Jul 31, 2019

Redoing the MOTU 12-BACK... an idea from a dream

Seems like MOTU Classics days are over. Super 7 is super silent about the situation. Mattel is interested in promoting the oranges line. I went to sleep yesterday and I had a dream. No this is not a farthing Luther King jr. Reference.  I'm simply stating that in my dream  I saw I saw 12 Masters of the Universe Classics figures that we're re-dos of previously existing figures but with a Twist.
They weren't reissues. They were made combining old and new parts to "recreate" the 12 back. (Not the actual 12 back. Ram Man and Man-E-Faces were not in there. Instead Evil Lyn and Mekaneck made it somehow.)

So, I will try to describe these figures to the best of my abilities.

-He-Man was amongst the blandest. He was made from prviously existing parts with the new items being the sword and Axe.
Oo-Larr head on the standard body
Vykron Barbarian Harness
Snake Armor left forearm Prahvus right forearm
Pharavus loincloth with Fisto's belt and Icer boots.
The shield was the s7 Filmation He-Man shield.

-Skeletor was sporting the Alcalá head, a new harness and Loincloth. Strongor boot with Evilseed feet. The new pieces were more ornate versions of his normal armor.
The Havoc staff had a more realistic ram skull.

-Beastman had longer more ape-like arms. The furry armor was a new piece that changed his shape a bit... kinda like Chooblah.

- Man-at-Arms was pretty much the same,   but he had a new helmet... like a cross bewteen Duncan and Dawg-o-Tor. He was also wearing of Prahvus's loincloth.  his armor was in metallic colors to look less toyetic. The backpiece of his armor was new.

-Teela didn't receive that much change but the engineering of her torso kind of looked like she had a plain bodysuit and that the Teela specific armor was A Separate piece.
It looked like she was wearing a cuirass over her bodysuit.
Hair head sculpt was new but it was similar to the classic XI with a much longer ponytail. Also her hair had a bit more volume a bit more curls in it then compared to the classic toy that is mostly straight hair.

-Faker you can probably deduce that he was literally a combination of Skeletor and He-Man the only notable difference was that the sample graph on his chairs that shows that he's a robot was actually sculpted on this figure.

-Zodac is part of the bland club. He was literally normal zodiac with the long flowing cloth the Kobra Khan forearms and Boots. The feathers on his boots got a bit of a weathering job on it and the red Armour was candy apple red metallic... for a vanilla guy, he looked spiffy.

-Trap Jaw was pretty much the same, but with a new Helmet, Jaw, Mechanical arm (and accessories)
The new helmet and jaw had a bit more elaborate detail and in a rusty metallic color.  the arm the arm was improved by making it looking more thicker bigger menacing than the vintage toy counterpart as well as accessories. (No puny looking weapons on him)  Think power arm Terminator...
He had a bit more detail paint job where his skin looked like it was partially rotten and sickly.

-Stratos:  he was pretty vanilla I think he had wings and new Hands to Hold weapons. But I can't recall him that well. I remember mentioning that Stratos was still lame in this version.

-Tri-Klops: I recall a new head for him, blade's thigh with the knife and I think Batros Boots with traditional Barbarian feet. The Loincloth was new and it cpuld hold a second TK sword and a short version of the TK sword.  His harness was the standard one but painted in a more "realistic way".

-Evil Lyn had Huntara's boots and a new helmet.  other than that she looks similar to the NECA staction but in vintage colors

-Mekaneck I don't recall seeing New pieces in the figure he was basically repainted in metallic colors using blast attack arms trap Jaws upper leg and then they'll the lower leg was a normal Shin with icer boots.

 in my dream these were released as a celebration of Masters of the Universe a couple months before the movie Weiss released. Then I felt a huge urge to pee so I have to wake up on I can vaguely remember the details.

I can remember he man clearly because I was thinking of customizing a 200X Classicized He-Man and I tend to gravitate for the Prahvus and Snake armor forearms. Also thinking with Soul Calibur 6 has kept me  in a customizing Masters of the of the Universe mindframe.

But seriously super seven needs to find out a way to make weapons back because I need that giant filmation style Shield you have for all my He-Man figures.

Jul 28, 2019

So, I bought some Figure body parts from Strangefate...

