Collectible

REVIEW – HASBRO STAR WARS BLACK SERIES AT-AT DRIVER

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 6, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

The AT-AT Drivers are the pilots of the Imperial Forces AT-AT Walkers, first seen in The Empire Strikes Back during the battle of Hoth. Working in teams of two they control the AT-AT Walkers driving and firing controls. Their uniforms are designed to protect them in harsh frozen climates if they are forced to abandon the AT-AT Walkers during combat.

Name: AT-AT Driver/Pilot
Line: Star Wars Black Series
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2016
Price: $19.99 USD
Scale:  6 inches in height
Accessories: E-11 Blaster Pistol

This is pretty much my first and only Star Wars Black Series purchase so far, I did dip my toe in ever so slightly a few years back and picked up Greedo which I had for a little while, before selling off, but I never took him out of the box and had a good look at him properly. So when Hasbro finally announced the AT-AT Driver I was looking forward to owning the figure and promptly placed my pre-order with BBTS.

The figure was released late December last year and I had my pile-of-loot shipped in January so he didn’t make the cut in my “best of” list. This was still one of the figures I was hoping that Hasbro would include in their Black Series of 6″ toys and I’m glad to have finally got my hands on him.

SCULPTING

I’m no Star Wars expert when it comes to Imperial armour and the tiny nuances when comparing what’s on the screen to toys and figures. But to me, this looks like a pretty good effort from Hasbro and looks quite good when compared to say the 3.65 AT-At Driver with the removable helmet. (That figure’s helmet looks horrible FYI) I think the proportions look about right and there’s plenty of nice details all over the figure. Plenty of creases on the clothes and nice smooth surfaces for the armour.

The Helmet itself is definitely the standout and that life support chest piece is a close second. (Seeing these are the main components of the AT-AT Driver armour in my opinion, I’m glad they’ve nailed them.) The only thing I don’t like is where the chest armour meets the hips as it cinches in and makes the AT-AT Driver look like he’s got some voluptuous proportions and once you notice it, it can’t be unseen, that’s for sure.

PAINT

There’s not too much paint on the AT-AT Driver. It’s mainly used for little details like the life support system on the chest or on the helmet. Overall I’d say it’s generally nice and neat, however, there are some stray spots on other parts of the figure. I really think the paint does a nice job of bringing out the details on that chest piece.  I’d say the paint application is up to Hasbro’s usual standard (say when compared with the Marvel Legends I have for example.)

ARTICULATION

The AT-AT Driver has the following articulation: Ball-joint/swivel head, hinge/swivel shoulders, hinge/swivel elbows, hinge/swivel wrists, ball-joint waist, hinge/swivel hips, swivel thighs, double-jointed knees and hinge/swivel ankles which can pivot as well.

All in all, it’s a good amount of articulation and one of the highlights of the Black Series from the beginning. You can get the AT-AT Driver into plenty of poses without too much trouble, even if the hoses that are attached to the helmet and chest armour make the head a bit hard to move around too much and the strap/loop things on his legs affect the articulation there too.

I enjoyed playing with him while taking the photos this is a pretty fun figure to play with and to pose.

ACCESSORIES

The AT-AT Driver comes with the ever present E-11 Blaster Pistol that almost every Imperial trooper and pilot tends to come with. Just like the smaller 3.65 Inch figures, the blaster is a bit warped right out of the package. Besides this common issue, it looks good and fits into the AT-AT Driver gun holding hand with little-to-no difficulty and is a snug fit.

Child Birthing Hips You Say?!?!?

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

None I can think of, besides the minor nitpicks mentioned above.

PRICE

I paid $19.99 USD for the figure from BBTS and I’m quite happy with that. I’m assuming that’s around the normal retail price and for the quality of the figure not too cheap, but not too expensive either. I don’t tend to buy many figures in person these days after all when the Internet is so convenient.

OVERALL

I’m not going to be buying every figure released in the Black Series, I’m going to be very selective with what characters I buy, so my collection at the moment is very small (just the AT-AT Driver right now). Much like my Marvel Legends purchases, it will just be my favorite characters. With that said, I’m very impressed with this figure, it’s a very strong effort from Hasbro and the price point is great too. I’m assuming you’d have to be an Imperial Forces completist to pick this guy up, but he does look quite nice next to the Snowtrooper. I’m very happy with him and if you end up buying one for yourself, I’d like to think you’d be too.

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REVIEW – HOT TOYS TERMINATOR ENDOSKELETON 1/4 SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 4, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , .

In The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger is an unstoppable cyborg killing machine sent back in time from the year 2029 by the artificial intelligence network, Skynet to terminate Sarah Connor, the woman who will give birth to the future’s Resistance movement leader, John Connor.
The original Terminator movie was released in 1984 and is considered one of the best sci-fi films ever made. It featured terrific action sequences, a well-written story, and incredible special effects for its time.

