Happy New Years everyone!

Im blogging from my phone. Been a bit busy past couple of days with holidays and all but here is just some of the stuff you can expect early next year:

- RAH 1/6 Zaborger

-1/6 Tony Montana Scarface from Enterbay
-1/6 Tony Montana Scarface from Blitzway
- two more TFC Hercules figures. Dr. Crank and Structor
-SH Figuarts Barnaby from Tiger and Bunny
-exclusive Soul of Chogokin Energer Z
-6" Twilight Zone invader figure.
-Mattel Voltron Lance figure with red lion. I have a review of this up on my rocketpuncharmy channel. Its a prerelease figure so there are no accessories but you can check it out anyways.

There will probably be some more 1/6 stuff this year added to the already crazy amounts of robot stuff i will be acquiring this year.

So whats my resolution this year? To cut down on stuff that wont really improve my collection. Got too much stuff i dont need. Anyways Have a Happy New Year!

Fujimi Blade Runner Spinner model kit review now on CDX!

Hey all, my review for the Fujimi Spinner kit is now up on CDX. It's about 95% done. Finishing it to 100% would take up a lot more time which I don't have with review/sponsor guidelines and all but it is complete enough to do a nice review for it. All I really need to do to finish it is paint the window trim with matching blue (ran out of paint) and apply window decals. The LEDs are optional so I didnt want to eat away at the review time which was already overdue by about two weeks as it is. I manage to pop in three LEDs to give it at least some lighting.

It's a great kit that can easily be modified to suit your liking and/standards of accuracy. There seems to be a third party aftermarket brewing also. Be sure to pick yours up at HobbyLink Japan who supplied the kit for CDX for me to review. Get yours here.

Make sure to check out the written review on CDX. Also check out the short video clip.

CDX Review Update 12/22/11

For those of you who follow my stuff on CDX, here is what I got and what I have coming up. You get the inside scoop here.

Here is one of the most difficult reviews I've ever had to do..well not the review but the preparation for the actual item I am reviewing. After exhaustive searching for the right color I have started work on this project for CDX. It's the Fujimi Spinner model kit. You may know this vehicle from the movie Bladerunner. If not, check it out on Netflix or wherever you get your movies. Here is a sneak peak.

Yeah, Its all painted and decaled up right now, but this is all your gonna get for now, a primered body. It's coming out real friggin nice. Can't wait to show it off!

I

I've got Heavy Labor all queued up to go live after the Spinner review, in the meantime check out the review on my Youtube channel.

Here is another sneak peek at what I have queued up on CDX waiting to go live soon. If you can't wait to see the written review, check out the video on my Youtube channel.

Stay tuned for more!

Hasegawa Ultraman MAT Update 12/22/2011

Interior is coming along nicely.

Body needs some further detailing and lamps still. Oh, and Bumpers

Here you can see the dashboard and door panels which mount on the body. That thin line around the steering wheel is a friggin water transfer decal. SO HARD TO PUT ON.

Here is a tease of what it will look like.

Godzilla (1964 Godzilla vs. Mothra) by X-Plus

Strange...was watching Godzilla vs. Mothra and then I got a Mothra for reviewin the mail...then I saw this. Coincidence? Hope this shows up in the mail!

Godzilla (1964 Godzilla vs. Mothra)
XPLUS
11,400 yen. Jan. 2012

$$$ Ultraman BLING vinyl $$$

If you have thousands burning a hole in your wallet, you may want to check these out. From Marusan and Made in Japan.

Ultra Jewelry Collection 01 Ultraman 450 Diamond Blue

A new series of figures in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original Ultraman TV program!

Featuring a half carat blue diamond placed in the color timer area in Ultraman's chest and packed in an amazing Ultraman/Marusan gift box along with a gold vinyl Marusan Logo and Jet Beetle this is a luxurious present worthy of any Ultra fan.

The vinyl is, of course, made by hand in Japan.
Complete Pre-painted Model
Head, Arms and Legs are poseable
Size: appx. 230mm
Soft Vinyl
360,000 JPY

Ultra Jewelry Collection 02 Ultraman 350 Diamond Blue

A new series of figures in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original Ultraman TV program!