To make a custom female figure compatible with MOTUC.
I won't do an "it came from the Toy Chest" with her because I'm experimenting with this body (and I have to sculpt some furry bits to make her.) Not to mention that she is not "Truly classicized" because I didn't buy a naked buck. I'm 200X-izing her then Classicizing her... kinda like Hunter Lnight Customs did to Melaktha... a custom that I got outbid on... *sniff* That Melaktha was awesome!! If I knew how to crack torsos and crotches for MOTUC, I could theoretically make one. But this is not a Melaktha rant.

The Strangefate bodies... some of the designs are easily recognizable as semi obscure comic book characters. Others have this Fantasy game vibe to them. Their articulation seem similar to tail end Classics female figures. Some are a bit too detailed for filmation but they would seem at home with some of the 200X Classicized figures.

I have to praise the engineering of the figure, because the few parts have assembled (mainly the Torso and a shoulder) have been pretty easy to assemble. I still have to be careful with them though.

I miss figure Multi-packs...

With the rising costs of action figires, Multi packs are becoming a thing of the past. I KNOW that Hasbro does the occasional 2 or 3 pack but I'm talking more than 3 figures at a time like say the few four packs that NECA does with  TMNT... or the old multipacks that toy Biz did with Marvel Legends...

For example a seven-figure pack like the spider-man versus the Sinister Six set from toy biz would be a $140 item... and right now Hasbro could pull it easily since they have all the main Sinister Six and Spidey.
Repaint Vulture in darker colors.
Repaint Mysterio with gold boots and gloves
Repaint the Raft Sandman in normal colors
Repaint Electro in Classic Colors
Repaint Ock in classic colors (glasses in blue)
Repaint Kraven from the last hunt 2 pack in brighter colors and swap his forearms for Namor's.
Repaint Spidey in battle damage and toss in an extra half mask head from pizza Spidey repainted for battle damage.

Fantastic 4 could use  one as well.
Like say: Reuse the Ronan Wave Reed repainted in Walgreens Reed paint scheme with the Walgreens Reed head.
Thing would be a rerelease
Sue would be recast in clear plastic.
Johnny would require a new flamed off head sculpt maybe having him partially flamed on like the ToyBiz F4 set.

A 3 pack could be used to complete the Maximum Carnage villains.
Demogoblin is a literal repaint. (And a new glider)
Carrion requires 1-2 new pieces
Shriek can easily be made by clever part reuse.

A Dormammu and Mordo vs Dr. Strange 3 pack could work.
Strange could be a classic colors repaint of the previously released Dr. Strange.
Mordo would NEED to be his comic book version, which would require a couple of new pieces and Dormammu is a rerelease of the BAF because Dormammu adds value to the set.

 but realistically speaking most of these would remain ifanboy screen because Rising costs in plastic would make them cost-prohibitive.

Jul 26, 2019

New Saint Seiya looks lile a long PS2 game cutscene.

Not liking Knights of the Netflix... first the visuals they literally look like PlayStation 2 cutscene graphics the backgrounds are mostly empty devoid of people devoid of life and the few characters move like stiff dolls. I'm trying to force myself through the six episodes but it's proving nearly impossible. 1 1/2 episodes in and I'd rather watch Noelle Stevenson's pop cultural appropriations of She-Ra.
Hell, I'd rather watch Netflix's own Inspector Gadget instead of this. I'd rather watch Thundercats Roar than this.

 I'm not saying this is bad I'm saying that this is so horrible and awful that whoever was involved in this project should be kicked in the dick with a steel toe boot... repeatedly!!!

 two episodes in and it feels like they are half Exposition half filler, which is really bad for a 6 episode "season".

Four episodes in and I'm wondering why the hell did they have the stupid Army angle?

 you know what, screw this adaptation!

Now we're talking...
Hell, I'll take the English version with the weirdest opening song ever:

Yes I know the song is I ran originally sang by A Flock of Seagulls and this cover is made by Bowling for Soup... yes Bowling For Soup I send the same guys who sang the Phineas and Ferb theme...

Hey Netflix was Castlevania a fluke?

It came from the Toy Chest: The Scepter has no duct tape...

Zedd, Lord Zedd, the most evil Mighty Morphin era villain, this side of Rita Repulsa... and a huge pain in the ass to find IN THE WILD, I did find him in the wild... then again I am one of the 28 who has a Loyal Subjects Anti-Eternia He-Man.  Back to Power Rangers, Lord Zedd was the main villain of season 2. Eventually ends up marrying Rita repulsa and when Zordon dies he's turned into a human.

