Toys N' more

Energon Megatron

2012-01-28T23:17:00.003-05:00

Yet another Megatron that I just added to my collection. I don't know anything about this Megatron, but have always liked the mold design and the color combination with the little bits of green translucent pieces. After I received it in the mail, I had just kept it in this mode and position ever since. It is such a beautiful toy and I am really glad I was able to acquire this one in such minty condition as well.

That's the last of my new additions, although I do have something coming in the mail, but that will take a while to come as it's coming from Korea. But I do plan on continuing this toy picture everyday thing.

Beast Wars Megatron (Part 2)

2012-01-27T22:41:00.002-05:00

So I purchased this Megatron in robot mode, I did not see any pictures of this toy from the seller. I just assumed there was only one Beast Wars Megatron, apparently not. After I transformed him, I was shocked to see that he had no paint apps on his chest. For a moment there, I thought I got a knock off. But after some research, it turns out this is the first release for this mold and this is how it was. Then I go searching around, it seems only a Toysrus exclusive and the Beast Wars Megatron releases after this one had more paint apps that made it more show accurate. However, since this was the original one, I am still happy with it. Maybe in the future I will hunt down the more show accurate release of this mold.

Beast Wars Megatron

2012-01-27T00:40:00.002-05:00

Picked up another Megatron from a local collector today, this time it's the Beast Wars Megatron. I've been wanting one of these ever since I was a kid. I had the choice of getting either him or the Gorilla Prime, I ended up choosing the Prime (which ended up being donated in my teen years). And now I have the T-rex Megatron, but without Gorilla Prime...which I am still on the look out for so I can finally unite these two.

Robot in Disguise Megatron

2012-01-26T00:08:00.003-05:00

Don't really know much about this Megatron, but he was on my "Must buy" list for quite some time because he just looks so cool in this robot mode. I was finally able to score this beauty MIB locally yesterday. This has got to be one of the coolest Megatron, of course, after the Beast Wars Transmetals 2 Megatron...both of which have dragon beast modes haha!

Beast Wars Magmatron

2012-01-25T00:23:00.002-05:00

Picked this guy up from a local collector today. I learned about this character in the Beast Wars "The Gathering" comic I picked up a while ago. I never even knew there was a toy of him but just happened to stumbled upon it. So glad I got him. He's a combiner from three different dinosaurs, it's really cool that all three heads from his beast modes can be seen in his robot mode too.

More Astro!

2012-01-19T19:51:00.002-05:00

My friend reworked the image I took previously and here is the result, which MUCH MUCH BETTER than I did lol! I didn't even know there was so much data in my image. But as shown on the picture, I've confirmed just now that the black dots are dirt on the camera sensor...which I hate since that means I have to clean the sensor...which is not an easy task.

I also shot some more last night at another target: the Pleiades. Not a really good image since the clouds pretty much came in and covered everything after 15 minutes of shooting. But man I am addicted to this stuff! It's just amazing how many stars are up there!

I better get that sensor cleaned quick if I want to image more!

Astrophotography Update

2012-01-15T12:40:00.004-05:00

Some of you might remember, back in 2011, I purchased some astrophotography equipment: an equatorial mount and a IR modified Canon XS. After that, I've spent countless hours freezing my ass off outside in my backyard learning how to set it up and doing some trials. I haven't had any *cool* results until last night where I spent several hours outside in -20C weather.

I was just going to do some testing again since we had a very clear night (which naturally coincides with freezing temperatures). After an hour or so of setting everything up, I looked up at the sky to see which patch of sky I should test out this time. Then I saw this interestingly pattern of 3 bright stars in a row towards the southern patch of sky. A quick check on Stellarium and I found out they were Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka, also known as, the Belt of Orion. And just a bit underneath it is the famous Orion's Nebula which is one of the most common targets for an astro-newbie like myself. So I setup the imaging program and let the computer take over. I imaged for about 2 hours with 60 1 minute exposures and 30 2 minute exposures. But I found out in post-processing that my polar alignment was a bit off so the 2 minute exposures had drifted so I was only able to use my 1 minute exposures.

This is the first time I've gone as far as to stacking the RAW files in DeepSkyStacker, a free software for stacking multiple exposures. And then to manipulate the output file to bring out the colors. I am still a noob at this, but the process was really fun and somewhat rewarding. I literally LOL outside in the backyard by myself in the freezing cold when I saw the Orion Nebula show up on my screen!

First post-process: I was trying too hard to bring out the reds here because other than the Orion Nebula, there is also the Horsehead nebula where Alnitak is (first on the left of the 3 bright stars). In this image, you can see a faint hint of it, but I just can't bring it out. I guess I need more data. Click for full size image.

Same image, but I just tried to bring out more details in the Orion nebula and forget about the Horsehead.

Crop of image above with some more aggressive processing, I think I overdid it here though.

Belt of Orion on top and the Orion nebula on the bottom.

These are nothing amazing, but I am happy since I finally got *something* LOL!

All these were shot with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 stopped down to f4. Since it's a cheap lens, the edges of the pictures are not too good. I want more focal length!!!

OMG Marvel Legos!?

2012-01-14T16:00:00.002-05:00

Just saw this picture on the local forum, I remember seeing this from the last toy show too but forgot about it after. The ad says they will be available in April. I can't wait to see what sets they are going to have! I might finally have to get back into Legos!!! I am really looking forward to the Iron man and Hulk sets!

The virus is spreading...

2012-01-13T23:29:00.002-05:00

I've just placed my pre-order for this guy...sigh...I shouldn't have gotten that Superman to begin with...but to be honest, I couldn't afford to get the first version of this figure when it came out, so there's no way I am going to let this one slip!

Several TF additions...

2012-01-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

Well, only one of them is a true addition as I got the other two already. I found a cheap loose Cybertron Optimus Prime which was missing quite a lot of pieces, mainly from the trailer. But since I have the one I recently got displayed in his Sonic Wing Mode, I had the original trailer backpack sitting around, so I grabbed this loose Prime to have him displayed in the original Super Robot mode.

This one is also the black/red one compared to my original blue/red one.

Since the seller was from Edmonton, there was the shipping cost on top of that, so I grabbed several more figures from him to offset the shipping a bit.

FINALLY picked up the Transformers Animated Oil Slick. I never even laid an eye on him ever since the beginning of the TFA line. But now that I got him, I wondered why I waited so long, he is actually a pretty cool figure. Here's him joining the ranks of my TFA Decepticons.

I also picked up a loose TFA Blackarachnia (also missing several pieces). I've been wanting to customize a TFA Blackarachnia for a Beast Wars stand-in. I am still not exactly sure how I want to approach this. Either a straight repaint or add some sculpting, but to make it more show accurate hence changing the sculpt, I doubt I will be able to make it transformable after. Hmmm...I still have to think about this one.

Vegeta is here!

2012-01-10T19:07:00.003-05:00

HE IS FINALLY HERE!!! WOOO!!!

Luckily these were available at a Canadian online store so it didn't have to go through customs and I save some on shipping as well. Just placed my order for the Trunks coming in May too!

Bad luck with toys lately...

2012-01-08T21:47:00.006-05:00

So today I decided to open the Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker figure I got in November from Toy Arena. I was really happy to finally get this figure because I've been looking for one for a year already so I was admiring the figure and thinking what pose I should display him in. And then I went to put on his scarf attachment and low and behold...missing ball joint from one of them. It looks like it was somehow snapped off...but the ball part is not anywhere in the package. Sigh...another broken toy...this is the first time I've had QC issues with Figuarts and hopefully it will be the last time.

I am going to contact Toy Arena to see if I can get some replacement part for this piece. If not, then I guess I will have to fix it myself somehow...any ideas?

[Update] Got a reply from Toy Arena, I was told to contact the distributors which I think is Bluefin since they only do returns within 7 days of arrival (which won't apply to me EVER since I still have stuff MIB from 6 months back LOL)

Guess what happened to my NECA Predator figure?

2012-01-03T21:16:00.005-05:00

Broken leg on the NECA Elder Predator figure I just opened! Why is this not a surprise (see here and here)?

Well, I bought these while knowing these existing problems with these figures, but I just wanted an Elder Predator sooo bad! I hope they end up doing him again with the improved articulation (and hopefully better QC as well).

Oh well, looks like my next project is fashioning an ol' wooden leg for him...ya who needs legs...he looks boring with legs...LOL

New Years Haul

2012-01-03T19:10:00.004-05:00

Ordered these just before 2011 ended and received them today.

Some more NECA Predators because I am in LOVE with this line even though some of them has poor QC.

And this...my first Hot Toys haha...can anyone guess who it is?

Well since Leon already guessed the correct answer: It's Superman!
I actually don't even have room to display him out of the box right now so that's how he will be displayed for now. Now I am thinking I want to get that rere Iron Man Mark 1 that I read about on the toy news. Great...New Years resolution already broken LOL

Transformers Collection Update

2012-01-02T23:42:00.006-05:00

Just wanted to show some pics of my new additions and setup for my Transformers collection.

Classics Autobots

I know the Optimus is from Galaxy Force and is not from the same series, but I just felt he would look awesome with the rest of the classics line. I do have a Classics Prime to put in here, but then I wouldn't have a place for the Galaxy Convoy Prime.

Classics Decepticons

Right underneath my Classics Autobots are my Classics Decepticons. As you can see here, they are still looking for recruits, although I am not really sure who I want to add here. Also I just don't have a definitive Megatron for my Classics collection that I like, I think the Revoltech Megs looks pretty good here though. I am surprised how nicely the WFC Soundwave fits with the Classics collection as well. You can also see the KOLD Nemesis Prime which I just received last week on the far right.

Miscellaneous

Here is where the ones that don't belong to any specific shelf or because I don't have enough room for them on the specific shelves go. Starting on the left is the KOLD Crystal Prime I got last week with my Nemesis Prime. This seems more of a Prime shelf (+ BB and Rodimus)

Transformers Prime

I've reserved this shelf for the Transformers Prime line. I hope we will get enough characters to fill this shelf up (and more!). Right now Starscream is feeling very lonely. Hope we get some Decepticons and Rachet soon! I actually haven't even really watched Prime yet, only watched several episodes from it. I am waiting for the Season 1 DVD to come out in March before I watch it. Currently I am busy watching the G1 boxset I just got.

That's it for the update! I can't wait to see what TF's are coming out this year! I know the Prime Vehicons should be coming out soon. I hope they are continuing the Classics line though. With the Dark of the Moon line ending, I hope Hasbro concentrates on the Prime series and give us a full toy line at least as good as the Animated line was!

Last Haul of 2011

2011-12-31T19:34:00.005-05:00

Today is the last day of 2011 and it has been a great year overall. My collection has greatly increased this year due to my now steady flow of income and I am grateful for that. I've been thinking a lot lately on the directions I want to take for my toy collecting hobby. I have decided to focus on collecting Transformers mainly with a mix of NECA Predators and Japan Imported Tokusatsu stuff here and there (I am looking forward to the rest of the Ultra brothers and the Dragon Ball Z figures!!!). Hopefully by doing this, I will cut down on my spending this year as I do admit I have splurged on quite a lot of toys lately. Hopefully with the saved money, I can go on some vacations this year as I really need a break from work.

Here's me wishing a Happy New Year to all my friends out there! And may we all have a great 2012 with tons of toys LOL!!!

Oh ya and I can't forget my last haul of the year that I scored today!

RTS Jazz is the last TF in the classics line that I need for my Classics collection. I've been buying a ton of these lately due to all the sales we've been having and I've built up quite a nice display after opening them during the Christmas break. I've been hunting for this TF for a while and have visited several stores only to come home empty handed. I didn't expect to find this where I did today, but what a great surprise! And as a Transformers fan, I feel that I just have to watch the Transformers G1 series so I picked up the boxset from HMV today as well.

Review: Mega Bloks Power Ranger Samurai Megazord

2011-12-27T21:24:00.005-05:00

Here's my review of the Mega Bloks Power Ranger Samurai Megazord I got last week.

First off, this is my first ever Mega Bloks set. I've always had Lego and had the mindset that anything else is just not as good. Mega Bloks was one of the brands that I avoided since I've always hear bad things about their sets, like missing pieces and poor fitting of the pieces. Therefore I was a little worried when I started to build this set. Let me just clear this up right off the bat, there were no missing pieces at all and the pieces fit together as good as Lego pieces, so there's no worry there.

Since I haven't build a Lego set in ages, I don't remember if they packaged their pieces according to the building steps or not. Most of the "kits" that I've been building in the last ten years were radio control model kits and most of them have pieces packaged in separate bags with letters on them so you can identify which parts came from with bag since some of the kits can contain thousands of parts. This is the first thing I noticed with this set, the pieces seem to be randomly packaged with no labels. The only separation was the bag containing the unique pieces like the zord heads and minifig. I ended up just dumping everything into two separate plastic tray.

The instructions were clearly laid out. There were several mistakes in them, mainly the steps to build the green leg, but they were easy to figure out. (Step C6 uses black 2 unit block, but picture shows green one used, there are no more green ones. And the sticker for the green leg goes on the other face of the leg.)

This is the only shot I got of my building process, finally a use for those plastic Transformers packaging!

Building time took about 40 minutes, most of the time was spent looking for the right pieces. Building is relatively easy, anyone within the age range should have no problem (5+).

