Oct 31, 2014

It Came from the Toy Chest: When trapped in Darkness, Light is Hope.

But since this is MOTUC, we're getting Crystal Castle Man!
Yes, as you may already know the final MOTUC Figure for October (on the Final day of October) is none other than Light Hope.

So, Light Hope: Who is he? She-Ra herself explains it on the video above. I'll wait...

OK! Light Hope is basically a shining light that is sentient. I seem to recall something about a bet between J. Michael Straczynski and I think it was Larry DiTillio about making a character impossible to turn into an Action Figure by Mattel... Light Hope. 29-30 years later it happened. Light Hope became an Action figure.
This Figure happened thanks to the Fourhorsemen and Nate Baertsch.
Light Hope takes Elements from Filmation's Crystal Castle, the Original Playset, Filmation's Light Hope, AND She-Ra herself. All of these were combined to make this Odin-Like Character...

And that is what bugs me. This Light Hope, while godlike, looks a bit too WARRIOR GOD or something out of Asgard... Hence the Odin reference. On Filmation we had a more Fatherly figure vibe from Light Hope.

Official Light Hope vs my Custom Light Hope.
Now don't get me wrong. This Light Hope looks BADASS!! It's just that badass and Light Hope are two words I'd never use in the same sentence. I have to get this out of the way before reviewing the Actual Figure.
I was going to make a video review (I had it recorded and everything, but the universe is conspiring against me uploading it, so this written review is PLAN B!

Articulation:
He is made on the Standard buck, so no surprises here. The head has a decent range of articulation, even with that huge Armor piece near his neck. The Loincloth DOES block some Articulation, though.
4.0

Paint and Sculpt:
He has some new parts like his bracers that are SUPER cool. The Troso Armor looks very Regal. If you're not into Light Hope you could make a King Bow with that Armor and a lot of red paint. Now the figure seems to have a LOT of nods to the Filmation Crystal Castle, the Mattel Playset from the Original PoP toyline, nods to Filmation's Light Hope AND 200X She-Ra all rolled in a clear figure with translucent pink accents.(Mentioned it already, but emphasizing it on this part of the review.) Word of advice: BE CAREFUL WHILE HANDLING HIM!! His armor and Loincloth seem to have been cast in Clear Plastic and then painted. The Shimmering effect on the inside of his cape is Clear Plastic unpainted and only the back of the cape is painted.
CCM and CGM are going to bring it!
4.0

Accessories:
He only has the Clear Staff with the Filmation Crystal Castle on top. He seems to be lacking something... He simply has a Staff...
2.5

Overall:
Light Hope gets a 3.5 here. He looks Cool, but not what I HOPED for Light Hope. (Pun not intended)
So what! Adam completed the 3 who knew his secret back in
2012! Adora got them all in 2014...
Here is where a second Lou Scheimer head would have been beneficial. Since, you know, Lou Scheimer WAS Light Hope and this was the one figure that would have been perfect for a Tribute to the man that gave He-Man his soul, gave us She-Ra, and was influential in the lives of many fans. (we've seen this in some nods to Filmation in other MOTU media like say the MV Creations comic)
But ignoring the missed opportunity of the Lou Scheimer Tribute, he is a decent figure. I kinda wish he was not Light Hope, but Crystal Castle Man, because having a Physical Body kinda defeats the whole purpose of Light Hope... Before I get any messages to trade or sell, the answer is no.



Happy Halloween from the House of Rants. I shall leave you with a quote from the ever wise Pink Pony: Enough chit-chat! Time is candy! 

Oct 30, 2014

It Came from the Toy Chest: Not the Bees!

Yes, I'm going with a Nic Cage reference for Sweet Bee's review.

Sweet Bee? That ^%$# skank! I'm gonna ICE that ho! -Frosta
I hate that underage slut! -Teela
But... but I'M the Rebellion's jailbait! -Glimmer
Mossman is not a bath toy -Scott Neitlich... What? Too soon?

So, let's do a quickie recap on Sweet Bee: She's obviously a She-Ra character, since she's on the Club Etheria sub. She appeared on two episodes of She-Ra: Princess of Power and is based on a vintage She-Ra toy. Her most famous appearance is her first Appearance: Sweet Bee's home. Also known as the episode where Frosta throws herself at He-Man, but he refuses her, because Sweet Bee made something stir within him. (There is a rumor that He-Man has a thing for gingers.)

Now, the MOTUC Sweet Bee. She is inspired by the Filmation version, mostly. She does have a few Toy details on her. One thing that bugs me a little bit is her face. She looks a bit too young... I'm talking Hal Jordan likes them THAT young look. (Cause remember, Walter White toys are bad because drugs, but Green Lantern toys with Hal, the Pedophile, Jordan are A-OK to sell to children!)
Glimmer, who is supposed to be the Great Rebellion's youngest member (and Leader) looks Older in MOTUC, while Sweet Bee looks like Bella Thorne doing a Sweet Bee Cosplay. Great, now I'll have to make a Shake it up! reference somewhere in the Review...

Let's get the review going, shall we? As always, the scale is 1 to 5 where 1 is bad and 5 is good.

Articulation:
Mattel/the Horsemen dropped the ball on her head, She has her hair with holes on it so her wings can move, but her head, unlike Flutterina CANNOT BE MOVED AT ALL with the wings on. Then to make matters worse she lacks Rockers on her ankles.
3.0
Paint and Sculpt:
I started mentioning a complaint on her head. Well, the sculpt of the hair blocks movement and if I want to Change her head for the Helmet... I have to take off her wings. This is easily solved by buying a second... CODNABBIT!! I can't buy a second Sweet Bee from Matty because she had no Day of Sale stock. I have to get one from a reseller. Hair issue aside, her sculpt is mostly Filmation inspired with a bit of toy details. My SB had no slop ON Her, her Accessories, on the other hand... 4.0




Accessories:
♫BUTT GUN!!♪ What? I'm a fan of her Stinger weapon. It's based on a Bee's butt and it's a gun. So I guess it must shoot frass. BTW that's the official definition of Bee (and other inscts) poop. She also has another PoP Shield... (seems that I have a disdain for those)
3.0

Overall:
Sweet Bee gets a 3.33 as her score. Some issues did lose her some points like the Head articulation being completely blocked by the way her hair works, the fact that I have to remove her wings before swapping her heads worries me. Especially since she had no Day of Sale Stock.
A little nod to Sweet Bee's home. Halloween style!

Oct 29, 2014

It Came from the Toy chest: Old Man in a Hoodie edition

I've nothing witty to say about Eldor, he's like a hipster version of Gandalf if he was played by Orson Welles.
well, I could make a joke about Eldor running around wearing a hoodie and his underwear with no pants.

But I won't since the MOTUC Version has taken this guy on the left and made him badass. Some people say that Eldor was 200Xised BEFORE being Classicized and ignored the Vintage Old Man in a hoodie.

So, for those of you who do not know who Eldor is... Then again if you're reading this review you already may know... He used to be the Mentor to He-Ro on the cancelled Sub-Line Powers of Grayskull, which was meant to tell the origins of the Power that He-Man summons and the Honor that She-Ra calls upon.
In Classics he KINDA has the same role, but he's also King Grayskull's trusted "Gandalf". Yes, there is a YOU SHALL NOT PASS pic down there. It was obvious that it was coming. Now that's Eldor in a nutshell.

Ever since He-Ro was made as the SDCC item from 2009, people have been clamoring for Eldor. Let's face it! These were the two Missing Links from the Vintage Line. Italian fans got the Tytus and Megator from the Powers of Grayskull sub-line in the 80s. The rest of the world got them in MOTUC during the past few years. Having Eldor kinda closes that chapter from the vintage Era. (If we could get a Queen Veena to close the 200X Chapter opened with King Grayskull)

Dammit! I could have made a Two-Bad marrying
himself joke! Oh well, too late now! 
Now, since I forgot to do a review when I got MY He-Ro, I'm gonna go  Purinsesu Runa on ya and give you a Double Review!!

