Mighty Muggs Transformers
If I was made of pesos, one of the lines I would love to start collecting would be Hasbro’s Mighty Muggs. The line is Hasbro’s answer to the designer toys fad that started in the 90’s and which is still going strong with brands/stores like Mindstyle and FreshManila. Most of these toys are styled to be cute and slick looking, rather than realistic. They look influenced by graphitti art and anime and often more of a display piece than an articulated toy. they’re usually made of vinyl or similar material. In the case of Mighty Muggs, it’s one of the selling points; as their box says, they’re “made from 100% recycled materials”.
The boxes for the Mighty Muggs line are all similar and are meant to be a way to store the toys easily. There is very little wasted space since there really isn’t much to protect except the paint. They all have artwork on all 4 sides, with a window that wraps around 2 of them. Even the top flap of the box has art on it. The illustrations are 2D representations of the paint scheme on the toy inside, and is meant to identify each of the toys when not displayed. I’ve got 4 and let me tell you, they look very nice on a bookshelf, especially if you’re bookending a comic collection.
Like I said, at p700.00 to p1,500.00 each, I can’t really afford alot of these. I would rather get a Deluxe Class transformer than that price for a non-articulated decoration, but in certain cases, I just can’t resist. I picked up Optimus Prime and Bumblebee as soon as the hit the shelves in Toy Kingdom.
Seriously, I can not express how cool these toys are. Even if you’re a joint junkie, I would suggest picking your favorite character and getting one of these for your collection. They are just made of AWESOME. They all have a generic mold, though some have some variations, like ‘Bee’s horns. They actually made him smaller than Prime by cutting his feet off at the knees. They toy is molded out of a hard plastic that is really tough. It’s not going to deform if you drop them, but it will scratch.
Paint is pretty standard all around. There aren’t a lot of details as they are meant as caricatures, but the lines are crisp and the applications clean. Most are painted in a matte finish that doesn’t seem to retain finger prints which is good. There are also versions like the SDCC Prime or last year’s Ironman that are shiny, but I prefer the regular releases.
Accessories vary from figure to figure. Prime comes with his rifle, an achingly cute version of his G1 blaster. ‘Bee doesn’t come with anything, but when did he ever?
All in all, these are some of my favorite toys in my collection, and either looks great next to Optimash Prime from the Potato Head line. I’m planning to get the rest of the TF sub-line soon, but since Megatron and Soundwave are about a grand each, it’s going to have to wait.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
There are times when I question exactly how evolved a species man really is. Sure we’ve got opposable thumbs, fire, language, the use of tools, etc. and so forth, but put a pair of breasts in a push-up bra in front of us and we are reduced to blubbering idiots.
Director Stephen Sommers of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra seems to understand that fact very well. If you’ll think back to Deep Rising, his first hit, in which Famke Janssen runs screaming around a luxury liner in a wet tank top, or Mummy 2 where Rachel Weisz and Patricia Velasquez play out a centuries long cat fight, or Van Helsing with that fantastic pan up Kate Beckinsale’s legs… you see where I’m going with this, right? And unlike Michael Bay, whose female characters don’t really seem to graduate from pretty damsel in distress, Sommer’s leading ladies tend to kick ass.
If you’re a Scarlett/Baroness fan, or a Rachel Nichols/Sienna Miller fan, you’ll love this. The two lovely ladies get far more screen time than their male co-stars, and much of it is spent in skin tight leather and lycra. In fact, you may need to check yourself if you’re watching this with someone. Eyes will tend to gravitate towards the bottom of the screen whenever Nichols or Baroness gets a close up.
Even if you’re NOT an incorrigible horn dog, this movie is highly entertaining. Is it a great “film”. Not by any stretch. It’s not going to win any awards. The acting isn’t stellar. You’re not going to go “Wow! that cinematography was something, wasn’t it?” when you talk to people after. More than likely you’ll say something like, “Holy shit, man! Wasn’t that Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow fight great?!” to your geeky childhood friend or “Snake Eyes FTW!” on some forum board when you get home. There was a reason that this movie wasn’t screened for critics before it opened, and it’s not because the studio wants “audiences to define this film”.