Here's the finished product, unfortunately each limb cannot transform to their respective Origami zords. Although at this price ($25), it should be a known fact. But also surprisinly at this price, the stickers that came with this set were high quality stickers, not those paper sticker crap that a lot of toys come with. These were flexible stickers that fit perfectly, almost too perfectly (hence hard to align properly), onto the parts.

The belt buckle could use some marker lining to make the details pop more.

Poseability of this zord is surprisingly quite good. All the joints are ball joints with the exception of the waist swivel. There's a ball joint in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, thighs, knees, and ankles. The joints are tight enough to hold most standing poses, but due to the weight of the zord, he can't do any extreme poses without falling.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the sword comes packaged in cardboard to prevent deformation of the plastic sword which is a nice touch since how many times do we see bent plastic swords right out of the box?

Also as you can see here, although the stickers come for both front and back for the arms, the legs only have stickers for the outer faces. It would have been much nicer if they included stickers for the inner leg faces as well.

The shield is attached to the back of his left arm via one of those swivel joints allowing it to spin which is one of the gimmicks of this toy. Looks pretty cool eh? Although I am sure if you really want to, you can fix it in piece with the leftover pieces.

The back of the zord looks pretty good too. One pet peeve of mine are robots that look good in the front, but in the back they look like a flat piece of cardboard.

Here's a closer look at the upper torso. Paint apps are pretty good, there were a bit of slop on the edges on the top pieces where the gold transitions to the black helmet part. But they were easily scraped off with the back of an exacto knife. You can also see the hideous neck joint from this angle, but it is hidden in the normal angle like the one taken in the pictures above.

Here are the unique zord head pieces, paint apps are not bad.

Articulation-wise, this is as far as the elbows can bend due to the inhibiting armor pieces.

And here, you can see the forward/backward limits in the thigh, knee, and ankle joints. Even though there is a ball joint in the knees, the armor pieces prevent it from going as far as the joint allows. But the ankle articulation is surprisingly good for this type of figure. There is also side-to-side movement in the ankles which can be seen in the previous posing pictures.

Size comparison time, this figure is huge! I tried to find several common figures to compare with. If anyone wants something else in comparison, leave a message in the comments below and I'll see what I can do.

With Animated Voyager class Optimus Prime

Movie Deluxe Bumblebee

Universe 2.0 Starscream

S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade

Bandai Retrofire MMPR Megazord

NECA City Hunter Predator (whom I just bought for myself for Christmas!)

Lastly, here's the minifig that comes with the Megazord. It is the Red Ranger in Mega Mode. I am not sure what difference is the Mega Mode as I do not watch this series. I've only watched several episodes of the Japanese Shinkengers.

The vest and the belt pieces are rubber and are just pieces held between the connecting pieces (so they can be removed).

The helmet can also be removed.

All in all, I am going to say that Mega Bloks has got themselves a winner here. Even with all the new toys I have gotten this year, this one will be in my top 10 for sure. The engineering, the execution, and the quality is just excellent on this set. It was fun to build and also fun to play with. The pieces held together well enough for me to do all these poses and take pictures of them with nothing falling off in the process. This set has truly wiped the negativity I had with Mega Bloks in the beginning. I am not even a fan of the Samurai Power Rangers and yet I am in love with this toy. Although I am a fan of the Mighty Morphin series...sooo Mega Bloks...please give us a MMPR Megazord!!! I highly recommend this set to any Rangers fan or even just fans of robots! It would be awesome if they did Megazords from other lines as well...if they are the same quality as this one, I know I will buy every single one of them for sure.

Now I can't wait to go get the red Origami zord next...

Transformers Cybertron Wing Saber

2011-12-26T02:31:00.002-05:00

I got this guy along with the Cybertron Optimus Prime. The seller was selling them as a set. The price was what I was willing to pay for the Prime alone so I got him along before they get sold.

This is Wing Saber in his jet mode.

And his bot mode...nothing special...but

The coolest feature about this toy is that he can combine with Optimus to replace his other "Power pack" to form "Sonic Wing Mode"...this is SUPER WICKED!

So which one do you like more? The original Super Robot Mode or the Sonic Wing mode? It's a close match between the two, but I'd have to go with the original one since that's the one I've always wanted. But this mode looks amazingly cool too...now I want yet ANOTHER one to display in the 2 modes...LOL!

Oh and Merry Christmas everyone!

Transformers Cybertron Optimus Prime

2011-12-21T22:04:00.003-05:00

I have finally gotten one of my most wanted TF's. I've been looking for one of these for a while, I've seen them at toy shows before, but most dealers wanted $200 for a MIB one, which I could not afford. But recently I managed to score this guy loose for a much better price on the local forum from a member.

I JUST LOVE the vehicle form, if I can find another one for a reasonable price I would get it just to display in this mode.

Here's the basic robot mode, it looks alright...but...

NOT AS AWESOME AS THIS FORM!!!

Preorder from Toysrus

2011-12-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

Received my pre-order from Toysrus today containing my Prime Voyagers! It was my first time ordering from Toysrus and it was surprisingly fast. I got the extra Bulkhead to bump the total to over $100 to get free shipping. I figured with free shipping, it would be a while before I received it. But I received the tracking on Friday last week and got the package today! It was shipped via Express mail even with free shipping!

One set is for a friend of mine, and the other set is for me. The extra Bulkhead is just to get free shipping. I am thinking if I should keep it or just sell it off. But I've finally got the whole set of First Edition Prime figures: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, and Starscream. In addition, I also got and assembled my third and last TF shelf yesterday. I am still deciding on how to display them since I have several more TF's coming in the mail and I have to save room for "future additions".

I am looking forward to the TF's coming from the Classics line, Prime line, and the Fall for Cybertron line.

Unusual haul

2011-12-18T16:04:00.002-05:00

I normally don't pick up Legos or any other building sets mainly because I don't have the room to display them. I mean I LOVE them, but I just hate dust getting into all their tiny crevices. I even managed to pass on the KREO Transformers line even though some of them looks really good. But I saw this today and I just couldn't pass up on. It just looks so nicely done for a Megazord done in this format. Although I am still iffy on it being Mega Bloks instead of Lego, but we will see when I put it together. I will be doing a review of it when I do.

I also saw the three origami zords that comes with their respective "Minifig". I wanted to get the red one, but I will see how the quality of this set is first.

Recent TF Hauls

2011-12-13T23:51:00.003-05:00

Man! The Transformers Prime line have been arriving to Canada continuously lately (before the US too!) and we've been having sales whenever these guys are coming in so it was just buy buy buy for me!

Bee was from last time, but here's wave 1-1.5 of the Transformers Prime Deluxes. Love the CJ mold so I grabbed another one.

Then I picked up these two guys last night, was hunting for the Reveal the Shield Jazz and Tracks. Managed to grab Tracks, but didn't find any Jazz, got Mindset though since I didn't have this mold yet.

Then I just received a package in the mail today from a cybertron.ca board member containing:

E-Hobby Exclusive Matrix Glow Rodimus (I just LOVE translucent figures!)

And this sexy ladybot

Due to my lack of shelf space, I've been keeping a bunch of my toys MOC. But I am going to be grabbing another shelf for TF's at the end of this week. Here's 20 MOC TF's lol! Can't wait to crack all these open!

Fixing up my Predator

2011-12-11T23:36:00.002-05:00

So a bit more than a year ago, I bought a NECA Classic Predator. Right out of the package, it was missing a knee pad. I emailed NECA after to see if I can get a replacement piece, but have never gotten back a response.

I've been meaning to attempt to sculpt a knee pad myself to fix this, but always end up forgetting. But recently I've been looking at the series 4 of the Predator series because of the improved articulation and apparently improved QC on these figures, which reminded me of my bare knee Predator. I end up picking up a pack of SculpeyIII from Michaels and today I decided to take a stab at fixing this.

Here's how it is out of the package, really sucks that they miss this piece right out of the package. After all the QC problems I've had with NECA, it really makes me do a doubletake every time I was about to buy one of their figures. Their Predator line is getting really nice, I skipped out of many of them already, but with the new improved ball hip joints and double jointed knees, I think I am going to pick them up in the end.

Here's what I made from the Sculpey clay, the clay is more sticky than I expected. It left a lot of residue on the figure. I only used the end of a paint brush to smooth the surface and an exacto knife for details. This is the first time I played with sculpting so I think it looks alright. Although it is a bit thicker than I would have liked, but the thickness was needed for it to stand up properly.

Since this Sculpey clay is bake dry, I had to somehow remove this piece from the figure and bake it. That failed as the clay was way too soft and I end up turning the clay back into a small blob. After that I searched the net to see if I could somehow cure the clay while it is on the figure. I found out a common method is to boil a pot of water and dip the figure in it for 30 second intervals. I was scared to deform the crappy plastic on the NECA figure so I only dipped it in for 10 seconds at a time and about 20 times. After using the boiling water method, the clay has harden quite a bit, but not rock solid. I figure since this is my first try I will just work with it like this for now and see how things go.

This is after a couple of washes and dry brushing, I couldn't get it to match the color of the other pad so I just did it my way. The paint is still drying as I type this. I will glue it in place tomorrow and see how it holds up.

I think it looks alright, what do you guys think? It sure as hell look a lot better than having the knee joint exposed!

This first sculpting experience was very fun. I am now thinking of future sculpting projects I can attempt haha!

Kamen Rider OOO Display update

2011-12-11T16:13:00.002-05:00

Opened and put into display my Kamen Rider OOO Putotyra and Ankh today. For now, this display is done, since these are my favourite forms from the series. There are 3 more forms that I did not get, I am still thinking if I should get those. Maybe if there was some sale on them I might get them then, but for now I am done with OOO.

Quick Review: Hasegawa 1/12 School Desks and Chairs

2011-12-09T00:03:00.004-05:00

This review is for the 1/12 School Desks and Chairs by Hasewaga, I got mine from Amiami right here.

This kit is one of the things I've been looking forward to in my recent haul. I ordered this without really knowing what to expect, it just seemed like a fun accessory to have.

This is a model kit that comes in plastic trees and requires assembly. The kit includes enough parts to build 3 sets of chairs + desks. Also included is a cardboard sheet with tiles print.

The instructions are printed on the back of the box, they are fairly simple.

The pieces are quite delicate and detailed. It would look much nicer with a coat of paint on them. I tried to paint it quick and failed miserably so I ended up washing the paint off. I will redo it over the weekend.

Now the part everyone is wondering, what is the size compared to the figures? I quickly grabbed these figures off my shelves for a quick reference. I will probably take another picture with other figure lines for reference tomorrow.

Here we have some pretty common figures. Spiderman is the normal Marvel 6" figure, SHFiguarts Kamen Rider 1 is a bit shorter at probably 5.5"-ish and then we have a Marvel Universe Iron Man at 3.75".

Iron Man doesn't look too happy here, he is too smart for school anyways. I guess 3.75" figures can sort of work with these, but they look like kindergardeners LOL

With the 6" Spiderman, he is just a bit too big. It can still work, he just looks like a big kid.

It's actually not that bad...

And lastly the SHF Kamen Rider which I think is the best fit out of these three figures. I can't help but LOL at this picture too haha

I will put together the other 2 desks and chairs tomorrow and add a few more pics with other figures as well. But so far I am in LOVE with these accessories. It's time that this scale got some more accessories like these. I can foresee a lot of cool and funny toy pictures with these desks and chairs. In fact, I like them so much I just ordered 2 more sets from Amiami haha!

November/December Toy Haul

2011-12-07T22:42:00.003-05:00

I received part of my November/December toy haul yesterday. This haul came from two place, the first of course is Amiami where I get most of my Japanese goods, the other place that I ordered from was Toyarena. This was my first time ordering from them. I've read tons of good reviews from them so I wasn't hesitant. They also had a 10% off Kamen Rider sale on the Black Friday weekend when I made my order.

I got the SHFiguarts Cyclone Joker, OOO Putotyra, and OOO Ankh from them. I have been on the hunt for Cyclone Joker for a year already and I was really surprised to see that they had them in stock. Every time I see a loose one for sale, they will be gone by the time I ask for it. So I am really happy to be able to get a new one. The other two OOO figures I've been on the hunt for as well since they are very popular and are out of stock everywhere.

Shipping was really fast since I used the cheapest option, it only took about a week from the day I ordered for my package to arrive.

As for Amiami, I got a nice sized haul from them as well.

SHFiguarts Ultimate Kuuga and Robot Damashii Gouf Custom. I needed Ultimate Kuuga since he was one of the main characters in Decade and Gouf Custom is one of my favourite designs. I've fell in love with this suit since I was a kid, never did end up getting the MG kit though.

figma Robocop and some school desks and chairs...LOL
Even though I have never watched Robocop, I had one of those huge (probably 12-18") one as a kid that I loved and brought everywhere with me. Unfortunately he never survived our house movings. So this figma figure serves as a reminder for my childhood friend. And the tables and chairs...I just know they will come in handy sometimes LOL!

