Ultra Hero Best Set 02 (Bandai Sofubi)

In this second box set of Ultra Sofubi we have the main heroes of the Heisei era. From 1996 Ultraman Tiga, from 1997 Ultraman Dyna, from 1998 Ultraman Gaia, from 2001 Ultraman Cosmos, from 2005 Ultraman Mebius, and from 2009 Ultraman Zero.

I have only seen a few episodes of their respective series but I have seen all of Ultraman Zero's appearances as he was created to star in a series of movies rather than a traditional TV series.

Each of these Ultras has several other forms and I'm not sure how Bandai decided which form would be represented here as there's a mix of base forms and power-up forms.

(Tiga)(Dyna)(Gaia)(Cosmos)(Mebius)(Zero)(Group Shots)

Build Ressha Gattai & Drill Ressha (Mini-pla)

My newest obsession from the world of tokusatsu collectibles is the mini-pla line. These are small plastic models that you assemble to form pretty decent action figures of various Super Sentai mecha that transform and combine like they do in the shows. Over the past few months I've accumulated a bunch of these guys and wasn't really sure where to start.

After thinking it over far too much I decided to start with the mecha of my favourite character from one of the first Super Sentai shows I watched, Ressha Sentai ToQger. Basically, Rainbow Imagination Train Rangers would be the American title which I'm sure we'll never actually see :(

So that brings us to ToQ Rokugou the orange sixth ranger who's a reformed Shadow Line rain monster that plays sad harmonica despite being clad in neon safety orange. I love him so much.

ToQ 6-gou drives the Build Ressha double train that forms Build Ressha Gattai Dai-Oh which makes up 3/4 of the boxes in this wave of ToQger mini-pla.

The fourth and final box in this wave contains the Drill Ressha, one of the auxiliary weapon trains that can replace an arm on Build Ressha Gattai Dai-Oh, ToQ-Oh, or Diesel-Oh.

Ocean Master (DC Signature Classics)

Ocean Master is one of Aquaman's arch-foes. Orm Marius is Aquaman's half-brother who covets the throne of Atlantis. He first appeared in 1966's Aquaman #29 but this is his look(sans goatee)  from the 1990's Aquaman book written by Peter David, the same series that gave us hook-hand Aquaman.

Honestly this isn't much of a departure from his previous costume, just coordinating the colours a bit better. His backstory changed more than his outfit though he was still Aquaman's half-brother what tends to get changed is which parent is shared between them. 

This figure has the typical DC Universe Classics articulation and he comes with his signature staff which in the mid-90's was made extra powerful by a demon in exchange for Orm's soul. Oh, the 90's. After I got ahold of "lefty" Aquaman it just felt right to have this version of Ocean Master to go along with him.

Mechanical Planet Robot (Schylling)

It's fairly well established at this point that I love robots. I don't know if I really realised how much I love robots until looking at this blog and seeing just how many robot toys I own.  This dude is the grand-daddy of them all. Or close enough. First appearing in a sci-fi adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" starring Leslie Nielsen, Robby the Robot is the most memorable part of "Forbidden Planet." 

Schylling has made a replica of the original Robby the Robot toys sold in the 1950's. This one has a shiny chrome finish. You can wind it up and it walks and there's even a sparking mechanism in its chest that's visible through the translucent sections. The only articulation is in the legs but that's just about all the articulation the original Robby had. After his first film appearance in 1956 he became a science fiction icon and appeared in many other films and TV shows including "Lost in Space" which is probably where I first saw him.

I found this guy in a comic book store in Calgary, AB and it was affordable enough that I just couldn't resist. Around the same time I read a book all about Space Age collectibles that was a lot of fun and spotlighted a lot of other cool old toys but I'm content with this modern reproduction of a genuine classic.