Articulation:
Nothing to write Home About. Same old same old, The "armor piece" blocks the ab crunch a little.
4.0
Eldor: Master of Duckface on selfies!
Paint and sculpt:
Paintwise, My Eldor seems to be OK. No obvious signs of slop, aside from some glue? on his left bicep. He also has the beard not fully painted, which gives him the infamous Monkey Lips. A little gray paint fixes the monkey lips. As I commented on the intro, Eldor looks more 200X than vintage. He's got tons of details. on him. Even his hood has some cool sculpted details on him. I have a small issue with the way the hood works. It's an extra piece that attaches to his head, but when you remove it, his torso "armor" looks like he pulled his hood back. Not sure what could have been a better solution for this.
4.5
Accessories:
This staff suits Eldor better than the Shaping
staff did Entrapta.
The Hood, the Staff of the Ancients, which is a Filmation Artifact. Looks amazing, but a bit too soft. BE EXTRA CAREFUL WITH IT. Eldor's hands are MEGA STIFF and the staff is super soft... you do the math.

Book has no words... He makes stuff up. See what I mean about
the armor looking like he has his hood pulled back.
@#$ the stickers!
The Final Accessory is a Classicized Book of Living Spells. Unlike past books, this one can be opened. Sadly, it has nothing written on it. (In my case, my book gets a bit stuck at times and can't open fully all the time. Seems that a piece of the front cover gets stuck on the spine at times.) Then to make matters worse, Eldor can't hold the book properly. Had they used Bow's hands we could have had him hold it slightly better. Not to mention that his right hand would have looked good for Reading or chanting a spell.
4.0

Overall:
Eldor gets a 4.17 which is a decent score. He has some slight issues, but he's an awesome figure. I love the extra nods and touches but


Eldor and He-Ro: The Powers of Grayskull missing characters
are missing no more!
And they say that a He-Ro can save us; I'm not gonna stand here and wait...
Sorry for the Tobey Man Reference. Y'all know that I've had He-Ro since Santa KG. So, a little backstory on He-Ro.
He-Ro was the main character on the cancelled Sub-Line Powers of Grayskull, which was meant to tell the origins of the Power that He-Man summons and the Honor that She-Ra calls upon. Originally He-Ro was Gray of the Skull Tribe. (Grayskull) and he was the most powerful wizard in the universe and ancestor of Adam and Adora. One Neitlichverse later and that was changed. Something about He-Ro being the Alan Scott of MOTU. He-Ro was the 2009 SDCC Exclusive and had 3 variations:
Clear sword was He-Ro's. Mattel thought it was better to paint a
clear sword translucent blue with silver flecks. The blue starry
blade is Santa KG's with the color removed. Looks better
for He-Ro than his default sword. The clear sword looks great on
Standor.
Green Gem, Red Gem, Purple Gem. The SDCC version has the SDCC Logo on He-Ro's chest. The Matty version lacked the logo. Basically there are 6 versions of He-Ro Running around. More if the rumors of some figures released with an erroneous starry black power sword similar to the few yellow belt Stratos figures or flocked ears Mossman.

Now unto the figure itself.

Articulation:
Since He-Ro is an early 2009 figure which means ROCK HARD Loincloth which limits the leg movement a little bit. On the other hand he also sports a Half Torso Armor to preserve the Ab Crunch. Ankles are a bit loose due to age. (Should have reviewed him when new.)
4.5

Paint and sculpt:

There were a few paint issues on mine, but since I got him as a gift, there was nothing I could do. (OK I ended up repainting the issues. Except his sword. The sword. I stripped of paint and I stripped the second full sword from the second Santa KG.) Sculptwise he is cool! (Especially for a 2009 figure with VERY Limited parts database)
3.5

Accessories:
As promised: YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Back then Accessories were super limited on some characters. Just ask Zodac, Zodak, Beastman and Stratos. He-Ro was lucky to get a Power Sword and a Staff. The staff opens up to reveal the gem. BTW He-Ro's Gem doesn't Match Eldor's.
3.0 (due to the sword's paint flaking off.)

Overall:
He-Ro gets a 3.67 as his overall score. If I hadn't had those paint issues on his sword and body;he would have scored higher. So, there we go it's the Powers of Grayskull in a nutshell.

Oct 28, 2014

Oh crap, now Marvel is ripping off DC's plan to rip off Marvel!

A while back DC made an announcement of seven movies in the next few years and bumped off Man of Steel 2 all the way to 2018. (DC upped the ante up to 2020 where they'll release a Cyborg solo movie) Well, seems like Marvel is following in DC's footsteps.

We know that Marvel's "phase 2" would end with Antman and Avengers 2. Both coming in 2015 (Avengers in May and Antman in July)

Phase 3:
-Captain America 3: Civil War: May 6, 2016
-Doctor Strange: November 4, 2016
-Guardians of the Galaxy 2: May 5, 2017
-Thor 3: Ragnarok: July 28, 2017
-Black Panther: November 3, 2017
-Captain Marvel: July 6, 2018
-Inhumans: November 2, 2018
-Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1: May 4, 2018
-Avengers: Infinity War, Part 2: May 3, 2019

Ok, so Cap 3, Thor 3, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 are kind of expected sequel as the past movies in the respective series did well... (still a bit puzzled with Thor 2 doing well, since many found it a bit boring)

The Surprises are: DOCTOR STRANGE (so far Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be THE chosen one... At least it's not Daniel Radcliffe) which is interesting since this movie should be trippy as hell with all the magic and stuff. I'm guessing Strange, Mordo, maybe a nod to Dormammu, but no Shuma Gorath.

Black Panther is another pleasant surprise that may shut up some social justice warriors. If Captain Marvel is the recent Carol Danvers version (Formerly Ms. Marvel) then the Social Justice Warriors can shut up again... Until they Realize that Ms. Marvel is white and blonde. Supposedly, Black Panther will be on Civil War.

The one that I'm a bit cautious about is Inhumans.

The biggest bomb is Avengers 3. AKA Avengers: Infinity War... That means one thing: Infinity Gems. When those are involved, the Teaser we got with the First Avengers movie makes More sense... FREAKING THANOS!!

What scares me of this bit of news is: 11 movies in the next 5 years. If we add the 7+ DC movies and the other Marvel Movies that are trapped with other studios like Spider-Douche, X-Men or the Not So Fantastic Four we are going to have an oversaturation of the Superhero movies and many will suffer casualties. So I'm a bit nervous about this bit of news as I am excited. This is so serious that I'm not even going to reuse the Nervouscited clip.

Then we have movies from indie comics like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which add to the already bloated mess from the Big Two. If Todd McF ever gets his Spawn reboot off the ground, he'd better wait until way after 2020 to release it. Personally, I don't think I could watch ALL of these (both marvel and dc movies) at the theaters, so there might be a few casualties from my side from the start.

Oct 27, 2014

Looking back on MOTUC's 2011 Roster

I've looked back on MOTUC's 2009 roster, 2010 roster and 2013 roster. I need to fill in the 2011 and 2012 gaps before I look back on 2014 (and I'd need to get the remaining figures of 2014 to look back on them.) Like on past Looking back on MOTUC Rosters, I'll use the American Grading System where A+ is the Best and F-Minus is Nepthu.

So, 2011:
Vikor: A-
Crom! That's all I can say about him. He's VERY Conan-like. The Figure is really awesome. I do have a few nitpicks, most of them the cape being incredibly rigid and the shield clip, but he is BAD ASS!!

Palace Guards 2-Pack: A
We get Lieutenant Toyguru, Token Black Guard, and two extra heads that are useless on the human buck. (Snake-ified Lt. Toyguru or Token Black Guard, and Qadian Guard) Stories by the Guru say that the Horsemen made the Neitlich head as a surprise. Contradicting stories say that Neitlich himself wanted his head on a character. In any case with me buying two sets, I had a spare Neitlich head that I gave a Jewfro and made my 2012's Mighty Spector less Deadpool-Like. Tons of accessories, the interchangeable plates allow multiple display options. Personally I would have Preferred 4 Human heads.

