Winter 2021-22 Hauls!!!

A general discussion forum, plus hauls and silly games.
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andersonh1
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Winter 2021-22 Hauls!!!

Post by andersonh1 »

It's not quite Fall yet, but close enough. I had been saving my pennies and pre-ordering months ago to get a bit more of a discount, and the three omnibuses I ordered all arrived on the same day. Fantastic Four by Lee and Kirby volumes 3 and 4 (which wraps up their run on the book and goes a little beyond it) and the Bronze Age Batman Brave and the Bold vol. 3, which wraps up that series by collecting through issue 200, the final issue. I think I've got plenty of reading material for the near future!
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JediTricks
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

Post by JediTricks »

Nice! I've had a busy month that included my birthday and my niece's wedding, so I'll catch up all the stuff I can remember...

Transformers Earthrise Sunstreaker w/ pre-applied Toyhax labels - thanks to Shockwave on this one. It's an alright mold, you can really see the challenges they had getting the coloring to match, even Toyhax couldn't fully get there. Maybe yellow just isn't Hasbro's "thing". Should have come with a weapon that isn't his backpack. I do like it better than the previous Sunstreakers (Universe and Combiner Wars), but still room for improvement for sure, and without the labels this would be one painfully stark figure.

Masters of the Universe Origins Tri-Klops - this figure also from Shockwave, and he's great. You can really see how they wanted to make the character a good guy but put him with the baddies, and he works so well that way, his sword is awesome too.

MOTU-O Man-at-Arms - another from Shockwave, this figure puts the mustache where it belongs and makes the core hero group complete.

MOTU-O Mer-Man - from Shockwave as well, this guy is great, really fun presence and his sword takes him to the next level.

MOTU-O Panthor - a birthday gift from my pals, this has the same limitations as Battle Cat but without the head armor he seems less annoying somehow, plus it helps to bolster the bad guys' numbers.

MOTU-O Scare Glow - a birthday gift from my best bud, this figure is great at being a spooky ghost with a cape and a halberd who glows in the dark, it's awesome.

TF Kingdom Tracks - a fun figure trapped behind a poorly-assembled pin situation that is easy to fix in my experience. Transformation is pretty complex in the legs and has some parts that hate locking or unlocking, one is scary since it's transparent plastic. But both modes are fun, the robot does have a backpack and facade chest though.

TF Kingdom Ractonite - more fun than I expected but not worth the full pricetag. There's an actual robot here, but he has no hands, only pegs and side-mounted 5mm ports; I do like his knight theme though.

TF WFC Trilogy Selects Transmutate - a weird figure that doesn't really "get" the character across aside from the face sculpt. The coloring is wrong, but it has some charm on this mold. The official transformation to robot mode doesn't remind me of the character whatsoever, and the parts are a little limited to get you to fudge your own, more accurate version. The beast mode is simply not a T-rex fossil, it's got the posture and small ribcage of something like a raptor. The head is poorly hidden in beast mode and looks bad sticking up like a frill. As weapons it's goofy but kinda fun.

GI Joe Classified Zartan - liked this figure more than I expected, good overall and lives up to the line well. I do worry about losing or breaking his creepy totems though.

GI Joe Classified Lady Jaye - got a broken one on my first pass, bad drop-down hip, replaced with an even cheaper version so that was a nice twist. It's an ok figure, it does a good job with the idea of the character, I wish the removable hat had more hair around the temples. The likeness is unusual because it's designed to look like an actual person, the voice actress from the classic cartoon.

Articulated Icons Shoken as Ninja - another gift from my best pal, this white ninja is a stand-in for the lack of Classified Storm Shadow, and it's pretty great, I ordered some Toyhax Cobra stickers for his chest but they've not arrived. These Articulated Icons 1:12th scale ninjas are pretty cool figures, I have 2 of the gray ninja as well, the articulation is a little dated perhaps, no butterfly shoulders or lower neck articulation, but overall they have a nice sculpt, a good array of accessories including extra hands, they're a nice system, and they have good sales.

