointment started to rub off. After all, he is a Ninja AND a Cyborg, what's not to like? Especially since I just saw this character while playing Metal Gear Solid 2 last night! (same suit but different characters)
If you can forget the poor paint apps (just think of them as battle damage), he is not a bad figure.
There are a lot of fine details all over his exoskeleton suit.
He only comes with a few accessories though, the sword and the hand that needs to be switched out to hold onto the sword.
And a gun that can be switched with his arm.
Another issue about this figure is that he is very hard to balance. I had to use a stand on several of these pictures just to get him to stand up without falling.
Overall, I think this is an okay figure. If I had to give it a rating I would give it 3/5 stars. The biggest issue with this figure is the poor paint apps, especially at this price range. I mean, if it were only several small spots here and there, I'd understand since everybody makes mistakes right? But the mistakes are all over this figure which is unacceptable in my opinion. The only reason I would give it a 3/5 stars is because I love this character and I am a big fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. If you are not a fan and just want to pick up this figure because it looks cool, I suggest you pass on it.
Although this maybe just an isolated incident, maybe it was the last figure of the day and the painter just wanted to get home so he/she rushed through it. If you want to pick up this figure, I suggest checking the paint apps as carefully as you can before buying it. I didn't think I would get such poor quality from Square Enix so I figured it would be fine for my friend to pick it up, but obviously not.
Now that he is in my display case, he looks pretty good...from far away LOL
See the paint mark on his chin? =(
Friday, April 27, 2012
Kamen Rider Haul
After finishing the Kamen Rider Kiva series, I just had to collect the series' figures. I've already got Kiva Bashaa form from a long time ago. Received Figuarts Dark Kiva and have Emperor in a "Order on Hold" to save a pile of toys with the store before shipping it. And this week I received these Souchaku Henshin figures, there's the regular Kiva, Kiva Garulu form, and Hibiki. Dogga should be coming sometime next week. Can't wait to display them all together!
And as you noticed from the above picture, I finally have somewhat of a photography setup for my figures. Thanks to my kind and generous cousin for donating this huge piece of black cloth to me as a backdrop haha, I've already started messing around with it last night. So look out for a lot more toy pictures coming soon!
And as you noticed from the above picture, I finally have somewhat of a photography setup for my figures. Thanks to my kind and generous cousin for donating this huge piece of black cloth to me as a backdrop haha, I've already started messing around with it last night. So look out for a lot more toy pictures coming soon!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Transformers Candy
I am a huge fan of translucent colored plastic on toys. I know they are usually more brittle, but man do they look sweet!
I recently got the Fansproject Protector armor (Crystal version) for my Sons of Cybertron clear Rodimus. Finally opened it up tonight and put her together and it looks great! I actually first mounted the armor on my transclucent blue Rodimus, but it was so ugly that I almost regretted getting the armor. But then I cracked open my Sons of Cybertron set and used the clear red Rody instead and they were a match made in heaven! The translucent red and orange actually reminded me of gummy bears so I was literally salivating while messing around with this set LOL
I grabbed several other clear Transformers that I have and put them all in a display together.
Unfortunately, with beauty came a price, as I was repositioning the Protector's arm, I heard a loud pop...and found out the ball joint on the Sons of Cybertron Rodimus is slightly cracked already! So I just left his arm down so as to minimize the stress on that point =(
Another somewhat sad and hilarious incident occurred, as I was looking at the translucent Transformers that I had, I picked up my KO clear black Nemesis Prime and his leg just fell off! LOL that's what you get for buying KO! I ended up just hot-gluing his leg in place so he can just stand now, but his joints were all very floppy anyways so he couldn't do much but stand up straight before anyways.
I recently got the Fansproject Protector armor (Crystal version) for my Sons of Cybertron clear Rodimus. Finally opened it up tonight and put her together and it looks great! I actually first mounted the armor on my transclucent blue Rodimus, but it was so ugly that I almost regretted getting the armor. But then I cracked open my Sons of Cybertron set and used the clear red Rody instead and they were a match made in heaven! The translucent red and orange actually reminded me of gummy bears so I was literally salivating while messing around with this set LOL
I grabbed several other clear Transformers that I have and put them all in a display together.