Featuring a half carat blue diamond placed in the color timer area in Ultraman's chest and packed in an amazing Ultraman/Marusan gift box along with a gold vinyl Marusan Logo and Jet Beetle this is a luxurious present worthy of any Ultra fan.

The vinyl is, of course, made by hand in Japan.

Complete Pre-painted Model
Head, Arms and Legs are poseable
Size: appx. 230mm
Soft Vinyl

280,000 JPY

 

Want a cheaper alternative?

Ultra Jewelry Collection 03 Ultraman 450 Swarovski

A new series of figures in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original Ultraman TV program!

Packed in an amazing Ultraman/Marusan gift box along with a gold vinyl Marusan Logo and Jet Beetle this is a luxurious present worthy of any Ultra fan.

The vinyl is, of course, made by hand in Japan.

Complete Pre-painted Model
Head, Arms and Legs are poseable
Size: appx. 290mm
Soft Vinyl36,000 JPY

 

Ultra Jewelry Collection 04 Ultraman 350 Swarovski

A new series of figures in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the original Ultraman TV program!

Packed in an amazing Ultraman/Marusan gift box along with a gold vinyl Marusan Logo and Jet Beetle this is a luxurious present worthy of any Ultra fan.

The vinyl is, of course, made by hand in Japan.

Complete Pre-painted Model
Head, Arms and Legs are poseable
Size: appx. 290mm
Soft Vinyl 28,000 JPY

 Or hey! I got a great idea, grab one of these below and slap a piece of glass on its chest and call it a day!

Ultra Soft Series 45th Anniversary Celebration Ultraman 450 New Light Gray Soft Vinyl Figure

Soft Vinyl Pre-Painted Complete Figure
Size: Appx. 300mm Tall
Package: Paper Header + Vinyl Bag & Illustration Paper Base

7,800 JPY Now that's more like it. Seems like chump change after the previous ones.

 

RPA Updates 12/19/11

Well, the year is almost over and I wanted to choose what I believe is the toy of the year of all the toys I reviewed since it's only fair I choose from what I've had in my hands. That will come later before the end of the year.

Let's see... video review wise on my RPA channel I did:

S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla



Hot Toys Superman

Bandai Chogokin AEGIS

TFC Toys heavy Labor

ES Gokin Baikanfu

Part 6 of Ultraman MAT build

Currently I have the written review on queue for collectiondx.com so make sure to check that out soon. I am also working on the Fujimi Spinner model kit... not my most fun project. Paint does not like cold weather and Tamiya paints officially suck from a spray can. I am sticking to automotive paint from now on. After all the friggin delays in getting the right color blue and I use right color loosely since it's still not accurate, but a little white balance adjusttment will do wonders for the final review.

I have the two Fewture gokins coming of Arale Chan and Toriyama. Was expecting them today since they were sent EMS and somehow they are not in the states yet. I usually get them in 2 days and its been about 4...maybe holiday delays.

I am also going to upload a review of two little vintage Seven toys based on Xabungle and Iron Gear. So keep an eye for that if you like those pieces. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to my Youtube channel to keep up to date with all my videos.

What's up with issues on expensive toys?

Having issues and problems with expensive collectible pieces has always been the nature of the beast for the most part. There's always a batch of good releases in between the bad ones so that takes the sting out of the whole thing. But what about getting three defective figures in a row that cost a whopping $450 when you factor in shipping? Is this in any way justifiable? Aren't we paying good money to receive a good product? I understand the cost has something to do with the amount of units made versus production costs, but it still sucks when I can pay $10 for a bulletproof Transformer figure but when you spend $250 on a Masterpiece Rodimus, panels are snapping off, parts are breaking, springs are getting twisted and who knows what else. Then Takara turns around and releases an updated version and basically says "piss off" to all the people who jumped at ordering the first release.

Takara's $250 first release version with trailer (not shown) and QC issues on left and my own customized $60 Hasbro version without QC issues on the right. FYI, I've never transformed the Takara one out of FEAR of breakage. The Hasbro has the updates and I still won't transform it cause I don't wanna mess up the paint.