Bow: A
 The Most Heterosexual Man on Etheria, who is totally NOT GAY finally got immortalized in MOTUC Plastic. The Horsemen took the Filmation Look and added a lot of toy detail (even if they gave him New Adventures He-Man pieces) He came with a lot of stuff (no Kowl, sadly. 2013 fixed that) 2 heads, Bow, Arrow (not the horse) and his Filmation Harp. He even has a Heart on his crotch! You're checking out Bow's crotch aren't ya?

Shadow Beast: B
Neitlich claims that these are 200X Shadow Beasts when they are Clearly Filmation. They reuse the Gygor buck (TBH It feels like the buck was made for Shadow Beasts and the Gygor usage was a serendipitous thing.) I regret not being able to get one or two of these.

Preternia Disguise He-Man: (AKA Hamburglar He-Man, Crossdressing He-Man) C


The Sub Exclusive figure of 2011, who I got for cheap on the Secondary Market for one reason and one Reason Only: Cosmic Key in Movie Colors. The Bionatops gun is cool too!


Rigid Skirt ruins articulation, skintone does not match past He-Man figures, Super tough Tunic Top kinda hurt his score. TBH I only got him because of the Cosmic Key.

King Hiss: C
Toyguru lost his shirt on this one BECAUSE of the Tooling and Special Materials required to make him. THE biggest issues with him are: Reversed Shoulders (My King Hiss went under the Knife thanks to HunterKnight Custom's King Hiss Shoulder Fixing method) Then the Snakes on his Snake Form WERE ALL WRONG. One snake missing, too small. The answer to all this was: "This is your King Hiss!" So, I repainted mine in a more 200X palette... (we're getting a 200X Hiss in 2015... D'oh!)

Battle Armor Skeletor: C+
We had BA He-Man in 2010, so BA Skeletor was to be expected.While I'm glad we're lacking action features, a small part of me misses the Battle Damage feature. One Real complaint that I have is that Mattel left out the Power Sword AGAIN which is a bit lame. One cool thing is that Skeletor got a Purple Ax to match BA He-Man (or as a nod to Filmation... The true Filmation Ax came in 2013) If you see BA He-Man's grade, is slightly higher than Skeletor's BECAUSE He-Man's waist joint doesn't stick unlike Skeletor's.

Sy-Klone: B+
BRIGHT COLORS BLINDING ME!! (Yeah I repainted mine because his vintage colors are too damn bright... an oddity in MOTUC, I know) Dial isn't that intrusive, but mildly annoying. Did leave me wanting a second more Samurai styled head for him. (as seen in his 200X look)

Panthor: A
Thank the toygods for no Flock! I know that past Panthors were flocked. After seeing Mossman's mangy flocking, I'm glad Panthor wasn't flocked. I have to admit that customizers have flocked Panthor and it looks good. One good thing Neitlich claims he did was adding a helmet for Panthor. (Believe me he tells that story ALL THE TIME). Since he's basically a new head and helmet, he doesn't do much for me... If we could somehow get a 200X Saddle for Panthor, maybe that would help me be more excited about him.

Castle Grayskull's Weapon Rack: B-
The first Diorama Piece. (Up to this time Castle Grayskull was a dream "Maybe in a movie year!")
So, we got the Weapon Rack from Castle Grayskull. Some weapons were in a rusty Metallic look, Others got the "Man-E-Weapons" or "Wun-Dar" look with Metallic Red. This is why it loses some points. We'll never get the rusty weapons in red, nor the red weapons in rusty old colors. So this rack has a bunch of mismatched weapons on it.

Catra: C+
Ah, Digital River, how you screwed up people who ordered a single figure from you here. Sending Catra in a Lint filled Envelope was a crappy move. I also must point out that THIS is one of the few times where the fourhorsemen dropped the ball... Combwhip... 'Nuff said! Mattel dropped the ball with the Gummy Hand and Gummy Sword.

The (Not So) Faceless One: B-
Ah, Evil Lyn's daddy! Keeper of the Ramstone... Bunch of new Tooling but no Long Flowing Tunic... That is a minor nitpick. The biggest nitpic is HE HAS A FREAKING FACE!! YOU CANNOT BE FACELESS IF YOU HAVE A FACE!!

Battleground Teela: B-
The only Representation from the DC MOTU Comics from the 80s is Metal Bra Teela. (Or Teela as the Sorceress, before wearing the Zoar Snuggie; if we follow the Neitlichverse)Less articulation than Normal Teela. Her face sculpt, while Similar To Teela's looks like she's bored out of her freaking Mind. I hate her, because she gave us the Less Articulated thighs. I love her because that gun is so freaking sweet and her bra popping off easily allows for easy MOTUC stripper pics!
Clawful: A-
Jim Henson's Crab Dude is finally here. Luckily the fourhorsemen did something smart to break off the Masked Luchador vibe he had and made him look more crab-like. Luckily, the Muppet Eyebrows look more like Monster Crab Brows when painted red.

Queen Marlena and Cringer: C+
Finally we have a Queen Marlena in toy form. sadly she has a few issues. Her dead unforgiving eyes... OK, so she has only ONE Issue. The one who bears the most issues is Cringer. Basically an undersized Statue of Cringer... Cringer would have benefited from a single card release and having the same range of articulation as Battle Cat.

Man-e-Faces: A+
Ah, Man-E! He kinda looks like Dan Akroyd... but with the ability to turn into a robot or a monster. Getting the Extra head did give him an extra oomph! (shame that we never got Extra Man-e-Heads with other figures)

Megator: F
Puny for a Giant, with a lot less articulation than a normal figure, but unlike Tytus, he got an Extra Head and a Decent Weapon.

Leech: A-
He sucks (cause he's a leech, duh!). kinda looks like SMB1 Bowser and he has a crappy net that breaks while kept FLAT in storage. Other than that, he is freaking sweet!

Hurricane Hordak: C
Damn the Vac Metal, Damn the Dial! These two things Greatly ruin a decent Hordak variant.

Lt. Icarius: A+
I don't know what is it with NA Releases in MOTUC being pleasant surprises! Flipshot follows the Tradition with Optikk for being a pleasantly surprising New Adventures figure. Not to mention the Val Kilmer head!! Of course people hate him because he is New Adventures.

Snout Spout: D+
If there is a non-giant disappointing figure on the entire year, the award goes to Snout Spout. It didn't help that Mattel cheapened out on Snout Spout's trunk by making it out of a foam that broke from getting the toy out of the package. Of course then there's the adherence to Vintage looks, which make Snout Spout look dorky and sad. (a second Mini Comic head would have made him look Badass and not 200X. Though the 200X Staction head on snouty looks badass too!)

Bubble Power She-Ra: B
This figure is a black mark on Neitlich's record. He was trying his hardest to NOT have PoP variants on the line. If it hadn't been for Normal She-Ra's inability to theoretically ride Swift Wind, then this figure would have never happened. she's Filamtion based except for the boots and bracers, yet her skin tone does NOT Match her previous She-Ra figure. Of course the Extra BP stuff ended on She-Ra 1.0 and this one became Default She-Ra... These Mistakes shouldn't be happening, but I'm glad Mattel was FORCED to fix the issues on She-Ra.

Swift Wind: B-
The Steed for She-Ra is Finally here! (This is why BP She-Ra was made in the first place!
The few issues plaguing him (breakable tabs to hold his wings, the inability to turn him into Spirit and the reversed leg syndrome) do knock a few points off of him.

Demo-Man: A-
The figure has no issues (though I'm not a fan of the static mace.) and the Alcalá Skeletor head is Totally Awesome, he just is there and that's it.