Unfortunately, with beauty came a price, as I was repositioning the Protector's arm, I heard a loud pop...and found out the ball joint on the Sons of Cybertron Rodimus is slightly cracked already! So I just left his arm down so as to minimize the stress on that point =(
Another somewhat sad and hilarious incident occurred, as I was looking at the translucent Transformers that I had, I picked up my KO clear black Nemesis Prime and his leg just fell off! LOL that's what you get for buying KO! I ended up just hot-gluing his leg in place so he can just stand now, but his joints were all very floppy anyways so he couldn't do much but stand up straight before anyways.
Friday, April 13, 2012
And it's over
I've withdrawn all my sales that I posted up a few days back LOL
I've gotten TONS of email, but not one of them were serious, so I give up. There's just too many people offering to buy and then disappearing or people wanting me to make a long trip just to sell them a $10 item. With the gas prices as they are now, no thank you.
It's just a waste of time and not worth it.
I figured I'd rather box them up and surprisingly "discover" them many years later LOL
I've gotten TONS of email, but not one of them were serious, so I give up. There's just too many people offering to buy and then disappearing or people wanting me to make a long trip just to sell them a $10 item. With the gas prices as they are now, no thank you.
It's just a waste of time and not worth it.
I figured I'd rather box them up and surprisingly "discover" them many years later LOL
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Elegance
is the word I think of for this picture. Thought about trying this out for the past few days and finally took the initiative to setup for it. But man once I get started, I take forever because it's so fun to experiment around. This picture took me an hour to get LOL!
Monday, April 9, 2012
It's time...
to clean out some bits and bobs of my collection. Yesterday, I took a bunch of pictures of all the stuff I wanted to get rid of and then posted them on the local forums and local sales listings. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, of how I want to organize my collection, mainly because I am running out of room and there are stuff occupying room that I rather not have. I think I actually said this for my new years resolution that I want to collect certain lines only: Transformers, Predators, and Japanese imports. So this sale is just taking a step in that direction. All this clutter that I am selling is mostly from my early days of collecting when I just about bought everything that seemed cool to me at that moment, especially during sales, then to later realize that I shouldn't have bought it.
Hopefully I can sell some stuff and get some money to buy more stuff LOL
Hopefully I can sell some stuff and get some money to buy more stuff LOL
Monday, April 2, 2012
Here's a new idea for displaying your figures...
I just gotta show you guys these action figure "clips" that I stumbled upon on a forum. They are clips for action figures with a magnet base, allowing the figures to cling on any magnetic surfaces. The store also sells some powder-coated pieces to use with their clips. I was going to order some to mess around with, but at last the shipping to up here in Canada killed the deal for me. I was going to try 10 of them out for $13, but shipping to Canada is another $30, so I gotta pass on them. But for those of you in the states, you guys probably get little to no shipping. And man I had an idea in my mind of a magnetic wall display too! LOL that would be FUN!
Check them out at Blazon Displays!
http://www.blazondisplays.com/
Check them out at Blazon Displays!
http://www.blazondisplays.com/
Sunday, April 1, 2012
April 80's Toy Expo Haul
I've been waiting for this show since January and it's finally here! Today I went to the HE-CON/80's Toy Expo here in Toronto. This time the location of the show was really close to my home, it was only 15 minutes drive away so that was awesome! My primary wants for the show were the Play Arts Metal Gear Solid Cyborg Ninja figure, the DC Direct Starcraft 2 Terran Marine figure, and the any TF Classics Hound since I am only missing him for my classics lineup.