When did I got the chase figure of hate Chase New Year's from the first wave of the lightning collection. (Goldar is coming, I pre-ordered him from Gamestop)

Articulation 
Despite his appearance lord said is very articulated I would compare his articulation level with Spider-Man.
Well, a bulkier version of Spider-Man. Despite the tubes and all the armored bits he can move really well.
4.5
Paint flaw in visor

Paint and sculpt:
 the figure is superb on its own but I only have two minor grapes and those are paint related because the sculpt is perfect!! My first paint issue is at his visor is not completely painted as soon as he's not really red it would be a lot harder for me to match the paint so if I were to fix that I would have to paint it in a metallic red add it will look a bit off. The second issue is that his staff is playing great plastic it's not metallic so I will probably give it a nice or Randall silver dry brushing just to make it shiny. I'm still thinking if I shall redo the duct tape accident.
4.5
My lil' bro and I
Brole many Christmas balls
Like this...

Accessories:
Scepter
Lightning effect
Growth grenade
Extra pair of hands
Repainted sceptre

He has pretty much everything we need to make a great  Lord Zedd figure but personally would have preferred a second head with energy coming out of his visor similar to The Sasquatch Wave Cable.
5.0
Bandai Rangers
Are too big

Overall 
Lord Zedd gets a 4.67 as his final score. He's a really great figure. But Hasbro was very clever and made him slightly shorter than 7 in. That way you cannot use him with the Bandai Power Rangers...  that means that we have to buy all the Mighty Morphin Rangers over again. I already have the white ranger so 6 to go... the eventual Rita repulsa figure.
Duct Taped scepter

Jul 25, 2019

Odds and ends July 25, 2019: Puerto Rican history in the making... and other stuff.

After a corruption scandal that shook Puerto Rico to the core, We, the people, managed to oust Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares. Funny thing is that this event happened between the eve and beginning of the Puerto Rican "Constitution Day". Formerly the day when US troops arrived at Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American war.
(Invitation/Invasion... depends on who you ask)

I normally avoid mentioning Politics here, but this is a historical event.  Some explanations might be required.
Unlike US Politics, Puerto Rican politics are centered on the territorial status:
The main two parties, The Popular Democratic Party (PPD), and the New Progressive Party (PNP) used to have roughly 90% of voters. The PPD is a conglomerate of ideals, that behaves like a gestalt of 3 mini parties (one group wants to preserve the current colonial status quo, another group wants to have a "sovereign alliance" with the US, the newer sub group of the PPD wants to return to Spanish rule.) To put them in US terms they would most likely be Democrats/left leaning libertarians. They are the smallest of the main two. Usually they win when voters from the minority parties break ranks and vote for the PPD to avoid a PNP victory.

The PNP on the other hand are interested in turning Puerto Rico into the 51st State of the Union. They are the largest of the main two parties. Many of their members are registered as Democrats and Republicans in the US... don't be fooled by their "affiliation" or name... the PNP is Hyper conservative... I mean Tea Party looks center left next to them. Their base rarely breaks ranks.

The rest are micro parties that barely have any real influence... the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the Sovereign Alliance Party(MUS), the Labor People's Party, (PPT), and others that come and go. These micro parties tend to be far-left.

I mention all this, so I can explain the rise and fall of Ricardo Rosselló.

Ricardo is the son of Ex Governor Pedro Rosselló. His government wad involved in many corruption scandals and Pedro came out unscathed. He attempted to run for governor in 2004 and lost. The PNP won in general, except the Governor position, which was won by the PPD. He then made a senator resign and using party tricks he became a Senator. There he played obstruction.

Ricardo basically grew up as "The Governor's son". With that power, came reckless behavior. Allegedly, a night of underage drinking where Ricky killed two people while driving drunk ended up in nothing. He was also allegedly protected from charges for stealing a police ATV and running over endangered turtle nests. Again nothing was proven.

Basically, dude hade a carte blanche to do whatever he wanted... kinda like a Puerto Rican Joffrey. Come 2016 and he won the election due to having 5 other options against him (and the lowest victory margin for the PNP in decades.) In 2017 Hurricane Maria struck and put Puerto Rico in a huge state of disarray. His bad performance was chalked to rookie mistakes by an incompetent Governor.

