Renaissance
(February 21, 2010 - Mega Trade Hall)
I first read about Renaissance over at Comicology and was wondering what the event was supposed to be about. Bim’s updates really whet my appetite though, with lists of artists and writers that included just about everyone who was anyone in the Philippine comic scene.
Just look at this list of the artists who participated!
And all that is LOCAL talent. It’s awesome.
Myself, I only recently found out how long Pinoys have been in the comic field. Of course, having grown up in the States, one didn’t hear much about people like Alfredo Alcala who did things like Batman and Hellblazer or Adrian Gonzales who helped bring about He-Man. I found out that Philippine artists even had a hand in creating my favorite movie of all time, Transformers (the 1986 animated film NOT the Bay version, children). Rico Rival, one of the artists who was at the Mega Trade Hall on Sunday was a storyboard artist on the film (though unfortunately, he didn’t remember how to draw Optimus Prime any longer when I asked).
Sure Pinoys in the industry may be a little thing, but when you come from a country as small as the Philippines, with our ingrained defeatist attitudes, it’s great to know that there are role models for young kids just now starting to say “when I grow up I want to be…” I’d rather hear a kid finish that sentence with “… a comic book artist like Leinil Francis Yu!” than “… a politician like (insert present presidential candidate here).”
For those who don’t follow Comicology, Renaissance is the brainchild of Whilce Portacio, Philip Tan, and Ernest Hernandez of Hobbylink Productions. It was a charity event that was held to help artists who have fallen on tough times due to the recent flooding caused by Typhoon Ondoy. Aside from getting that amazing roster of artists in one place for book signing and sketches, the organizers put together a book of pinups created by the artists. Each piece shows a Filipino superhero/character fighting to save lives in the midst of the rains on the day of the deluge.
Here’s a sample of some of the art in the book:
The book itself was on sale at a launching price of Php 300.00. Even with the Php 100.00 entrance fee, the book was still cheaper than the price it’ll retail for (Php 500.00). It’s printed by Anvil Publishing and is pretty thick (though lightweight paper was used). It was pretty easy to get the whole thing signed by all the artists at the event if you were there at 1pm onwards. Even Michael V stopped in to say hi to fans who might want him to autograph his page. I decided against trying for the signatures since I knew if I had one, I’d need them all. I like most geeks, suffer from Completist Compulsion Conundrum or C3 as I call it.
Aside from the artists doing autographs and sketches (Php 50.00 each), there were some exhibitors from a few of the faces I usually see at conventions. Budjette Tan was there along with Kajo Baldisimo and Ian St. Maria to promote Alamat comics Trese and Skyworld (I bought more copies of both to get them signed, and conned a friend into buying them as well). Gerry Alanguilan and Komikero Publishing were there with copies of Where Bold Stars Go to Die (another great local comic) and Elmer. Manix Abrera was there with shirts and copies of his Kiko Machine books which were also available at the National Bookstore kiosk. Kalayaan and Bayan Knights and Beerkada, etc, etc.
There was also a great display for the late Alfredo P. Alcala. Like I said, I had very little knowledge of the kind of things Filipinos had done in the comic industry and this little wall made my day.
Also on display were the works of Halimaw Sculptures, The Art Department and Hobbymaster. I always love seeing the work that these guys do. If I had the extra cash lying around, god knows I would have bought that Hulk head from The Art Department a long time back.
There were also the comic and toy vendors that you’ll usually see at events, though they were fewer this time around. I didn’t see the big comic stores like Comic Quest or Comic Odyssey around, and only the only big toy dealer was 2Rats. I hear there were still some pretty good deals.
Early in the morning there was also a panel discussion about Pinoys in comics, though attendance was pretty poor. Probably would have gone off better if it was held later in the day. Bands were also playing, but again, not many people were paying attention to them.
The real draw of course was the artists. The artists table was where most of the people crowded around. You could buy “official” paper for an artist sketch for Php 50.00, but they could only do 10 each. They were also signing books though which was great.