My bad luck streak started off with the Hot Toys Superman. Now it's not that bad because mine only suffered a couple of problems instead of suffering 10 like other people. Mine had the shiny forehead and the copper cape wire that poked out of the cape. The cape was relatively easy to fix and I was able to source a replacement head (which ironically also has a shiny forehead but much less noticeable.)

OK, the issue with this guy was more from package design (plastic tray rubs on head) than factory defect so it's not too bad... but still. Should be a non-issue on a $200 figure.

Next came TFC Toys Heavy Labor which is part of their Non-Devastator Hercules combiner. I decided to do a shoot for CDX. Instead of doing my research first to make sure nobody suffered QC issues, I went ahead and opened it up. During the interview I decided to look it up in my phone and I read about the gear shearing action of the hip ratchets. Lucky for me I had already clicked the joint once. That means it can't possibly have broken right? WRONG. One racthet motion is all it took to shear the gear tooth. Awesome. So I decided to take it apart. This required messing up the screw plugs to get to screws. However folks, TFC Toys does not leave their loyal customers to eat elephant shit like multi-million dollar Takara. They actually keep customers up to date with issue fixes, include replacement parts with new figures and issue new parts etc. This is definitely much better than being stuff with a bum figure but at $100 a pop, this should not even be an issue. Not only does this hurt the small company's profits, it creates a bad customer experience and bad mouthing on the net...and we all know how TF fans can be. I mean if it only took one movement of the ratchet to mess it up (on EVERYBODY'S) didn't they realize this during testing? Donit they grab one off the assembly line and check it out? Or were they aware and shipped 'em out anyways to meet their deadline?

This is the ratchet gear piece that gets stripped. The opposing piece does not "give" so it shears the teeth. Luckily for me I did not try and move the other leg so this one is fine.

The last straw was during my ES Gokin Baikanfu review... wow did I love this set. I still do but it wasn't until I really started handling it that things got bad. You'll have to watch the review to get the full effect. Basically small plastic bits snapped, I found that the ankle on one of the figures had been forced on in the factory and I'm still not sure if the ratchets on the toes broke or if the initial ratchets I heard were just freak happenings. Oh and the chrome sword that looks like it was stepped on for a full work day..what the hell?

Oh, these are cool, yes, but don't tug the head too much or else.

The gray piece has a tab that snapped on mine.

I want to know who thought putting this in the tray was a good idea.. this is the side that face up on the tray!  Way to go Artstorm. Glad you don't sell cars cause people tend not to buy cars with scratches all over them.

We live in 2011, going into 2012...how are the toys of today going to withstand the test of time if they fall apart within a couple of days after receiving them or suffer from QC issues? I have toys from my childhood still intact after rigorous play. All you MISB guys beware, not to make you paranoid or anything but what you think is in perfect condition may have tons of QC issues or missing parts...just sayin'.

Bandai Chogokin Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Aegis

For info on this character, click here. For pictures and video, see below.

While not exactly what I tend to collect, it makes a great addition to my wife's tiny collection AND it has Rocket Punch! So we had to welcome her into our home.

The box is small and feels light in hand.

The back of the box shows the different face options and accessories included.

The tray is neatly laid out with all the parts. Out back you can see the included stand which is nice that they included. She also has the ability to use the stand arm to create a "tripod" feature but Bandai took the extra step to include the base for more aggressive poses.

The figure is rather nice and hefty once in hand. Don't let the lightweight box fool you. While not HEAVY, you can tell there is metal. The metal is made up of the gold bits and joints. The plating of these parts is done real nice.

Up close she still retains sharp detailing.

Here she is with an alternate face and hands with open fingertips.

Yet another alternate face.

...and another slightly angrier one.

Here is a closeup of the said stand.

The stand allows you to get her into poses normally impossible without the stand.

Her forearms are interchangeable with weapon options. This here is the rifle.

This is a good look for her.

(Insert record scratch noise here.) What? is this a full blown Rocket punch?!! With actual rockets on it?!