This is a film for geeks who watched the TV series on Saturday mornings and learned their morals from Duke and Stalker and Lady Jaye. It’s a film for boys who begged their parents to buy them the USS Flagg or the Defiant playsets because Billy down the street got it for Christmas and it’s not fair that you don’t have one. It’s for people who know why the other geek in the audience is dripping coke from his nostrils after Hawk utters the line “… and knowing is half the battle”. If you’ve ever been to an Oscar Award winning movie or a foreign film fest and said to yourself, “I don’t get it…” then you’re probably inculded in the target demographic for this thing. Between the hardware, actions sequences, geek culture references, and impossibly pretty women, you’ll probably find something to float your boat.
Now if you went in thinking there was some kind of plot, forget it. The story is that an arms dealer (one guess who) has hired the Army to escort a case of special warheads and it’s stolen by an unknown group of well armed terrorists. The survivors are saved by a secret international anti-terrorist group and decide to join so that they can recover the weapons. It’s barely better than Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, though Sommers’ storytelling skills are far superior to Bay’s, and the humor isn’t as low brow.
Casting is a little odd. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Doctor (no not Mindbender) isn’t really that great. I can’t stop picturing him in 3rd Rock from the Sun, no matter how much he’s done since. The same goes for Christopher Eccleston, who will always be the 9th Doctor to me now. There are also a few cameos from the list of Sommers’ film alumni. Arnold Vosloo, Brendan Fraser, and Kevin J. O’Connor (who has been in every single Sommers flick I’ve seen except Mummy 2) all make an appearance. I also liked Byung-hun Lee’s Storm Shadow, and as a result, hope that some dude on the board gets tired of his Paris Pursuit version of the toy soon.
The Joes themselves are pretty good. The aforementioned Nichols is really why I paid to see the movie, and she’s worth the price. There’s something about redheads that just does it for me. Ray Park is Ray Park. Honestly speaking, the rest of them could have been anyone really and I wouldn’t have cared. I do love the fact that Jonathan Pryce is here. I mean how cool is that?
The only real thing I had a problem with is the clunky placement of the flashbacks. I won’t go into them in depth since there are nice little nods for long time Joe fans, but they kind of just feel slapped into places where some Joe is doing nothing. They don’t really fit (though they are nicely done). I’d hesitate to say it would have been better to just tack them on the beginning, because it might have made the movie more about one character rather than the team. It’s a small thing anyway, and since they’re pretty action packed, most won’t care they’re there.
So what are you waiting for? Tomorrow is the official opening day of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Go out and watch it. Bring the kids. Then go out and buy the toys. Then buy the toys for your kids. Then for your cousins. Then for your neighbors second cousins twice removed.
That way, Hasbro will bank obscene amounts of money and we’ll see a G.I. Joe 2.
Colossus & Wolverine
I’m still not completely sold on the whole Hasbro 3.75″ craze. I’ve gotten a few G.I. Joes (because who can resist a ninja in white?), and a few Ironmen (because he’s almost like a Transformer) and Hulk toys (because he’s the Hulk, duh), but for the most part I’ve largely been able to avoid the temptation to start actively collecting the new Marvel Universe line. Since the single figures are now at p550.00, I’m sure becoming a completist would quickly lead to bankruptcy and starvation. Or at the very least, a few under the table organ donations. Thank you, medical tourism!
But when I saw the new Wolverine Origins Colossus & wolverine 2-pack with that wicked new costume and the great looking sculpt, I just had to get one to add to my Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin collection.
I’m not sure which story arc this costume’s from, or which artist designed it (if you know, please tell me), but it’s really something. This is right up there with Joe Madureira’s design or Chris Bachalo’s. I can not understand why he hasn’t gotten more figures yet, despite what? 30 waves of Marvel figures now? I’d love an Age of Apocalypse 2-pack with Shadowcat, or an Ultimate Universe Colossus. We haven’t seen those yet, but we get a Moleman?
Anyway, this version is in the 3.75″ scale of Marvel Universe and the Wolverine Origins line, so he’d be right at home next to the X-men Animated figure or the old Superhero Showdown one. He’s closer to 4″ though, and stands taller than Logan.
This makes Wolverine the perfect size next to the 2-pack Sabertooth as well.
His face is closer to that of the cartoon representations of the character. It’s very blocky and stylized, so even if I think he’s the bee’s knees, the fact is arguable at best. He does have a great grimace on his face which is better than you can say for many of the new Return of Cobra figures which all look as if they’re watching a particularly boring movie.
