3.75″ Iron Man 2 figures
I had a pretty good haul at the recent launch of the new Iron Man 2 toy lines. They had a ton of product there ranging from the first wave of 10 3.75″ figures, nice new micro playsets, role-play items like nerf blasters and Iron Man helmets, and some great looking 8″ and 12″ figures.
I was pretty much set on the 3.75″ line. Despite my misgivings about the scale, I can’t resist the temptation of having a tiny little armory of my own on my desktop:
Still the fun ain’t over folks. Sometime in the next week or so, we’ll be seeing a lot more Iron Man product as we get closer to the end of April and the premiere of the movie. And like any hobbyist with that Collector’s Completist Compulsion, I want to get as many unique molds as I can (as well as a few more repaints) to fill in my armory.
I’ve heard that the next few being brought in will be from the Comic Series, and since I already have the Stealth Armor from this series I’m pretty stoked to get the Classic version and the Comic War Machine. I’ve been surfing the net looking for what will be available and came up with a few more I really want:
I also came across a very nice sub-line from Hasbro that has me excited; the deluxe Armor Tech toys.
These are similar to the deluxe packs from the X-Men Origins: Wolverine line like the Deadpool missle launcher and that Logan with the bike, but instead they have armor upgrades with a gaggle of weapons. While they might look like the BFGs that come with every single toy nowadays, the fact that they are mounted sells them for me.
My wallet is going to hate me.
I also heard that there will be several new 6″ Iron Man to join my Marvel Legends squad. Too bad that they’ll be exclusives to various retail chains. This is going to suck for most of us who don’t happen to be next to a Walmart that carries them. Not to mention that Toys R Us Philippines seems to feel the need to jack up prices for any exclusives that come their way.
On the bright side, the new Mark VI and War Machine have some nice alternate hands and the 3-pack of re-paints looks to be using the nicest molds from the first movie’s Concept Series. There’s also been a test shot of a 6″ Mark V floating around.
To whom it may concern:
I’m writing to express how disappointed I am with the service of your branch/franchise in the Raffles Corporate Center building on Emerald Ave (F. Ortigas Jr.), Ortigas Center, in Pasig.
I have eaten there many times as the location is very convenient for me. However, every time I patronize your restaurant, there are problems relating to customer service and these problems are consistent.
Long lines, long wait times, and incorrect orders are frequent. When I’ve asked for water, or ketchup, or just to ask what happened to the rest of my order, there is no follow up from the employees. I often have to remind them 3 times before I see action on it, and it’s not uncommon for me to have to get up from my seat, go to the counter and stand there before the concern is addressed.
Since I have only an hour for lunch, you can imagine how this infuriates me. There have been instances where I spend the entire time following up an order, only to have it delivered 10 minutes before I need to report back.
I’ve witnessed employees having there break times on the floor while there used dishes to be bussed, or tables to clean off. This is particularly aggravating when there is nowhere else to sit except for one of these un bussed tables.
Just today, I witnessed the customer in front of me storm out of the establishment because she was not informed that her order would take longer than expected.
When it was my turn, I had to repeat my order 3 times before the cashier was able to communicate it properly to the staff in the kitchen. I ordered 1 regular lasagna ala carte to go and 1 large lasagna with drink for dine in. Later when my order arrived, there was no breadstick/garlic bread. When I asked the manager about it, he said that they were low on stock and were only including the bread with the other orders of pasta, not the lasagna.
I was neither informed of the shortage when I ordered, nor was I offered an alternative. If I was, I would have chosen to go with another choice of pasta. I was not offered compensation, refund or another solution. I have experienced service in other restaurants where if a mistake like this is made, the manager would offer some solution, perhaps a coupon, or a substitution. No such gesture was made in this case.
While I understand the demands of the service industry, and am willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, this particular branch has displayed no change in it’s performance since it’s opening several years ago. I would easily rate it as the WORST restaurant among the ones open here during the graveyard shift lunch hour.
I would suggest one of your Customer Service trainers do an audit of this branches performance ASAP.
Thank you for your attention.
On the Cheap: Toys For Sale
Rules and FAQ answered! Read FIRST!
I am on nightshift so meetup times/places are limited to Megamall or Emerald Ave. 7:00 to 8:30pm on weeknights.
If interested, text me at [zero nine one seven nine eight three seven seven five one]. You can leave a comment here, but text inquiries will take precedence as I only have Web access at work.