Despite a slow start, I thought it was a great event. I hope to see more of these types of conventions in the future, as well as other collaborative efforts like the Renaissance book.
At the end of the day, this is what I brought home. 2 copies of the Renaissance book, A Kite of Stars by Dean Francis Alfar, Trese: the Mass Murders signed by Budjette Tan, Volumes 1 and 2 of Skyworld signed by Ian St. Maria, 2 other ashcans from the Alamat table, a Playmates T-1 for only Php 100.00 and various other toys from other people I met at the mall:
A pretty good day.
Planet of the Symbiotes: Riot
I reviewed one figure from Toy Biz’ Planet of the Symbiotes line, Venom: The Madness, the other day and I have to say I was really impressed with the work that they did on that one. I was never really a fan of the vintage (pre-Marvel Legends) Toy Biz even though those lines were on the toy shelves for a decade or more. Due to the limited articulation of action figures and the cartoonish sculpting of the time, I only have a few of the toys from that era. I got them mostly because they filled holes in my collection of Marvel Legends figures, like my Blink figure or my Madureira Colossus. Venom really changed my thoughts on the vintage Toy Biz run and from now on I’m going to keep an eye out at toy stores for more figures like him, ones that will fit into my 6″ collection.
When I borrowed Venom: The Madness from my friend, I also borrowed his other Planet of the Symbiotes figure, Riot.
He’s purple.
He’s got four arms.
He’s really tall.
That’s pretty much it. Like his buddy, I got this one loose from my friend. I’ve seen pictures of him MOC online which show how fragile the card must have been. I can see those J-hooks all ripped up, falling off the pegs now. This would have been all but impossible to find mint the way toys are handled here, but then again, I’d hate to keep this guy in a box.
Images from www.figurerealm.com
Out of the box is where this guy really shines. Like Venom, he’s very well sculpted with tons of detail that you’ll be hard pressed to find on a Marvel Legends figure these days. He’s sort of like a bug mixed with a lizard, mixed with a flying purple people eater. Or Barney.
Riot has a gimmick too, but I can’t say I like it as much as Venom’s. You can ignore Venom’s and when you display him, it doesn’t really affect anything. That’s sort of true for Riot as well, but the gimmick is a rocket launcher.
Now the spring-loaded rocket launcher has it’s place. It’s great on military themed toys like GI Joe, or Star Wars, or even Transformers, but it looks odd on biologicals. Remember that Mazinger Z cartoon with the girl robot that shot her breast at the enemy? Scarred for life.
Since his projectiles are his second pair of arms, they’re non-articulated and stick out of his torso right in front. They can’t grab anything. They look like they’re reaching out for a hug. It’s odd. And anyone who has a few of these knows how easy it is to lose the missiles.
Actually, losing the missles might be a good idea. It’s kind of fun getting a toy with a sword to cut them off (to activate the launch, you just have to move his other arms up or down) or have Spider Hulk tear them off just so:
If you can get him standing straight, with his legs extended (he’s got those chicken legs that are all the rage in the movie Transformer line now) he’s extremely tall. He towers over all the other toys on my desk at home. Take a look at this family portrait:
He’s a little fiddly though. Aside from the fact that his legs aren’t really sculpted to allow a great many poses, his joints apparently made to last. Granted the thing’s a decade old or more, but the the joints flop around like Elastic Man after a massage. He tends to just sink right down to the sitting on his haunches pose, which isn’t the most fun stance.
While I wouldn’t mind having this figure and maybe the red and black variant, I have to admit that it’s not as impressive as the Venom toy. The sculpt isn’t quite as great, with the bunny like horns, the tongue glued to his cheek, and the second pair of arms making sort of funny looking. Plus despite his size, he doesn’t have the imposing presence that Venom has on the shelf.