Some old school vinyl Ultraman, funny why I decided to get this too. I was chatting to the collector I bought my Mighty Morphin Power Rangers flip head figures from and I mentioned some remakes of old figures such as Ultraman and Dragon Ball Z characters but with much improved articulation. He said he actually preferred to collect the old limited articulation figures because that's what he had when he was a kid. I thought of this for some time while looking at my Ultra-Act Ultraman figures, I thought they looked nice and all, but something was just missing...maybe there is something about these vinyl poor articulation figures that I once had as a kid...so I picked up this set off Amiami and have several backorders from HLJ as well. I can't wait to display these old school figures with their new generation counterparts!

Last but not least, series 4 of the Moji Bakeru candy toys. These are the toys that can transform from their kanji characters to their respective animals. I fell in love with these things ever since I saw them in some magazine scans for Transformers. So far I have series 3 and the rerelease of series 1, I had to pick this set up after seeing the pictures on them since I think they have improved A LOT, ALL of them look amazing in this set.

Man! I've waaay overspent on toys this month with all the sales we had recently. The funny thing was that I thought to myself last month that my goal this month was to spend less money on toys since I've stocked up quite a lot of figures over the last few months. I can practically open a store right now with over 60 toys still MOC on the shelf behind me. That's not even counting all those boxes of candy toys I have purchased recently. But instead of containing the urge to buy toys, I've failed and my spending even exploded as I have spent probably the most up to date.

So now I have learned that instead of trying to contain or suppress my toy buying habit all at once, it is a smarter approach to continue feeding that toy hungering monster inside me with a steady flow and subtract a bit here and there slowly so it won't notice. I wonder if it's hunger will ever end?

Adding another to the ranks...

2011-12-03T18:52:00.002-05:00

Picked up my second lightsaber today. I actually didn't even realize there was a Luke Skywalker green saber until I recently saw it at Toysrus. It was one of those I saw it once and never again sort of thing so I was on the look out for this green one after that. I wasn't particularly looking for anything today, just happened to pass by a random rack in the store that was not even in the toy section and saw this single green one hanging there so I had to get it.

One function I noticed on this one was that there is a switch to turn the lightsaber off/try me/on. I didn't notice this on the Darth Vader saber so I did a doubletake and found out it was indeed still on the "Try me" mode which only lights up for a few seconds before the beam retracts. With the switch in the "On" position, the beam only retracts after you put the lighting up button on the saber. There are the lightsaber sounds when you swing it and when the beam clashes with something, it blinks on and off and makes that saber clashing sound. The switch on the Darth Vader saber was more hidden than this Luke Skywalker saber so I didn't notice it when I bought it last time.

All in all, these are great pieces for display especially if you don't want to shell out the $100+ for a FX version. I am a Star Wars fan, but not a HUGE fan of it so these are perfect for me. I mean, who doesn't like lightsabers right?

Display updates

2011-11-27T21:23:00.002-05:00

I just opened the figma Dead Master that I bought from a local collector today and put her into my Black Rock Shooter/female figures display. While I am at it, I took a picture of my Kamen Rider display as well since I don't think I've taken an update pic of this display yet.

Re-posing the Revoltech Saber Alter figure (purple one) reminded me why I didn't like Revoltech figures (although I have still been buying certain figures from them). Because of the Revoltech joints, the range of motion is limited to discrete steps instead of freely throughout the range of the joint. Therefore sometimes when you want to make a figure stand up normally, the combination of the thigh, knee, and ankle joints need to be fudged with a lot for it to stand up straight, most of the time it's either too much to lean forward or too much lean backwards. It's just not as fun to pose as figma which didn't have the clickity-clack joints like the Revoltech joints.

This is what I like to refer to as my Decade shelf since it's in Kamen Rider Decade where I was introduced to all these riders.

Black Friday Haul

2011-11-25T17:35:00.002-05:00

Today was a nice day, we had a holiday lunch at a fancy golf club at work and then we got the beautiful and warm afternoon off. Of course, right after I got off I went hunting! And here are my catches of the day.

Prime stuff haves just arrived recently and there's a sale going on right now. Unfortunately, most of them are gone except for several BB. And we actually just got this wave of generations here in Canada, sucks that I paid a premium for Warpth and Kup at the toy show, now they are half the price I paid for them. Good I passed on Wheeljack and Thundercracker at the show.

Weekend Haul

2011-11-20T14:00:00.003-05:00

Met up with a local collector today for this figma Dead Master from the Black Rock Shooter line. This was one of those figures that I passed on and then later wanted but could never find. I actually don't know much about Black Rock Shooter except for that short film feature. I just really like the styling of the characters in BRS though. I found myself wanting to get the Dead Master figma after receiving the Strength figure. She's a rare one to find nowadays though since it looks like all online retailers are out of stock on this figure and even if there's stock it is going for insane amount of $$. So I was pretty lucky to find this figure in perfect condition and complete with all accessories and box for about the same price as if I were to order from Amiami.

And since I was in a part of town that I rarely go to, I figured I might as well go to this discount store that had reports of Transformers Reveal the Shield sighting. I lucked out and found these guys for only $9 each! Grabbed some extras for trades for other RTS TF's that I missed out on too.

S.H.Figuarts Trunks

2011-11-20T00:28:00.003-05:00

It looks like the SHF Dragon Ball Z figures line is finally picking up the pace on its lineup. With the Vegeta and SSJ3 Goku coming out next month, we have been shown pics of their next release: Trunks. It has been announced that this figure will be a US exclusive and a Tamashii Web exclusive outside of the US. Ever since the announcement of Vegeta and SSJ3 being exclusives, I know many fans were disappointed because exclusives are generally harder to acquire and most of the time end up being more expensive. I am not sure why Bandai is going the route of exclusives with this line, especially with the main characters as well.

Being a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z since I was a kid, I broke down and ended up preordering Vegeta online. The total came to $55 shipped for this figure alone which I think is a bit on the expensive side especially since it looks like he is not going to come with any effect parts. I passed on SSJ3 Goku though since I still think the hair looks weird on the figure and the price was way too expensive (about $80 shipped). Although I do plan on getting this Trunks figure. The preorder for this figure is available on BigBadToyStore already and it is going for $48.99. I feel this figure is of better worth since he apparently comes with both regular and SS hair, 2 swords, 8 faces, and 14 hands. This figure is being released in May 2012 so I have plenty of time to put aside the money for him.

Anyone else going to get this figure?

Stormtrooper Clock

2011-11-19T14:08:00.006-05:00

I've been looking for one of these ever since I saw LEon over at Open the Toys reviewed this. Toysrus was the only place that had them here, but it was an Online-only item and I didn't want to pay shipping on top so I eventually forgot about it.

But while I was hunting for TF's at Walmart today, I found this guy on the shelf. And to my surprise, the price was even cheaper than Toysrus's price!

My lone Stormtrooper checking out our new recruit haha!

Seeing that I never look at the instructions for these things, I missed out on the light up feature on this figure. I went back and checked on LEon's review and he also did mentioned it, but it was a while ago when I read about it. So to light up the clock display, simply push on the Stormtrooper's helmet and you will get this yellow glow on his stomach which lasts about 6 seconds.

I was thinking if Lego releases some of their "Mini-figs" in this scale without the clock, I would probably start collecting them. I actually think this minifigure clock gives off a designer toy look. It's definitely a cool and functional display piece.

Camera bag

2011-11-19T02:11:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to get another camera bag to store my Canon XSi for my astrophotography use for a while, but I didn't want to spend too much on just the bag since it was mostly for storage of the camera along with all the cables and such. Then this week I got an email from Henry's (photography store) about their camera bag sale. I end up getting one of the Lowepro Passport Sling bags, I've actually been eyeing this bag for a while for regular use when I don't want to carry too much stuff around. The sale just made the deal perfect since the price now is $20, original price is $40. Since I will be dedicating this one for astro-use, I am actually thinking of picking up another one at this incredible price.

On the outside, it looks like a simple bag. It doesn't even look like a camera bag which is a plus.

On the inside, a padded insert is included which is secured to the bag by strong velcros. The insert can hold a standard size SLR (shown here with the Canon XSi and 35-105mm lens mounted) and another lens or flash in the space beside it. The grey flap on the left side of the insert is a memory card storage compartment. As you can see in the picture, there is also plenty of space in the bag to the left of the insert for some small items (sunglasses, wallet, figures haha). Another cool feature is that this space can be increased by unzipping a zipper on the outside of the bag which probably doubles the amount of space in the "extra" compartment. There's also several outside pockets, one of which should be able to fit a water bottle as well.

All in all, it's a simple bag that does exactly what a bag should do. It is a perfect bag for those who do not bring a lot of equipment with them and just want a bag to protect the camera. The extra space and compartments are definitely useful to store all the other personal items. A plus for me is that it has space for a water bottle which is something that my other bag does not.

October Amiami Haul

2011-11-15T19:27:00.002-05:00

Since my October order from Amiami was much more tamed than my previous hauls from them, I opted for the SAL shipping which took several weeks to arrive. I was getting worried since I was so used to EMS. But finally it arrived safely today, it took 2.5 weeks in total which is not bad I guess.

Revoltech War Machine to go with Revoltech Iron Man and SHF Tajadol for my OOO collection.

TF Haul

2011-11-14T19:57:00.002-05:00

Picked up these 2 Generations TF's today. I just LOVE the Drift/Blurr mode, I actually didn't like Drift at first, but after getting Blurr, I wanted it again but never saw it again. I am actually really surprised to see it still in retail today, it was the only one too. And surprisingly Red Alert is the first figure of this mold I got. I regret not picking up Sunstreaker back then.

Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Haul

2011-11-10T23:45:00.003-05:00

Got this lot from a local toy collector I found on Kijiji. I normally don't even look at kijiji, but for some reason I was led to the site and just decided to search the term "Power ranger". After browsing several pages of Power Ranger costumes and video games, I spotted a lot of figures. Then after several emails back and forth with the seller, we arranged a meet up today and I got the full set of MMPR flip heads! Although I think there's a white ranger flip head as well, but that is a rare one to find. I also bought another 8" red ranger to replace the one I originally had because his chest symbol was scratched off when I bought it.

I am really happy with the flip heads lot, I've wanted these figures since I was a kid but never got them. Now 16 years later, I got them all. YEAH!

The collector/seller was a really cool guy too, we chatted for about 30 minutes before I had to leave. I learned that he collected a lot of the older Power Ranger toys, Chogokins, Marvel and DC figures. I always find it really fun to talk with toy collectors, to learn about what they collect and their collecting history.

This is the lot I got, the white ranger is not a flip head though. I believe it's the movie version figure since it's chromed.

Here's their human forms, by pressing on the belt buckle, their human heads flips to change to their ranger heads. I can never get bored of this gimmick, it just makes me smile to see the gimmick.

This is how I have them on display right now...looks soooo goood!

Collection Panorama

2011-11-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

Decided to try out a panorama of my "man-cave" since a friend wanted to see some pics of my collection. I figured why not show it all in one pic?!

I setup my camera on my tripod on a fixed location and just pan 10 shots. Then I used Hugin Panorama to stitch together the shots. Lastly I used IrfanView to convert the tif output to jpeg (original file was a 156 mb tif, jpeg was only 4.5 mb lol)

(Click for full size)

Weekend Haul

2011-11-05T18:21:00.002-04:00

I really liked this Leader Class Starscream ever since it was announced, but I just couldn't justify paying $60 for this toy because I am not really into the movie line anyways. But recently, these have been found at the clearance stores Giant Tiger for $30 so I decided it was time to pick him up. They also had the Hunt for the Decepticons Leader Class Optimus that I was going to grab as well, but I found out he was the battle damaged version (which is REALLY poorly executed, the "damage" is literally random dabs of silver paint on the figure which totally ruins it, not to mention half of his face is black to simulate a burn or something). I would have gotten it if it had no battle damage done to it. Also picked up a 1:24 model of the Smart car, I really like this car and have been looking for a model of it for a while.

Beast Wars!

2011-11-02T18:30:00.002-04:00

Just received this Beast Wars Boxset in the mail, preordered it on Monday and received it today already! Even though I am such a big Beast Wars fan, I didn't actually watched all the episodes of it before. I watched the show when I was a kid and sometimes I would catch it and sometimes I wouldn't. I actually only caught on during the period when they had turned into their Transmetal forms which is why my toy collection mainly consists of Transmetals. But maybe after watching the whole series I will be on the hunt for the original beasts again? I hope not haha!

Toy Show Haul

2011-10-30T16:57:00.004-04:00

I just came back from the Action Figure Toy Expo here in Toronto today. Compared to the last show I went to, this was at least twice as big! Unfortunately I did not even realized I forgot to bring my camera until I got there (it was a 30 minute drive). There was a best costume contest so I saw plenty of amazing cosplayers. I had several items that I was particularly looking for at the show, they were Generations Kup, Classics Prime, and Beast Wars Waspinator (to complete my BW collection). But I also decided that I was only going to get Transformers figures, I wasn't going to get any other figures because my collection have been going out of hand and I have decided that I will have to narrow down the lines I am collecting from now on.

There were tons of everything at the show. There was a booth selling all the Comic con exclusives, I was very tempted with the SDCC exclusive Superboy in his chamber, but decided to pass on him in the end. A majority of the dealers was selling Transfomers, Star Wars, and Marvel toys. I ended up buying most of my haul from the loose bins of one particular seller because his "loose" toys were actually complete and were in great condition, most of them even came with instructions so I know this seller takes care of his stuff very well.