GI JOE
7 Figure Cobra Paratrooper Set (loose, no filecards) - p1,000
Pilot Destro (from the Shockwave 2-pack, complete)
25th Anniversary Paratrooper (complete)
ROC Paratroopers (complete)
ROC Paratroopers (complete)
ROC Paratroopers (complete)
DVD Boxset Roadblock (with knife, stand, and vines)
ROC Viper Commando (missing dagger)
MARVEL
4 figure Marvel Universe set (4 loose figures) - p1,000
Thor & Enchantress (still have the card and comic)
Piledriver (still have the card and comic)
Blob
Marvel Legends loose set (11 figures) - p1,000
Raging Ghostrider (no chain)
Flameblast Ghostrider
Classic Captain America
Bucky
Lady Deathstrike
Baron Zemo
Dr. Strange
Classic Cyclops (Sentinel series)
Ironfist (no flame effects)
Classic Falcon
Luke Cage
Adam Warlock (loose with staff only, no BAF part) - Php 700
Moleman (loose with staff only, no BAF part) - Php 500
TRANSFORMERS
Deluxe class TFTM Bonecrusher (loose, no manual) - p500
ANIME
Kaiyodo Tenjho Tenge Gashapon Figure Part 2 (loose, missing hilt of Chiaki’s sword and the stand that belongs to Emi) - p800
Play Arts Kai FFXIII Lightning
I’m sure Final Fantasy buffs (I know several) would rant about what I’m about to say, but I hate hate hate the way most Japanese video game stories are written. Fans of the games keep telling me that the story is one of the reasons they like the series so much, expecially FF VII, but whenever I get to the end of one it’s like “what the fuck was that?”. I’ve always thought video game stories were pretty weak at best, and every time I experience those from Japan, I come away feeling unimpressed.
From the what I’ve read and seen, Japanese culture tends to glorify ambiguity. Plots often seem to be obfuscated behind a lot of unnecessary little complications. Characters often have nebulous motivations and endings tend to be open to interpretation. I’ve seen it in Japanese cinema, anime, manga, etc and it seems damned lazy. Really, what the hell was up with Evangelion?
I’m an Westerner when it comes to my storytelling sensibilities. I like closure. I like a clear beginning, with a nice action-packed middle and an end that ties up everything nicely. I want that rising action, that climax, and that little part at the end where everyone gets drunk, sleeps with the other protagonists (or surviving antagonists) and then get amnesia and forget it ever happened.
The write ups of FFXIII seem to show that it’s much the same. There’s this whole history about individuals that are chosen by mechanical gods who are created from crystals and who see visions of their dictated destiny and if they don’t fufill it they become monsters but if they do they become crystals themselves. Then there’s a story about a war between two cities and some dude in a trench coat who meets some gal with a sword and how they need to defeat some ancient enemy of someone or other who is making an ass out of himself so they get a whole gang of outlaws and exiles to do it some of whom of course need to die at the end.
I’m sure they’ll work in one of those nice Jpop slow mo montages in there somewhere.
HOWEVER… while I hate Japanese storytelling, I love Japanese video game design. I still remember how fun those early FF games were, and even though I thought the story for Crisis Core was retarded, I did have a blast playing it, easy or not. I love the look of many of the characters that have come from this series as well. Even if it’s story was all over the place Advent Children was pure eye candy. That’s the reason I collect the Play Arts FF series. Because the figures are just that good looking on your shelf. Poseble, detailed, and usually with a few decent accessories and a stand.
Lightning is the first of the set that I bought from Wasabi Toys in the Shoppesville mall at Greenhills Shopping Center.
As you can see in the picture above, the box for these new Play Arts Kai toys is bigger compared to the old FF lines. That’s because the figures themselves are bigger. There’ll be more comparison pics of her next to the older figures, but she stands about an inch higher than them. These aren’t 8″ scale figures anymore; they’re 9″. Sadly, that means I can’t really pair them with alot of the Sigma 6 GI Joes. They stand like supermodels next to figures like Destro.
The rest of the packaging is more of the same old Play Arts plastic trays. They’re big and flimsy, but they’re molded perfectly around the toy and accessories. I love this type of packaging since it’s completely reusable. Just cut some Scotch tape around the tray cover, take out the figure, then put it back when you’re done and cover it back up. Slides right back into the box. Very neat.
The only thing is, it’s hard to keep that box since it’s pretty huge and not really that sturdy. There was a time I kept the boxes from the previous FF lines, but around the time I started on Advent Children toys, I had to give it up. There’s just no space.