Name: T-800 Endoskeleton
Line: Quarter Scale Series
Product Code: QS002
Manufacturer: Hot Toys
Released: 2013
Price: Then: $399.99 USD, Now: $570 – $730 USD
Scale: 1/4
Accessories: Plasma Rifle as well as a display stand

You’d think being a Terminator fan I would have bought this figure the day it was released, well I didn’t, main reason being, where was I going to put this beast? I had seen my friend’s Enterbay Battle Damaged T2 T-800, and was obviously impressed with the sheer size and amount of detail on the figure. (Not really impressed by Enterbay’s choice of materials or their ‘hit and miss’ factory paint application.)

So at this point the thought of potentially owning the Hot Toys 1/4 scale Terminator Endoskeleton was in the back of my mind, I did come very close to picking it up the year before when I was in Japan as the price was still very good and brand new in box, I couldn’t complain. But alas, I had no space in my suitcase by this point and nowhere to put it.

However, the year after I was better prepared for such a potential purchase. Two suitcases devoted to mainly toy purchases, you can’t go wrong! ( I ended up sandwiching The Endoskeleton box with Hot Toys Godfather’s box in the one suitcase, another great deal on that one too!)

So finally I had this figure in my collection, but I still have no way to display it properly, so it just sits in its box for now. This review was the first time I was able to take the figure out and have a good and proper look at it and a good play around. Which probably worked out better that way as it makes it almost like I bought it brand new and hadn’t opened it before. Still, that sense of wonderment and excitement you get from your first couple of Hot Toys’ figures was definitely there as I removed this figure from the box, it’s easily one of Hot Toys best figures they’ve released so far!

LIST OF PARTS

Inside the box you get the following items:

One 1/4 T-800 Endoskeleton figure
One Plasma Rifle
One display stand

SCULPTING

One of the best aspects of 1/4 Scale figures is the amount of extra detail that is applied to each figure, being much larger in size you can really take in the subtle skin texture on a figure, for example. But, this review is about the Terminator Endoskeleton. The extra detail you get to appreciate here is all the tubing, pistons and other mechanical like details of the Endoskeleton design in general, and boy is it detailed!

This is easily one of the best versions of the Endoskeleton in any scale and unlike Sideshow’s statues, for example, they haven’t given it funny looking teeth.

This figure just oozes awesomeness! The only very minor nitpick is that on the neck, there’s a very obvious mold line in the middle at the front. But, besides that, the sculpting is great!

PAINT

I’m going to assume the Endoskeleton parts have all be chromed or vacuum metalized, however, this isn’t some shiny ‘fresh off the production line’ T-800, this one has been out in the battlefield for a bit and has a fair amount of wear on the surface of that chrome. The overall effect is quite nice. But, it’s that shininess that sets the figure apart from other Hot Toys releases of Endoskeletons and makes it really stand out.

ARTICULATION

I don’t know if I even want to try and work out just how much articulation this figure has! But there sure is a decent amount and a lot of it well thought out and also well hidden, that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb either. Being a mechanical looking skeleton, it’s quite easy to hide some joints and other joints, obviously being just part of the design.

Things like the neck and hips are restricted a bit by the pistons and hoses, but overall he’s very poseable. You can at least get him in all the Terminator type poses you would want, and without the aid of the display stand as seen in the photos, but, I wouldn’t recommend leaving him displayed without the stand, however! The last thing you want is this expensive big figure taking a tumble!

OUTFIT

Well, it’s an Endoskeleton, so there’s no outfit to speak of.

ACCESSORIES

You get one Plasma Rifle and that’s about it. If you bought the Special Edition version of this figure, then you got two Plasma Rifles, which would be pretty sweet. But, one is enough for me.

As expected, the usual focus on detail and craftsmanship is ever present here. I was impressed back in the day with the 1/6 scale version of the Plasma Rifle that came with the original 1/6 scale Endoskeleton, But the larger scale means more detail and the ability to appreciate that detail more so as the scale is increased.

I can’t fault the rifle, with the exception of perhaps the colour as movie stills and some props lead me to believe the rifle is silver and black, but I actually prefer the all black/grey/gun metal grey colour, I think it makes the rifle look that much nicer in hand.

The other accessory is the display stand, I really don’t like the look of it, I think it looks quite boring and lame actually, I would have preferred some kind of simple black cover as an option and be able to swap out between the two. But, the paint and sculpting on the base aren’t up to the high standards of the Endoskeleton itself and that’s a little disappointing.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

The only real problem I can think of is, that I reckon the arm and/or ankle joints might loosen up over time, especially the arm or arms holding the Plasma Rifle, even if it isn’t that heavy, those arms look like they would have trouble over time. Other than that, finding space for the damn thing!

I’m not devoting a whole shelf in my cabinet just for the terminator, but if I were to get one of those large acrylic boxes, I’d have found my solution to the problem, so alas, the Endoskeleton stays in its box for now.