If you just want a generic bad guy/monster on your shelf, this thing fits the bill, but it’s not a must have. He never even appeared in the comic story arc.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians:
The Lightning Thief
I’m not a big fan of young adult fiction. Like in most things, the stuff that gets the most attention is the stuff that doesn’t seem very good. Harry Potter? Twilight? Hello, people! Stuff that was interesting, like A Series of Unfortunate Events or His Dark Materials, got little to no fanfare even though the talent behind both seemed a level above that of JK Rowling or Stephanie Meyer. Call it a testament to the decline of the youth.
The first in what will inevitably become a series of mediocre movies, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the Lightning Thief, is based on a book by Rick Riordan. I never read the book so I can’t comment on it here, but let me tell you, the movie isn’t a great advertisement for it. The whole thing is an excuse to rehash the story of Harry Potter (which, let’s face it wasn’t all that original to begin with) and repackage it. Three kids, by some twist of fate blessed with powers, stand against the forces of evil… la dee da dee da.
After Chris Columbus did Harry Potter, I lost all interest in him as a director. He’s just not really a filmmaker who is good with special effects. He’s better suited to family drama and light comedy like Home Alone. It’s not a bad thing. But when he tries to helm these “blockbuster” event films, they seem to always fall flat. Nothing really feels real in this movie because the actors don’t really seem to believe it. It could be the fault of the actors, but since there isn’t a really moving performance anywhere here, I’d lay it at the feet of the director.
The screenwriter may also have something to do with this. This premise has a lot to offer. I love kid movies that can educate as well as entertain. That’s why I enjoyed the National Treasure series so much. But here, the squabbling of the gods and the feuds and the scandals get second billing to whining and posturing. Zeus and Poseidon’s argument that opens the film feels empty. You can’t read the millennia of history behind this quarrel, and everything after feels bereft of any dread.
The casting doesn’t really help either. Neither Logan Lerman nor Alexandra Daddario as the children of Poseidon and Athena respectively are anything more than a teenager shell. You’d think being dyslexic and unable to read even in high school would have more effect on kid than it does on Percy. You’d think that the ADHD would have alienated him a bit. But he seems a relatively well adjusted kid despite some scenes where he argues with his mother about his deadbeat step-father. He doesn’t feel like an outcast, so when he finds that place to belong, the emotion falls flat.
The rest of the characters are all pretty much one shots. Medusa, Persephone, Athena, Zeus, Hades, Chiron the centaur, the Ferryman, and all the others spend very little time on screen. Despite big name stars in the cast, most are playing bit parts. And they seem like it too. None of them seem very into their roles and nothing comes out of their mouths with any conviction.
Each of the sections of the movie feels compressed. You get the feeling for instance that the scene in the underworld took a chapter or more in the book. Here they’re done in about 5 minutes. You get the feeling like there was supposed to be entire pages of exposition fit in somewhere that just fell away somewhere. Why does his step-father’s smell hide him from the gods? Huh? I know that a lot of the time, immersion in the world of a film makes for a better experience, but this feels lazy rather than thought out.
What really gets me about this movie though is some of the ideas it seems to promote. The idea that worthiness is not earned hard work and perseverance, but are gifts of station, passed on by blood. Percy doesn’t earn his prowess with a sword through hard work and persistence. No, he suddenly finds himself an expert fencer by sticking his hand in water. In the span of a minute, he’s gone from face down in the dirt to standing over Annabeth, a student who has trained all her life. The Camp Half-blood (is that a stupid name or what?) instructors reveal that captains of industry and leaders of the world are all demigod, sons and daughters of the Pantheon.
What kind of message is that for the regular kid trying to make it through high school? This movie has basically told them that they’re shit out of luck. I mean even Harry had to go through years of training and had to work out all sorts of unlikely schemes to beat Voldemort. Granted that the idea of Hogwarts may be as elitist as that of Camp Half-blood, but at least the characters had to work at being the best. Percy just is the best, no real reason besides the accident of his birth.
Seriously, what the fuck?
Maybe I’m being too harsh. It’s unlikely that kids will pick up on this. Admittedly, I enjoyed my time in the theatre watching this movie and was thinking about what the sequels would be like. It was only when I left that I started thinking about these things.