Another item I was looking for is a Beast Wars Transmetal 2 Cheetor, I actually already bought this figure used last month, but it was not in the "excellent" condition that the seller said it was in. The chrome on it was almost gone and that is one of the aspects why I like Transmetals. I was hoping to find a loose one with a chrome arm in good condition. I saw many loose ones going for $15, but most of the chrome were already wearing off. I ended up finding a MISB one for $30 so I just got that instead. Here he is along with the Kup that I was hunting for.

One of the Transformers that I regret not picking up in the last show was the Classics Prime. This time I saw it from the same dealer, but the price have already increased by $20 ($60 to $80). It was a bit on the high end for me for just one figure. While looking through the loose bins from the same seller, I found the BW Waspinator that I wanted and I also got Transmetal Scavenger and the Hot Rod from the Generations 2-pack. They also had a loose Classics Prime going for $60 or with the FansProject G3 trailer together for $100. I kept thinking if I should just grab the new Classic Prime since it is only $20 more, but then for another $20 more I'd be able to get the trailer as well. I must have walked around contemplating on this purchase for at least an hour before I went back to them. In the end, I went back and asked if he would take $50 for just the loose Prime and he was okay with that. Then he said I can take the trailer together for $80. I didn't really know what the trailer turned into so I was thinking about it and then he opened it up to show me all the gimmicks and such and I just handed him my money LOL

I never thought I would get a 3rd party accessory for my TF's since they were always so expensive. But man this purchase was an awesome deal and I really like how it looks in vehicle mode. The problem is I was going to buy Prime to display him in his robot mode, but I just love how he looks with the trailer that I might leave him like this. I am really happy with this purchase!

The trailer is the G3 trailer from FansProject.

Waspinator, Scavenger, and Rodimus from the same seller. These guys were in amazing condition, it was just like buying new without box.

I also picked up several TPB comics from the only guy selling comics in the whole show. Before Super Duper Toy Box got me into comics, I never had interest in them. I actually did not get why people liked comics at all. But after getting my first TPB, I was hooked. These were cheap so I picked them up for more reading. I actually can't wait to go to a comic con next time they are in town.

I don't know anything about Omega Flight except I think they are the Canadian-based super heroes team. I figured for $2 (all 5 issues) why not?

Then just as I was leaving, I picked this guy up for $15. Had to have him to finish my MMPR 8" figure collection.

All in all, it was an awesome show and I did end up sticking most of my purchases to TF-only with the exception of the comics and Green Ranger figure. Although I am still bummed I forgot to bring my camera since it was an awesome show, I'd love to give you guys a tour of the show...oh well there's next time! I am really glad I finally have the Classics Prime and extremely happy I got the trailer with him for an amazing price. With the Beast Wars purchases, I can finally say I am DONE with my Beast Wars collection. Now BRING ON THE TRANSFORMERS PRIME TOYS!!! LOL!

The never-ending journey of toy collecting...

Books

2011-10-27T18:26:00.002-04:00

Received some books I ordered today.

Biography of Steve Jobs, I am not even an Apple guy, but he is just an interesting guy.

Beast Wars Omnibus and Infinity Gaunlets (recommended by Super Duper Toy Box)

I have gone over to the Dark Side...

2011-10-22T19:42:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to get one of these ever since ,Leon over at Open the Toy blogged about them a while back.

Blue is nice...but red is better...welcome to the Dark Side!

Just showing off my Sith fighting skills...LOL

Transformers Prime Coming to Canada Soon!

2011-10-21T22:21:00.002-04:00

I've been absent for a few days since the graphics card in my computer died. I had a Nvidia 9800GT for several years and it has served me well. I figured since I need a new card anyways I should get a nice upgrade. So now I am running a Sapphire 6950 Toxic edition, I definitely see the improvements in my gaming, well worth the upgrade!

First thing I did when I got my computer back was check the Transformers forum! Then I found out that the Transformers Prime toys are going to be coming to Canada in a few weeks. The first wave include deluxe Starscream, Bee, Arcee, Cliffjumper, Zombie Cliffjumper, and Vehicon plus voyager Optimus and Bulkhead in addition to the deluxe Optimus + deluxe Megatron + Raf/Jack/Miko set. I think I am going to be getting all of them except for the 2-pack of Optimus and Megatron. The voyager Optimus is much better than the deluxe version anyways. And I am pretty sure they will have a voyager Megatron sometimes down the line...I don't really care for the human figures in the set either.

Anyone else looking forward to the Transformers Prime toys?

Victory is mine!

2011-10-15T18:02:00.004-04:00

Picked up these guys today, I've been wanting these guys for a loooong time, but the Reveal the Shield line did not make it up to Canada in normal retail. I got these at a specialty toy store which usually sell toys waaay overpriced. But early this week, I read sightings of several of the TF's from the RTS line at these stores for only $13! That's even cheaper than retail pricing. Knowing that a lot of collectors will be hunting for these guys, I thought I wouldn't be able to grab Perceptor anyways. I figured I might as well just get him at the toy show at the end of this month.

But today since I was close to there for lunch anyways, I figured why not check it out to see what other new stuff they had. When I got there, there was already a collector there hunting around the TF's section. But he did not find anything and left shortly after. So then it was my turn, I spotted Tomahawk and grabbed it right away because I've wanted to get him ever since LEon at Open the Toy reviewed him a while ago. I used to see them everywhere, but I never took notice of him. Then when I wanted to get it, I never saw it again! LOL how many times have that happened before?! But my main goal was still Perceptor since I read a sighting of him yesterday at 5pm. I thought since it was almost 24 hours ago, it would be gone already, plus I am pretty sure the first guy there was looking for him as well and he didn't find it meaning he was gone already.

So as I was checking out what they had, another guy came and was looking around the TF's section. I knew right away that he was looking for Perceptor as well, it was just my gut feeling haha. Then while I was looking through the pegs for the characters on the top left of the packaging, I SAW HIM. He was hanging there at the very back of the pegs. I proceeded to slowly take off all the ones in the front then grasped him in my left hand. At that moment, I felt victorious LOL!

After I had gotten a hold of my prize, the collector beside me asked what I got and I showed him. And as expected, he was looking for the same one as well. Unfortunately for him, this was the last one in stock. Then I went to pay for my haul and had a grin on my face ever since, even as I am typing this right now =D

Oh ya I also found out they had the RTS legends Optimus Prime and Megatron that I've wanted since I saw them over at A Year of Toys.

My Spawn Collection

2011-10-15T01:45:00.002-04:00

I opened the rest of my NIB Spawn figures tonight and put them on display.

Back left: Cyber Spawn from the Techno Spawn series
Back right: Overtkill from the Manga Spawn series
Front: Bottom Line from Spawn Series 12

Love the Cyber Spawn and Overtkill figures, both really articulated for Spawn figures, highly detailed as well. Not too fond of Bottom Line mainly because of the lack of articulation. He has no articulation on his kness, only articulation is in the arms and fingers.

Back left: Spawn the Black Heart from the Dark Ages series
Back right: Samurai Spawn from the Manga Spawn series
Front: Mandarin Spawn from the Dark Ages series

Love all of these guys, my favourite has got to be the Mandarin Spawn. He has very little articulation, but the details and colorful paint apps on this guy just makes up for everything else. He has a double-blade weapon as well as two more sword strapped to his waist. He also comes with a beautifully detailed shield.

Left: Green Vapor from the Spawn Nitro Riders series
Right: After Burner from the Spawn Nitro Riders series

I was really excited to open and display this Nitro Riders set. They just looks so amazing, each bike is unique and they pack a lot of details into them. The design is very steampunk-ish which is very cool. The figures have quite a nice amount of articulation as well and they can be posed to ride on the bike easily. Each figure/bike from this series has a lot of personality.

Left: Eclipse 5000 from the Spawn Nitro Rider series
Right: Flash Point from the Spawn Nitro Rider series

Again, these Nitro Riders are just SICK!

I am really glad I decided to open these guys up finally. They have been kept NIB on the top of my storage shelf for quite some time now and I have only taken them down several times to admire them. But now that I managed to open up some room to display them, it was time to let them breathe!

Rare Soda

2011-10-11T20:43:00.003-04:00

So I got this soda from the same store that I got my other Kamen Rider sodas from. Since I knew them so well, they reserved this one for me. Apparently there was only one of these in every 3 cases of sodas, so yes this is one rare chase soda LOL

My Transformers Collection

2011-10-10T13:11:00.002-04:00

Opened up the rest of my NIB Beast Wars stuff and put them into display. Here's some updated pics of my Transformers collection.

Beast Wars Transmetals...I still want the original Waspinator since he didn't become Transmetal in the show. I know Terrasaur never became Transmetal either, but he was the first TF I've ever gotten so I had to get him back.

Transformers Animated

With the rest of the stuff...except for the movie stuff on the lowest level of the shelf. Honestly I am not too fond of the movie line, I am thinking of just selling them all.

Maximals!

2011-10-05T18:30:00.002-04:00

Got these guys from a member on the Canadian Transformers forum. The Transmetal 2 Cheetor was defnitely not in excellent condition as state since the plating on his right shoulder is pretty much half gone. Another problem was that the Transmetal 1 Cheetor had some sticky brown residue on his legs which made the joint almost stuck. Luckily I was able to clean this off by running some hot water through it. However, I did get these for a pretty good deal I guess so it's alright.

Thank you Hobby Link Japan

2011-10-04T18:20:00.002-04:00

I finally received my Danbo's that I ordered 4 months ago from them. It was shipped on the same week as the strike here in Canada Postal services so I figured my order would be at the bottom of the pile of backlogs. Later, when the strike was over, I read on my local forums that people were starting to receive their packages again, so I figure it would be coming soon. But nope, I waited for 4 months and totally forgot about it. Then about 2 weeks back, I was checking my order history when I finally remembered that this order STILL hasn't arrived yet.

I decided to send HLJ an email telling them about the situation, but I thought I would just be told that since I shipped with SAL, I would be SOL. Surprisingly the HLJ representative was really helpful, he asked me to check with my local post office to make sure they are not holding my package there. I checked last Friday, but they did not have anything in their system with my address. I then emailed the HLJ representative about this and received a quick response telling me they would get the Japan postal service to start an investigation on the shipment and usually that would push the package through wherever it was being held up. If I still do not receive it in a month, I should contact them and they would resend the order if possible or give me a full refund. That was last Friday, and then last night after work, the package was here when I came home!

So I have to give major props to Hobby Link Japan for their customer service! I was actually hesitant on ordering from them previously after this order went missing, so I've been getting my stuff from Amiami. But after this experience, I will for sure be going back to them again. The HLJ representative responses were quick and professional, I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Candy Toy Review: Meda-Gabryu (Axe Mode)

2011-10-03T23:08:00.004-04:00

Continuing on with the previous candy toy review, we will take a look at the axe form of Meda-Gabryu which is number 2 in the set of 3.

A neat thing I found out while applying the stickers on for this toy is that the black lines can be scrubbed down so it "sits" inside the crevices in the details therefore transferring the details to the surface of the stickers. I find this really cool and it makes the toy look A LOT better!

This is the same weapon as the one reviewed yesterday except it has the second gun support handle folded up. In the show, the Meda-Gabryu has to "eat" 2 cell metals for it to power up for the final attack.

Thoughts: I actually liked this axe mode better than the gun mode from yesterday mainly because of the "eating" feature. I can imagine the "GULP" sound every time I play with this gimmick (*GULP* sound is in the show as well). With the mouth close, it can resemble the gun as well. Overall, another interesting toy in the set.

*Bonus points for anyone who can identify the song playing in the background!*

Candy Toy Review: Meda-Gabryu (Gun Mode)

2011-10-02T18:26:00.004-04:00

For the candy toys I got in my recent Amiami haul, I am going to take a look at this set first, these are the ones without the sound gimmicks. For this review, we will be taking a look at the #1 toy in this set, the Meda-Gabryu in its gun form. The Meda-Gabryu is the gun/axe weapon used by Kamen Rider OOO's Putotyra form when he uses the Pterodactyl, Tricetops and Tyrannosaurus Rex Core Medals.

The gimmicks for these toys are shown on the back of the box.

As with all candy toys, the instructions are printed on the insides of the box.

This toy comes in two plastic tree parts, a sticker sheet, and a piece of candy.

Putting it together was a breeze, but there were tons of stickers for this little toy and I am not very good at it either.

The surprising thing is that the stickers only cover one side of the toy, the other side is bare. Although here you can see the details in the mold, it will probably look a lot better with some paint instead of the stickers. The mold is incredibly detailed for a candy toy.

The toy also comes with 2 bullets and 2 cell metals, same thing with the cell metals, the stickers apply to only one side.

Now here's the thing, I was thinking of how to show off the gimmick of this toy and I thought what could be easier than a video right? So here's the video, it doesn't have any editing or anything, it is straight out of the camera for the sole purpose of demonstrating this toy's functions.

Part of the gimmick is that the cell metals can be inserted into the gun similar (like in the show), "locking" the metals in place does not do any other thing except to keep the metals from falling out. The bullet "loads" automatically when you insert it into the gun.

Thoughts: First, I have to remind myself that these candy toys are what you'd find in convenient stores for a few bucks a box and it mostly caters to little kids. That being said, I have to say it does leave a bit more to be desired, mainly because the stickers only cover one side of the toy. Although the cell metals gimmick is a fun addition to a basic bullet shooting gun. It is a fun toy none the less as it's the process of examining the packaging, looking over the instructions, putting together and applying the stickers on the toy which makes me love candy toys so much!

