Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Schwag Brag and the Deathly Spending


What's that I hear?  It's time for another Schwag Brag? 

Oh wait no, it was just Polkaroo.  That thing freaks me out, man.

It's that time again (now that I've chased out Polkaroo).  Time to see what Alexx has been buying beyond the large posts about the other stuff he's been buying.  Buying buying buying.

The front-page pic is a Mega Man Amiibo, because there's nothing I like more than things that only have a possible use.  There was no way I was gona pass up Mega Man, though.  This is the only plastic representation of that wonderful neo-classic design they did for Smash Bros!  I love it, and so should you.  Now I'm just waiting for Bandai to make an articulated figure of this design.  I don't care if they've already made a Mega Man!  I want THIS one too!


Speaking of Smash Bros: You see this figure of Ash strictly because of said game.  I haven't played a single Pokémon game (though my wife and a few friends are fans) but I felt like this guy covered the "Pokémon Trainer" character from Smash Bros Brawl.  If you are considering this one at all, I'd give it a shot!  It's much more articulated than I expected, and is only brought down by the lack of a Pokéball.  He seriously needs one. 

Here's a few pics, since I doubt I'll do a whole post on him:





Aside from all the articulation, he's got a backpack (with a hole on top for Pikachu's foot, so he can rest on Ash's shoulder) and the Pikachu.  Once again: He coulda used a Pokéball, but I'm good with what he's got.  If you're trying for a little Smash Bros collection, then this is currently your best shot at a Trainer.

Now let's keep the Nintendo train rolling!


I found Diddy Kong, from the World of Nintendo line, and I really like him!  I'm not huge fan of Donkey Kong, but I've got a soft spot for the Country series; especially Diddy's Kong Quest.  He's in scale (I think?  Looks like it) with Donkey Kong, and moves well enough for what he is.  I'll probably cover him in detail later on. 


And speaking of something I'll cover in more detail: Samus Aran!  Also from the World of Nintendo line.  I won't say much, 'cause this one needs her own post. 

Moving on to something weird:


Disney has these little egg guys out now; in the same vein as Meteorbs (from the vintage MotU line) or any of the Japanese equivalents over the years.

You can probably tell what this turns in to.



That's right!  Overweight Buzz Lightyear.  They've got Nemo, Dory, and Woody out along with Buzz, but this was the only one that looked good as an egg.  I've got a thing for these egg-formers, for some reason.


His transformation also has the side-effect of allowing it to fold over some figures.  It looks normal, unless you turn it to the side.


Next is the current Imaginext blind bag series.  You can see these in detail over at Action Figure Barbecue.  Great series!  My favorites are these:


This space gorilla was bought for coolness and totally "Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys" factor.  However, best in show goes to this lady:


She's two witches in one!  A standard "old hag" type and the standard "young 'n beautiful" type.  Since there's a lot of stories about witches trying to find youth: Here's a story all in one toy!


In Power Ranger news: There's the rest of the movie figures.  I may go over them in their own post at some point, but they're mostly the same as the ones I covered, save for the White Ranger and the ladies.  Neat, but not great; they mostly cover looks more than poseability. 


On the opposite end, in cool-ass-toy land: Power Rangers started their own mix-and-match line, because the bandwagon is a'rollin' and Bandai ain't gona let it pass them by.  Some mix toylines are more "mixy" than others, but this one takes the word "mix" and breaks it down to atomic level.  He pops apart all OVER the place!  There's even little ball joints to attach parts to whatever area you want, just about.  You don't just mix it up and create your own characters - you chop these to pieces and make horrifying monsters, if you want!  I've only got the one, so far, but I'm looking forward to more, and I'd like to showcase them, at some point.


Speaking of mixing: In the world of Glyos we have this little exclusive guy.  He's called a "Striker Lock" and is a collaboration between Onell Design and RealxHead, a Japanese independent toy company.  If you're familiar with Japanese hollow vinyl figures, then you'll be familiar with this.  He doesn't have any Glyos joints, but you could find ways to mix 'em in if you're clever.