PRICE

I was lucky enough to pay around $350 AUD for this guy back in 2014 thanks to the many second-hand toy stores in Tokyo. The plus side to it being second hand is you are encouraged to inspect the item before you pay, so if there are any problems, hopefully, you can spot them!

I was happy with the price and it was my big splurge on that trip as I hadn’t really bought anything notable up to that point of my holiday.

OVERALL

If you are in the market for some 1/4 scale goodness, then you can’t go by this amazing figure from Hot Toys, even though I don’t buy many 1/4 scale figures (This being my only purchase in the scale so far) I needed this guy in my collection at some point, as I am a big Terminator fan and besides 1/1 scale stuff, it doesn’t get and bigger or better then this!

If you can find one for a decent price these days, all the better as the prices only seems to go up for all 1/4 figures, be it Hot Toys or Enterbay. If you are a Terminator fan and have the space and the budget I’m sure you already have this, if you don’t I wouldn’t sit on your hands too much longer as it lives up to the hype. It may have one or two minor nitpicks, however it is still truly an extraordinary figure to have and own!

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REVIEW – HASBRO TITANS RETURN TRIGGERHAPPY

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 3, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , , .

Triggerhappy is wild and unpredictable, apparently too busy laughing uncontrollably to look where he’s shooting and loves the sound of his guns blasting away. He transforms into a Cybertronian Starfighter and is partnered with Titan Master Blowpipe.

Name: Triggerhappy
Line: Transformers Titans Return
Manufacturer: Hasbro
Released: 2016
Price: 24.99 AUD
Scale: Roughly 14.5 cm in height
Accessories: Two Blaster Weapons, Blowpipe mini figure, Tech Spec card

I didn’t really want to get sucked into buying anything from Hasbro’s Titans Return line initially. Even after the reveal of  Skullcruncher, I thought the design looked amazing but, I didn’t want to commit if they were just going to drop the ball like Combiner Wars did.

Unfortunately for me, I came across Triggerhappy in Big W out at Rouse Hill last month and after staring at the toy in package for about 30 seconds I knew I was picking it up then and there.

Now I’ve managed to pick up some of Takara’s offerings (Skullcruncher, High Brow etc.) you can pretty much say I’m all in. If Triggerhappy didn’t do it, Trypticon, certainly would have.

SCULPTING

Hasbro have done a great job here, Triggerhappy is absolutely covered in detail! Plenty of raised sections, paneling etc to make him look quite good, in both robot and plane mode. I really like the head design too, finally, a Triggerhappy toy has a cartoon-accurate face!

PAINT

There’s not too much paint on Triggerhappy, it’s mainly just used for small details. I’m fine with that, they just help to break up the solid blocks of dark blue and grey. What paint we do have, is nice and neat overall.

ARTICULATION

Triggerhappy has a lot of ball joints, swivel joints and hinge joints, which makes him really fun to play around with. Most importantly the shoulders and hips are ball joints, this really helps you achieve some great poses. If I had one complaint, it’s that his feet don’t pivot so it makes it hard to stand him up properly, the further apart his legs get.

ACCESSORIES

Triggerhappy comes with two guns and the Titan Master mini figure, that turns into his head. The guns are pretty cool with plenty of detail, they can even be combined together to make a larger gun the mini figure can sit in.

The Titan Master mini figure is all kinds of cool! He’s got articulated head, arms, and legs, the only thing I don’t like about the Hasbro version is that Hasbro doesn’t tend to paint the faces of them, whereas Takara does!

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

I can’t really see anything to watch out for, except you could misplace the mini figure if you aren’t careful!

PRICE

I paid about 24.99 AUD for Triggerhappy. I normally don’t purchase toys from stores locally, but I’ll make the exception if I want to try and get one with a good paint job. For the price, I’m quite happy with what you get in the blister card.

OVERALL

Triggerhappy is a great addition to the Titan Returns Toy line. He’s what you would expect when you take an older toy or character design and update it, it’s good to see this happening not only in just the masterpiece line anymore, as I really think Hasbro are doing an excellent job with Titans Return so far! It will be interesting to see if Takara plans to release their own version and how much it will differ from Hasbro’s.

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REVIEW – HOT TOYS SCARLET WITCH (AGE OF ULTRON) 1/6 SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 2, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

Marvel Studios smash hit Avengers: Age Of Ultron was the next big adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, by not only introducing us to Ultron but also bringing us a number of new Avengers too. Scarlet Witch being one of them. Even if she initially wanted to destroy the Avengers, she and her brother Quicksilver soon realised the error of their ways after Ultron revealed his master plan to them and they joined with the Avengers to help in defeating him.   

Name: Scarlett Witch
Line: Movie Masterpiece Series
Product Code: MMS 301
Manufacturer: Hot Toys
Released: 2016
Price: $199 – $266 USD MISB
Scale: 1/6
Accessories: Various hands and items as well as a display stand

I’ve been pretty sparse with my Hot Toys reviews, but with good reason, firstly, I don’t buy every figure anymore or as many figures as I used to and secondly, I was waiting for my pre-orders to come in and ship them all together to save on shipping costs and that day finally came recently, with a bundle of Hot Toys making their way to me in good time from the always excellent folks at Animarket.