Out of the box, Lightning looks like a spokesmodel showing off some designer’s new collection. She’s built like the girls you see in Sports Illustrated, with long limbs, a long body, a tiny waist, and little itty-bitty hands and feet.
While that all looks good on the drawing board, it makes for a kind of annoying toy. The high center of gravity, the lack of mass, and that tiny tiny footprint make her a real chore to stand up. She comes with a stand, but it’s of little help (I’ll get into that later). If you want to get her to stay up, you really need to fiddle with her legs and body to balance her. Wide stances seem to work the best.
She has wonderful articulation. Really amazing. I would go so far as to say that she is the most well articulated toy that I have ever seen. There are a ton of joints and it’s all USEFUL.
In total, that’s 28 points of articulation.
“What?”, you ask? “28? That’s only 27″
Well she has one more joint and that’s a combination swivel/post joint on her back where that thing that looks like a scarf is connected. It allows you to do stuff like this:
More shots of her joints in action:
The only problem with the joints is that they are very very loose for a new toy. Her knees can’t hold a pose for long and the swivels will give way if you put weight on them or hit them the wrong way. It’s the same deal with her torso ball joints and this aggravates the posing difficulties.
Which brings us to the stand.
I don’t like it. It’s a pretty good stand compared to the old Marvel Legends ones, but the Play Arts lines have always had those beautifully simple black ones. They always worked well and were sturdy enough to use for some of the big Transformers.These can barely hold up a GI Joe. The small ones.
The thing shares the same problems as the figure itself, floppy joints. Even with the ratcheting built into them, they sag as soon as you put the figure in the transluscent claw at the end. To make matters worse, the base isn’t really up to the job of keeping the arm straight up in the air. The arm tends to sag sideways.
The only real help the stand gives is if you have her with one foot on the ground at all times, and sometimes not even then, since the arm tends to flop from side to side.
Fail.
She comes with 2 accessories. A sword and, what looks to be, a gun. Both fit in her hand very well and are held there by a peg on her right palm and a hole in the hilt of the weapons. it’s a very sturdy solution, but I’m worried I’ll break that post every time I pull off or put on one of the weapons.
Both of them are highly detailed. Enough so that you can see that in-game, the sword folds up and is packed away in the big-ass holster that hangs from her belt. When I saw the product photos a few months back, I was thinking that the weapon transformed, which would have been all kinds of cool. Unfortunately I was wrong. So wrong. Not that the accessories aren’t cool. They definitely are.
Despite the problems with the joints and the stand, this is a figure that is worth the Php 2,300.00 asking price at WasabiToys because of one thing; the sculpt.
It’s rare that you see a toy of this scale with this much articulation with such a detailed sculpt. Even some 1/6 scale figures don’t have the kind of detail Play Arts worked into this. These new figures have all kinds of little features that really get my geeky juices flowing. Pockets, pouches, belts and buckles, the sculpted hands (with a second pair of fists), the hair and the scarf, buttons and boot laces.
I’m glad they went with the more realistic sculpting for the face, and not the cartoony look of the Star Ocean and Full Metal Alchemist figures. I’m not really a fan of the overy stylized or deformed designs, like the upcoming Bayonetta figures either. I think this time around they really did a great job in balancing that anime aesthetic and proportion.
About the only part I have issue with is the look of the double hinged knee. It would have been nice if they gave it a more seamless look when she’s standing straight at least. Can’t have everythign I guess.
So to sum up this long review, Lightning is worth it.
Though she’s got her problems (expensive, not readily available, odd scale, loose joints, and that assinine stand), she more than makes up for it with her numerous good points. She is nicely sculpted, highly detailed, very well articulated, and has logical accessories.
You can get her HERE, but I’m not sure if Pat and Nick still have stock.
Survival Suit Bruce Wayne
I’m not a fan of Mattel’s “Movie Master” line. These are the 5″ figures Philippine collectors could see warming the back shelves of many a toy stall in Greenhills. Their sculpts are okay and they have decent articulation, but the toys themselves lack any impact.
For one, they’re only 5″. While I’m not really one to get stuck on scale, I am a guy who doesn’t want a Gimli-sized Bruce Wayne next to his DCUC Green Arrow. I’d prefer a less diminutive Bale-Batman duking it out with my Marvel Legends Daredevil. I mean, sure, he’s Batman so he’ll still kick DD’s butt, but c’mon. At this size it looks like he squeaks frustratedly instead of growling hoarsely.