Last thing for mix-n-match: Groot, from Superhero Mashers!  I love these guys, but I'm trying to cut it back, 'cause I don't need to rebuy every superhero I like in twenty different styles and scales.  Speaking of which:


In Joe-sized superhero news: Sand colored Sandman.  These figures seem to be losing articulation (some of them, anyway) but staying the same price....so I'm not sure how this scale is going to keep going at this rate and price.  Somehow it's getting to be a few bucks difference between 6 inch and 3 3/4th inch, so it has me looking to 6 inch again...


Am I back into Marvel Legends again?  Feeling that way.  Thor was bought to finish the Odin build-a-figure, but I also like him quite a bit!  He's my first 6 inch Thor figure, so he fills a void and looks cool while doing it.  The loop on his belt can unsnap and you can slide his hammer on (for storage) and he comes with a wicked BFS in case he gets bored liquefying bones with his hammer. 


The other item I needed to finish off Odin was Chop Chop Master Onion, or "Iron Fist."  I'm not all that impressed with him and I know nothing about the character, so he's up for grabs, if you want him.  Nice set of hands on him, at least!  he could perform the YMCA dance like a pro.

The other reason I seem to be back into Marvel Legends again, is my weak point: Spider-Man stuff.  They released a Spider-Man series and it's pretty cool, so far.


I don't really NEED an Anti-Venom, but I freakin' love the look!  Plus, he can do this:


That was nearly his exact pose when I pulled him out of the package.  It's still funny, to me.


Yay, the females of the Spider-Man universe are getting attention!  This is May Parker: Peter's daughter in a future alternate timeline.  She takes over the mantle 'cause her dad passed on the 'ol Spider-Jeans (yeah I know, just let me spell it like that) and decided to wear....Ben Reilly's costume?  Eh, who cares - it's a cool design.  It's a good figure, though I wish she had some alternate hands.  She's stuck with web-shooting hands.  Also: Her joints are TIGHT.  Way too tight.  Takes a vice-like grip to move her ankles and elbows, and I'm afraid of breaking them.  Bleh.


Bought this one for more females and because the suit is awesome.  I mean, it's just a dark red Venom suit, I guess, but I've always liked that spider (and this is pretty much the second Spider-Woman's suit but in red, anyway, right?)

Did a little research and it turns out this is Ultimate Spider-Woman, and a PETER PARKER CLONE!  Ha!  We're still not safe from clones nowadays, eh?  At least she gets a cool costume.



Next up is my buddy, Spider-Man of 2099.  Perhaps many of you remember the 90's and it's 2099 series of heroes and villains.  If not...you didn't miss much.  Somehow, though, Spider-Man 2099 has resurfaced and is currently in use!  The most I know about him is the first comic that came out - I ran across it while my family and I were on vacation, freaked out because it said "Spider-Man" on it and his suit was cool, and my parents bought it for me.  Didn't get a single other issue.  The suit stuck with me, though!  Still love it.  This is finally - finally - a great figure and representation of him.

Now, an accidental result of all these figures is building the build-a-figure that goes with these:


...almost.  It's Hobgoblin, but...some version of him.  I didn't look up which, yet.  It's cool, though, and growing on me, so I may end up building the rest of him.  All I need is the standard Spider-Man and Daredevil.  I don't want Daredevil (so maybe I can pawn 'em off) and Spider-Man is very cool, but the paintwork on EVERY ONE I'VE SEEN is horrendous.  For one: There's a spot on his stomach that is never painted.  I've seen at least ten or more of them so far, and each one had the exact same spot missing paint.  Any time I've found one that is at least acceptable, there's a major spot on the eye of the head or the alternate head.  SO...nothing, yet.  Maybe there will be at least ONE with good paint, I dunno.  I also want to pick one up for a friend, so lightning will have to strike twice in the same place.

In the mean time, I've filled in Hobgoblin the cheap way:


All I have to do it print them out and i'll be set!


Finally, in Transformer news: Box Head!  Officially called "Motormaster", Box Head is the central component to Menasor; a beast made up of cars.  He'll be battling my Superion as soon as I find said car limbs.  I REALLY should showcase these guys, 'cause the Combiner Wars series is the most exciting TF stuff in a long while.




