Hiatus

It's been a while since my last post and it'll likely be a longer while before my next. We're expecting a little master of the unknown to be born and so with all the things that come with that I just haven't had much time to prepare any posts or take any pictures. Also I'm not sure where I'll be able to set up my photo box once the little guy comes along as it's currently in what will be the baby's room.

I have a handful of photos that I haven't finished cropping and so there might be a trickle of posts through the summer but my weekly schedule is just not feasible at the moment.

I hope you enjoy the figures I've shown you thus far and I hope to be able to come back with some regularity in the not-too-too-distant future.

Mysteriously Yours
Inverse Square, Master of the Unknown
ISMOTU

Zodac & Beastman (Masters of the Universe Minis)

I'm almost through the Masters of the Universe Minis with the fifth of six sets. Here we have cosmic enforcer Zodac and Skeletor's savage henchman Beastman.

This set brings together perhaps my favourite Master of the Universe with one of my least favourites.

(Zodac)(Beastman)(Both)

Sideswipe (Transformers Generations: Fall of Cybertron)

Fall of Cybertron Sideswipe is one of the first figures I bought when started collecting Transformers seriously regularly again. I probably picked him up while I was still working in China and the Transformers: Prime show had captured my interest and renewed the spark of my Cybertronian obsession.

As a specific character I don't have much of an affinity for Sideswipe. He's your basic robot who turns into a red sports car with a personality to match. I'm not generally drawn to the brash, hotheaded characters. But this is a pretty decent figure even if his chest sticks out so far I couldn't focus the camera on both his head and chest at the same time.

(Vehicle Mode)(Robot Mode)

Hawkeye (Marvel Legends Vintage)

The Avenging Archer, Hawkeye! Clint Barton was a circus performer who became a villain while trying to get into Black Widow's pants but then saw the error of his ways and joined the Avengers by tying up their butler. Because it was the 60's!

This figure comes in the fun retro-90's packaging but is an example of a character who didn't get a release in the original Marvel Superheroes line. 

GinGin (HL Pro Metaltech)

A little late! But I'm back. Not sure if the schedule will be reliably weekly due to "circumstances" but I'll do my best!

GinGin is the saucer beast who appeared in episode 7 of the UFO Robo Grendizer anime. He is a great design for a monster-of-the-week character and you can see why he gets a release early on.

Villain figures tend to be more rare in toylines, even those catering to a collector's market. I hope to get a hold of more of Metaltech's Grendizer offerings but these guys do not come cheap.

The hefty die cast metal construction explains the hefty price tag. 

Pedro (Shazam! Movie)

The penultimate member of the Shazam Family seen in the film is Pedro. He's quiet and reserved but his inner strength is revealed when he says the wizard's name.

I'm a solid fan of this design. I like green and I'm always on team beard. The character himself was only in the movie for a few minutes (even un-Shazam'd) and in the comics he's a new character like the rest of the foster kids besides Billy, Mary, and Freddy. Pedro's got probably less than 20 comics appearances thus far and he's already in a movie! That's what happens when Geoff Johns is your creator I guess...

Grimm Ghost & Sanzo Ghost GC-10 (Ghost Change)

This set of Parka Ghosts are the main two used by the villainous Kamen Rider Necrom. The Grimm Damashii is based on the Brothers Grimm who collected the dark folk tales of Europe and whose name(s) are synomyous with fairy tales. Then we have the Sanzo Damashii representing the monk who inspired the Chinese classic "Journey to the West."

Necrom didn't get as many other forms as the heroic Rider but that's not too surprising. I always love the ridiculousness of the Parka Ghosts but they tend to be less cool in my mind than the electric neon of the base forms.
(Grimm Damashii)(Sanzo Damashii)

Lion-O (Savage World)

Lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O, is here in 80's-tastic glory and in a whole new scale. He is armed as always with the Sword of Omens and his claw shield. The Savage World continues to be fun and I'll get into the second wave in a little bit. I try to do a bit of a rotation through my various fandoms but there's no hard and fast schedule. And as a peek behind the curtain I'll often prepare several posts at once but after nearly ruining the fun of this blog with a few too many theme weeks I'm sticking to a strict one post per week rate. It allows me more freedom and less deadline stress. Because toys are supposed to be fun right?