Then the infamous chat was revealed. Corruption, massive dickery, and disdain towards the people he swore to serve were revealed in the chat. But the thing that angered most was that his bad performance on Maria's aftermath was part of a ploy to get votes for 2020. His inner circle mocked the deaths. This caused the people to ask for his resignation, and for the Legislature to begin the impeachment process. Since the Majority of the Legislature is from HIS OWN PARTY, they simply dragged their feet until they decided not to impeach. Taking a page from US history, the people made a massive protest blocking one of the main roads of the Metropolitan Area, forcing to shut dowm Puerto Rico's biggest mall. Not to mention protests across other municipalities with PNP mayors to put pressure on politicians to begin the impeachment process. Then add the daily protests at La Fortaleza, aka the Governor's Residence/office.... until he relented.

No full blown war, minimal violence, and a corrupt politician is out.  I knda wonder what will History books say about this in 30-50 years.

A new batch of Funko Pops that I want have been announced. I may or may have not missed out on that Gabriel Iglesias Funko Pop,  but so far I haven't seen it available yet... well, this new funko pop that has been revealed has me saying just one word: "Crikey!"
 yes boys and girls it's a Steve Irwin Funko Pop...

I'm cutting this odds and ends short, mostly because of this:

Jon Favreau should stick to Iron Man movies

His CGI eunuch lion abomination was shit. Stick to that 1994 Classic animated feature. I wish I could get a refund but they don't give refunds because the movie was shit.
Did I mention that the CGI Lion King takes a shit on the original? Because this movie is shit.

I know saying that the movie is shit makes my review worthless and hipsterish. And it doesn't make it around because I need a long-winded and flamboyant explanation why this piece of shit is well shit.

I know some of you are clutching your pearls at the enormous amount of shit on this post but I'm just trying to channel how shity The Lion King (remake) is.

Well let me describe it as take a great Super Nintendo era game make a remake of it on PlayStation 4 give it voice actor High high-end CGI, make it more realistic and then take away all the fun from the original game.

But I have to be fair and put the blame where it belongs most of it Jon Favreau's fault... and the writers. (Ironically 4 out of 5 writers worked on the Real Lion King. The remaining one  co-wrote Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). I need to specify this because once I begin my review I will criticize some of that direction taken by the actors on the characters and I know someone will try to play the racism card.

 like for example if I mentioned that some actors we're performing a bit over-the-top when they should have been more come and subdued... (looking at you fake Varon Mordo) a certain group of people are going to say racist racist because he's black... same thing if I say that Beyonce was a miscast and her performance wasn't a total trainwreck, but mediocre... REEEEEEE! RACIST! SEXIST! MAHOGANY!!

 but not all performances wear a Trainwreck I really really really reheheheally need to pray Donald Glover's performance as Simba. James Earl Jones's performance it felt a bit off as I blame Jon Favreau for that.


There were a few script changes like they were trying to BFG when they actually made the fart joke that the original Disney movie didn't... there were other changes that were a lot less palatable.

They massively butchered Scar's song Be Prepared.
I just can't wait to be king lost its childlike fantasy and sense of wonder. They replaced the Timon luau with Be Our Guest has horrible but still Midlothian is hilarious but stupid Jon Favreau and his stupid realism...

The weakest points where pretty much everyone else is performance is because most of them felt like it was the first take and they went with that. Especially with Chiwetel Eijofor's. His Scar was in perma-rage mode and lacked all subtlety from Irons's performance.
Eijofor's Scar was all Grr, I hate you!!! while Irons's was all Grr, I hate you!!! BUT, I'll barely pretend to tolerate you.

Pretty CGI, but soulless...  Don't bother watching.

Jul 23, 2019

It came from the Toy Chest: MacGargan, Carpenter, Bench

am saving Doppelganger for a single review, because there is SO MUCH to talk about him that a Multi figure review wouldn't do him justice.

I bought these on eBay without BAF pieces, since I don't care about Not Molten Man... Also, the Far from figures aren't doing much for me... Maybe I'll get Mysterio.

Mac Gargan, turned into an arachnid aberration by J. Jonah Jameson's money. Now left is super strong and deranged criminal Scorpion he wants to kill Spider-Man and JJJ.
Bigger faster stronger than Spider-Man, he is a deadly foe for our arachnid hero. Hopefully you read that small description of scorpion in a Stan Lee voice.

Morris Bench suffered a freak accident involving an untested underwater generator, volcanic gases, and, yiu giessed it Spider-Man. Now Bench has the ability to turn his entire body into water. Think of him like a lesser version of Sandman but with water.

Julia Carpenter gained her Spider powers through a really weird way. Val Cooper injected her with a mix of strange plant compounds and Spider venom. After gaining her powers, she transitioned into the life of a hero.