This is just too cool. No way this was going to not become a piece in my collection.

It is actually spring loaded! I didn't realize this until it accidentally fired while doing the shoot. That little forearm piece contains the firing mechanism. Awesome job Bandai! She is officially the first female recruit into my Rocket Punch Army.

Here's the video. No words, just Aegis.

Music by Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com)

Exclusive Human Alliance figures $8-$11 at Kmart

I was at Kmart the other day and I'm gonna be honest...I am not a big fan of that place for many reasons which I won't get into here. However they have some good toy clearance sales if you're lucky. I got some Godzilla vinyl and some Tron stuff reall cheap in the past. This time I happened to see some Kmart Exclusive Human Alliance figures. I saw a silver Bumblebee..forgot name and an Exclusive Sideswipe. The sale was for 50% off sticker price. I saw a sticker of $16..To me that means $8


Picked up the Sideswipe with Sergeant Chaos and Icepick since the Bumblebee looked rather small compared to the Sideswipe and well....it's Bumblebee (Who gave Bumblebee the right to take the spotlight over Optimus Prime anyhow?!). Took it to the register after getting into a who-was-in-line first dispute with a total idiot and it rang up $11 (still a good price but NOT 50%) I thought "Here we go again". The lady tried to explain that 50% off $22 is $11. I thanked her for the math lesson and proceeded to explain that 50% off $16 is $8 and all the 500 other HA figures were marked the same so it was not my problem. After 73 overrides and 32 calculations the $8 price was reached. I paid and left. Good riddance. If you find these and they ring up wrong and not in your favor, let it be known you want it and you're "NOT GONNA PAY A LOT FOR THIS MUFFLER!!"..it is not your fault they can't key in the correct amount on the sticker device.

It actually looks pretty cool but movie figs are not my thing. This will be traveling a long distance to it's new owner in Colombia sometime soon.

See that sticker on the upper left next to the Mechtech logo? It would look good with a big FAIL next to it. I guess after taking these promo shots they got a production version in hand and decided it couldn't hold it's weapon. Oh well.

Transformers Prime Arcee

I started to watch Transformers Prime but then I realized I'm not really big on watching cartoons..especially when the characters are too stylized. However the robot designs were semi cool for designs based on movie figures. One of the designs that stood out to me was Arcee. Finally, a new Arcee with two legs and a normal waist. The Movieverse Arcee was complete garbage...I honestly thought the design was a joke except it wasn't. Horrible toys were made and eventually they ended up in bargain stores with deep discounts...and even then they were peg warmers along with that Ice Cream figure.

I was returning some stuff the other day and happen to roll by the Transformers isle half expecting to see the usual wall of DOTM stuff when a nice blue packaging caught my eye...didn't flinch much until I said to myself...Oh wow, that must be the Prime figures!. I ran over only to find 5 packages of which 4 were Bumblebees and one was Arcee. I obviously grabbed Arcee. I left Bumblebee for a later time since he will obviously be the annoying figure that will litter the pegs when you try and go out to find new figures.

Immediately I noticed the higher end feel of the new packaging. The cardboard seemed to be thicker, the figure is displayed nicely and there is foil lettering on the packaging...almost as if it was meant to be collectible. And most likely it is because of the First Edition designation. Whether the First Edition means it's the first wave of figures or the first edition of the same future figure without the first edition packaging, I do not know.

Notice the foil "First Edition" running down the left side of the blister pack. See that "cool" stand? Yeah it's included. Don't get too excited, it's made out of cardboard. At least they cared to include it.

Although she comes out of the package in alternate mode, I wanted to show you guys robot mode first because I like robots. I have the arm blades on but they can be removed. I prefer to have them off myself.

She looks pretty good all around. I love how the front wheel hangs in the center out back. I also love how they got the rear wheel to split in two to make the back of the legs symmetrical.

Here is a side by side comparison with Animated Arcee.

Yoda: Adequate amounts of articulation she has, hmmmm?

I love motorcycles so I can appreciate the nice looking alternate mode.

From the back it looks a little strange to me, almost like the rear tire is too small or too far extended. What do you think?