Tonight I’m reviewing Scarlet Witch (with Quicksilver to follow very, very soon) but truth be told this isn’t my figure it’s actually my brothers, he’s more of a Scarlet Witch fan than me and when you live in the same house it makes it a lot easier to fill out collections when you aren’t buying every single figure yourself.

With that said, the more I worked with her during the photo shoot the more I liked the figure, so I might pick up the Civil War version for myself, seeing I know my brother isn’t getting that one. But we’ll see what happens as I keep my pre-orders a lot looser and a lot more commitment free then in the past, as the options online are quite plentiful if I happen to change my mind.

Now onto the review of Hot Toys Age of Ultron Scarlet Witch!

LIST OF PARTS

Inside the box you get the following items:

One Scarlet Witch figure

Eight interchangeable hands

Two necklaces

Two Scarlet Witch power flame effects

One Ultron Heart

One display stand

SCULPTING

One of the main focus points on any Hot Toys figure is going to be the head sculpt, with every new figure announcement there is always heated discussion among fans in forums and Facebook groups about how good or how bad the likeness is to the actor or actress.

Scarlet Witch was no different. However, most sane collectors agreed that the prototype was close and just needed some slight tweaks to make it a home run.

Thankfully, Hot Toys have done just that, in my opinion. It was already a strong likeness to Elizabeth Olsen, (as Scarlet Witch) but now I feel it’s been refined just enough to make it close to perfect, the only thing they can do to make it better, is to refine the paint applications with each continued release.

(Like for the next two upcoming Scarlet Witch releases which use the same head, much like they are now doing for Hawkeye and Captain America’s Steve Roger’s Head.)

Which I’ve got to say, doesn’t bother me one bit, make an excellent head sculpt to begin with, there is no reason (or point) to constantly remake it when you don’t have to, that’s just smart business and a welcome change as far as I am concerned.

PAINT

I don’t think there’s anything new I can really say here as far as paint applications go. Hot Toys continually put out the best mass produced painted figures in the market, no one can come close to surpassing them yet, they are all still struggling to keep up and it’s not just the heads, it’s the whole package! A lot of companies don’t bother to paint things like hands or bodies properly, not Hot Toys, it’s things like this that make them the best.

The care and attention to detail are second to none. Scarlet Witch is another shining example of this. The paint application on the face is extremely realistic and brings an unparalleled level of realism to the figure and excellent job by JC Hong and his team. If I had one nit pick, it would be that on the translucent hands, the flesh tones look a little flat when compared to the standard hands, otherwise, it’s what you would normally expect from Hot Toys.

ARTICULATION

Scarlet Witch uses what I guess we can call by now the standard Hot Toys female TrueType body, which appeared around the release of Jill Valentine, Baby Doll and Resident Evil Alice figures. Which we haven’t seen a release of it by itself yet, either, but we can only hope and pray for that!

It’s a great base body and has a few different leg, arm and bust variants to make it quite versatile. This particular version has the following articulation:

Ball jointed neck, ball jointed chest, ball jointed shoulders, double jointed elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed waist, ball jointed hips, double jointed knees and ball jointed ankles.

You can get Scarlet Witch into a good number of poses and she’s not hampered too much by her clothes, the only part where she struggles are her boots, the ankles are restricted a bit by the plastic, if the boots were a little softer, I think there would be no issues. So wider stances are a bit of a no-go for her. Otherwise, it’s all good, nice and tight joints, she is a pleasure to pose.

OUTFIT

Yet another category Hot Toys by default excels in.  They have mass produced 1/6 clothes down to a fine art. Now there are other companies that are catching up. (in my opinion, Blitzway are the closest) But Hot Toys still consistently nail it with each new release and keep pushing that envelope more and more.

I’m very impressed with Scarlet Witch’s Jacket and multilayered dress the tailoring is great and they don’t look oversized at all, plus the darkened effects on the end of the jacket look fantastic.

The stockings or leg warmers are a bit annoying as they don’t really have a way to stay up, so from time to time as I changed poses I did have to pull them up and adjust them, but it was never a big deal, once you pose her up, they aren’t going anywhere.

ACCESSORIES

You aren’t getting a lot of accessories with Scarlet Witch. A few extra hands, some “power effects” attachments and “Ultron’s heart”. Compared to other releases it’s not much, but then there’s only so many things they could have given us, maybe a few more magic effects in different sizes?

(BTW the magic effects were a little tricky at first to figure out which way they went on, seeing the instructions are pretty useless, but once figured out, you’ll never get confused by them again!)

Ultron’s heart is a nice inclusion, but not really needed and will be left in the box by me.

I feel the choice of hands is great, there is enough variety to get a lot of great poses from Scarlet Witch and I did have a lot of fun trying different combinations out and playing around trying to get the best poses out of her.