Battleground Evil Lyn: C
Mattel Missing the point big time in WHY PEOPLE WANTED a more 200X Looking Evil Lyn is what lowers her grade. She is a great figure EXCEPT SHE'S STILL WEARING TEELA'S CLOTHES!!
Wind Raider: A+What can I say? It's an amazing vehicle (and I'm not a fan of the Wind Raider) that was Masterfully converted to MOTUC... If we could get the Land Shark and Dragon Walker... Sadly, it ain't gonna happen.

Oct 26, 2014

I want Darkstalkers toys but...

I'm pretty sure that they will not happen. For those of you who don't know: Darkstalkers is a Fighting Game by Capcom. Its characters are a bunch of creatures of the night and monsters. so basically Street Fighter with Vampires, Werewolves, etc. I mean, look at the Intro of the Latest Darkstalkers game (it comes all the way from the 90s)


So, a Colorful cast of Characters with very Toyetic Looks. Once we were so close to getting Darkstalkers Toys when SOTA made some prototypes. Sadly, this led nowhere.

The Cast is not that Huge so, it could be completed on a few waves (limited series) 
Darkstlakers has a total of 18 characters (21 if I count Marionette, Shadow and "Dee"):
Anakaris, BB Hood, Bishamon, Demitri, Donovan, Felicia, Hsienko, Huitzil, Jedah, Jon Talbain, Lilith, Lord Raptor, Morrigan, Pyron, Q-Bee, Rikuo, Sasquatch, and Victor.

Basically 3 waves of 6 figures, or a Full year if we follow the MOTUC Subscription Method. Well, if we don't get into certain variants/repaints (human J.Talbain, True Form Demitri, Lilith fused with Morrigan, Oboro Bishamon, Dark Talbain, Midnight Bliss, etc.)

On the Other Hand Part Reuse is rather Limited.
This is what puts the biggest Wrench on the line being made. Many figures would require brand new tooling and the amount of accessories per figure could be ludicrous.
This pic is very painful for me to watch.
I mean, look at this pic from the proposed SOTA toys DS figures. Demitri is missing his cape, but he has some accessories like the wings (For the Demon Cradle) the Flaming bats, the Black Rose for the Midnight Bliss and Alternate hands.

Lord Raptor gets his guitars, rib spikes and Le Malta. Sadly, he lacks the Saws that he uses for some attacks (kicks).

Sure, some characters are easy kitbashes like Lilith (who'd reuse SOME pieces from Morrigan) or Dee who is basically Demitri's body with Donovan's head. Pyron could get away with a few reused parts from both of Demitri's forms. The problem lies that Characters like Rikuo, Huitzil, Anakaris, Sasquatch, Lord Raptor, etc. have no real possibilities for Reuse.
Dumbass people would be outraged.
Yes, I'm making a reference to the Dumb Florida Mom, since B.B. Hood would be controversial.
Little Red Riding Hood with guns and cigarettes. I can almost hear her rant about corrupting Children's characters, blah, blah blah. Then we have Morrigan who is a succubus.
Maybe, but this is stretching it, Pyron being a flaming horned dude could bring the whole "Toys R Us is selling dolls of the Devil" or some other bullcrap... (Even though they already sell Diablo figures and maybe they did sell the Marvel Select Mephisto, and I'm sure they probably sold a few Malebolgias... and technically speaking, Jedah would be the closest to "the Devil" in Darkstalkers.)

Finally, Crapcom doesn't have enough faith in Darkstalkers to get some non-game product out.
To be fair, while they have enough faith on Street Fighter, their latest foray into toys was met with horrible failure because it depended on a Kickstarter that was horribly unsuccessful. Yes, that's right a Kickstarter to make OFFICIAL STREET FIGHTER TOYS FAILED MISERABLY! If a Street Fighter Toyline can't even get past development stage then the Darkstalkers have...


No matter how you look at it; Darkstalkers is screwed. What a shame. In the Meantime, I'll try Resident Evil 6

on second thought, I still need to save Cocoon...



Oct 25, 2014

Dumb Florida Moron won... for now

Toys R Us has sadly, caved in to the demands of a SMALL group of  Citizens United Negating Toys For Adults @ Retail Toy Stores. (Yes I took a page out of Rockstar games and made a ridiculously long term for people criticizing stuff.) I mean REALLY Small since they collected 9,299 signatures in around 10 days. (going from the updates on their petition until they stopped on October 22nd) and claimed victory.

Meanwhile, the KEEP Breaking Bad toys at Toys R Us got 1,000 Signatures on the 19th was at 17,328 around 6:20 AM EST Yesterday. As of 2:54 PM EST Yesterday, the signatures reached 35,642 and growing!! That's 3.86 more times the amount that Angry Mom got in roughly HALF THE TIME she did get her measly 9,299 signatures.

Why is Toys R Us caving in to a small group of people who AREN'T CUSTOMERS of their stores?

OK, I'm not a fan of Breaking Bad or the toys and this worries me. This is an attack on Adult Collectors. I mentioned on a previous rant that this is NOT the first time this has happened and it's likely to NOT be the last time.

We have seen craptacular pieces of media going on. Like the turdguzzler that made fun of adult collectors, yet has a hard-on for LEGO bricks and defends adults playing with LEGO bricks. On the videogames side we have the whole Gamergate issue, where Social Justice Warriors and game "journalists" have decided to attack gamers and call all gamers "misogynists" thanks to the actions of a few a-holes. Now we have mainstream Media, once again making fun of Adult Collectors... I mean, didn't they had enough after mocking the Adult Male fans of a certain show whose Core Audience was meant to be Little Girls?

It's a systemic attack on "non-traditional" hobbies for adult males. The idea that Adults are spending money on videogames and toys seem to bother these people to no end. I LOATHE Football, but you don't see me trying to take the NFL down. Just because I don't enjoy it, doesn't mean that NO ONE can enjoy it. Same thing with the Breaking Bad toys issue. Today is Breaking Bad, Tomorrow it can be Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, GI Joe, or even He-Man.

Hopefully the petition to keep the toys will convince Toys R Us to bring them back... Seriously, 44,444 signatures (as of Friday Oct. 24th 11:53PM EST) and still growing in 5 days. Seems that every time I revisit this post before actually posting it, the signatures keep piling on. This goes to show the number of Adult Collectors that Toys R Us may not be getting business from that overshadows the number of people who ARE NOT Toys R Us customers and are "outraged" by Adult Collectibles being sold at a toystore with an ADULT COLLECTIBLES section.


Oct 24, 2014

Welcome back to Los Santos!

Last time I was in Los Santos, my name was Carl Johnson... Now my names are: Franklin Clinton, Michael De Santa and Trevor Phillips. Finally I got to play Grand Theft Auto V and here are my thoughts about it.

Like the change in Liberty City from III to IV, The City of Los Santos suffered a massive Transformation from the PS2 Generation to the PS3/XB360 Generation. Unlike the PS2 San Andreas, GTA V lacks Las Venturas and San Fierro, but it's way bigger than the PS2 SA and I think that it's bigger than the PS3 Liberty City too.

So, a familiar, yet different place with characters that are somewhat familiar, yet different. Some Missions feel familiar, yet different. Which is good and bad, since the game feels familiar, yet different. Kinda like when your favorite food joint kinda changes the recipe of a seasonal item.

Before I start with the review itself, I will comment on the whole Misogyny issue with GTA V. A Gamespot Reviewer got a beef with GTA V and docking one whole point in the rating scale because "it is misogynistic".