I didn't bother bringing the camera there today since it was raining and the shows just look the same all the time. It is basically a massive room in a hotel with a lot of toy dealers. I must have walked around 3-4 times looking for the Play Arts MGS figure, but didn't find one. I spotted the Starcraft 2 Terran Marine figure, but he was $40 and these figures normally sell for $30 at the local comic store so I'd figure I'll just wait for it to be released here. Last on my wants list is the Classics Hound figure, the only one available was the Takara Henkei Hound going for $60! It is a bit more than I'd want to pay for it, I told myself that I would go max $40 for this toy. After looking around at the other items the same dealer had, I spotted the Takara War for Cybertron Darkside set (with Prime + Megs) for $60. I sort of wanted this set before, but didn't want to pay $100 for it (this was pretty much what everyone else was selling them for at the show). I ended up getting the Darkside set + Henkei Hound for just $100! I thought that was a score since I would be willing to pay $60 for the Darkside set, therefore making the Hound only $40!
I didn't really have anything else in mind after that purchase so I was just walking around looking for good deals on my "secondary" wants which is basically anything to add to the lines I collect. I ended up getting a SHFiguarts Masked Rider 2, Takara United WFC Prime, a sticker sheet for my G3 trailer I got at the previous show and for Classics Wheeljack from Reprolabels, and some prints and pins from the artist Matt Moylan there.
As my haul shows, I am a big fan of the War for Cybertron Prime mold. One thing that made me fall in love with the mold is the aftermarket Corbot War Axe for this figure (which I have still yet to acquire). I was looking all over for this axe today but couldn't find anyone selling them. But I will definitely pick 2 of them up hopefully at the TFCon in August.
Anyways here are the pics of what I got from the show today!
"Lil'Formers" pins from Matt Moylan, they are sooo cute!
A print from Matt again, I am totally in LOVE with this one since it is everyone from Transformers Animated!!!
Another print in G1 style from Matt, unfortunately I think this one was cut wrong so the dimensions are too big to fit in my porfolio. I'll need to cut it myself to make it fit =/
Overall, pretty good show. Didn't really find the stuff I was looking for, but bought plenty of other stuff I wasn't looking for LOL! Hope I will be able to get the Play Arts MGS Cyborg Ninja before they are gone though.
I didn't bother bringing the camera there today since it was raining and the shows just look the same all the time. It is basically a massive room in a hotel with a lot of toy dealers. I must have walked around 3-4 times looking for the Play Arts MGS figure, but didn't find one. I spotted the Starcraft 2 Terran Marine figure, but he was $40 and these figures normally sell for $30 at the local comic store so I'd figure I'll just wait for it to be released here. Last on my wants list is the Classics Hound figure, the only one available was the Takara Henkei Hound going for $60! It is a bit more than I'd want to pay for it, I told myself that I would go max $40 for this toy. After looking around at the other items the same dealer had, I spotted the Takara War for Cybertron Darkside set (with Prime + Megs) for $60. I sort of wanted this set before, but didn't want to pay $100 for it (this was pretty much what everyone else was selling them for at the show). I ended up getting the Darkside set + Henkei Hound for just $100! I thought that was a score since I would be willing to pay $60 for the Darkside set, therefore making the Hound only $40!
I didn't really have anything else in mind after that purchase so I was just walking around looking for good deals on my "secondary" wants which is basically anything to add to the lines I collect. I ended up getting a SHFiguarts Masked Rider 2, Takara United WFC Prime, a sticker sheet for my G3 trailer I got at the previous show and for Classics Wheeljack from Reprolabels, and some prints and pins from the artist Matt Moylan there.
As my haul shows, I am a big fan of the War for Cybertron Prime mold. One thing that made me fall in love with the mold is the aftermarket Corbot War Axe for this figure (which I have still yet to acquire). I was looking all over for this axe today but couldn't find anyone selling them. But I will definitely pick 2 of them up hopefully at the TFCon in August.
Anyways here are the pics of what I got from the show today!
"Lil'Formers" pins from Matt Moylan, they are sooo cute!
A print from Matt again, I am totally in LOVE with this one since it is everyone from Transformers Animated!!!
Another print in G1 style from Matt, unfortunately I think this one was cut wrong so the dimensions are too big to fit in my porfolio. I'll need to cut it myself to make it fit =/
Overall, pretty good show. Didn't really find the stuff I was looking for, but bought plenty of other stuff I wasn't looking for LOL! Hope I will be able to get the Play Arts MGS Cyborg Ninja before they are gone though.
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