You also get what I’m calling the “standard Marvel display stand” which at first I didn’t think I’d like, but now I have a group of Avengers assembled I have actually come to like the stand a lot more now.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

There aren’t really too many things to look out for with this figure, handle her carefully and read the instructions are two good pointers. Also, take care changing the hands out, I haven’t had a problem with the female figures wrist joints yet, unlike some of the males ones, but it never hurts to heat up the hands a little to make them a touch softer, if you want to be extra careful!

PRICE

I paid $199 USD from Animarket, which worked out to be not too bad seeing after the deposit upon placement of the order when you finally have to pay the remaining amount it sure makes it a lot less painful on the bank account. Especially when you can have your orders shipped in one big box together (with plenty of bubble wrap and padding too btw) works out to be a pretty good deal, I have to say.

Also, because I refuse to support the local sellers as they do not know how to pack an order properly, let alone a simple thing called “business ethics”. Unfortunately, most Australian sellers of Hot Toys figures don’t know or have these two simple things, a shame really, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

OVERALL

I was indifferent about Scarlet Witch at first, after having a play around and posing her up for this review she really started to grow on me a lot. Even though this isn’t my figure, it has really brought me around to potentially buying a Scarlet Witch for myself. But if you only want one in your collection I would strongly suggest this one as she looks great with Quicksilver, but it really comes down to what costume you prefer the most as to which Scarlet Witch figure you should buy. She definitely looks great on a shelf with her fellow Age of Ultron Avengers!

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REVIEW – HOT TOYS QUICKSILVER (AGE OF ULTRON) 1/6 SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE

Posted by Mighty Mike on April 1, 2020
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , , .

Marvel Studios smash hit Avengers: Age Of Ultron was the next big adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, by not only introducing us to Ultron but bringing us a number of new Avengers too. Quicksilver being one of them. Even if he initially wanted to destroy the Avengers, he and his sister Scarlet Witch soon realised the error of their ways after Ultron revealed his master plan to them, and they joined with the Avengers to help in defeating him.   

Name: Quicksilver
Line: Movie Masterpiece Series
Product Code: MMS 302
Manufacturer: Hot Toys
Released: 2016
Price: $185 – $260 USD MISB
Scale: 1/6
Accessories: Various hands as well as a display stand

Having just reviewed Scarlet Witch, how could I not review Quicksilver too? He was my favorite character in Age Of Ultron, even if he didn’t make it to the end credits. His banter with Hawkeye was quite amusing, I do have to say.

A lot of Hot Toys fans didn’t have high hopes of Quicksilver being made, I myself hoped they would make him, but the only thing that’s for sure about Hot Toys, is nothing’s for sure (to paraphrase Sting) and after Hot Toys posted a picture on their Facebook page of the “complete Age Of Ultron set of figures” and Quicksilver wasn’t there a lot of people weren’t happy, thankfully after a short time, they updated that picture to include Quicksilver and all was right in the world.

Finally, I have Quicksilver in my hands and even although I’m heading over to Japan soon, I wanted to at least get a few more reviews out before I left and I just felt inspired to do so.

Now onto the review of Hot Toys Age of Ultron Quicksilver!

LIST OF PARTS

Inside the box you get the following items:

One Quicksilver figure

Eight interchangeable hands

One display stand

SCULPTING

After the initial pre-order announcement for quicksilver came up, much like Scarlet Witch’s head sculpt being a close match to Elizabeth Olsen, the head sculpt was a very close likeness to Aaron Taylor-Johnson.  Even the test shot photos shared by Hot Toys master painter JC Hong showed an excellent portrait and paint application.

Of course, there were still a few nay-sayers, who for whatever reason just couldn’t see the likeness in the sculpt. Thankfully these people were ignored and what we have is pretty close, if not even more so improved from the prototype.

I’m very happy with what I have in hand and hopefully, my photos have done the head sculpt justice too, it’s an excellent representation of Quicksilver from AOU, in fact; all of the previously released characters from the Avengers so far have been immensely improved from their previous versions.

Needless to say, I’m happy with the head sculpt and you should be too.

PAINT

Once again another great effort here, the paint really helps bring the figure to life and makes that sweet head sculpt even better. Even the paint on the hands is up to the expected standard we’ve come to know and love, he may be lacking accessories, be he’s not lacking craftsmanship and quality.

ARTICULATION

Quicksilver has a little bit of a Frankenstein’s Monsters body in a lot of ways. Hot Toys have built up a vast catalog of arms, legs and torsos with each new figure they needed to make new parts for. Which means now they have a lot of parts to pick and choose from when putting together a body for a figure.

His arms are similar to the Advanced Truetype put out years ago, his torso similar to Indiana Jones or Hawkeye (with the shorter neck that torso has) and his shins are from the Tony Stark body they developed. So it truly is a bit of mix and match, but it works quite well I have to say.