Reviews for the other 2 toys in the this set will be coming in the next few days!

Today's Haul

2011-10-01T20:55:00.003-04:00

Picked up these two DOTM Transformers at Walmart today, they are very hard to find here even though they've been released for quite some time now. Got the Laserbeak for my friend and picked up the Hachet for myself.

And then here's something interesting I ran into at my local snacks store that I basically go every week to stock up on snacks. Went there today and the first thing the owner asked me was if I was interested in Kamen Rider. That question threw me off already since I wasn't expecting it at all, but I was like ya of course, and then she showed me these limited edition sodas that they got in from Japan. I picked up the Kamen Rider ones that I liked and my sister got the pink Goranger one as well.

What I really like about the first Kamen Rider cans was that they can combine! LOL!

On the back of each can is a biography of each character.

And also here's the rest of the soda can set apart from the ones I got.

Ya this time's haul is pretty weird (I mean it's sodas?!?!), I've never been so happy for getting sodas before LOL!

September Amiami Haul

2011-09-30T18:34:00.002-04:00

Received this massive package from Amiami today. Luckily I didn't get taxed this time. I picked up 3 sets of candy toys which killed me on the shipping for this package. They were on sale and I've always been curious about what they were so I bought them, only to find out that the shipping were about $35 per case! No wonder why they had to put these on sale, at the original price plus shipping, these would be a lot of $$$. I figured oh well since I had other stuff coming as well, why not?

I got this one first...

then grabbed these two after...

I actually grabbed the first set on impulse, then grabbed the other two after finding out they had "lights & sounds" that the first one didn't have. I am really looking forward to opening and checking these ones out. I will review them this weekend.

Then I also picked up several figma Dragon Knight figures since they were sooooo cheap, I didn't hoard them though, only grabbed the ones I like. I really liked how the joints on these figures are hidden as if the figure is in a suit.

Although to be able to add these to your cart on Amiami, there's a trick (I think not everyone knows about this hence they are still in stock). When you open the page for these figures, the status will show "In stock", but there's no Add to cart button. But just click on "View all pictures" and voila! The Add to cart button is now there! Okay, let's see how long it will be before they really go out of stock this time.

And luckily I was able to grab one of the SHF Ryuki with his mirror monster. This is one very special set as I think it is the first time a SHF figure come with this big accessory.

Some ickle and Lardee

2011-09-27T23:42:00.002-04:00

I was shopping for some books on the Book Depository and decided to add this photobook to my order as well. I learned about this through the interview Open The Toy did with the Milk Toof creator sometime back. I find the characters, ickle and Lardee, very cute and life-like through the photography by Inhae Lee. So after a long wait, I have finally added this book to my collection.

Spawn the Black Heart

2011-09-24T22:58:00.002-04:00

I did some rearranging and managed to open up some Detolf room for these Spawn figures I got from a few months back. I wanted to display these guys in the Detolfs because I just don't like to display highly detailed figures in open space because dust will get into the little crevices and they become a pain to clean.

Tonight I decided to open this one, the Black Heart Spawn. I've been itching to get these guys out of their packages forever, but I am very picky on where each opened toy will be displayed. I like to display alike figures together or according to the era in which I was introduced to them, I think I have some OCD for this LOL!

One thing that I am very weary about on these type of figures, especially old ones that have been in the package for this long (this one was released in 1999), is the paint in the joints. I've had some NECA figures break on me right out of the package because the paint in the joints just welded the joints together and when I tried to move them, they shear right off.

Luckily on this figure, most of the joints were able to snap free except for the left thigh. One way to fix this problem is to put the figure in the fridge for several hours and then try to snap the joint free. I've tried this method before and it has worked for me so far. But for this figure, I decided to just leave it since the thigh swivel doesn't add anything to the poseability of this figure.

The main selling point of these figures to me is the attention to details and the designs that you just don't see in any other figure lines.

This figure has 19 points of articulation. Most of them are there just so this figure is not a statue.

But the details more than make up for the lack of articulation of this figure. Most of his body is covered in a chain mail suit, he must have waited a ton!

This figure came with two axe weapons.

His cape is also a separate piece. The bottom of the cape is actually made of cloth.

Overall I am really glad I opened this figure and did not leave them NIB. At first I was thinking of keeping them NIB because these figures lack articulation and they wouldn't look that much different out of the box. I was wrong though since all the pieces are separated in the packaging and it looks a lot nicer assembled out of the box. I will be opening the rest of the Spawn figures this week.

Pursuit of Cobra Haul pics

2011-09-24T12:30:00.002-04:00

I ripped these guys right out of the package the night I got them, I am very impressed with all the accessories they come with. It makes me question the value of the Marvel Universe and Star Wars line, for the same price, you get a figure and a sh*tload of accessories where the other two lines probably comes only with a rifle or an energy effect.

It is again also because of these accessories that these figures can be configured in many different ways, now I want several more BATs just so I could have them displayed with their other hand attachments and alternate heads. I now understand army building collectors, it would look pretty sweet to have an army of BATs.

Here's a BAT with a minigun. I am really surprised with the details they added on these things, especially the battle damage chest and head pieces.

This is the Alley Viper, I was initially iffy on getting this one because he didn't really look that cool from the box art. But I remember a lot of hype about him so I decided to grab it to see what's up and I am glad I did!

Cobra Shock Trooper, I'd like to get some more of these guys as well...sigh...I think I've caught the army building bug which I sweared I'd never do...

And lastly Low-Light, this is one SICK figure. It comes with LOADS of accessories, even little details like a bullet in a bullet case (thanks to actionfig for letting me know about this LOL). The case in his left hand can hold this sniper rifle as well.

I will take more pics of these figures with their accessories tonight.

More Beast Wars!

2011-09-23T22:10:00.002-04:00

Man this week has been awesome for toys! They just keep coming and coming! I received this package from a seller on the Canadian TF forums. Ever since I completed my Transformers Animated collection, I've decided that my next task was to complete my Beast Wars collection. So here's another two to the collection! The cool thing again is I've never had these two when I was a youngster! So I had a lot of fun transforming and playing with them!

They were both in great condition as well, surprisingly no flaking on the chrome parts at all!

Army Builders

2011-09-22T20:10:00.002-04:00

Toys'R'Us got a buy one get one for $1 sale going on for all Marvel Universe, Star Wars, and GIJoe figures. I decided to go there today hoping to find some MU, but they had NOTHING! Not even one MU figure in sight! Star Wars was pretty cleaned out as well. But I was surprised to see that the GIJoe figures were freshly restocked! LOL!

I picked up several of the army building figures that I've been interested in for a while to test out if I want to get several more of them later. Low-light is the only non-army builder, I remember seeing a fellow blogger talk about this one and I've wanted it ever since, sorry but I forgot who it was.

The Green Monster

2011-09-21T21:15:00.000-04:00

Futurama Tineez

2011-09-20T19:45:00.002-04:00

I picked up these guys today at the local comic store. I've wanted these guys ever since I saw them in pics from the SDCC 2011 show. They just look soooo adorable!

These guys are staying NIB because like all Futurama figures, the packaging looks so nice too.

Beast Wars Haul

2011-09-19T22:04:00.003-04:00

I picked these today from the same seller who I got my TFA Arcee and King Hulk from yesterday. He updated his sale posts with these guys and I sent him a PM right away haha! I am really glad he is a local so I save on shipping and we met up pretty close to home too so it was all good.

Beast Wars is another line that I am looking to complete (complete as in getting all the ones I want, not complete the whole line). I grew up with Beast Wars, it was my first exposure to Transformers. I actually had a lot of Beast Wars Transformers back then, but after moving and temporarily "growing out" of them, most of them ended up being donated or thrown out.

So after completing my Transformers Animated line, I decided to go back and complete my Beast Wars collection. I already have about half of the ones I want that survived from my childhood. I also picked up several of them back at the Toy Expo this summer. The rest I will probably get from fellow collectors because the prices of some of them MOSC is just waaay too much for me to afford.

I got these with the intention of opening them right away, but upon further inspection of the packaging, especially Silverbolt, it brings back a lot of memories of going to the store and begging my parents to get me one and then playing with them with my friends later during the week. I think I am actually going to keep the Silverbolt MOSC and just look for a loose figure. The Inferno I will open, but I will probably keep the box as well.

Seeing these two toys MOSC just brings back so much of my childhood memories! The cool thing is that I actually have never own these two Transformers back then!

The Final TFA Haul

2011-09-18T18:19:00.002-04:00

I have finally acquired a Transformers Animated Arcee WOOHOO! Got this from a local Transformers collector for a bit above retail but totally worth it since these are impossible to find now.

Also picked up this King Hulk from the same guy, I've been wanting this figure for a while after watching Hulk vs. Thor. I love that scene where Hulk was fighting Beta Ray Bill so much that I bought Beta Ray Bill right after at the comic store, but I was not able to find this version of King Hulk. I have the Planet Hulk from the Annihilus series which I think is suppose to be the same character, but that one is just not screen accurate at all. I wanted this Fin Fang Foom one but most of them were way more expensive than I'd like to pay for it. I even saw one in my Hong Kong trip selling for $280 HKD for a MOSC one (which is around $40 CDN). I got this one for a pretty good price so I am happy, and now I will be able to recreate that battle scene haha!

figma Miku Append Ver.

2011-09-17T23:18:00.003-04:00

After seeing LEon at Open The Toy open his figma Miku Append version, I was tempted to open mine...so I did! For a review of the figure, please direct yourself over to Open The Toy.

I am not a huge fan of Miku, but this Append version just attracted me because of her "sexy" face haha!

I ordered my Miku from Amiami and I was given the headphone promotion item, it looks pretty sick! I think I am going to experiment with this headphone on my other figures later haha

Another thing that attracted me to this figure is this sexy pose!

More pictures later!

F4U Corsair Fighter Plane

2011-09-11T14:39:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to pick up an RC plane all summer and I finally did 2 weeks back. I picked up the Parkzone F4U Corsair from their Ultra-micro park flyer series. These run for about $100 for the Bind-N-Fly version (for those with a controller already) and about $140 for the Ready-to-fly version. Both versions come with a battery charger and one battery pack. Although the charger it comes with is DC and requires 4 AAA's (also included) to provide juice to the lithium polymer battery.

Even after making the purchase for this plane, I was too nervous to fly it right away so I practice on my RealFlight simulator for a while first. After 2 weeks of practicing here and there, I decided that it was time!

The box also acts as a carry case which can carry the plane (with styrofoam protection to secure it so it doesn't flop around inside the box), battery charger, 3 batteries, and the controller (only the one that comes with the RTF version).

Long story short, it got windy real quick and because of the light weight of the plane, it was very hard to control. But also because of the light weight of the plane, the landings (or shall I say crashes) were also less damaging. I also try to steer it towards patches of grass for its crash landings...but sometimes that was just impossible before I crash. After several attempts of taking off and landing...just when it was taking off...one of the landing wheels flew off! I decided to call it a day and wait until a less windy day.

Amiami haul of August

2011-09-09T22:11:00.004-04:00

This came a bit late because figma Miku got delayed until the beginning of September. But good thing while Miku got delayed, the two figures from the Doraemon series just came out in time so I was able to get them along with my order.

I got the MG Mask Rider 1 when I missed out on the SHFiguarts version of it because it was selling out so fast, I just want to secure this character in any form because he was the first Kamen Rider I ever watched when I was like 5 years old. After that I basically was on Amiami waiting for their restock everyday for 2 weeks before I was able to get the SHFiguarts one! And since I am a big fan of Kamen Rider OOO, I grabbed the Shauta combo too when they were in stock, I am still thinking about if I should get all the forms though.

And lastly I grabbed another box of the Moji Bakerus because I love these things haha, they are the Kanji character-to-animal transforming candy toys that I got a box of a while back. This one is actually the rerelease of their first set.

Oh ya! Almost forgot my figma Miku Append version...that face is just so sexy...LOL

More Masterworks!

2011-09-08T20:09:00.002-04:00

I've always wanted to get into Marvel comics but had no idea where to start. Also I thought I didn't want yet another thing that I want to collect. But I figure that since my constant preorders from Amiami are almost over and there are not many toys that I want at the moment, I might as well get some comics for the time being. Although I am a fan of Marvel characters, I don't know anything about their history and what each character DID. That's the primary reason why I want to get into comics. So as suggested by Super Duper Toy Box, I ordered my first comic books on the weekend and they just arrived today! He recommended starting with the Essentials or the Masterworks, although the Essentials are cheap, I just don't like black and white comics haha. So I decided to go with Masterworks with my two favourite teams: the Avengers and Fantastic Four.

These are the first volumes of each series. Can't wait to read them!

Masterworks

2011-09-06T18:24:00.002-04:00

Woooooooohooooo! Received my SDCC 2011 Exclusive Sentinel today! This is the exclusive I want the most from this year's SDCC. As I am a big fan of cool packaging I will be keeping this one MIB. I will be getting a retail one for display. I hope the rumor of the SDCC colors being release in retail later on is true because I really want one with these colors on display.

One thing that sort of sucks is the batteries are dead in this thing so he doesn't talk. But I guess since I am leaving him MIB, the batteries will die sooner or later.