Wolverine’s is pretty good too. It’s sculpted with a look of anger, or frustration? Not really sure what the artist was going for. It could be he’s just constipated. It’s closer to the toy from the Forge/Wolverine 2-pack that came out a few months back than it is to the Hugh Jackman ladies man.
The rest of the sculpt on both of the figures is excellent as well. Wolvie’s got a nice mask and cowl that is a seperate piece. You have to yank off his head and put it on. It hangs in the back as if ready to be pulled on. Retard that I am, I thought it was supposed to be a removable mask so I had him wearing it on front before I realized there were wrinkles. Place headpalm here. There are what look like seams in his costume as well, and nice little details in his boots. Very good.
Colossus has the customary cut lines that show that his skin is strips of “organic” metal. They’re all well done and defined. His belt and boots have the same detail as Wolvie, and he’s even got sculpted “knuckles”.
Articulation is superb on Wolverine, since he’s got all the necessary joints. Hasbro still loves it’s combo elbow, but recent figures have been sculpted to allow a nice 45 degrees to this joint. They basically take a little out of the forearm where it meets the bicep and they can bend their arm nicely. I wish they’d thought of this before they produced the Icons Colossus. Piotr doesn’t fare as well, and I knew that going in. He’s got a nice ball joint in each shoulder and his neck, and a cut joint at the wrists, but that’s about it. He’s not really as much a figure as he is an accessory. He’s supposed to be a means to throw wolverine into the air, like their signature move in the comics, “the fastball special”. It doesn’t work as well as intended. I don’t think kids will notice, but the positions Wolverine needs to be in to be thrown are nothing like they were in the comics and are downright lewd to anyone over 8.
There are also two other problems with his action feature. First, the spring’s strength isn’t really impressive and the Wolverine figure isn’t thrown as much as he is clumsily dropped. Second, with Wolverine’s weight, Colossus can’t stand at all. He falls over if he’s holding the other figure, no matter how you pose him. It took me a good 10 minutes just to get that first pic, and I gave up on the second one. I’m supporting him out of frame. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone.
Paint is also a problem. I didn’t notice much on Wolverine,but the register lines on Colossus are just plain poor. The yellow and red on the one I have look like they were painted on by 3 year olds on crack.
You’ll also want to watch out for factory defects. The Wolverine on mine had his right leg attached on backward. I had to perform a battlefield amputation at the knee turn his thigh around, and snap it back on to his the right way before I snapped the pictures. It’s good I was able to fix it, but you’ll want to look and see that the one you pick up doesn’t have two right thighs or something. That can’t be fixed and can really be a downer.
The biggest mark against Hasbro on this one is that Wolverine is sulpted in such a way that he can’t look up. No matter what you do, the limitations of his sculpt mean that he is looking at constantly looking at his hands. It might have been ok if it was Colossus, but this guy’s shorter than everyone he knows.
At p700.00, these two are a good deal cheaper than the single figures in their line. I think Wolverine Origins goes for p450.00 now. Even with the quality control issues and Wolverines inability to watch where he’s going, I’d recommend these for the following reasons; fun factor (the launching gimmick may not work, but you can pretend), percieved value (p700.00 is alot of cash for small figures, but you are getting 2 of them), and the fact that this is a great looking pair.
If you want them, though, be prepared for a hunt. When this wave was stocked in Toy Kingdom, it was the first to fly off the shelf.
Nemesis Prime
Originally posted at slangards.multiply.com
So, if you’ve read my Classics Optimus Prime review here,then you know that the Classics version of Optimus is my favorite version of the immortal Autobot leader. While it doesn’t have the size, the diecast parts or the other bells and whistles of the Masterpeice version, the design looks alot more modern. Plus, at the MP01’s scale, you know you’re never going to have the rest of the Autobots, and what is Prime without his team?
So anyway, when I saw this baby at a severely discounted price (only P1,000.00, about $20) at the Christmas Toyfair, I just had to have him. From my trips to Greenhills last year, he was from about 1.8k to 2.5k, depending on the store you found him in. If you go to Greenhills now, you might still find him in some of the specialty shops at a similar discount.
There’s really no difference from the US version of Optimus, aside from color. Nemesis Prime’s paint scheme is just about identical, except that the red is replaced by black, the yellow by an odd turquoise, and the blue by a dark sea green. The silver highlights are the same, except for his wheels which are a nice bronze. I would have preferred if they had made his lower legs black and casted his windows in a nice purple or red rather than the same blue as the original, but can’t have everything.