It's ridiculous! She's lowering the game's score due to an agenda and not due to the games real flaws; like say: Too short, cheap deaths (damn the cougars, the felines, I mean!), Online issues, being forced to do pointless activities (like Yoga, or the towing missions) to progress the already short story mode. Those things are reason enough to dock points off from the game's score. Poking fun at an obvious parody of fringe feminists by mocking their anti Patriarchy cries is not a real reason to deduct points off the score. The GTA series has made fun of pretty much everyone. Even in GTA V we have a pushover of man who worships his unfaithful girlfriend. Then there's the possibly Mentally Challenged male character. Not going to mention how most of the characters are NOT DECENT HUMAN BEINGS and are CRIMINAL SCUM, NOT GOOD PEOPLE!! Then again, the Criminal Underworld that GTA is inspired by,is not known for having positive role models (for men and women).
There is a lack of "powerful roles" for women in the GTA series, because the Criminal Underworld is not an area where many women are present. You get the odd female character like Elizabeta Torres, Catalina, or Asuka Kasen and they are special BECAUSE of how rare they are in this criminal underworld series. Using this as an excuse to deduct points would be similar to deducting points from DoA Xtreme Beach Volleyball because it lacks male characters.


Remember kids, GTA V is sexist because Strippers, but this is Totally OK!

AGAIN, the game glorifies crime, violence, racism, drug and weapons trafficking and all that is A-OK! Taking a jab at a caricature of a Feminist, Aw Hell No! That is bad and wrong! (Not to mention that the game makes fun of cults, juggalos, gang culture, gamers, etc.)

It bugs me that a "professional reviewer" ignores the game's real faults, but decides to dock points from the score for "Questionable Morality" issues on a game whose title is the name of a crime!

Now that I got that out of my system, I'll rant about the game itself.
I feel the game is a glorified DLC. Yes, Los Santos is big and there are lots of things to do. The problem is that the Story Mode is too short. Then again, the game feels like it was meant to be GTA ONLINE: Los Santos and the Story Mode was some sort of Afterthought.
Michael has a bit of shades of Vercetti, while Franklin is Basically CJ 2.0 (Then again, Franklin's VA is the cousin of CJ's VA. The playable character who doesn't seem to be a copy of a past GTA Protagonist from the 3D and HD eras is Trevor. (who happens to be my least favorite protagonist)

Unlike Toys I use a 1-10 scale on game reviews where 1 is bad and 10 is awesome.

Story:
The Story of the three characters intertwines. You have Franklin a former (Green Clad) Gangbanger from Los Santos that is trying to make something out of his life and works as a Repo Man. Fate leads him to Michael, a former Bank Robber (now retired) who is under a sort of Witness Protection Program with his dysfunctional family. Last but not least, Trevor is a former accomplice of Michael who now acts as CEO of Trevor Phillips Enterprises (Sells meth, smuggles weapons and other criminal activities on the Desert North of Los Santos.) is reeled in back into Michael's life. Crime, Corruption, Betrayal, and Over the Top Movie-inspired Heists.

The story of the game lends itself for a lot of the over the top missions that the game has and sometimes it's not as logical as you'd expect from the HD Era GTA games. It does have a few nods to GTA IV, but the Story feels more like the 3D Era GTA games.
8.0

Gameplay:
The cars handle a bit better than in IV, the duck and cover mechanic is slightly less sloppy than IV (though I still find it sloppy) The Phones have even more functions than in IV and there are tons of Side missions and mini-games that you can do. Golf, Tennis, Yoga, Watch TV,Skydiving, Hunting, SCUBA Diving are among the things you can do. Hell you can even MOP FLOORS on one mission. It's a bit ridiculous since there's a lot of random stuff to do than there are actual story missions. One bigger complaint is the fact that there are random deaths that happen (Lose a vehicle outside the city and your chances of becoming Cougar food increase rapidly.) Hell, I completed the Hunting Mission for Cletus and the moment the Mission Complete sign leaves, a Cougar pops up and kills me! Another Mission had me parachuting into a moving flatbed truck. I land on the freaking truck and for some reason my character simply falls off the truck and Mission Failed! (Had to skip that mission after Multiple tries because I was so frustrated with it... Seriously, I was on the verge of throwing my controller towards the TV in a fit of Cartoony Rage worthy of the Angry Videogame Nerd)
5.5

Controls:
I replayed IV partially, before playing GTA V, so I had some familiarity with the Controls. Then Rockstar switched a few things on the controls to add the Character Switch Mechanic, which still confuses me. (Had unnecessary deaths due to this confusion between switching weapons and characters) I still loathe the shooting while driving.
6.0

Sounds, Music and Voice Acting:
Well, I have an issue here. There's a LOT of music in the game, but I just rarely seem to notice it!
It's just that nothing POPS! to me like in past games. There's a sense of familiarity (heard them before) but no odd piece that I can say I'll actively look for it...(Aside Disco Devil, which is pretty much the same song as Chase the Devil from GTA SA) I really don't bother changing the stations and listen to what the car has on by default. I haven't even listened to the talk station that much and I know Fernando is there.

On the voice acting spectrum, I only recognized two voices. Jimmy De Santa who is an Older Danny Tamberelli (yes, the younger Pete from The Adventures of Pete and Pete) and Franklin's Aunt played by the First Aunt Viv. I thought that Franklin was voiced by CJ's VA, but no. The VA, as I said before was Chris Bellard's cousin.

So, I am at a crossroads. Do I rate it while admitting that I've not heard all the music or do I skip it?
I mean I can still comment on the voice acting, which is great (though some voices I find a bit grating... Mostly Tracey's). To be fair, I checked the songs that each station has on the GTA Wiki and it's a decent mix, though I could swear that I only hear like the same 3 songs on each station.
9.5

Graphics:
Since this is a later era PS3 Game (I'm doing a review of the PS3 version) The graphics are a bit better than past GTAs (or in this case SINGLE GTA). Not sure if Intentional or if it is the Los Santos Effect. Since LS is more superficial, then the people in it care more about their appearance.
8.0

Overall:
GTA V gets a 7.4 Overall score. I kinda feel that Rockstar tried to do too much and like the phrase goes: a Jack of all trades, a Master of none kinda applies to the game. It tries to do so much, but it falls short on everything. The story mode suffered the most, since the story feels as short as a DLC. Then there's the Online Monster. I've had a few Freezing issues while trying online, so I gave up on it. Not feeling like uninstalling and reinstalling the game to play online after I had to do this a few times to play the Offline Story Mode.

Don't get me wrong, it's a GOOD Game, but it is NOT GREAT! The character swap gimmick is OK-ish, but it tended to disconnect me from the story. I think they should have just scrapped the entire Story mode and Release this game as GTA Online: Los Santos and MAYBE it would have fared a bit better. Let's face it, Online Mode seemed to be the Main Focus of this game. While it's an improvement over IV, it's not as mind blowing as San Andreas was over Vice City. I will play it every now and then, since I need to get all the properties, but I don't feel like going through the story mode again (unlike the 3D Gen GTA games which I still play to this date. CJ and Vercetti 4 Life!)

Oct 21, 2014

It came from the Toy Chest: when you play the game of variants you win or you pegwarm!

I already reviewed the Variant, this time I'm doing the Normal version of Tyrion Lannister, thanks to my mom, who got me Tyrion and a second Bitchface Snow (that did not break when removing him out of the package.)

I'm running out of GoT theme versions to use on the reviews (and wave 2 is starting to show up on the US... So I have like 2-4 months until Arya, Jamie, Drogo, Brienne, yet Another Daenerys, and The King in The North! Need to find a Ned Stark ASAP... Screw the Others!!)

So, the Normal Version of Tyrion is NOT Exclusive to Walgreen's and is wearing armor (This Tyrion is the Halfman at the Battle of the Green Fork version, while the Walgreen's version is Tyrion as the Hand of the King... After certain book events where Ned Stark gets Sean Bean'd) So, this figure is showing Tyrion at an earlier point in the timeline than the Walgreen's Exclusive version.