Masterverse MOTU Revelation Skelegod - a cool figure with a tiny head, the head has great sculpting and paint but at a level that doesn't match the rest of the figure's simpler design, both in armor and body. Fantastic cape design though, and overall the body is pretty decent.

Star Wars The Black Series Koska Reeves - the same body as Bo-katan but with a new head, new helmet, and different gun belt sporting only one holster (this figure does come with two blasters though). Decent likeness of actress Mercedes Varnado (wrassler Sasha Banks) that is just a hint lifeless in expression, the helmet sits a tad large on the figure though.

SW TBS Wrecker - a deluxe figure that steps up the quality from the previous Bad Batch TBS figures with better sculpting, a better design on the armor, a better-scaled helmet, and way better range of motion on the articulation. The only thing that feels "deluxe" though is the heft, this isn't bigger than basic figures like Chewbacca. This figure is next-level and kinda puts the previous two to shame.

Kershaw vehicle safety knife - a birthday gift from my folks, an auto-flipper with a decent 4" blade and both thumb studs (both sides) and a spine , not as nice as their US-made blades but good enough, and the blaze orange plastic textured handle sports a seatbelt cutter in the back (one that's pretty exposed actually, a little worryingly so); the bottom of the frame sports a windshield smasher point as well. Unfortunately in California it's illegal to carry a folding knife in the cab of your car unless it's in your pocket, and the extra tools built into the handle make it not pocket-friendly.

Mission Impossible (1996) 4K/Blu Ray combo - another gift, I don't have a 4K tv yet but starting to plan for the future.

Delorean Time Machine Hayes manual - another gift, lots of fun here.
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See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
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Shockwave
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

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Posted my last hauls in the previous thread. Anyway:

A new Shop Vac. Our previous one was out in the rain and no longer works so needed a new one. Found one fairly comparable for relatively cheap.

Kingdom Shadow Panther. I'm still in for BW characters. I did not plan on getting this figure. But, in keeping with my new rules, if it's something I'm still collecting and I happen to see one, I'll get it. I was at Target for sponges and they had one. I like the beast head way more than I thought I would. And the colors look good on this figure. If you like the Cheetor mold, you'll probably like this, or if you like Shadow Panther, but if you don't like either of those then you probably won't like this one.
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andersonh1
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

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Found the tpb of Green Lanterns vol 2: "the Phantom Lantern" at Ollie's for $3.99. I had no interest in this Jessica Cruz/Simon Baz GL series when it was first published at $4 an issue, but $4 for 8 issues is a different story, particularly with no good current GL series on the shelves. I miss my monthly GL fix. Ollie's carries overstock and remaindered books very cheap, so if there's one near you it's worth keeping an eye on.

I didn't buy one today, but they also had some Transformers there, and among them is a Rung figure. Looks like mini-con sized. I may pick one up before all's said and done.
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

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TFSS86 Gnaw - good, some flaws and questionable design choices make it feel a little like an outsider did this one, but adequately fun.

TFSS86 Sla/ug - good but not as good as Grimlock, the backpack isn't tight enough, there's a few other things, but overall fun. Daniel is so bad it's insulting, makes Grimlock's Wheelie look good in comparison.

TFSS86 Wreck-Gar - fantastic, lots of fun. A little simple in the sculpt, but just a treat in general, and a nice size to him.

TFK Road Rage - I already liked Tracks, so the red lady is good. Her paint to plastic match isn't as good as Tracks, and her color makes her materials not quite as strong in the awkward leg tab situation, but she's still decent enough.

GI Joe Classified Breaker & RAM Cycle - an ok set, no weapon for Breaker is odd, and the bike is too small. Breaker is a good homage to the alphabetically first ARAH figure, uses some of Duke and some of Firefly, but well; the vest is really close-fitting which eats his mid-torso articulation.

Star Wars Black Series Q9-0 - really nice figure, great sculpt and articulation.