Quicksilver has the following articulation: Ball jointed neck, Ball jointed torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, double jointed elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, ball jointed waist, swivel/hinge hips, double jointed knees and ball jointed ankles.

And it’s the ankles where he tends to fall down – literally. I had heard from other reviewers that Quicksilver had really loose ankles so I was curious to find out if I had the same issue.

Unfortunately, I did, but the fault lies in design. For whatever reason Quicksilver has the same long foot pegs that came with the T-800 (MMS/DX) which is fine if you have long boots to help hold the legs, not if you have nothing but the balance of the figure to hold you up and it didn’t help the ball joint was loose in the shoe too.

I changed out shin and ankle joints, matching the height but reducing the ball joint length, the ball joint was still a little loose in the shoe, but not as bad as he was at first. Still, I shouldn’t have to do that straight out of the box and I can’t help but wonder what Hot Toys green horns would do in that situation.

OUTFIT

Here’s another category that should be an obvious win, but once again its a bit of a let down. Quicksilver’s outfit maybe basic, but it still is executed quite well, I love the look and feel of the running pants, they have even used a similar material that you would find normal running pants made of. (Hopefully, it does attract too much lint!)

However, the shirt, although looks great, I find it a touch too thick and it’s difficult to move Quicksilver’s arms and torso. Not to mention it can cause the hands to pop off too. But, that is remedied once you change hands a few times and the hole for the wrist peg stretches a bit on each hand.

ACCESSORIES

You get some different hands and that’s it. But, they are all pretty appropriate, I guess. You get relaxed hands, fist hands, grabbing hands and running hands, two pairs of each, left and right. Considering all Quicksilver did was run and punch, you couldn’t expect much more than that. They are all sculpted and painted to the usual high standard we come to expect from Hot Toys.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

There is really not too much to look out for, besides loose ankles and the always-present fear of snapping a wrist peg, I find these larger male wrist pegs more susceptible to snapping than any of their older stuff, so of course, they then use it for everything!

Always be careful with Hot Toys wrist pegs, it takes 5 seconds to heat them up for an easy swap out, especially when it looks like if you broke one of Quicksilver’s ones you’d have to take off his shirt to change it out. Yeah, no thanks.

PRICE

I paid $185 USD from Animarket, great price and as per usual great customer service. Best to shop around and get as good of a price as you can seeing Quicksilver isn’t one of the main Avengers or characters from AOU.

OVERALL

I was quite excited when Hot Toys finally announced Quicksilver from Age Of Ultron and now I have him in hand, I’m still quite pleased with the finished product. He has a few flaws, but I’m still happy to have him in the fold. Really up to you if you need him in your collection or not. Personally, I did, hence why I bought him, plus he adds a little more depth and flare to my Avengers line up, even if he just looks like a guy out for a jog.

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REVIEW – MEDICOM GIZMO VCD (Prop Size)

Posted by Mighty Mike on March 28, 2011
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , , .

Gizmo is the cute and adorable Mogwai creature from both Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch films. Unlike the other Mogwai’s spawned from Gizmo when he touches water, Gizmo is very kind in nature; whereas all other Mogwai’s tend to be mischievous or vicious.

Name: Gizmo
Line: Vinyl Collectible Dolls
Manufacturer: Medicom Toy
Released: 2011
Price: Then: $220. Now: $450 MISB Minimum.
Scale: 1:1
Accessories: None

I found out about this particular Gizmo figure a while ago and after learning about how cool it looked I wanted to get one. Checking out eBay they were quite expensive and I could not justify the heavy price tag of at least $450 for this particular figure. So I decided to wait until I went back to Japan and hopefully buy one from the source. As luck would have it I managed to find one at Mandarake Shibuya for a great price and unopened too. Needless to say it was an instant buy for me. I’ve finally got around to reviewing Gizmo after having him in my collection for a few years now.

SCULPTING
Even though Gizmo is covered in a fur body suit, parts like the face, ears, hands and feet are sculpted. The sculpting is quite detailed and looks very faithful to the source material. He definitely looks cute and cuddly. The fur body suit is great too; the fur looks and feels really nice and not cheap at all, which you would think it would, considering this is meant to a high-end recreation of how Gizmo looks in the movie. I feel the look of Gizmo is based more on the second movie then the first.


PAINT
What paint we have, mainly on the sculpted parts, is excellent. It looks really good and mimics the fleshly parts of Gizmo not covered in fur, really well. I can’t fault it at all, it’s top-notch.

ARTICULATION
Gizmo does feature a bit of articulation, but by no means is he super poseable. Gizmo has a ball jointed head, swivel arms, swivel wrists, swivel crotch and swivel feet. The head and arm articulation is great and you can achieve a good number of poses suitable for Gizmo. The leg articulation is pretty pointless and really just helps make Gizmo not feel like a statue, from the waist down. It’s nice it’s there, but it’s not necessary. Gizmo also features moveable eyes as well, a small lever hidden at the back of the head when moved either left or right, move the eyes either left or right, it’s a pretty cool feature, even if a little limited, but adds a lot to Gizmo, in my opinion.