Even the art on the packaging looks amazing...

And this is what it's all about...the massive packaging! For some reason this huge packaging really appealed to me and I knew I had to have it when I saw it. I actually wanted the SDCc Galactus last year when I saw it too, but I couldn't afford it at that time. I am glad I was able to get this exclusive this year though. I wonder who Hasbro is going to do for their next Masterworks?

Labour Day Haul

2011-09-05T23:23:00.003-04:00

Just something I picked up over this Labour Day weekend which I have spent half of the time reading the Death Note manga. I think it would be best to review my Light Yagami and Ryuk figures after I finish the series...which should be this weekend.

I've always been interested in vehicles from the GIJoe line and this new HISS is no exception. Scored this for $15 only which is half of the normal price so I am happy!

Let there be light!

2011-09-03T19:52:00.002-04:00

Picked up a set of wireless LED lights for my shelves today. Just set them up and they make the display looks 10x better! Each set comes with 4 light pods with 5 ultra-bright LEDs on them. Each pod is powered by 3 AAA's which are included as well. With the lower power consumption of LED's and the fact that these won't be on 24/7, I think the batteries will last quite a long time. I am going to go back and pick up several more sets to light my displays on top of the cases and my Transformers shelf!

Ya I still have some space to fill out haha

The Devourer of Worlds

2011-08-31T00:03:00.002-04:00

After a year, I have finally acquired this figure that I've been wanting for a loooong time. These were not available at retail for us Canadians here so the only way to get them were online or from comic stores. After tax, these were almost $100 at the comic stores so I never got one. Recently I was introduced to Super Power Collectibles on the local forum. Marcio, the owner of Super Power Collectibles, is a collector himself and strives to provide lower prices for toy collectors. The Galactus is my first order from him since he was selling them at $54.99 which is the cheapest I have ever seen being sold locally. The shipping was fast and Marcio even included a written note in the order to thank you for the order which I think is very nice. I know I will be going back to him for many more toys in the future!

My massive Spiderman finally has a new friend!

Looks sweet displayed on top of my display case!

Review: Joint Gattai Zyuranger Megazord

2011-08-21T22:36:00.003-04:00

As requested by Super Duper Toy Box, here's the review on the Joint Gattai Zyuranger Megazord I just received from my July Amiami haul.

Zyuranger, also known as, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in North America is the Power Rangers I grew up with. I remember watching it in Cantonese in Hong Kong and then again in English here in Canada LOL! The Megazord in MMPR is still my favourite Megazords out of all the series of Power Rangers. The one from Shinkenger is a close second for me.

On the back of the packaging you can see all the configurations this Megazord can combine into. One thing I was surprised about this toy is the ability to form the individual zords that combine into the Megazord.

On the side of the box you can see the individual zords corresponding to their rangers.

Here is what is included, unfortunately a sword is not included.

This is a very basic figure, but it still looks great!

The mold is very simple, this actually feels more like a candy toy to me, except the details are paint and not stickers.

All the joints on this toy are swivel joints, so don't expect to put this Megazord in any dynamic poses. That leads me to the next point...

The "playability" of the Joint Gattai series is the ability to mix and match pieces from different Megazords in the series together to create your own Megazord. However, I only have this one so I am not able to take advantage of that. There are many pegs on the figure to allow for added components. This actually reminds me of the Mechtech system from the current Transformers DOTM line.

The pieces above can also be assembled into the Dinozords.

Tyrannosaurus

Mastodon

Triceratops

Sabertooth Tiger

Pterodactyl

They can also combine into their tank mode which is how it is displayed in right now.

Overall I really like this toy, it is a good representation of the MMPR Megazord and has a lot of playability. There are many pegs and slots so you can make some crazy configurations as well or mix and match with the other zords from the existing lineup to create your own. The only gripe is that I wished it came with its sword so it looks a bit more complete in robot mode. Not a big deal though as this toy is not really meant to be an action figure, but more of just a fun robot building toy.

Review: Robot Damashii Wing Gundam Zero

2011-08-21T02:11:00.006-04:00

I finally decided to open and review the Robot Damashii Wing Gundam Zero I got from my June Amiami haul. This is a long overdue review requested by RiP666. Although I am glad I did end up opening this tonight because I had a lot of fun playing with it! It is my first Robot Damashii and after this experience, it sure will not be my last! Anyways let's get onto the review...this is going to be a long one!

Gundam Wing is my first exposure to Gundam when I was a kid and to this day it is still my favourite Gundam series. I remember back when Gundam Wing was on TV, Bandai came out with a series of figures which were quite detail, but most only had standard articulation. Even though the figure looked really nice, they wouldn't be able to get in any good poses. Now comes Robot Damashii first figure for the Gundam Wing series, this particular Gundam model is from the Endless Waltz movie which I have watched many times already because I just LOVE IT!

Back of the box with the most memorable pose of Wing Zero Custom with his twin beam rifles.

Along with the figure, there is the wings assembly which attaches to the back of the torso via 3 pegs. There are also 2 extra pair of hands, one pair for weapons holding and the other are open hands. For weapons, there are 2 beam rifles and the beam for his beam saber.

A display stand is also included. The stand resembles the stands you can get for the Gunpla model kits.

This is one good looking figure. The wings assembly is almost as heavy as the figure itself so the stand is required for most of the poses. In addition to the heavy backpack on the figure, the torso-to-hip joint on my figure is quite loose, so posing without the stand is very hard. It is not impossible, but it will require some balancing of the wings and it might fall over very easily.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a beam for the beam saber included. The handle of the saber is actually attached to part of the wing assembly just like in the movie. Unfortunately, only one beam is included but there are two saber handles.

The weapon holding hands holds the beam saber alright, it is not a snug fit, but it is good enough with most poses.

Let's take a closer look at the figure itself. I notice the design of the figure is very similar to the design of a HG Gunpla kit in terms of parts assembly. For those of you who have had experience with Gunpla, you will see the similarity. Although one thing that I did not like is the green sphere on his chest is not clear plastic, instead it is just plastic painted in metallic green. A translucent green plastic piece would make it look much nicer.

The articulation in the legs and the skirts are exactly what you would expect in a Gunpla kit, except this is more durable for play than Gunpla.

What I am really fascinated by is the wing assembly on this figures. There are so many articulation points in this assembly alone, allowing it to adapt to any pose you like.

Double ball joints on each individual "feathers".

The rear wings have three extensions.

The wings are connected to the backpack via multi-jointed extensions.

The flexibility in the wings allow for many different poses, I am just amazed at the number of articulation they packed in this figure.

And of course, there are also the dual beam rifles.

The famous pose with the combined beam rifles can be reproduced easily.

Overall, I had tons of fun playing with this figure. It felt exactly like playing with a HG/MG Gunpla kit without the pieces falling off part. This is my first Robot Damashii and I am certainly more interested in this line after messing around with this figure. I usually open a figure and mess around with it for 15 minutes or so before putting them in my display. But with this figure, I must have played around with it for an hour or two because it was simply just so fun to play with. There are tons of little joints in the figure so it can take on a lot of poses. I really hope they will be doing other characters from the Gundam Wing series in the future, I would LOVE a Deathscythe Custom as a Robot Damashii figure! I highly recommend this figure to anyone who likes Gundam Wing as this figure will not disappoint for sure!

July Amiami Haul

2011-08-15T18:29:00.004-04:00

This arrived a little late because figma Strength was released at the beginning of August and Amiami was nice enough to hold onto the order a bit longer to include her since she's been previously delayed already. The Death Note figures (Light and Ryuk) were both delayed for a month as well and I am really glad they are released now since they look amazing! I think this is the first time I've seen action figures for Death Note, I hope they will be doing the other characters later (L, Misa, Rem). There's also Danbo's buddy that I missed out on several times, too bad this summer set does not come with his translucent blue water gun though. And since I missed out on the Disney exclusive Mighty Morphin Power Ranger Megazord here, I figured I could try out this Joint Gattai one from Bandai Japan. Each individual bot seems to be able to transform, as well as combine together to form several configurations of the Megazord, so I am looking forward to playing with that one.

The pair of Vocaloid dolls are for my sister's birthday present. And got several vinyl figures (Green ranger from MMPR and Doraemon figures).

Transformers Animated Display

2011-08-14T02:37:00.002-04:00

Decided to rip open the rest of my NIB Animated figures (Jetfire, Jetstorm, Blitzwing, Lockdown, Starscream) and add them to my Animated display.

Finally, I can say it's complete. (Wreckgar and Ironhide on the bottom shelf since they are the "extra" characters. Don't have Arcee or Blackout, but I felt like I didn't need them to complete my collection.) Although now that I look at it, I think I do need an Arcee...

Weekend haul

2011-08-08T22:42:00.002-04:00

Bought this on the weekend when I was over at a friend's house in Downtown, Toronto. While walking there, I noticed that there was a comic store within 5 minutes from the condo! And doing as any other collector would have done, I decided to drop by and I am glad I did! The store was called 401games, they had a pretty good selection of figures. As with most comic stores, there was a small markup in figures that were available in retail. But the comic store only figures like the NECA figures, Marvel Select, Play Arts were priced really well. Most were around $5-$10 cheaper than stores I go for my comic figures. It's really too bad that this store is so far away from home or else I'd be going here for all my figures from now on.

But I did manage to score this Play Arts Kai Sneaking Suit Snake that I've wanted for a long time! I was looking for this figure at the Toy Expo last week, but they only had him in his Jungle outfit from MGS3. This sneaking suit is of Snake in his suit that was in MGS2 which is still one of my favourite games.

Transformers Animated - Shockwave

2011-08-05T20:59:00.003-04:00

Finally opened this TFA Shockwave that I've been keeping NIB for a long time because I didn't have the room to display him. But now that I got my new display shelf, he can finally break out of his package and join his comrades.

The Animated line is still one of the best packaged lines in my opinion, I just love the colorful look of it.

This is his Decepticon vehicle mode which is some sort of tank with a beam cannon.

And then simply prop up the tracks and flip down the cannon and he is now in his Autobots spy vehicle mode, which looks sort of like a crane.

Here's Longarm, the Head of the Intelligence Division of the Autobots team. He looks quite friendly doesn't he? The funny thing is that his Decepticon symbol can be seen under his legs lol!

Little does the Autobots know, he is actually the spy Shockwave from the Decepticons!

I am really glad I have finally open him, I LOVE the Animated line and he is no exception. The design is awesome and I am still sad that they decided to end the show so early! Animated is still my favourite TF line ever!

Marvel Universe Iron Man 2020

2011-08-04T21:34:00.002-04:00

Finally cracked opened these 2 Iron mans I got from last weekend's Toy Expo. I have already told myself that I am going to stop buying these Marvel Universe figures, but I am still a sucker for Iron man figures.

The design of these two Iron mans are very futuristic.

The paint apps on the IM 2020 seems cleaner than the other one. But the right IM has a new mold.

The design of the IM 2020 is very familiar, in fact, it has the same mold as this earlier MU IM release, only with a few added armor pieces and a new face.

As a result, this IM doesn't have a whole lot fo articulation since I think this older IM mold is from pretty early in the series.

On the other hand, this new IM has some pretty amazing articulation for a MU. One thing that I am very impressed with is the ankle joints. The addition of the cut thighs and ankle joints introduces a whole bunch of possible poses with this figure, like this one.

Seeing the improvement in articulation in these new MU figures have put some faith in me back in this line. With the re-introduction of Marvel Legends from Hasbro as showned in SDCC, I was pretty sure I was going to jump boat and go back to ML. But with all the upcoming releases for the MU line and these improvements in articulation, I might just have to stay on this ship afterall haha!

New Camera

2011-08-03T20:21:00.002-04:00

Received this last piece to my astrophotography arsenal today. It is a full-spectrum modified Canon XSi. The IR-filter glass in front of the sensor has been removed so the camera can also see into the infrared spectrum which is required for astrophotography.

I had to go with Canon instead of Nikon because most astrophotography equipment and software are made for Canon DSLR's. An example is this Astronomik light pollution filter I got along with the camera. The Canon bodies are made to support this type of clip-in filter which goes in front of the mirror, there is no such option for Nikon. The light pollution filter is a must-have item because even a 5 second exposure of the sky will result in an orange glow from the sodium and mercury lights. This filter blocks out specifically the sodium and mercury lights, and the useless parts of the infrared spectrum.

Then here's the Cinevate Nikon-to-Canon adapter mount I got from B&H from yesterday.

Tested out the adapter on an old school Nikon 35-105mm lens, works great! It's easy to mount on the lens and camera and easy to take off. Fit on the EOS mount is not perfect, but close enough. There is very little wiggle if you try to wiggle it, under normal operation, it should have no problem. Although it might also have to do with the weight of this lens since it's all metal construction.

Now I just have to learn how all this works and hope for some clear skies!