It doesn’t help that Mattel gives you no other reasons to buy their product. I bought a few of the Joker’s Thugs because they are very near 6″ and I could use them as a guy in a suit, but if you were to buy it on it’s own merits, the product is just… blah. What is a deliquent criminal without a few guns and a bag of money? The figure comes with neither. The presentation? This line has about the worst packaging I’ve seen on a line. It’s like those generic brands I used to buy at wholesale stores with my mom. We got this huge tub of peanut butter, like a gallon, in a big white plastic bucket that said “1 gallon Peanut Butter” and listed the ingredients. That’s what this card-backed bubble is basically.
The reason I picked up a second figure in the line, the Survival Suit Bruce Wayne, was because I figured I could use some of the parts as custom fodder (when I eventually get around to actually starting to customize figures, that is). The webgear especially caught my eye. It’s molded as a seperate piece, and while not technically removable, it looked very good.
I say “technically” because it can be done if you’re willing to do some cutting. The belts are all attached to a rubber disc shaped piece that is sandwiched between the torso and crotch at the waist joint. You don’t see it because of the molded belt. The rubber’s soft, so it’s a simple matter to carefully slip the blade in and work it around the circumference of the figure’s waist, cutting it away from that disc. You’ll also need to pry open the leg belts and the pieces at his back which are plugged in, but it’s fairly easy (hell, I’ve got barely any experience at this and I did it). I wouldn’t recommend it though if you’re planning on keeping the Bruce figure intact because it makes him all loose.
The following photos may be the best angle to show how short this figure is, but trust me, he’s too short to play with the other DCUC heroes. Since Hasbro hasn’t been too good about keeping its figures in scale, there are a few figures like Daredevil who don’t tower over him, but he’s still the one looking up at them. I’m a slave to my imagination sometimes and I’ve always seen Batman as this big imposing figure who LOOMS.
This figure can’t LOOM.
The second reason I bought the figure was the face sculpt. Having never seen the original unmasked Batman chase figure, I’d never seen this particular sculpt before. for something at this scale, it’s damned close to Christian Bale. The expression on Bruce’s face is probably enough to give Shane Hurlbut some awful Terminator flashbacks.
Survival Suit Bruce Wayne also has some decent articulation going for him. It’s not as much as a Marvel Legends figure (no double joints here), but its acceptable. More along the lines of the DC Universe Classics line with those combination swivels at the hip instead of ball and post joints. He also has hinge elbows, knees, and ankles, and a swivel waist, thighs, arms and wrists. His neck and shoulders are ball joints.
Unfortunately, there is a problem with his wrists which isn’t an isolated case. I got mine at a stall that was selling it loose (likely a factory reject) and I got the chance to go through several examples and they all had the same problem; a locked wrist joint. I don’t know if this is from stuck paint or melted plastic or what, but it’s very annoying. Up till now, I still can’t get one of his hands moving.
Another problem is paint. None of the examples I’ve seen had really good paint applications, but that was to be expected since they were rejects, but I’ve been reading other reviews who have had similar problems. If these defects are finding their way into the ones that have been packaged and shelved, I doubt that’s a good sign.
He did come with one accessory; a ski mask made of thin rubber. I’ll admit, it’s damned fun pulling it off and putting it back on like a proper thug, but it’s like any soft rubber toy. If it’s out for anything over an hour, it’ll collect about a pound of dust that you need to clean off. If you buy the thing at retail in the package, then you’ll get a larger version of the mask, I guess meant for a display or something. It’s a gimmick that the line offers, but the apparent consensus is that these add-ins are completely useless
Is he worth it?
I paid around Php500 the factory reject one, which is about $10.00 give or take, but I hear he retails at $15.00. Even at the price I bought him at, I wouldn’t have bought him except for my need for the web gear. I spent about 10 minutes at the stall, just fiddling with him trying to decide if I wanted to shell out for him.
He’s a great looking figure in my book, but his scale, the lack of accessories, and the awful quality control means that it’s probably not one people should consider buying. If you’ve got mad customizing skills like the guys at Loose Collector he might make for some nice fodder. If not, than give hime a pass.
If you're looking for biased, one-sided views of toys and other assorted geekery, then you're in the right place. If you want objective, you'll need a blog written by someone who isn't an obsessive geek.
These are my views on various toys, movies, places, and things, along with assorted pictures and the the occasional link to stuff I find sufficiently geeky.
Enjoy your stay and leave a comment.
Slangards