ACCESSORIES
This particular version of Gizmo doesn’t come with anything, unlike newer releases like the Santa version (2012) or the 3D Glasses version (2013). But that’s ok, because I like Gizmo just the way he is – without gimmicks, he doesn’t need.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS
Nothing I can really think of. However, just me careful with the fur, perhaps it might deteriorate if it’s not looked after properly.

PRICE
I paid around the original retail price of 25,000 Yen, I was lucky enough to find one on my second trip to Japan and my wife went halves with me, because she loves Gizmo too. It’s going to be very hard to find one at that price anymore as they have skyrocketed quite a bit and rightfully so. If you can get one below $400 you are doing all right.

OVERALL
I really feel this is the most perfect version of Gizmo any company is going to make as it looks incredibly close to the source material and looks very impressive due to its 1:1 scale size. Nothing else out there comes close to being this good! If you can find one at a decent price, I highly recommend picking it up, even more so if you are a big Gremlins fan! Medicom definitely have the market cornered when it comes to the best Gremlins figure, no one else comes close to making anything this good.

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REVIEW – KONATSU NEGORA

Posted by Mighty Mike on March 4, 2011
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , .

Negora is a small Godzilla like feline originating from Japanese company KONATSU and also produced by American company MAX TOY CO.

Name: Negora
Line: N/A
Manufacturer: Konatsu/Max Toy Co.
Released: 2010
Price: 3,150 YEN – MIB
Scale: 4 – 5 inches height
Accessories:  N/A – Max Toy Co version comes with a fish.

In a recent trip to Japan, mostly for family business, I will always make time for toy hunting, Being in Japan how can you not resist the urge? I’ve found a fair number of good places to visit, mainly through toy guides found on the internet or the very helpful Tokyo Underground by Super 7.

It was during one of these outings – to Sibuya  and the Mandrake store there, while browsing through the many soft vinyl figures on display, (mainly looking for Ryusei Ninjas) that I came across this Negora. I’ve only just recently gotten into Japanese soft vinyl figures or Sofubi, so I had a little bit of an idea what there is available from companies like RealxHead etc, there’s some pretty cool stuff out there, if you can find it!

I liked the design and being a cat person I decided to pick this one up (Btw I did end up buying a black Ryusei Ninja for 1,200 YEN too)

SCULPTING

The figure is very nicely sculpted, I would have to say in an anime style, there is some nice detailing on the stomach and around the face as well as other small sections on the figure, It’s in a standing pose with it’s arms outstretched and mouth slightly open.

I quite like this sculpt, its very cute and the two tails and Godzilla like scales or “ruffles” as I call them along the back are very cool! The tails do a great job of keeping Negora upright.

PAINT 

Negora is cast in a white base colour with greys and blacks added to most of the body to mimic fur patterns, according to the back of the box, translated by my always helpful wife, that the patterns are created by the fish that Negora eats.

There is some yellow for the eyes, red mouth, striking blue and red for the scales on the back, as well as pink for the nose, ears and paws. All the paint is expertly applied and there is no slop at all.

ARTICULATION

there is only one joint here and that’s a cut waist which swivels 360 degrees it adds a little play value and doesn’t look  too out of place, I don’t find it too distracting.

ACCESSORIES

Nothing. It would be nice to have a fish for Negora, But this isn’t a Max Toy Co version.  

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

Not really anything I can think of, unless you somehow scratch the paint, this is one rock solid toy.  

PRICE

3,150 YEN was fine by me, it’s roughly 35-45 AUD and no shipping costs because I bought it back in my suitcase – always a good thing 


OVERALL

I really like Negora, It’s a fun little toy which not only looks cute, but won’t take up too much space either, the hard part can be getting a variation that you like, I missed out on a X-Ray version from Max Toy Co. But still really like this one. If you are like me and getting into soft vinyl figures, at least one Negora should be in your collection!

REVIEW – HOT TOYS THE TERMINATOR T-800 (TECH NOIR VERSION)- 1/6 SCALE COLLECTIBLE FIGURE

Posted by Mighty Mike on March 2, 2011
Posted in: Collectible. Tagged: , , .

In The Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger is an unstoppable cyborg killing machine sent back in time from the year 2029 by the artificial intelligence network, Skynet to terminate Sarah Connor, the woman who will give birth to the future’s Resistance movement leader, John Connor

The original terminator movie was released in 1984 and is considered one of the best sci-fi films ever made, It featured terrific action sequences, a well written story and incredible special effects for it’s time.