Marvel Legends Mobius - pretty good, they gave him a new body I think, it fits the character, but the same shoes and the same crappy hands as Loki which sucks. The tempad accessory is a bit oversized but opens up and is nicely detailed. The whatever they call it wand of doom is nicely done.
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See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
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Shockwave
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

Post by Shockwave »

Found Gnaw at Target today. I only decided to get him because I though he'd look fine next to the Legends scale one and, one can never have too many Sharkticons. Overall, I like it, but it does have some problems. It looks fine in alt mode from the top, but if you're at any kind of angle to be looking up at it from the front, it looks unfinished. from dead on, with legends Gnaw next to him, he looks fine. Also, partsforming. That doesn't usually bother me because Hasbro has (mostly) figured out how to engineer them to be able to attach parts in both modes. Not so with this one. At least, not that I've figured out yet. Which leaves a huge section of the alt mode set aside in bot mode. Having said that, I do like the look in bot mode, looks very much like the G1 figure, which I never had, so this is fun. It does have an interesting transform. I dunno, if I were grading this, I'd give it a B-. It's fun, looks good, but I expected a little better engineering in 2021.
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

Post by Shockwave »

Alright, I'm upgrading Gnaw to an A-. I really should spend a few days fiddling with these things before I post reviews. So, after I attached the back piece, it actually does stay and doesn't partsform. In fact, none if it actually needs to partsform once you get it assembled. And, looking at him from different angles makes me appreciate the alt form a little more. I don't really think it was meant to be seen from the angle I was looking at before. Overall, it's a good version of Gnaw, I'd recommend getting him if you find him.
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

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Arrived today: Transformers the IDW Collection Phase 3, volume 1. I have read very little of this material, mainly the Til All Are One issues and a tiny sliver that was in the Revolution preview comic where Miles Mayhem has Blitzwing's head hanging up in his secret headquarters.
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

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andersonh1 wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 3:30 pm Arrived today: Transformers the IDW Collection Phase 3, volume 1. I have read very little of this material, mainly the Til All Are One issues and a tiny sliver that was in the Revolution preview comic where Miles Mayhem has Blitzwing's head hanging up in his secret headquarters.
I've been getting these too. So far I have Phase 1, volumes 1-3, phase 2, volumes 8-12. I just found out about phase 3 finishing off the series. Kind of a bummer because the whole reason I skipped ahead and bought phase 2, 8-12 is because I've been rereading this and that's where I was at and I intended to get the volumes that would take me to the end of the series. Not a big deal, since I'm on volume 9 right now and it'll take me a while to get there, but still. I had this whole project where I was just going to organize my floppies in order but then realized IDW already did that with these and just decided to replace them instead.
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andersonh1
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Re: Fall 2021 Hauls!!!

Post by andersonh1 »

Shockwave wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 9:22 am
andersonh1 wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 3:30 pm Arrived today: Transformers the IDW Collection Phase 3, volume 1. I have read very little of this material, mainly the Til All Are One issues and a tiny sliver that was in the Revolution preview comic where Miles Mayhem has Blitzwing's head hanging up in his secret headquarters.
I've been getting these too. So far I have Phase 1, volumes 1-3, phase 2, volumes 8-12. I just found out about phase 3 finishing off the series. Kind of a bummer because the whole reason I skipped ahead and bought phase 2, 8-12 is because I've been rereading this and that's where I was at and I intended to get the volumes that would take me to the end of the series. Not a big deal, since I'm on volume 9 right now and it'll take me a while to get there, but still. I had this whole project where I was just going to organize my floppies in order but then realized IDW already did that with these and just decided to replace them instead.
That's pretty much what I wanted to do, re-read all of these, and the hardcovers were more convenient than filling the gaps in my monthly issue collection, particularly once it got to the point that I had quit reading and buying them. I probably didn't need to buy all the Phase 1 hardcovers since I have just about all the individual issues, but I was able to buy that entire collection all at once and decided it was worth it to do that.
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