I guess that’s what’s really wrong with Hollywood filmmaking these days. More and more, filmmakers just want the easy score, put people in the seats, but don’t make them think. Don’t give them anything to take home and ponder.
I don’t know about you, but I find that offensive.
Iron Man 2 Stealth Armor,
Mark V and Ironmonger
Say what you want, but there are perks about living here in the Philippines. Low cost of living, availability of public transportation, affordable higher education, and malls that are bigger than some towns in other countries. One of the best perks in my book is that we are so close to China and to the factories that make our favorite toys.
Overruns, rejects, bootlegs. We get them all, and a lot of them. If you’re not too particular about your figure having two thighs, or paint chips, or having no accessories, then you’re in luck. DC Universe, Marvel Legends, Transformers, all of these can be had for low low prices if you know the right places to look. You have to be careful in choosing and you need to know your stuff before you attempt to find those bargains. There are figures available in these places that belong in that evil workshop from Toy Story; parts from DC figures on Lord of the Rings figures, Marvel heads on DC, etc.
Imagine my surprise when I find some figures from the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie line on my local vendors shelf. Amazing!
I was a little late apparently so I wasn’t able to score the Mark III suit or War Machine, but I got myself a 3.75″ Stealth Suit and a Mark V, plus a smaller version of Ironmonger.
Like I said, you need to be careful when selecting these. Vendors normally only have a few pieces of each figure and most have two left legs or thighs, two right hands, missed paint applications, paint chips, etc. The 3 I found still had some chips and sloppy lines, but at Php 250 (Php 350 for Monger), I can live with that.
They’re a little hard to compare to the Marvel Universe figures since the MUs have more cartoonish proportions. Heads and hands tend to be bigger compared to the size of the torso. The new Iron Man 2 line seems to have more realistic proportions so their hands and feet may feel a little small at first to those used to style of the main Marvel line. Personally I like this new asthetic better.
Compared to the Modern Armor (and repaints) molds, these new ones have better designed articulation. They are small tweaks and offer only so much in the way of added flexibility, but it works much more naturally than the old joint scheme.
The two biggest differences are the return of ball-and-post hips and double hinge knees.
In my opinion, ball jointed hips are much preferred over the ball-sockets that the Marvel Universe figures sport. The ball-socket may may for a nicer silhouette, but the ability of a figure to achieve a wider stance is affected. You’ll also notice with a ball-socket joint, you need to place the thigh and leg parts at odd angles that don’t really line up as they would in real life. With the ball-post design, the thigh looks more natural compared to the position of the leg.
The double hinge knees are icing. There are many collectors who don’t like this kind of articulation because it affects the look of the sculpt. For me, the flexibility if offers outweighs any problems that show up. Plus, Iron Man is one of the few characters where the double knee isn’t too visible, especially behind any knee pads.
Of the two Iron Men, I like the look of the Stealth upgrade the best. I have the Classic Iron Man from the MU line and I always thought he looked a little on the scrawny side. This mold (which from the looks of it is another repaint from the classic yellow and red version that will be released with wave 1 of the movie line) is beefier and thicker than the original. It seems more like it could be a man in a suit. I know that’s a bone of contention amongy Iron Man collectors.
I also like it because of the fact that I once saw the Toys R’ Us exclusive boxset with Daredevil, Stealth Iron Man & Silver Surfer at a whopping P3,500+ at a local shop. I was tempted since that little blue man looked awesome, but it was insane to pay over a thousand for a single 3.75″ figure. Since that boxset never reached retail here, I’m glad to have this Stealth Armor to add to my armory without having to fork over that much scratch.
That’s not to say that the Mark V Armor isn’t impressive. It is. During the first movie toy line, the Mark V exclusive was just a straight repaint of the original mold. What maid it even worse was that the silver paint applications faded and in just one year, you were left with a Pink Centurion. This smaller version looks to be a brand new mold which looks unique from the Mark III (or is it IV in the new movie?).