Name: T-800
Line: Movie Masterpiece Series
Product Code: MMS 136
Manufacturer: Hot Toys
Released: 2010
Price: $180 to $260 MIB
Scale: 1:6
Accessories: Figure base with T-800 nameplate and the movie logo


LIST OF PARTS
Inside the box you get the following items:

One T-800 figure
One interchangeable Alternate battle damaged head
Seven pieces of interchangeable palms including:
One pair of relaxed palms
One pair of gloved fists
One pair for holding gun
One damaged right arm
One dark grey jacket with metal chain on left shoulder
One black patterned under shirt
One pair of khaki pants
One pair of black boots with chain on left side
One long slide pistol
One machine gun
One long shotgun
One medical pincer
One medical knife
Four pairs of medical scissors
One figure base with T-800 nameplate and the movie logo
One set of instructions


SCULPTING

The head sculpt, for me, is always the focal point on any figure.  With this figure you get two, one undamaged version and a wounded, burnt, blood covered version. Both head sculpts are instantly recognizable as Arnold Schwarzenegger, I tend to like the un-damaged version the best out of the two. It has that determined, angry look which suits it quite well. Whereas the wounded/burnt version looks great, with its missing eye brows and closed up eye. The body is the same type that comes with the Terminator 2 T-800 with a slight improvement, namely being that the ends of the neck/chest section now extends over/up to the arms, making it look much more realistic in my eyes. The body features plenty of muscle detail and is a very good representation of Schwarzenegger’s body from the film. The gloves are also nicely done as are the boots. The only other sculpted items are the weapons which are excellent and appear to be scaled quite well with the figure.

PAINT

Time and time again Hot Toys’ paint applications are always done incredibly well and almost make the figures look alive. The main application of paint is on the face, on both heads there is no slop at all and the paint work is very neat; the eyes, lips, skin tone and hair line are all done exceptionally well. Also the gloves are painted and the work on the wounded extra arm and head is great too.


ARTICULATION

Articulation for the T-800 is as follows: double ball jointed neck, swivel/hinged shoulders, hinged arms (up to 90 degrees motion) swivel/hinged wrist, chest pivot, swivel waist, swivel/hinged thighs, double joined knees, and double ball jointed ankles. This is similar to  Royce’s (Wolverine)  muscle body, if not exactly the same. You can achieve pretty much any pose the human body can and you can get it to “hang” in a very realistic way. However some poses are restricted by the body for example the neck/chest region does lack poseability and that the elbows only move up to 90 degrees motion does affect some poses. I really like the direction Hot Toys are taking this particular body type in; it has become a very good balance of possibility and aesthetic appearance, there will be small trade offs here and there but overall the articulation is great.

 
ACCESSORIES

The T-800’s Outfit consists of a number of gloved hands, grey punk jacket, khaki cargo/climbing pants, black tank top undershirt and boots. As with all Hot Toys figures the clothing is tailored exceptionally and fits well on the T-800. The grey punk jacket is the stand out for me with black leather sections with studs and the chain on the left shoulder making it very detailed. You might find a stray thread, but it’s quite rare. The boots and gloves/hands are sculpted, however they still look great; I feel the boots could be slightly smaller, but they do have to support the large bulky frame of the Terminator’s muscled body. The gloved hands look great with studs sculpted on the gloves among other details, I’ve found the end of the gloves where the glove meets the wrist peg does restrict it partly, still, there is a good range of motion and many nice poses can still be achieved. The weapons the T-800 comes with are: Long Slide Pistol, Shotgun and Uzi 9mm. All these weapons are used by the Terminator in the first part of the film and all look great, once again this are well made and up to the standard you expect from Hot Toys, with removable ammo clips moving parts etc.


POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

One potential problem can be damage to the neck of the T-800 muscle body; make sure you carefully turn and pose the head/neck according to the included instructions, as you can tear the softer rubber/pvc material which makes up the chest and neck of the body. I haven’t heard any stories of damage to this area, but I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way! Besides the possibility of breaking the wrist pegs  there are some parts that can be a little brittle or delicate, such as the chain attached to the jacket or the medical scissors, but otherwise they are minimal as long as you handle the figure with care after all you’ve paid a fair amount of hard earned money for these high end figures and of course ALWAYS read the instructions that come with the figure first before anything else.


PRICE

I paid $180 AUD for the T-800 and that’s right to my front door. Of course shipping cost is always something to take into account as it does tend to affect the overall price you pay. But, there are always bargains to be had on eBay, I try to always shop around and find the best price. With all Hot Toys figures, its best to try and purchase them around the time of release, as the price for most figures tends to sky rocket pretty quickly!


OVERALL

I’m not going to lie, this version of the Terminator, is without a doubt my favorite, so that makes this review ever so slightly biased. However something tells me Hot Toys have to be a fan of the Terminator too, after all their first movie masterpiece figures were from the same Terminator movie! Finally, having a quality Terminator figure, from the original movie, is a dream come true as far as I’m concerned. I’ve studied enough screen shots from the movie to be able to tell that this figure is a very faithful to the source material. I would really like to see a second Terminator figure and at least a new version of Kyle Reese. Only time will tell if we get to see these figures made If you are a fan of the original Terminator movie or the Terminator in general, I highly recommend this figure, it would make an excellent addition to any Terminator fan’s collection.