Looking at October

I plan on attempting to post every day in October. Hopefully that will help me get all of my back-log of collectibles up on the blog.

Hawkman

 Hawkman is a pretty cool looking figure, though I prefer Hawkgirl as a character. The mold is pretty good, with moving wings and armor for the shoulder and knees. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more effort put into the detail of all the armor, but the feathers on the wings look pretty spot-on. He doesn't even seem to have much trouble being back heavy, supporting those wings pretty well. The only issue I've had is that he took a tumble off the shelf one time, and lost the knee-cop on his left leg. I imaging it'll turn up at some point, but 'til now I haven't been able to find it.

Marvel Legends -- Venom

Venom is a pretty badass character. This figure has some badass qualities. His spare head with the tongue sticking out is a fantastic addition, but I kind of wish the white spider was better executed. As it turns out, there is now a build-a-figure version of Venom, so this one may turn out to be obsolete anyway.

I do like this figure, and when posed in the right way he can really pull off the animalistic look so often given to Venom. He's also a bit larger than the average Legends figure, so he definitely has a presence on the shelf.

HG 1/100 Serpent Custom

 This Serpent might just be my oldest gundam model. This kit released in June 2000, and I probably got my hands on it at around that same time. So it's very dusty, though it's managed to stay together pretty well through the years (and multiple moves), which might say something about the way it's built.

 I did break one of the double-gatling guns years back, so he's stuck with the bazooka in one hand. His beam cannon still sits firmly on his back. His shoulder can still hold that bazooka up pretty well, but the gatling gun is stuck in that droopy position. These old, turn of the millenium kits were kits that I used as toys, so it's overall good shape is astounding.

 Again, I'd love to see this given the Master Grade treatment. Or even the RE/100 treatment. As long as we can get a little more detail and a lot more stability (all his joints are pretty loose), I'd be ecstatic. And it would give me an excuse to grab another one of these kits.

Marvel Legends -- Hawkeye

I will be absolutely honest, I bought this figure for the Build-A-Figure piece. More precisely, I found a sale in which I could obtain the three remaining pieces of the figure I wanted for roughly the same cost as buying the pieces separately on Ebay. So I managed to pick up a Hawkeye figure which will almost surely be replaced at some point. But this figure does manage to pull off the look. The single biggest issue I have with the figure is that mine seems to have difficulty holding the bow in the left hand (the bow is designed to be held in the left, and the arrow in the right).

Marvel Legends -- Scarlet Witch

I'm a fan of this figure, the classic Scarlet Witch look. I'm also a fan of the Elizabeth Olson version of Scarlet Witch, though I don't have one yet. The problem with this figure is that she is so slim and her costume so skimpy that it is very difficult to hide the joints. It is a solid figure, but it definitely looks like a figure. I really like the pink magic effect pieces, and the only thing I wish this figure came with was a few extra hands in different positions.

I do have to say, I'm pretty impressed by how well the figure continues to stand. Small, heeled feet tend to lead to figures falling over, but the cape adds a third point of contact which helps her stay upright. This is one of the earliest Marvel figures I purchased, and it has never fallen down.

Marvel Legends -- Captain America/Capwolf

So, as it turns out, Captain America has spent some time as a werewolf... who knew? The Captain America figures based on the more recent movies would look a little more realistic, and I might still get one, but once I saw the wolf head I was so intrigued (and I needed a Cap anyway). This figure has a really nice, old-school feel to it, which I like.

Also, the werewolf head is pretty awesome.

RE/100 Efreet Custom

The Efreet Custom was my first foray into the RE/100 series recently launched by Bandai. I feared the series would be a scaled up HGUC, but I do love my Zeon mobile suits, so I went out and got the Efreet. I didn't like the orange on blue at first glance, but the colors really pop in person and look great together. The white trim on the legs and missile pods look really sharp, and the updates made to the skirt, head and shoulders look really great.

Dubbed the MS-08TX[EXAM] Efreet Custom, this Efreet was first seen in the Sega Saturn games Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny as the main rival to series protagonist Yuu Kajima and the Blue Destiny Unit 01.

I especially love the sculpt of the head and chest, and the use of orange around the chest vents. Also, even without the inner frame of a Master Grade, the kit is surprisingly stable and posable. Ultimately, I really liked this kit and I'm looking forward to working on some new entries out of the RE/100 line, especially the upcoming release of the Bawoo.

S.H. Figurarts -- Trunks

Deviantart by luishatakeuchiha

Dragon Ball Z was perhaps my favorite show as a child (Power Rangers came earlier and was perhaps just as big a factor in my childhood). My favorite arc of the story came when a young, mysterious teenager traveled back in time to reveal a looming threat to the Z-fighters. Trunks was one of the coolest characters in the series almost immediately, and was the son of my favorite character in the universe, Vegeta.

The Cell Saga was the pinnacle of the Dragon Ball Z story to me, and Trunks was the driving character. To this day, I see the end of the Cell Games as the official ending to Dragon Ball Z. While I enjoy much of what happened in the Buu Saga, it just wasn't the same series.

In the series, my favorite outfits were always the Saiyan-style armor, so the combination of Trunks with the classic Saiyan armor and the awesome new hairstyle he gained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber all leads to one of my favorite character designs in all of anime history.

This is the first figure I've bought in the Figuarts lineup, as the price is usually much too steep for me to justify spending on a toy. But boy, I'm impressed. The figure's a little smaller than I would have liked, but it's amazing when it comes to level of detail, articulation, color, and optional parts. It can be hard to translate a 2-dimensional character into a 3-dimensional figure, but this figure is Trunks down to every detail. I'm looking forward to adding more pieces from this collection.

 

 

Green Lantern

This Green Lantern figure, based on the Hal Jordan Lantern from Justice League: War. I loved the design, and I've always found the Green Lantern uniform to be visually appealing, so one would think that this figure would be an easy win. Not quite so. The figure does look great, but it lacks articulation in many areas that we are accustomed to in many other action figure lines. His head only turns side to side, his torso has no articulation, his shoulder joints work well, but his elbow is single-jointed, which means less than a 90-degree bend. No articulation in the wrists or ankles. Of all my DC Collectibles figures, this is the only one that needs a stand to remain consistently upright.

Black Series -- Poe Dameron

This particular Poe Dameron Black Series figure came in a Target exclusive 2-pack with a riot-control storm trooper. At this point, this is probably the weakest entry into the Black Series that I have owned. I am not a huge fan. Part of the problem is that it is hard to pull off the stubble look on an action figure. The paint job is not the sharpest I've seen, and some of the colors seem to be kind of off -- especially the pants.

Luckily, even though I find this figure unimpressive, the second figure in the pack made up for it. I'll certainly post it at some point, but any kind of different storm troopers are always welcome.