Hiatus...

This blog will be taking a (hopefully) brief hiatus for at least the rest of the summer because: moving. Thanks for your viewership and I hope to return to blogging in the autumn but it will definitely be at a slower pace.

Ciao for niao.

Lion-O (Thundercats Classics)

Lion-O is the leader of the Thundercats. As the prince of Thundera he is whisked off planet before it is destroyed. Their spaceship crashes on Third Earth and Lion-O must learn to wield the Sword of Omens and fulfil his destiny as the Lord of the Thundercats and protect his people from the machinations of Mumm-Ra. Thundercats Classics is the short lived follow-up to Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics. The articulation is the same and the sculpting and painting is superb. Unfortunately the future of this line is very up-in-the-air and only the first wave has been produced.

Crimson Typhoon (Pacific Rim)

Crimson Typhoon is the Chinese-piloted Jaeger from Guillermo del Toro's amazing film "Pacific Rim." The schtick with this giant robot was that it was piloted by a trio of brothers, hence the extra arm. I have a few other Pacific Rim figures and I think that Crimson Typhoon has the best articulation of the Jaegers.

Nightbeat Deluxe Class Figure (Generations Thrilling 30)

Nightbeat is obsessed with mystery and is Cybertron's greatest detective. His character was popular in the Transformers comics penned by Simon Furman. This figure is a redeco of the Thrilling 30 Bumblebee figure with a new head. I would've liked to see a new chest piece that better resembled his distinctive G1 look. When this figure was originally announced he appeared to be a redeco of the "Special Ops Jazz" mould. To differentiate him from Bumblebee I took a few shots with his doors facing down in robot mode. I stole this idea from somewhere online but for the life of me I can't remember where. (Oh wait it was David Willis, isn't it always?)

Kamen Rider Black Renewal Version (S.H. Figuarts)

Kamen Rider Black was one of the early S.H. Figuarts from back in 2009. After five more years of engineering refinement Tamashii Nations released an updated figure of Minami Kohtaro's cybernetic alter ego. And here he is: the costume is molded to look more like fabric and has a more matte finish which fans tend to say looks more "realistic" than the glossy paint of yesteryear. Gone are the die cast feet but the joints are redesigned and he comes with more hands, including a pair of motorcycle handle holding hands to go with his "Battle Hopper" motorcycle which I do NOT own and am slightly bitter about because of some unfortunate circumstances that I'm clearly not as over as I thought. ANYWAY... I do like the proportions and some of the detailing on this renewal version of Kamen Rider Black, but some of the articulation is just as fiddly as the original and I don't think the waist is particularly successful though I'm not sure how they'd fix that.

Kamen Rider Black (S.H. Figuarts)

I have a lot of S.H. Figuarts figures and I've been reluctant to blog about them because of all the accessories and extreme articulation seemed like it would take a long time and more creativity than I could muster when I started this journey.

But now I'm going to take the plunge, starting with the first Kamen Rider figure I acquired: Kamen Rider Black. Kohtaro Minami was turned into a cyborg by the evil Gorgom but like the original Kamen Rider he rebelled and fought against them. Kamen Rider Black was a back-to-basics approach to the series after a few years off the air and was the first Showa Kamen Rider series I watched.  The design is sleek and classic but definitely rooted in the eighties (though not as much as Kotaro's civvies). This is the first version released by Bandai Tamashii Nations and the proportions are a little wonky, the paint is very glossy, but he has sweet die cast metal feet and the compound eyes look great.

Commissioner Gordon - B:TAS (DC Collectibles)

Batman's staunchest ally in the GCPD is Commissioner Gordon. The bespectacled leader of the Gotham Police is dressed in some snazzy threads that would look equally at home in the 1940's as the 1990's. I love his Astroboy-esque cowlick that would defy 3-D rendering but they managed to make it work. His overcoat is some sort of rubber that allows for a decent range of movement. Accessories are limited to the now standard alt-hands, a revolver, and a bullhorn.