August Hauls!

[Shockwave]

I'm siding with Prowl on this one, I actually have the IDW Megs right next to Henkei Megatron and I can certainly say that the Henkei one is the better "Megatron". Don't get me wrong, the new one is a great Megatron as well, but the Henkei one says "Megatron" to me more than this one. And the WFC one wasn't bad either.

[BWprowl]

Was at TRU last night and saw they they'd thrown a few leftover GDO Legends they apparently had sitting around onto the pegs, so I grabbed Bluestreak (the impending release of Metroplex has me wanting to bulk up my G1 Legends/Cyberverse hordes to compliment my eventual acquisition of him), since I like that mold and color scheme. The gun's a pretty nice accessory, even if pegging it onto the car's side means it can't roll so good. Colors look nice though.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I bought Ducktales Remastered over PSN last week. Been hella looking forward to this game, and it delivers. It gets the spirit and design of the original down quite well, while removing some of the old niggles (pogo-ing is easier, you don't have to visit Transylvania three times). The remixed music is as amazing as it should be, and the new final level, Mt. Vesuvius, fits in better than I thought it would, with some amazing visuals and new music to sell it. Plus every classic voice actor they could get is back for this, the boss battles have been revamped to be way more interesting, and the expanded story means previously-nonsensical stuff like Dracula Duck actually have context now. Way worth the fifteen bucks I paid for it.

[JediTricks]

Hasbro SW 6" Sandtrooper - and today it went back to the store. Fuck that pisses me off, $20 and the same goddamned problem that Maul had, a load-bearing knee joint gets its hinge pin shot only partway through. As for the figure itself, sculpting was good in detail but there was a proportions issue that felt off at first blush, the lower body being smaller, so it was like an upside-down triangle of sorts, kind of like the '90s 12" GI Joes with skinny legs and huge shoulders. The Sandtrooper also had a head painted more than the body, and poor weathering about, purple lines where the wash was let to pool up around stuff. I'm also quite disappointed with how poorly these hands hold the weapons, especially the rifles, I can't find a pose that looks really solid yet and it's unlikely I ever will now. The lower body seems like it's out of proportion with the upper body, like this figure tapers from very thin legs up to a broad torso and shoulders; the legs seem so thin that I question whether they can actually avoid wilting under all the upper body weight on this figure, especially the ultra thin knee joints. The neck hinge and ball-joint is an interesting joint, but leaving articulation up to the head limits the expression tilts possible, and I found this really stymieing with the Sandtrooper even more than Maul

I feel like I should divest myself of this line entirely, but I found a replacement Maul so I'll hang in there with Han at least and try to be cool. New Maul's elbows have a smidge more articulation range but the sculpting still limits that, and the legs still splay easily due to weak joints.

[BWprowl]

Thanks for the heads-up, JT, the Sandtrooper was the one from this first Black Series wave I was interested in (and I've seen him on the shelf a couple times already), now I know it can safely be avoided. It really does suck to hear that after the opportunity to create something really special with this line (6-inch-scale, premium-format Star Wars figures! What could go wrong?) Hasbro's let the execution be botched this badly. I'll wait to see if they ever put out a Palpatine, that'd be the one exception I would make, provided they don't totally blow it.

That said, since the line was revealed, I've been saying Hasbro should be ashamed of themselves for trying to sell that R2-D2 at the same price-point as the other toys. At least stick it in a two-pack with C-3PO for 30-35 bucks or something.

[Shockwave]

But that does follow with their other lines. 3 3/4" scale R2-D2 goes for the same price as other figures so why wouldn't that apply to the larger scale?

[BWprowl]

But that does follow with their other lines. 3 3/4" scale R2-D2 goes for the same price as other figures so why wouldn't that apply to the larger scale?

It sticks out a lot more when you're dropping $20 on a '6-inch Scale' figure that's barely 4 inches tall with three points of articulation than when you're paying $5-10 for a figure where the scale means he's only shorter by a few centimeters. Plus a lot of those R2s at that scale threw in some extra goodies to sweeten the deal, like his Jabba's Palace serving tray, or putting a light-up or sound gimmick in his head. What does the 6-inch Black Series version have? Some extra teeny arms to plug in? Okay, that makes up the cost.

[Shockwave]

I dunno if there's any other features beyond that as I have yet to buy the figure, but it is on my list of things to get. So I guess I'll take one for the team on this one.

I do see what you mean about the detail for the smaller versions though, that one with the drink tray is easily the best one at that scale.

[138 Scourge]

So after going back and forth on whether or not to get a new toy for a couple weeks, I decided Fuck it and bought that Abominus set. Now that I've fiddled with it a couple times, I really dig it. The individual dudes make for neat little robots and monsters, the weapons having all those extra pegs make for more options to display, and I like the combined mode well enough, even if it isn't the most poseable figure and both hands are kind of goofy. I do sort of dig the giant ass claw that Sinnertwin turns into.

[andersonh1]

You're making me want the Abominus set, but then I've got the original G1 versions and it's hard to resist an updated figure, so I was already thinking about it.

Yesterday's comics: MTMTE #20, RG1 #94, and the Batman archives vol. 4. The latter contains issues 87-102 of the original Detective Comics run from 1944-45. I found it in the half price rack, and asked for and got a further $5 off because the cover was cut, as if someone was a little too careless with the packing knife while opening the box it was shipped in. So $20 for a nice hardbound, restored set of old Batman comics on glossy paper is a pretty good bargain as far as I'm concerned.

[BWprowl]

I just can't stop gettin' Figuarts!

SHF RyuRanger from Dairanger came in today. I've only seen a bit of Dairanger, but I know that it has the best martial arts and fight scenes in the entire franchise, and the suits are boss as hell. This is the main reason I bought this, seriously look at this thing, it's an absolute crime the Power Rangers adaptations skipped these suits. This figure, being a contemporary of those MMPR ones I got the other day, is every bit as well-done. I wish these mobile shoulders with the covers had been conceived of back when Red Buster came out, they're fantastic for the articulation in that area, even if finagling the covers once you've gotten them posed is a little bothersome. Ryo here shits all over the MMPR/Zyuranger guys in terms of weapons too. His dagger and sword/gun in multiple configurations, including combined, his big naginata, its separated, ring-based components, the usual buttload of hands, and probably most surprising, an extra head and chest emblem to turn him into 'China Red' from the second season of Akibaranger. I definitely need to allocate a stand for this guy, so he can better pull off dynamic matial-arts based poses.

So now I've got several Figuarts from Jetman, Zyuranger, and Dairanger, generally regarded as a fairly high-end period in Sentai. I'm loving this line.