Then there's MEGATRON!  In all caps 'cause he's a big boy.  He matches the recent Jetfire in size, and comes in Armada flavor as well.  This one is straight-up classic style in shiny, SHINY silver with red highlights.  I like him, though his articulation is a little strange (he can only take certain poses and still look good).  On the other hand, I gotta hand it to the design team for getting him to work out the way he does.  Transformation is not usually a thing for me, beyond it having to be something I can transform without the directions (or i'll just never end up doing it).  Not only is Megatron easy to transform, but he's fun!  I love how everything fits together into a seamless tank.  And, AND...his treads are rubber and actually work when you push him!

He comes with a second gun (composed of a missile box and a machine gun that rest on the turret in tank mode) and his main cannon is, of course, the tank's main cannon.  I wish they had put it on a sliding track, though, because the way it's supposed to go is thin-side out.  That way it extends from his arm a bit.  I want the WIDE end out, though, and if you do, then it sits a little behind his hand (the way you see it in the picture).  I really don't like the look of the thin cannon, so I have it wide-end out.

Finally, he comes with stickers (both Decepticon and Autobot, since I guess he's an Autobot in the recent comics) and these swirly designs that were on the original vintage Megatron.  Only problem is that the swirly designs are printed on white paper, so you'd have these big white rectangles on his chest, breaking up the silver.  Bleh.

Overall, I like him!  I never had a Megatron this big before, though, so there's no Optimus to go against him, technically.  Tell ya the truth, though, I like the idea of a smaller Optimus against a massive Megatron.  Now they just need to repaint this in green with purple camouflage!  G2 FO' LIFE, YO.

Alright, that's it for tonight, folks!  I had one more thing that I had pictured for this Brag, but I ended up with more pictures than I thought, so I'll just turn it into a post.  G'night!

15 comments:

  1. Dang man! Lots of good stuff here!

    I imagine you wouldn't have a hard time pawning off the Daredevil figure. He seems to be pretty popular these days!

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    1. Yeah, I need to get on that Netflix Daredevil, at some point. Lotta good talk about that one. Hell, might even make me keep the Daredevil figure, if I find him.

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    2. Yeah, I haven't got to start it yet either. Maybe I'll start it tonight after Wednesday night service and my little one goes to bed.

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  2. Maaaan do I love the Combiner Wars stuff. I've said it before. But I DO love it. My Superion is complete but I so far only have Off Road and Drag Strip from the Stunticons. I haven't actually seen Motormaster or Blackjack in stores yet. And that Megatron...unf. I like my 2006 Classics Megatron OK, but I really like having a Megs that can be in a group of Decepticons in his alternate mode and look appropriate. And I do enjoy bright colors, but to my G1 eyes Megatron will always be silver, black, and red.

    Incidentally, Motormaster has a box head because his G1 toy's head was surrounded by the shape of his trailer, and that was interpreted as his entire head by the animation team. All subsequent Motormaster toys must have a box head in order to be correct.

    Also

    frats

    ...WAIT NO I FUCKED IT UP

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    1. It seems like my area is always a few steps behind. When I was looking for Superion limbs, they were no where to be found while everyone had completed pics of Superion (well, with Dragstrip, of course). Now that the new cars for Menesor are showing up, the stores are FULL of all the Superion planes from the first wave. So...it'll probably be awhile before those sell out and they put out new stuff. OR...the classic thing will happen where they put out the new stuff, it sells out in a blink, and then they put out another three or four stocks of the first wave until they sit on the shelves, collecting dust, and blocking any chance of a restock of future waves.

      Anyway: I like my bright colors as well (and Classics Megatron will always rock my socks) but there aren't many purely silver guys, so I like to see Megs in his silver and red duds when I can. Plus: That's my jam. The white and red or silver and red color scheme. Awesome stuff, always.

      Yeah, I was noticing Motormaster's box head thing in the TF wiki! Funny how that stuff works out. Now he'll always be Box Head; the poor guy. On the other hand: I'm disappointed that his vintage feet being made from the front of the truck hasn't become a staple for future Motormasters. I like the looks of his transformation.