 Articulation:
My Tyrion's waist seems to be frozen and I'm not going to force it, since forcing the joints could lead to breakage, as seen with Bitchface Snow.
The Rest of the Articulation is similar to the rest of the GoT figures. (Ball joints everywhere)
4.0 (Due to the frozen Waist)

Paint and Sculpt:

I'm impressed with how different each Tyrion figure is. This is not necessarily a good thing. The Head Sculpt is strange. The Hand of the King version of him looks more like Peter Dinklage than the Normal version. Now I'm not sure if it's simply the paintjob that makes them look different or if the heads are different sculpts. I know that the hair pieces are different sculpts in both Tyrions. Then there's the Third Tyrion (SDCC Exclusive with the Scar from the Battle of Blackwater AND a Helmet) Now The body does not seem to share many pieces with the Hand of the King Tyrion (I think just the crotch and thighs are the only shared pieces) and that's a good thing considering that Tyrion is not a normal sized character.)
4.0
As I said, now I have a new Bitchface Snow and a Tyrion.
Accessories:
The Halfman only has the Ax as his accessory. I need to warn that the ax has unyielding hard plastic that may be brittle. (seen a few broken Axes online) With that said, a half sized figure with one accessory kinda sucks when you have all that empty space. It's funny that the Biggest figure of the wave, The Hound comes with the most accessories.
2.0

Overall:
Normal Tyrion gets a 3.33 as his overall score. The same flaw that plagued the Hand of the King version (too tiny, few accessories) plus the less accurate sculpt did hurt his score a bit.
If you're into customizing MOTU Characters, then this Tyrion could lend itself to make a MOTUC Compatible Cursed Count Marzo with a Filmation Marzo Twist. If you need to have ONE Tyrion Lannister figure, I'd recommend the Hand of the King version over this one.

Oct 20, 2014

My Little Pony: Finally a movie with Actual Ponies!!

Hasbro has finally decided to make an Actual My Little Pony movie starring ACTUAL PONIES.
This is a big issue since the last two My Little Pony movies have been based on the Equestria Girls spin-off and they lacked the Little Ponies from the Title.

The new MLP Movie will be produced by Allspark Pictures. Obvious nod to Hasbro's popular Boys Toyline is surprising, but fitting.

Hasbro is moving pieces to get this movie done for a 2017 release. They have Meghan McCarthy as a producer. (MLP:FIM fans know about her) and Joe Ballarini will be writing. He was an uncredited writer on Ice Age: Continental Drift. (Not so sure how to feel about this,)
Apparently, if we are to believe this Tweet from Meghan McCarthy, the movie will be based on the fourth Generation of My Little Pony (commonly known as Friendship is Magic)



Of course, if it's an animated feature featuring the Mane 6, then they'll probably have most of it figured out (characters, plot, art, etc.) unless they do change everything for the movie (mostly art style to sell new Movie Version ponies. We've seen this with the Transformers and how Optimus Prime gets redesigned each movie, or Spider-Man, Iron Man, etc.) I'll be OK as long as there are not any DRASTIC redesigns to the characters.


Right now, I'm nervouscited! I'm afraid of the new writer screwing up, but at the same time; I'm pumped for ponies on the big screen!

Offended Moronic Mother is after Adult Collectors.

A dumb Florida Moron is offended by Breaking Bad toys and wants them pulled from Toys R Us. Before anyone complains about the terms I'm using, the Dumb Florida Moron line is a reference from Vice City. I'm using that term because the "offended Party" is from Florida and I think she is dumb and moronic.

First of all: Toys R Us have an Adult Collector section where figures from shows that are not aimed at Kids, like in this case Breaking Bad are displayed. Here's where you'd find stuff like Spawn, or Horror movies stuff by companies like McFarlane or NECA. Here's where you'd find Funko's Game of Thrones toys and other toylines aimed at the Adult Collector. (Here's where the toys from Watchmen were often seen back in the day)

Second: These "toys" are aimed at Adult Collectors AND it says so in the package! Like say, Funko's Game of Thrones toys that say: COLLECTIBLE. NOT A TOY (In English, French and Spanish)
The Infamous Breaking Bad "Action Figures" which are pretty much Glorified Statues have an Ages 15+ in the front of the card.

Third: by using her Logic, then Toys R Us should not sell Games Rated above E10, because those games are not suited for children.
Or taking it to a more ridiculous concept. supermarkets should not sell Beer and Cigarettes because they also sell Baby Food and Lunchables.

Now, with that said, Daniel Pickett of Action Figure Insider has made a Petition on Change.org to KEEP the Breaking Bad figures and other Adult Collectibles available at Toys R Us. I hope plenty of people sign it, because having a few angry people who DO NOT SHOP AT TOYS R US trying to dictate what we who ACTUALLY ARE TRU Customers can or cannot buy.

Brick and Mortar toy stores are a dying breed. Remember Kay-Bee Toys? Well, stores that cater to Adult Collectors are a dying breed too. Suncoast, anyone? Funny story. At Toys R Us, I STILL NEED TO SHOW AN ID when buying M games or some Adult Collectibles. I'm WAY OLDER than 18 and I still need to show an ID to buy stuff at Toys R Us. That's how seriously they take their job. Not to mention that the Adult Collectibles aisles are not next to stuff that Small Children would be interested in. Hell often the Toys R Us express stores that show around Christmas time are lacking the Adult Collectible Aisles.

Think about it. It's in Toys R Us' best interest to KEEP the Adult Collectible section of the store. Let's face it, Toys like Action Figures and Dolls are not as successful with kids today as they were with us when we were children. We are the Children of Saturday Morning Cartoons and 22 Minute Toy commercials. Kids today are the Tablet and iChildren. Action Figures and Dolls are archaic things that are borderline pointless to them. Losing the Adult Collectibles would take a huge chunk of change out of TRU's coffers. The Collectors and Scalpers are a sizeable chunk of the customer base who buy toys for adults as well as for Children... (Bronies alone buy more MLP Product than actual little girls.) Losing that chunk of Customer Base could spell bad news to the Toy Store.

The thing that bugs me the most is how ONE PERSON gets OFFENDED by something and this ONE PERSON plans a CRUSADE TO ELIMINATE WHAT OFFENDED them. The Opinions of those who are not offended by that thing who offended the first person are not important; because they are not offended by the "Offensive thing". Those people get called insults (sub human disgusting things, misogynists, etc.) simply because they don't agree with the "offended party". Hmmm... This kinda echoes another situation, but I digress.

There is no real issue here!
She believes the toys are not for kids. The Manufacturer believes these collectibles are not for kids. Toys R Us believes these collectibles are not for kids and has them in a section of the store with other Adult Collectibles.
It only becomes an issue when they try to ban them from stores. The sad thing is that it has happened before... over the last 15 plus years.  Also, it's funny that the offended party is always a mother who somehow ends up stumbling into toys that are clearly not for Children. (The Breaking Bad toys are marked 15 and up, the Dexter toys were marked 18+ and the infamous Austin Powers McF "Figures" are marked 13+) I can almost understand the Austin Powers one being somewhat problematic, but seriously, who buys their 11 year old child a figure of Mike Myers with Ridiculous amounts of chest hair prancing in his underwear? I mean it's not like they have inappropriate humor like a Fat Bastard who wants to eat a Midget or something.

You know, For Kids!
I find it Highly Moronic that this witch hunt is being made BECAUSE the Manufacturer AND the Retailer already KNOW that the Breaking Bad toys are not for Children and the Retailer HAS THEM on their ADULT COLLECTIBLE SECTION, BECAUSE THEY ARE ADULT COLLECTIBLES!

I- I just don't know what else to say. I mean, the Mattel Nimbus 2000 vibrator scandal (due to joke reviews on Amazon) had a bit more merit than this.

Oct 18, 2014

Scott Neitlich is no longer with us...

No, he is not dead. He quit his job at Mattel. Something about another toy company giving him a better position. Leaving Mattel would mean his most likely going to Hasbro, or maybe Playmates.(going to any other toy company may be career suicide.) Then again there's This:



Here's the Interview from Action Figure Insider that scared the crap out of me. (Not a good thing to see first thing in the morning.)

Before I go in with my thoughts on the news; I must make a small disclaimer.