That was bit longer winded than I tend to be especially about stuff that's not the figure on display. That's probably because I've talked about three other Savage World figures already and I did talk a bit more about Lion-O in my post about his Thundercats Classics figure.

Lando Calrissian from Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars Black Series)

"How ya doin' you old pirate?!"

Lando Calrissian is an old friend of Han Solo's who harbours the Millennium Falcon on his Cloud City on the planet Bespin after Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids escape from the Empire after the battle of Hoth.

This figure pulled straight from "The Empire Strikes Back" and captures the charm of the character pretty well. The face sculpt really looks like Billy Dee Williams.  I don't have as strong a completionist mania for Star Wars figures like I do for some of the other lines I collect but I definitely wanted a Lando. (Maybe even two! Stay tuned for that...)

Klingon Vor'cha Attack Cruiser (Eaglemoss Collectibles)

The Next Generation introduced this new ship class for the Kingon Empire as the flagship for Chancellor K'mpec. It's a very neat evolution from the original series battle cruisers and looks cool. 

These little models are very detailed but don't have any articulation or anything to discuss. They also are difficult for a novice like me to photograph particularly well. But I loves me some Star Trek and TNG is where it all started for me so here we go.

Darla (Shazam! Movie)

Darla Dudley is the youngest member of the new Shazam Family. Her exuberance and excitement shine through even in her lightning-clad magical form.

Mumm-Ra the Everliving (Savage World)

"Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!" 

Continuing wave 1 of the Savage World Thundercats we have the biggest of the big bads on Third Earth, Mumma-Ra! Mild mannered mummy Mumm-Ra prays to his sinister gods to give him the nigh-omnipotent Ever-Living form seen here.

I think Mumm-Ra continues the trend of the villains looking better in this style than the Thundercats as he and Slithe really seem to belong in this chunky aesthetic. Not that the others look bad or anything but in general the Thundercats are lithe rather than bulky.

Kamen Rider Necrom GC-09 (Ghost Change)

Kamen Rider Necrom is the villainous rider in Kamen Rider Ghost. He continues the awesomeness of the black and neon colour schemes of the base forms of the riders and he's got green accents which might be my favourite. The white of the body does help differentiate him from Ghost and Specter but doesn't excite me as much.

Necrom is Prince Alain of the Gamma and he is competing with Ghost to collect the legendary damashii. His armour has an eyedropper/microscope theme that takes the whole "eye-con" shtick to another level. I love it.

Alain is a beautiful bad-boy in the vein of Kamen Rider Zangetsu from Gaim and his green and black poncho is a thing I would totally wear but probably wouldn't pull off as well. 

Samurai Michaelangelo (Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012)

The Party Dude of the Shogun period! We come to the final figure from the "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" story arc featuring Usagi Yojimbo.

This being the fourth Samurai Turtle figure I've blogged about, I don't know that I have much else to add. The colours are fun, it would've been nice to see the weapons painted but that's not for this toyline. The unpainted weapons do harken back to the original TMNT toyline. 

The First Doctor (Doctor Who Figurine Collection)

William Hartnell was the first actor to portray the legendary Doctor from Gallifrey and here he is in figurine form from the first season serial "The Reign of Terror." This Doctor is cranky and ill-mannered but his travels with his companions eventually softened his demeanour.

The first Doctor's Edwardian outfit set the tone for the Doctor's generally out-of-sync clothing. (Can't go wrong with a frock coat). I have a hard time choosing favourites and generally I have a soft spot for each of the Doctors but it's always hard to ignore the importance of being the first.