      Also

      You had one job. ONE JOB. YOU GET NO LOVE.

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    2. Yeah, I miss the truck feet too. One thing I really do like about this modern Motormaster is that he's in scale both with the original Classics Prime and the current CW Prime (seeing as how they share parts). G1 Motormaster's bio talked about how he really wanted to have a head-on collision with Prime, but since the original Prime toy was a good three times the size of Motormaster, that never really seemed feasible. Now it is! Time to smash toys together!

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    3. I checked my watch and it looks like it's ALWAYS time to smash toys together. Except for maybe the Figuarts. Maybe.

      Now I want to pull out the Crash Dummies figures.

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  3. Alright, it's catch up time!

    First of all, that Mega Man Amiibo is damn near perfect. Actually, all of these Amiibo figures are really well done. I wish they were true articulated figures instead of game add-ons that I can't really use, but that hasn't stopped me from buying three of them so far.

    Those blind-bagged Imaginext figures keep getting better and better. Too bad I can't find anything beyond series 2 here. The loss of Target here is going to seriously hinder my Imaginext hunting. The only other place that really stocks them now is TRU, and that can be hit or miss.

    I saw those Disney eggs the other day too. I was curious about them, but in the end I couldn't decide which one I wanted most. They're all pretty odd.

    I like that all-sand Sandman figure too! I just haven't been able to find one without sloppy eyes yet, which is gradually becoming a problem with Hasbro stuff across the board. I also like that Ultimate Spider-Woman figure, but is it just me, or is her head a tad too big? Also, Netflix's Daredevil is all kinds of great, so you may very much be wanting to keep the figure once you start watching it. I know it's given me a new appreciation for the character.

    Nice worth with finishing off Hobgoblin by the way. You can't even tell you cheated.

    Last figure I'll comment on is Box Head/Motormaster. Originally I was going to use him as the torso for my team of Combiners, but I'm not a fan of that head. I think it's the plain face more than anything that does it for me.

    Alright, moving on to the next post! You will see my words later.

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    1. Yeah, I think Nintendo HAD to make these nice, 'cause otherwise I think they wouldn't have half as many sales, right now. I think there are plenty of folks just collecting for the display value. But ya know, I wouldn't mind it if they'd just friggin' find SOMETHING interesting to do with them. And maybe make them cross compatible with everything, rather than bring out a new batch for specific games (and maybe one or two others).

      I wish I knew what to tell ya with Imaginext, other than me keeping a lookout for you. They show up at Meijer (grocery store) and Target, around here. The first wave was at TRU....once. They never got a single other wave. That, and they just seem to mostly stock the vehicles and large sets. I don't quite get their ordering habits.

      I really love egg-formers, but they did pick some oddballs for the first wave (if they're even planning on more). Buzz was the only one that looked good in egg form. The others look like a giant took the characters and crumpled them up. I think they should make a basic transforming egg and do art stuff with it, like the Vinylmation stuff.

      Hasbro is certainly dropping the ball on paint, in certain areas. Like I explained above: The Spider-Man Legends currently out are just horrendous. At least, everyone I've run in to so far has been. As for Ultimate Spider-Woman: I thought her head looked fine, and she's actually a favorite among the ones I picked up. Perhaps you just gotta have her in-hand. And yeah, watching the Daredevil series will probably make me keep the figure (if I find him). *Sigh* I'm a sucker, like that.

      I know, right? I think I should finish off all my other random build-a-figure parts that way.

      As for Motormaster: You know that's just the Motormaster head, right? He has a different head that slides into place when you combine him to make Menasor. It has horns! Just look up "Menasor" and you'll see it.

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    2. That is a cooler head, but I think I have my heart set on Hot Shot as my Combiner torso. Since I'm only doing one complete (though random) team, every figure is going to have to appeal to me in multiple ways to make the cut. Or appeal to me in one BIG way. Whichever.

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  4. I need dat Samus Aran mane,


    also





    *poots*

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