Whether you like or dislike Scott Neitlich or his Toyguru "persona" we cannot deny the fact that his contributions (whether good or bad) led MOTU to the state it currently is. (Talking about Classics and the brand in general). He did show some passion towards the brand (even if his knowledge of MOTU lore wasn't up to par.)

OK, so here we go!

I have mixed feelings about the issue. So I'll try to discuss this as tastefully as possible.

The good:
-No more rage inducing answers with "cute" phrases like: Mossman is not a bath toy, Keep reading the Bios, etc. Or answers that completely miss the point of the question. Let's face it, He had a knack for pushing our buttons.
-No more Neitlichverse (I have a rant about that on the backburner. Just organizing some thoughts) and that means Spector fading into the background.
-No more "MOTU Messiah" Toyguru. Sometimes, Neitlich's words seemed to sound (or be read as) like if it wasn't solely for HIS involvement, there would be no MOTUC.
-The Ban towards Emiliano Santalucia and the Power and Honor Foundation could be lifted.

The bad:
- We could get our equivalent to DCUC's "Fangirl 2.0-gate" where Neitlich's replacement, while more tactful, was a bit more clueless about the brand being managed.
-New Manager could simply ax MOTUC and start a new line with the new Manager's spin on it. (Restarting the 8back, different scale, less articulation, etc.)

So, basically, I kinda feel that Scott Neitlich was trying to become some sort of MOTU Messiah, the witch-hunt against The Power and Honor Foundation, the .org Val vs Emiliano rift, the "Massive overhaul" to the MOTU Universe's narrative with Time Agents, Green Lantern knockoffs etc. all seem to feed the theory that Scott Neitlich was trying to set himself up as the Savior of MOTU. This leads to the next thing: Ego. (which still fits the Scott Neitlich: MOTU Messiah narrative)

While self-aggrandizing, Scott Neitlich tended to downplay the roles of others in MOTUC, except when throwing them under the proverbial bus. Then there's the TOYGURU section of the Mattycollector website feeding the "Scott Neitlich is an egomaniac" narrative. I do feel like he was setting himself up to be the "Savior" of the brand, BECAUSE it would look amazing in a resume. (Turning a dead line into a successful toyline would look great on a resume for people in the toy business.) but at the same time, I also feel that his lack of tact and cluelessness when communicating
in writing made him look more antagonistic than what he really is. then there's the whole corporate spinning that he had to do (comes with the territory) that made him look like a liar.

He was far from perfect, but at the same time, MOTU customers got away easy. Year after year WE.MADE.IT.HAPPEN.DESPITE.MATTEL.AND.DIGITAL.RIVER. It wasn't Simply Scott "Fighting for us". It was a combination of: The Fourhorsemen Studios and their amazing sculpting powers, the Loyal and Rabid MOTU fanbase who year after year stuck with this toyline despite the tons of crap and drama surrounding it. Scott Neitlich's silver tongue may have enraged us customers/fans, but it also helped convince The Powers That Be to get us things like Grayskull, Battle Ram, keeping the line going, etc. (and turds like Nepthu, or Skelebaby... not all of them can be winners)

At the end of the day I just have this "the devil you know" feeling on the back of my head.  I fear we get someone who is WORSE than Neitlich (*cough*Ruben Martinez*cough*)and MOTU ends up in the backburner until I reach my 50s. Then again, the next BM could be the BM we BOTH NEED AND DESERVE to work with MOTU and make it return to the Juggernaut status from the 80s. Only time will tell.

How this affects the House of Rants?
Well, there goes my biggest Scapegoat. Now I have no Neitlich to curse at... CURSE YOU NEITLICH FOR NOT BEING MY SCAPEGOAT FOR MOTU BLUNDERS ANYMORE!!
*shakes fists at heavens*
Well, I have at least until the end of 2015, since while Scott may no longer be with Mattel, he set up the 2015 gameplan and that's what Mattel is going to roll with. (too late to change plans at this stage and it's simpler to end the current plan than scratch it and start all over. picturing the backlash of people rage quitting MOTU and Mattel products if Mattel decided to scratch MOTUC and refund all the 2015 subbers to then beg them to return for the new plan.)


I've got to be honest here. I wish him well on future endeavors and that his path does not cross with pastel colored equines from Rhode Island. I did and do not like all of his choices regarding the brand, but at the same time; I'm thankful for the good choices.

At the end of 2015 I guess we can judge the MOTUC Chapter and Neitlich a bit more fairly.

It Came from the Toy Chest: a Lannister always pays his debts

Finishing the Get of your ass and Type, George R.R. Martin week is none other than the Imp!
No, I will not stoop so low to take a picture of Tyrion and Filmation Hordak!
BTW, this is not ANY Tyrion Lannister, this is the Special Walgreen's edition of Tyrion as the Hand of the King... I want to thank Chikungunya for helping me find Tyrion. (yes, I've still got it, but the pain has subsided a bit. Seriously, I do not wish Chikungunya to my worst enemy.)

Seriously, we need a Joffrey toy!

I will not bore you with all the Details of Tyrion's role in a Song of Ice and Fire, because Spoilers. Let's just say that if there is one Lannister you should be rooting for, it's him.

Articulation:
Ball joints, Ball joints everywhere! His Articulation reminds me of MOTUC Madame Razz, but with hinged wrists and Ball jointed torso.
4.5

Paint and Sculpt:
VERY Little slop on him. I'd say he's the one with the Best Paint job so far. (even better than Clegane) The Sculpt, is a lot closer to Season 1 Dinklage. So, I have to say a 5.0

Accessories:
Sadly, here is where Funko lost some points. So, he gets the Dagger, but nothing else. Not even a cup of wine or something. the standard version of Tyrion has the Ax. I mean, he's the smallest of all characters here and he simply comes with a dagger? Kinda wish he came with the Crossbow from later books... SPOILERS! 2.0

Overall:
Tyrion gets a 3.83, which is a nice score for a figure with very little to offer! No, it's not a pun related to his height. It's because he comes with only one accessory that is easy to miss
scale comparison to a MOTUC figure



Oct 17, 2014

It came from the Toy Chest: Hating Fire and %$#@ the king!

The Hound has come out of the Toy Chest. Sandor Clegane, Joffrey's Bodyguard, eh you get the idea!
We're reaching the end of the "Get off your ass and type, George R.R. Martin" week!

A little music to feel inspired while doing this review...

So, let's crack Open the Hound and hope he's closer to Daenerys than Jon Snow...


He didn't break! Good thing. Bad thing, his right foot fell off. It was not glued in properly. A dab of Superglue can fix this.

Articulation:
His articulation seems similar to Daenerys and Jon Snow... Except that only the left hand seems to be in a sort of ball joint. (Not going to risk it though.)
4.5

Paint and Sculpt:
The Hound looks like Rory McCann as The Hound, the Funko sculptors included the burnt part of the face, but his hair covers most of it. Unlike Dany or Jon Snow, the hound has the best paintjob of the three Game of Thrones figures I've seen so far!
4.5

Accessories:
The hound comes with his helmet, which I just discovered an Articulation point on it. (The visor can lower itself.) He also comes with TWO Swords! They fit MOTUC Females perfectly and they are roughly the same length as Tri-Klops' sword. (would suit a Force Captain Adora if you're not into GoT) 5.0

Overall:
The Hound gets a 4.67, which is closer to the score that these GoT Figures should be getting.






Oct 16, 2014

It Came from the Toy Chest: Granamyr and Spike's Mama!

Day Two of the themed Week: "Get off your ass and type, George R.R. Martin" Week!
As you may have deduced by the Title, it's the age of Targaryen! Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, 12 year old girl who Jason Momoa rapes(in marriage) on Game of Thrones.


So, after a disastrous start with Jon Snow, I move on to Daenerys Targaryen, My hopes are through the floor. Let's crack her open, pray to the old gods and the new that she will not share the same fate as Bitchface Snow!