Since I wasn’t able to give a size comparison in the last review of this figure (I didn’t have these other Primes then), Here are some pics against Masterpiece Ultra Magnus, Nightwatch Prime, and with the Fans Project trailer for Classics Ultra Magnus:
As you can see above, he’s not as imposing as any of the leader class figures, and nowhere near as hulking as the Masterpiece line, but darn it if he don’t look good with that trailer. If the Shadow Commander kit wasn’t so darned expensive, I might have considered getting the black version for him (still might if payday coincides with its release).
They did add one nice touch to the figure that the Autobot didn’t have; a Decepticon logo on his shoulder, and on the outside of his vehicle mode. Good on Hasbro for throwing that in. He still retains the ugly gray arms and grill that the first one had (It’s mainly what sold me on the Henkei version of Prime). For awhile I was actually contemplating getting a second Henkei to kitbash the chromed grill, but I have too many of these as it is…
In robot mode, Nemesis Prime is one bad-@$$ mother. Since he shares the mold from Optimus, he’s just as tall compared to the Classics/Universe Autobots. With the bad boy paint job, he’s twice as macho looking. With the chest and the boots and the shoulders. If I was a gay robot…
Okay, I’m back. I would have loved it if they had just borrowed Skywarp’s colors instead of the odd mix of blue, black, and green. Purple and black always seems to screams “EVIL!”. The colors Hasbro used on Nemesis sort of just speak it in a firm, yet not overly loud, voice.
Since Hasbro dropped the ball somewhat and didn’t include any extra accessories with either Optimus or Nemesis, I like to display mine with Animated Swoop’s mace. He doesn’t need it anyway in Pterodactyl form, and it looks much better in a Decepticon’s hands. Now face off with Prime and…
Now go and buy him!
Optimus Prime:
TF Classic vs. Henkei
Originally posted on slangards.multiply.com
I’ve been hesitant to pick up the Japanese versions of the Transformer Classic (TFC) lines (Henkei), since they are basically the same toy with slightly better applications and paint. Then I saw their version of autobot leader of Optimus Prime in a Cybertron PH display at the recent Hasbro Grand Toy Fair and was totally convinced. It’s esentially the same toy, with just subtle changes, but those little things go a really long way to selling the toy!
Unlike the American version of TFC Prime, the toy is packaged in his robot form. The box is ALOT smaller than the TFC version (always a good thing for loose collectors who may want to keep the boxes), but it’s covered jumbles of words and pictures in the common Japanese aesthetic (bad thing for guys who grew up in the US). It’s got a nice window that lets you see the figure you’re getting, but from the examples I saw on the shelf at Toy Kingdom, quality control isn’t as much of an issue with Takara Tomy as it is with Hasbro.
The first thing I noticed is that the legs are not just molded out of cheap looking grey plastic, but painted in a nice silvery finish. The US version also has some blue paint applications where you’ll see alot of badly registered lines. One for Takara!
The second was that this version had the Autobot insignia on him! The TFC version doesn’t. A really bad oversight on Hasbro’s part since this is THE Autobot, the one a generation cried over after seeing the animated movie. C’mon, Hasbro! You’ve been doing this for 20-30 years! What happened?! Two to Takara!
Third is that there are less of those garish yellow highlights that the Classics version has (arms, crotch, etc). They’re itty bitty spots really, but the yellow always seemed to shout at me from the red areas and it didn’t look right. Also on the arms, you’ll see that they are a solid red. The grey arms of the Hasbro version now looks to me like Prime in shirt sleeves, rolled up after a hard day at work. Not cool. That’s three strikes, Hasbro! You’re out!
The last and best difference between the Henkei and Hasbro lines is the use of the silvery parts. These are different from the silver paint on the legs. They’re more vac-metallized, though I’m unsure if that’s the process they used here. Apparently, all Henkei toys use these parts and it’s hit an miss in my opinion (for example, I don’t like the silver missles on the Seekers).
On Prime, they used it in his Truck mode, for his grill and bumper. Takara Tomy FTW!
I’m really not sure where to get him now. I got mine at Toy Kingdom in Podium for P1,300 and saw some at TK in SM Marikina a couple of weeks ago, but they are both probably out of stock. If you don’t have TFC Prime and see this guy, grab him and don’t think twice.
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.
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Slangards