The design features some elements that look almost like plate mail in front, along the legs and across the stomach area. It serves to further set the figure apart from the other armors in this series. According to some speculation on other websites, that’s because this is Tony Starks “portable armor” which folds into a brief case when he isn’t suited up. I guess we’ll have to wait till the movie opens to find out.
The articulation is blocked in some places by the various parts. The shoulder and hip movement are the two that are most affected, but they have the same range as their Marvel Universe counterpart anyway. I love how the hand is sculpted to look as if he’s firing off a repulsor blast. It’s one area where this armor really wins over the other, which has it’s hands sculpted for a more relaxed standing pose. Unfortunately, the wrist swivel is awfully loose on mine. I can’t tell if it’s a factory defect, the result of dozens of people inspecting it before me, or just a flaw in the sculpt. The hand doesn’t come off easy, but it does come off.
It was surprising that my favorite among the ones I found turned out to be the one I almost didn’t get. Since I already had a 6″ Ironmonger (open-cockpit version) I was on the fence about getting one that was only about 4.5″. Supposedly, the figure inside the Legends scale figure is supposed to be in the 1/18th scale (it’s really not) so it should be about the right size to mangle the Universe figures. If you ask me he’s a little too big.
I played with the thing for about 10 minutes at the store trying to decide whether or not to get him. What finally sold me was the articulation, which is great for a figure this bulky. He’s got even better joint work than his big brother, with ankle swivels and hinges that let him keep his feet flat on the floor. He’s also got a swivel neck, ball-post hips and hinges on his wrists.
He has all the detail of the bigger figure, too. The pistons and hydraulics are all there, the huge gears that move his arms, and the rivets on his back. He’s even two-toned, with some parts a dull gray, and others a shinier bluish tone.
All in all, this guy is really worth the projected retail price of Php 550.00. Like the Hulk figures in the Marvel Universe line (which are actually a bit shorter than this figure), the sheer amount of plastic used compared to the other two warrants the recommendation.
I’m okay with buying these 3 at the bargain price since according to pre-release photos, the figures aren’t coming with a lot of accessories that really matter. I wouldn’t mind if I wasn’t able to score better copies of these during the March 7th Philippine launch.
I’d recommend waiting for then to try for the War Machine or some of the other figures that have guns and missle launchers with them. Factory rejects usually come as the figure only. You’re likely to get a War Machine that doesn’t have anything to shoot the bad guy with.
If you watched the first movie and want a nice new desktop toy, I’d say get a few of these to goof around with. But unless you’re a completist, try and cherry pick the ones you like. Right now, I’ve heard there are going to be about 15-20 or more figures included in the first and second waves and it’ll likely retail for abou Php550-600.
That’s going to be hard on the wallet.
Toy Biz’ Planet of the Symbiotes: Venom The Madness
1996 was before my time as a toy collector. It was also before the Internet changed the hobby for us. When we were kids, the way we knew what was coming out was to go to the toystore and look. If you lived out in the boonies, you were dependent entirely on what you’re local department store toy buyers thought was going to be the next big thing. If they thought lawn darts were making a big come back you were up the proverbial intermittent excrement tributary without a means of propulsion.
When that World Wide Web finally did roll around, it turned things around for manufacturers, sellers, and buyers alike. Now you didn’t need to depend on catalog inserts in your boxes or schoolyard word of mouth to get the news out about the rest of your line. Now you had all sorts of avenues to information about coming releases and didn’t need the scratch to hire underpaid Japanese guys to produce a cartoon for you. Now you could order something online and have it delivered to your door even if you lived in the middle of nowhere with two sheep and a dog. Imagine what life was like for a completist back in the day!
The 90’s was when McFarlane Toys started making figures for the adult collector, setting the bar higher for all the other toy makers. It was when manufacturers realized that there was a market for toys targeted for older kids (at heart). It was also when Toy Biz first started making Marvel action figures.