Photography haul

2011-08-02T21:56:00.002-04:00

Received my order from B&H today. The loot includes:

Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod legs (got this since I was getting the ball head for astro use anyways)
Manfrotto 498RC2 tripod head (for astrophotography/regular photography)
Extra Manfrotto quick release plate (for astrophotography)
Cinevate Nikon to Canon EOS adapter (for astrophotography)
Vello Intervalometer (for astrophotography)
Canon ACK-E5 AC adapter (for astrophotography)
Op/tech straps for tripod, camera, and bag

Pursuit of Cobra - Jungle Viper Review

2011-08-01T23:10:00.005-04:00

Decided to open the POC Jungle Viper I got from the TFCon/80's Toy Expo tonight. I've always wanted to get the POC Jungle Viper and they have actually been released here for a while, it's just that they get picked up very fast and I've never even seen them in retail yet even though I've heard of sightings of them around town. So seeing that he was selling for only $10 was a no brainer for me to get.

I've wanted the Jungle Viper ever since I saw the preview pics from some toy show about 1 year ago I think. He reminds me of Deathscythe Custom from the Gundam Wing Endless Waltz movie, except with a gun lol! This figure comes with surprisingly a lot of pieces, most of which make up the camouflaging suit. His main weapon is some type of huge sniper rifle, the barrel on it is massive, it looks more like an anti-vehicle type of gun than a sniper rifle. He also has 2 handguns, one on the holster on his right calf and the other on his left thigh so even if you manage to escape him long-range, he can still take you out short-range haha. He also comes with a scope-visor-thingy that probably grants him super-vision like Superman as well.

Overall, Jungle Viper is a really cool figure that I am glad I picked up at the show because I doubt I will be able to find him in retail. I am actually regretting not picking up another one since these type of troopers usually look better in pairs or groups. Maybe I will get lucky and find one in retail later down the road. *crosses fingers*

80's Toy Expo 2011 (Pics heavy!)

2011-07-31T18:46:00.004-04:00

Today I went to the 80's Toy Expo + TFCon which were hosted at the same place this year. TFCon actually started yesterday on Saturday and this is the second day of the show which was combined with the 80's Toy Expo this year. The Expo is not a huge event like the San Diego Comic Con where a lot of toy manufacturers come to showcase their new products. I think there were several events and panels going on today as well, but I went there for the dealer room only LOL!

The event was about 30 minutes drive away from my home which was very convenient. The first thing I saw when I got there were the Ghostbusters standing beside the Batmobile!

Their suits look very accurate and professional, but it must have been really hot to wear these costumes in the hot weather!

The Batmobile looked really sweet too! Although Batman was nowhere to be seen...

Turns out Batman was inside enjoying the AC haha

After paying for the entrance fee, I went straight to the dealer room, it was PACKED even though I went one or two hours into the show.

There were soooo many toys everywhere, it was very overwhelming LOL! The main focuses were Transformers, Marvel, DC, GIJoes, and Star Wars.

There were some very expensive GIJoes!

There was one of these SDCC Exclusive Marvel Universe Sentinel for sale at the show for $130, I was thinking if I should get it when this guy swooped in and bought it right in front of me. Needless to say, I was somewhat disappointed for a while. But I ended up getting some stuff that I've been meaning to get for a long time which cheered me up again haha!

Saw several characters from Star Wars as well.

So I was checking out some Transformers when I heard some laser shooting sounds, I turn around and this is what I saw!

Haul time:

I picked up a bunch of AMAZING Beasts Wars prints from Dan Khanna. These prints are one of the things that I love most from these shows. Although I am a prints noob because I figured I should get them at the end of the show when I would be leaving since I was afraid I'd ruin them if I carry them around the show for several hours. I end up missing out on the first generation gorilla Optimus Prime and Transmetal Blackarachnia when I made these purchases. However, Dan told me there was a Fan Expo coming up in Toronto where he would be attending as well and he will have those prints available. So next time I go, I know where to go right away!

Alex Milne was there too and I wanted to pick up several prints from him as well, but again being the noob that I am, I went close to the end and missed out on all the ones I wanted from him. Hopefully he will be at Fan Expo as well so I will have another chance to get them!

I've been meaning to get back some of the Transmetal stuff that I lost from my childhood. And now since I am finally done my Animated collection, I think I am going to start collecting bots from the Beasts Wars era now. Warpath was on my must-buy list because we didn't get his wave in Canada. He was very popular as they were literally flying off the shelves. And Boba Fett was for my dad lol.

Also picked up these guys that I can never find in retail.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable event! Although I hope I will be able to make it to next year's SDCC as that show is massive and just another experience altogether!

More display room!

2011-07-30T23:48:00.005-04:00

Sooo in last night's post, I was just saying that I was running out of display room. But today I picked up this book shelf from Walmart which opened up a lot of room for more toys now! I've been meaning to pick up a cheap book shelf like this to display my Transformers for a while. Since I've moved most of my collection to the basement, I've noticed that there is a lot less dust buildup down there. When I had my display on the main floor or on the second floor, the dust build up really fast, toys out in the open would get covered in a thin layer of dust in a week or so. But in the basement, I've had several figures just sitting on the table for a month or so and they barely have any dust on them. So I figured I could save some money and try an open book shelf for display instead of getting only glass cabinets. Although the glass cabinets are nice looking and reduce the dust by a lot, they do not really have a lot of room for display, especially for bulky Transformers.

My main goal with the book shelf is to be able to display all the Transformers Animated Autobots together on one row and all the Decepticons together on another row. I end up getting pretty close, Wreckgar and Ironhide had to go to a separate shelf because they just don't have the room to fit in with the Autobots, they are "extra" characters anyways so I guess it's not too bad. I still have to open several Animated bots I have NIB to finish this display though. Overall, I am very happy with this display and I have opened up 7 slots in my glass cabinets where I will be opening and displaying some more Japanese figures!

I still have to play around with the dividers to separate each level equally though, but the ultra classes from the first two row is what's limiting equal spacing. It's a great shelf none the less and I am actually thinking of picking up a second one for my Marvel collection as well. I will have to wait and see how the dust buildup is on this open shelf first though before I buy anymore though.

Sooo look out for more reviews coming soon!!!

Transformers Animated Autobots Display

2011-07-30T00:27:00.003-04:00

Finally open my Takara Tomy Animated Ratchet + Lockdown set tonight, grabbed Ratchet and left Lockdown for later. I didn't even bother transforming him into vehicle mode because I just want to see the completed main Autobot team on my display shelf.

Finally...I have completed my Animated collection after 3 years. I lucked out when a local collector basically sold his Animated collection so I was able to pick up a lot of them that were now impossible to find. So here I present to you...the main Autobots team!

As for the reason for the lack of reviews lately, it is frankly because I've ran out of display room once again! I actually went to IKEA several weeks ago looking to pick up several more of their DETOLF glass cabinets, but they were out of stock. I found out after reading on some toy collectors forums that the DETOLF cabinets were recalled due to some defect and they won't be available until the end of August. So hopefully I will be able to pick up some more display cases soon and open all these toys that are just waiting and calling to me now.

The start of another hobby

2011-07-21T23:52:00.003-04:00

Picked up this equatorial mount today, its function is to follow the rotation of the Earth for use in astrophotography. I've been wanting to get into astrophotography for a long time, that's actually the main reason why I wanted a DSLR in the first place because I tried (although unsuccessfully) with my bridge camera many moons ago, only to find out in the end that it is only possible with a DSLR. And now that I've met a friend that have been into this hobby for many years, I found out that it gets waaay more technical than needing "just a DSLR". I am really glad that I will have a "master" teaching me all this along the way rather than pulling out my hair trying to figure it out by myself though. I still need a few more items to complete my initial setup, hopefully I will be all setup and ready for my first lesson in the next few weeks! Can't wait!

Arkham Asylum - Bane

2011-07-15T23:17:00.005-04:00

I still remember playing this game last October and after I fought Bane, I thought to myself that if they come out with a Bane figure, I'd definitely get it. Bane is one of my favorite villains in Batman because he's so strong and his whole get-up just looks so cool! When I saw this figure at the local comic store, I was debating whether I should get him because I don't collect any DC figures, but I am glad I end up bringing him home because he is just such an amazing figure!

If you have played the Arkham Asyslum game before, you will know how accurate this figure is to his in-game design.

There isn't a whole lot of articulation in this figure. However, this is probably the first time I prefer a figure to lack in articulation because with articulation comes more cuts and joints in the figure which takes away the details.

The details on this figure is just breath-taking, I spent quite some time just sitting there admiring this figure haha!

They didn't skimp out on any details, even his feet are very nicely done. He can stand fine without the stand, but it does add some stability.

Although there isn't many articulation points, I am glad they decided to keep the shoulder joints so he can look even more menacing. Total articulation points include swivel head, ball-jointed shoulders, cut waist, cut knees, and cut angles. His neck joint felt like it could move back and forth a bit, but I did not force it as I don't want to break this figure.

Look at those hands and fingers...even the nails are textured...

This figure is an amazing deal at $20. It's another one of those highly detailed figures which lack in articulation (ex. Marvel Select). Even though it doesn't have good articulation, the details more than make up for it. I actually wish the Marvel Select figures would be made in some attacking pose rather than just plain standing there now that I got this Bane. So for anyone that is a fan of Batman, I highly recommend picking this figure up! I think he will become a hard-to-find one very soon, so get him while you have the chance!

I absolutely LOVE this figure! BEST $20 spent in a LOOONG TIME!!!

End of the week haul

2011-07-15T20:45:00.002-04:00

Went shopping after a long week's work today, picked up these guys. I already opened Bane and he is one amazingly awesome figure. I don't even collect DC stuff, but this Arkham Asylum series look really really nice!

Moji Bakeru - Snake

2011-07-11T23:44:00.004-04:00

So I decided to open up one of these small boxes from the Moji Bakeru set I got in my June Amiami haul.

There are three colors in available, but it is a blind box item so you don't know what you get until you open it.

Box contents: I got the gold kanji for "Snake", a sticker sheet, and a piece of gum for when you are putting it together. The instructions are printed on the inside of the box.

There were only 4 stickers in total, this is with the kanji sticker-ed up.

To transform, first you have to split the left and right part of the character.

Then twist the right side like this...

Then by removing the bottom pieces on the left side and putting them back on the side of the character...

Put the head on the body and voila you got a snake!

Overall, I really enjoyed this candy toy. It's just one of those simple toys that does not take a lot of time to make and enjoy, just like the old days. I really like the idea behind this toy though, it is a great way for kids to learn these simple kanji characters.

Weekend Haul

2011-07-10T02:51:00.001-04:00

Finally got DOTM Voyager Shockwave on sale for $20 and also found this Classic Iron Monger for $5, awesome deal for two sweet toys!

June Amiami Haul

2011-07-08T22:29:00.003-04:00

Another package arrived from Amiami for the month of June, this time it was a bit late because of the Canada Post strike we just had for a few weeks. Glad that's over and I can get my toy fix now haha!

Seriously though? This is fragile stuff! I found after opening the box that taped up part was actually a huge hole! Looked like something punctured it from outside and they tried to cover it up with tape.

Luckily Amiami did a great job with their packaging and nothing was damaged. The toys literally only took up half the box, there was layers and layers of packing paper which I am soooo glad it was there!

Picked up the 4 main GREEDS from Kamen Rider OOO's in soft vinyl form. I've always had a soft spot for soft vinyl figures since I grew up with them as a kid. Been wanting to start collecting these for a while, finally have the excuse to get them with these greeds haha.

Uva

Kazari

Gamel

Mezool

Not a GREED, but still waaay cool, MMPR Red Ranger

This Garo horse looks amazing, it is really a piece of art more than a toy haha

SHF Faiz Blaster Form

Endless Waltz Wing Gundam Custom...this guy is sweet! I hope they do the whole Wing gundam team. Wing gundam was the first Gundam show I ever watched so it is really special to me.

I am also a big fan of these small box candy toys which is also from my childhood. I remember going to 7-eleven in HK after school and looking through all the candy toys they have there. I am disappointed to say that 7-eleven nowadays only have a small shelf dedicated to candy toys, they just don't have the selection they used to.

This one here is called Moji Bakeru. They are small transforming toys that change from their Kanji animal character to their corresponding animal figure. For example, this series include a "Lion" in kanji that can transform into a lion-looking toy. I actually first learn about this series in a magazine scan I saw online. When I saw it, I knew I gotta get me some, but the magazine was in Japanese and I had no idea what these toys were called. But one day while browsing Amiami, I found out they have them, but were out of stock. So I've been eagle-eyeing it for a while and when it was in stock I grabbed it right away. I am glad I did since these things sell out QUICK! They were in stock for max 10 minutes before they were sold out again!

One pack comes with 20 boxes!

And lastly, something I've been waiting for sooo long...Kamen Rider OOO Series 3 candy toys!!! I got Series 2 a while ago, missed out on Series 1 though. These figures are similar to GI Joe size and their head/torso/legs can split and combine with other figures to create unique combos just like in the show!

Not pictured are some Obitsu stands that I almost add a few in every order I get from Amiami since they are so cheap and flexible, I have 9 of them still in package right now lol! Also picked up another Revoltech Woody to keep MOC for my collection, I just love his perverted face! LOL

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

2011-06-28T20:56:00.002-04:00

I will be going with my buddy to watch this movie tonight...actually tomorrow on 12:01am haha, probably not the best idea since I still have to go to work in the morning...but I hope it will be worth it!!!