I cracked her open and she did not break! Huzzah! I guess she is now Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, Unbroken (so far)




size comparison.... Damn! Those Targaryens are pale!
Articulation:
The Khaleesi has similar articulation to that of Jon Snow.
Head on a ball joint, shoulders, elbrows(ball jointed shoulders similar to most hasbro figures) and ball jointed hands. The chest is on a ball joint similar to the 1.0 Females in MOTUC. the thighs are articulated like a GI Joe figure with an additional thigh cut. (the thigh cut was stuck on Jon Snow btw) Double jointed knees and ball jointed feet. The feet articulation is a bit awkward at first, but it allows for more natural poses.4.5

Paint and Sculpt:
Here is where I have some issues: While Jon Snow captured Kit Harrington's perpetually lost face, the Mother of Dragons doesn't look much like Emilia Clarke. The rest of her body is OK, but the caked on paint hides some of her sculpt. Then to make matters worse, the paints are sloppy as hell!
Thanks to Daenerys' right Elbow, I noticed Why Jon Snow broke. Seems that figures have Clear Plastic Joints... Clear Plastic tends to be brittle and break easily!
I have to give in Paint and Sculpt a miserable 2.5 to the Mother of Dragons.

 Accessories:
Drogon. Just Drogon... Sonofa! The Mother of Dragons only comes with ONE of the THREE Dragons... I smell Daenerys variants coming... Not cool Funko. not cool at all! I have to point out one thing. Her right Shoulder has some weird holes. No, she's not broken, those holes are to plug in Drogon, as seen on the pics with her! 2.0

Overall:
Here, the Mhysa gets a 3.0 because of the paint issues and not too accurate sculpt. If you find one with better paint job, be careful! Seems that I got lucky with a less pretty but not broken Dany T. It's a shame that these Funko Toys are all over the place.

Oct 15, 2014

The Missing MOTUC Monthly Slot Mystery might be solved!

Mattel dropped a little hint on the Mattycollector Facebook page:
 This little thing you see here.
I know people can say that it could belong to Perfuma, but people on Facebook have begun speculating that the vine "friend" we have here is a small version of the Hydra that Evil Seed rode in the 200X Series.

Translation: The mystery Monthly Slot MAY BE Evil Seed's.
Why do I say Maybe and not IT IS! Because there have been rumors about a mini sub. As you may remember I already did speculations for those a while back. (200X, New Adventures, Mini Comics, He-Ro: Son of He-Man, Another Filmation, 200X Variants, Mini Comic Variants)
Damn! That's a lot of Speculation!

IF the rumors of a 200X Mini Sub are real, then He's a decent headliner for it... rumor mill has mentioned Veena and Sorceress as characters likely to be in it. Then again, they kinda make sense because:
Veena completes Preternia.
200X Sorceress can sit on the Grayskull throne better than Vintage Styled Sorceress.









So, in any case it looks like we're likely to get Evil Seed in MOTUC. (Just as long as they keep him 200X, of course, because I'm no fan of Filmation's Evil Seed)




It came from the Toy Chest: You know nothing

Jon Snow! Yes, that's right! Bitch faced, bastard son of Ned Stark and member of the Night's Watch is the newest character to come out of the Toy Chest. In order to celebrate a week in honor of A Song of Ice and Fire the House of Rants will review some Game of Thrones figures. This is the unofficial "Get off your ass and type, George R.R. Martin" week, because let's face it: EVERY WEEK is basically a Get off your ass and Type, George R.R. Martin week until he finishes the last two books.

So, Funko has tackled the Game of Thrones franchise and is bringing us 1:12 scaled Action Figures.

We need a bit of background music here.

Right out of the bat, I must point out that the packaging is a bit more collector-friendly than Mattel's MOTUC. You can theoretically reseal the package after opening, but that requires some tape removal skills that I lack. Then again, I'm an opener.

Do I need to go in detail about Jon Snow? He knows nothing. he's a bastard son of Ned Stark...
He has a big ass wolf that is not included with the figure. He's a member of the Night's Watch... Which is kinda like the US Border Patrol, but instead defending us from Canadians, the neighbors up North of Westeros are more like Savages and Zombies.

Let me get him out of the package and...


We can add being a functional toy to the list of things that Jon Snow doesn't know.

One call to Funko's CS yielded nothing. I'm basically SOL with a bitch ass broken Jon Snow.
I joked about Ned Stark having a loose head. No, I don't have a Ned Stark, but spoilers... Instead I end up with a Jon Snow with one arm!

This is not a good start with this line!






So, let's rate Jon Snow:

Articulation:
If Mr. "I know Nothing" hadn't broken, then he'd get a 4.0 in articulation. The PoAs while a bit awkward at first (used to the MOTUC buck) they do have a great range of motion. Even if the biceps lack the bicep swivel, the GoT figures have a great range of motion. Or at least what I could test with the non-breaking hand, after the incident.

Paint and sculpt:
The sculpt is pretty good! I mean; it captures Jon Snow's bitch face from earlier seasons pretty accurately.The sculpt does a decent job in hiding the articulation, which is good. Paintwise, it seems to be a bit sloppy, but nothing horribly sloppy that makes you say "WTF is going on here?" So, here Jon Snow would have scored a 4.0

Accessories:
Jon Snow only has Longclaw. These figures don't seem to come with much, but for $16, I can't expect a 100% newly tooled figure to come with a buttload of accessories. Here, Mr. Snow gets a 2.0

Overall:
Had Jon Snow not broken, he'd get a 3.33 overall score. Him breaking seems like it's honoring George R.R. Martin's tradition of killing main characters. This is a bad experience that I hope won't repeat itself with the rest of the figures I got.


Oct 13, 2014

From Mythbuster to Corporate Shill.

Who is Grant Imahara? The Robotics expert from Mythbusters that is not the Hyneman... From the Build Team that got the boot recently... Well, he is now a corporate shill to a certain company that I shall not name.


Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Grant Imahara is now the new McSpokesperson and he will be busting McMyths. Y'all see the issue that I have here. If McD hired him to "bust McMyths", then what is stopping McD from revealing the unflattering answers. This is an obvious PR maneuver by McD and they're putting Imahara's reputation on the line. Had he been hired by a third party unrelated to the Fast Food industry and Mr. Imahara was busting myths from ALL fast food companies.

I believe this is more harmful to Grant Imahara's reputation than McD's. On the other hand I want to see these videos.


There's a videogame company that is trying very hard to kill itself...


Really, they should change their name to CRAPCOM, since Crap is all they seem to know. I'm not joking. They have turned from one of the greatest gaming companies into one of the crappiest!

So, why am I hating on Crapcom? Well, there's a couple of things: Megaman being dead. Now if a crappy Capcom game, like say Darkstalkers ressurection (basically another Port of Darkstalkers 3...) doesn't sell 2 million copies... that is 2,000,000 copies of a port of a 1997 game, then Crapcom will not make a new Darkstalkers game. Yes, you heard right. Crapcom is expecting that we buy 2 million copies of a half-assed port of a 17 year old game just so we get a chance at a theoretical Darkstalkers 4. This is being applied to all Crapcom games. Looking back at Darkstalkers. I already own that game TWICE! I bought it in 1998 for the PS1 then I bought it in 2009 for the PSP, why would I buy the game again, as a Digital download when my 1998 PS1 copy and my 2009 PSP copy work just fine! If they had released Darkstlakers 4 in an artstyle reminiscent of MVC3 or SFIV, then I would be really excited. I can get so excited about ports, but the excitement isn't that great. Neither is buying a game and finding that half of its roster is blocked by DLC. Don't get me started on Super Hyper Extra Arcade Plus Alpha editions of the same game... Which we know who is the biggest culprit here. IT starts with Crap and ends with Com.

So, I guess Crapcom will only make Monster Hunter games now... RE6 sucked ass and I'm not falling for another incomplete Street Fighter game.