When I first saw Toy Biz toys, I wasn’t really all that impressed. They weren’t really nice looking, and their sculptors seemed to have problems with proportion. I guess you couldn’t blame them. This was the era of Rob Liefeld and Erik Larsen, Jim Lee and all those other guys. Style was the name of the game. Anatomy be damned.
But apparently, Toy Biz got it’s act together and started pumping out some nice stuff by ‘96. Case in point; the “Planet of the Symbiotes” line. This line consisted of 9 figures; Hybrid, Lasher, Riot, and Venom the Madness, each with a variant repaint, with a 9th figure called Scream which was released solo.
Of the set, the only ones that really look passable are Riot and Venom. It’s a good thing my friend chose to get those two when he bought these as a kid in Singapore. I’ll review Riot later. Let’s stick with Venom.
According to the back of the card (which I don’t have really), during his stay on the Planet of the Symbiotes, Venom was pushed into a vat of toxic waste and mutated into a huge, hulking beast (more than he already was anyway). Can any one say Toxic Avenger? He grew more heads and arms, and apparently got a pair of red tentacles to play with. Insert assorted hentai flashbacks here.
I looked online for a glimpse of the card and found a gallery at www.figurerealm.com. The artwork looks pretty 90’s to me, and I can tell it would have been hard to keep these babies in pristine condition. Considering the weight those J-hooks would have had to take, every toy on the shelf must have been falling down, and every blister must have been falling off the card.
I tried looking this series up and some are harder to find than others. Venom looks relatively easy, but some of the variants look pretty rare. And even if you can find them, chances are they wouldn’t come cheap.
I wouldn’t mind finding a couple of my own, black and green to face off with my Spideys.
The figure itself is huge. He’s a bit smaller than the Toy Biz Marvel Legends Juggernaut. Considering this thing was released in a line that was only 5″ scale, that’s impressive. The sculpt is amazing looking, and really captures the look of Venom in the comics. The regular character I mean. I never read this “Planet” story arc. I’ve got no idea how The Madness looked after he got dunked. This may not be a faithful rendition at all. The comic could have had him with 20 heads, a dozen tentacles (ribbed for your pleasure), 4 arms, and one big white eye for all I know. He could have been dressed in knee socks and pig-tails.
What I’m saying is that this toy, on it’s own, is awesome.
It’s got an amazing amount of detail drawn in, with wrinkles around the mouth, the eyes, each tooth sculpted, the tongue whipping out. If you look closely at the arm, it’s even got ribbing along it, following his musculature. I don’t know if that’s canon, but like I said, who cares? It’s awesome.
He’s built pretty thick. Even though his chest is hollow, he’s pretty hefty and solid. The unit I was reviewing was splitting open along the seam of his torso, but it wasn’t anything superglue couldn’t fix. And face it, this thing is 14 years old. I’d say it’s hanging on like a trooper. Plastic quality is good, but more of the hard brittle kind rather than the rubbery kind Hasbro favors today. This isn’t something that a kid will be able to toss across the room.
The tentacles and the extra arms are made of the rubbery plastic though. They aren’t posable but it’s a neat looking gimmick. And since everything’s black, there’s no worry about discoloration.
The figure has an action feature, which was apparently a requirement back in the day. At least this one is unobtrusive. It’s a button on the back that pops three of his heads out of his shoulders. It’s a pretty nice play feature and doesn’t really affect his display potential.
More awesome.
While Venom: the Madness doesn’t really have as much articulation as the other Venoms in my collection, he does rank because of the sheer excellence of his sculpt. Venom was never really anything more than a brickbat for Spider-man anyway, something that was thrown at him, without finesse. Sure it’s nice when we get a figure like the Spider-man 3 6″ one that can really match the McFarlane Spider-Man figure pose for pose, but there’s something to be said for a great big, meanacing block of goo that looks as if it’s about to eat you.
So if you can find this guy, I highly recommend him. His articulation isn’t really anything useful, but he makes for a nice centerpiece for a Spider-man collection. The detail of the sculpt and the size of the figure really allow him to hold his own with the 6″ crowd.
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.
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