Transformers Haul

2011-06-26T19:59:00.003-04:00

Picked these up during last week + this week. Got the Animated lot from a local collector, he forgot to bring my Skywarp and the club for Snarl, so I will have to get those from him sometime soon. But I am finally done my Transformers Animated collection with these few bots! I don't have everyone in the series, but I got all the ones I wanted, feels great! The Reveal the Shield Lugnut I bought after seeing Open The Toy's review on it, this guy is sweet, highly recommended!

Also picked these guys up this weekend at Toysrus with their 25% off sale! I am still hunting for Shockwave! Hopefully I will be able to find him before the sale ends!

Also got this Toysrus exclusive TF3 movie bag with Transformers purchases starting last Friday (while supplies last!). Looks pretty cool and it can fit 4 deluxes side-by-side perfectly haha!

Review: Transformers Backfire with Spike Witwicky

2011-06-19T22:29:00.002-04:00

Here's a short review of the Transformers Dark of the Moon Human Basic Backfire with Spike Witwicky. Apparently Spike Witwicky is a character from the G1 era as well. I knew it had to be related with the last name, but I am not familiar at all with G1.

Out of the package in robot mode. It looks alright in robot mode, nothing spectacular.

This is the weapon mode, I think it is related to the Mechtech feature on the deluxe size and up Transformers. There's a peg on the bottom at the back for this mode which I think can be attached to the Mechtech ports.

And finally the vehicle mode, which is the reason I got this. Gotta love this 3-wheel bike design. I've been wanting to custom make one of these in R/C form for the longest time.

Low-rider for on-road driving...

and jacked up for offroading!

Overall it is a fun toy, I just really like these Human Alliance basics because I think they are sort of a cross between Transformers and Joes. I just wished they were bigger in size to work with the 4" Joes, THAT would make them PERFECT!

Review: Candy Toy Kamen Rider Birth and CLAWs Set

2011-06-13T23:52:00.001-04:00

The debut of Gotou-san as Birth in episode 38 of Kamen Rider OOO just reminded me of this toy so
here's another quick review of this candy toy I got a while ago. It's for Kamen Rider Birth and his CLAWs weapons kit from Kamen Rider OOO. But first, let's check out Gotou-san as Birth shall we?

Birth and CLAWs are two separate items. I got the whole box so I was able to get this set easily. I think it is much harder to get these two if you were to buy singles from retail stores. I remember seeing only the ones that are not so popular left on the shelf when I was in Hong Kong last year.

The Birth figure comes fully assembled in the box, you only need to apply the stickers. The figure is about the same size as the 3 3/4" Joes. The Birth Buster gun also comes with the figure.

CLAWs came with each piece bagged individually and required some basic assembly. Each box comes with a piece of candy as well, but I've already eaten it before I got to the toy LOL!

And of course, the CLAWs components can be disassembled and used on Birth just like in the show.

Drill Arm

Shovel Arm

Crane Arm

Breast Cannon

Catepillar Leg

Cutter Wing

Happy BIRTHday! (The day where all 6 components were combined with Birth)

Overall I have to say I am really surprised with the quality of this candy toy. It is really well made and the details are very nice for this price. The details seems pretty close to the larger OCC line from what I saw in reviews. It has very good playability with all the combos you can make with the CLAWs set. I have several other figures from this set that I have yet to review, but I will wait for my set 3 coming this month and review them all at once.

Review: Revoltech Danboard

2011-06-12T19:03:00.006-04:00

Here's a short and sweet review of the ever so popular Revoltech Danboard. A quick Google Image search with the word "Danboard" or "Danbo" will yield pages and pages of photographs of this character. There is even a flickr group for Danbo - Danbo Love - that has over 14,000 entries!!! So why is this little guy so popular?

From what I understand, Danboard is from the Japanese manga "Yotsuba&!". He is basically a cardboard robot.

Even the packaging of this toy is some type of thin cardboard paper. The box design is simple and clean.

The top of the packaging is made to look like Danboard as well.

There's not a lot of accessories included in this figure. The extra head is Miura Hayasaka who is the little kid who dressed up as Danboard in the manga. The only other item is the display stand. The Revoltech joint is for the extra head.

Danboard is a very simple figure and that is why I think it is so popular. The figure expression-less, so it can be used in all types of photographs. The expression relies only on the setting on the photograph. For examples, check out the 365 days of Danboard project by Arielle Nadel.

Articulation-wise, it is very basic: Revoltech joints for the neck, shoulders, and legs. Five joints in total.

The "side skirts" are one piece with the torso, but the front and rear part of the skirt is hinged, allowing the legs to articulate back and forth slightly.

Another feature of this figure is...

Light-up eyes! I think this feature will be very useful in some dark and scary photographs...

Like Zombie Danbo!

But of course, we all know Danbo is just a costume for cute little Miura Hayasaka...

Or is it?

So in conclusion, I am just glad I was able to get my hands on one of these gems in the end (okay, more than one). I've been wanting one of these figures ever since I saw some amazing photographs with this figure as the subject. I don't really know what rating I can give it because there's not much to it really. There's basically only one color to it and there's only 5 joints in total on the whole figure. It's just one of those unique figures that makes toy photography so fun!

Review: Dr. Slump Arale-chan Arale Norimaki

2011-06-12T02:14:00.004-04:00

This is a review for the Arale Norimaki figure by CM's Corporation I recently got from Amiami. First let's take a brief look at who this character is from her Wiki page.

Arale Norimaki (則巻アラレ, Norimaki Arare) is an android built by Senbei Norimaki, known for her naïvety, energetic personality, lack of common sense and unbelievable superhuman strength but ironically she is nearsighted and needs to wear glasses. Senbei's mission is to convince the other citizens of Penguin Village that she is no more than a typical girl, which they appear to believe in spite of them taking notice to numerous displays of her superhuman capabilities.

I vaguely remember watching this show as IQ博士 when I was a young kid. I don't remember much from the show except for the incredibly hilarious main character known as Arale and her friend Gatchan (the flying-metal-eating fairy). She also lives in a village with animal neighbours lol. I actually recently picked up a Dr. Slump movie from the local chinese mall and it was quite hilarious and entertaining, it was certainly nostalgic. The best part was the opening song, I mean who wouldn't just love this tune?!

Anyways, let's get on with the toy!

Initial impressions with the packaging leaves me thinking this is a cheaply made toy. I don't know if it's the pink and white stripes or what, but it almost screams knock-off to me LOL

As you can see, this figure of Arale-chan is of her in her pilot helmet outfit, not the regular classic one with winged-cap.

Upon opening the package, I was introduce to the smell of...stinky plastic. I don't know what type of plastic has this smell, but I don't like it. Turns out it is just the flame attack part that was smelly. It's one of those soft-rubbery type plastic.

The accessories include 3 faces, 3 pair of hands, her NCHA flame cannon attack and the saying in Japanese, a stick, a pink caca, and some clear stands for the figure and accessories.

First look at the figure shows it has some decent paint apps. She is very top heavy because of her head so she does not stand very well by herself. One little detail that I was somewhat disappointed with was that her glasses sits lower on her face than what was on the box art.

She looks soooo cute!

There was a little bit of rough paint area on the back of her helmet, no biggie though.

Articulation-wise, her knees and elbows are single jointed, shoulders and hips are ball-jointed although their movement are severally hindered by the little straps on the side of her helmet and her shorts. Wrists are ball-jointed, but the balls are not very round so it's quite hard to rotate her hands without ripping out her whole arm. The head is mounted to the torso with a ball joint and to the face with a rachet type joint (more on that below).

When I tried to rotate her hands, the whole shoulder joint detached from the torso. I couldn't get it to go back in properly because of the way the joint goes into the torso. I've never seen it done this way, it is sort of an awkward design. It was very hard to apply force on the joint to get it into place because the hole is inside the shoulder.

To change her face, you first have to remove the earmuff pieces, then the back half of her helmet. The face piece slides into the front part of the helmet. Here you can see how the head is connected to the "neck" shown above. The outer ball piece that attaches to the neck piece needs to be moved remove and attached to the exchanged face as well. This piece feels really flimsy and I was scared to handle it a lot when changing her expressions.

Here are all the pieces required to change her expressions.

Another example of why I keep thinking this figure is poorly made. They couldn't even get the holes drilled correctly for the earmuffs!

Even with all the drawbacks in quality of this figure, it is still a good representation of Arale-chan. Did you know her favourite hobby is poking poo? LOL

This is with one of the extra hands she comes with which was basically same as the stock fists but with a tiny hole drilled in the center to hold the stick.

One of Arale-chan's special abilities is her NCHA mouth cannon attack (see video below).

And recreated here with the figure and supplied accessories.

Overall, I give this figure a 7/10. It is a good representation of the Arale-chan character in the Dr. Slump cartoon. Quality-wise, it is just not up-to-par with figures from lines such as Revoltech and Figma. The joints are a pain to configure with, specifically the shoulder and the wrists. Although it does come with quite some accessories to recreate some funny moments in the show. Do I recommend it? Yes if you are a fan of the show and wants a figure of Arale-chan since I think this one if the only action figure available for the character. No if you are not familiar with the character as you might be slightly disappointed by the quality. I admit I am a bit stumped by the quality of this figure, but I am just as happy to finally have an action figure of this lovable character.

Haul of May

2011-06-06T21:15:00.004-04:00

Finally received my package from Amiami, got charged by customs though! $40 tax + $60 shipping ARGH! Oh well, at last it's here though. Been waiting for these guys for a loooong time! Finally got meself some Danboards!!!

As decided by Leon at Open The Toy, I will be reviewing Arale this weekend. Maybe I should start a what should I open next? thing LOL

I need more display shelves!!!

Dark of the Moon: Starscream and Thunderhead

2011-05-23T15:10:00.002-04:00

I haven't been following the Transformers line lately. Last TF I bought was from the Animated line since I haven't had any interests in the recent series. I really like the Classics line, but they were almost impossible to find here so I ended up forgetting about them altogether. Then come the Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon line, I saw several that I definitely wanted to pick up (ex. Shockwave), but there weren't a whole lot that I wanted, especially before I saw the movie. As luck would have it, comes a sale and I picked up some more than planned (HA!...plans...).

I only got to opening two of them though because I was playing with off camera flash and full manual settings for quite a bit (I took over 100 pics alone for these 2 guys LOL, a lot of trial and error).

First up is the Deluxe Starscream. I've always wanted to pick up a movie Starscream since the first movie. But I didn't really fancy the first voyager one, the shape looked awkward to me for some reason. The leader class one looks amazing, but I just can't afford to drop $60 + tax on that guy (not to mention the space he will take up on display!). Then comes the affordable deluxe version for TF3, I definitely had to grab this one. I can't wait for the repaints on this mold as well! Thundercracker, Skywarp...mmmm.

I just love the jet mode, I even have it displayed in this mode right now (on the stand). For a deluxe size figure, he has really nice details. He looks sweet with all the cybertronian markings.

The gimmick for this line are the Mechtech weapons. They just end up in the scraps pile for me.

And here he is in his robot mode. I always thought he looked like a chicken for some reason...

The two mechtech pieces join together to form this massive blade for his robot mode. Looks pretty cool I guess...

Next up is Thunderhead with Major Tungsten. When I saw this guy, I had to get it! In fact, I want to grab several more of this one because his alt modes are sooo coool!!! This one is from the Human Alliance Basic line.

Tank/crawler vehicle mode...looks fun to drive!

Looks pretty good for rock crawling too.

He can even turn into a mech suit! How much awesome-er can he get?!?!

All in all I am very happy with my purchases, so far (I still have several more to open). I really like the Human Alliance basic line and am looking forward to see what else they come with in the later waves. Although I initially didn't "planned" to buy a lot of this line, I can definitely see myself end up with quite a few of them haha.

Epic Transformations

2011-04-29T23:28:00.002-04:00

Thought this video was quite enjoyable...

New toy

2011-04-26T23:56:00.002-04:00

Ordered this guy at the local music store last week and I just went to pick it up today. It's a Simon & Patrick Songsmith. Picking up and learning the guitar is one of the things on my "To-do" list. Now I am done the picking up part, just need to work on the learning part haha.

I just messed with it for several hours tonight and I love it! The sound is so soothing! My fingers do hurt a bit though, but I know that is one thing that I will have to get use to anyways. Can't wait to get back to it after work tomorrow!!!

Spawn haul

2011-04-22T21:10:00.005-04:00

Funny how I came upon this loot really, since I got all these from my hairdresser's husband. I've known them for years and have always gone to them for my haircut. Every time I am there, I always chat a lot with her husband because he is into gaming and a lot of other interesting hobbies. Almost every time I visit them, he has a new hobby LOL! He knew about my radio control stuff, but collecting toys never came up for some reason until recently. He was surprised then he said, "I gotta show you this then!". Then low and behold, he showed me his action figures collection LOL! All his stuff were MISB. He told me he used to buy them when he was a kid, but he just kept them MISB because he didn't have the room to display them in. After going over all his figures that were not deep in storage (he still have tons of stuff in bags under his staircase), he asked if I would be interested in taking them off his hands for a good price since he doesn't do anything with them anymore and now he also has their newborn daughter to take care of. And what did I say? Hell ya!!!

I didn't have that much cash on me at that time so we decided to deal next time I go for a haircut. So today I went for the most expensive haircut I've ever gotten, but I got some free figures with the deal as well LOL (these were just some of them, I couldn't get them all because I still have to pay for my new toy coming on Tuesday haha)

Can't wait for my next haircut!