Now let's start the reviewing part with Mac Gargan...

Articulation
Okay scorpion Slims behave like a normal Marvel Legends figure the only real difference is in his authority chelation which has a ball joint like the females instead of the standard ab crunch. Surprisingly his tail is bendy and super long it's also a bit heavy; so you need to play with both him and the tail to get him into sweet poses.
3.5 (due to the balancing issues)

Paint and sculpt:
 he looks like early days scorpion including the green mouth I'd say a bit after his first appearance around his first upgrade look... I don't think he is reusing any parts and the paint job on mine it's pretty good I don't see any signs of slop or paint bleed.
5.0

Accessories:
Normally I'd say to build a figure part but Sans I bought him used without accessories I cannot officially count them so this is a non applicable section this time.

Overall 
Scorpion gets a 4.25 as his final score. Personally I would have preferred the flesh-toned mouth and maybe have him a bit both your butt he is better than the toy Biz scorpion and it pains me to say that.


Let's take on Arachne:

Articulation
Being brutally honest here there's nothing to write home about. She's literally built on the standard female buck so you know what to expect in both articulation and paint/ sculpt.
4.0

 paint and sculpt
Like I stated before there's nothing to write home about I think I feel legs on her white spider look slightly fuzzy but it's not a huge deal breaker but other than that she's fine I also love that hair hair isn't really red red or orange orange so it's it's got highlights so it looks a bit more realistic which at the same time it's kind of weird since some characters have like a little girl singing shading is nice.
4.5

Accessories
She comes with a build a figure part but since I bought her loose without the build a figure part I don't have that and the other accessories he has is an extra hand with a Psy web shooting out of it. So the accessory she has is a necessary one. I could count it but since I didn't count the accessories part on gargan it wouldn't be fair for him and the others to have some have accessories count for their final score and others not.

Overall:
Julia gets a 4.25 as her final score. It's a decent score for a fear that it's super blind but at the same time unnecessary update to the toy biz one.

Hydrant man oh hydrant man!  what did Hasbro do to you?

Articulation
I could swear he is reusing the Netflix Luke Cage body so the articulation is mostly decent until we get to his arms. They are single joint at the elbows but have a piss-poor range  pardon the pun. Not to mention that their weight makes them nearly impossible to pose.
3.5

Paint and sculpt
 the paint job on him is pretty good most of his sculpt is really awesome even if it might be a reused from the Netflix Luke Cage body. The only thing that looks weird is his face.
3.5

 accessories
 2 plug-in water effects that clip onto his feet.  also build a figure part but since I ordered him loose I cannot fairly count the accessories.

Overall 
Morrie gets a 3.5 as his final score. I think that the smaller body frame coupled with the heavy arms did a lot of harm to him that good. Personally I would have made him a build a figure much like Sandman before him.

Scorpion: I will crush you!
Spidey: You Can say Kill here. We're
not censored like in Fox Kids!

Scorpion: I'll jam my tail up your ass and 
Fill you up with my deadly acid...
*Nefty intervention* That's a bit too graphic
Mac... tone it down a notch!
Scorpion: I'll squeeze you to death until you puke all
your guts out! Then chop your head and jam it down your
Throat!!
*Nefty* Much better...
Spidey: what do you mean "much better"?

Arachne: He means this! Eat Psy web!

Arachne: Take that! And that! And some of this!
Scorpion and Spidey: Ow... Ow... Ow...

Spidey: Thanks for the assist!
Arachne: Wet guy behind you...
Spidey: I know, It's Hydrant man!
Hydroman: I'm Hydroman! Hydroman!

Spidey: and it's the middle of the summer... broad
daylight, unforgiving sun...
Hydroman: I'm evaporating! I'm  evaporating!
Spidey:(mockingly) Oh what a world!
Arachne: This is why I hate hamgong out with you...

Jul 22, 2019

Post SDCC Marvel Legends that haven't been made wishlist.

SDCC came and went and delivered a huge blow to fans' wishlists. Classic vulture Nate grey squirrel girl jacket cyclops and  many other fan desires are getting made...
Buuut! There are some characters that are missing...
When Mattel makes freaking Alfred and we don't have an Aunt May yeah there's something bad going on. Seriously freaking Alfred Pennyworth is being made by Mattel...
So yes you're going to see a couple of familiar names here at the house of rants... so hold onto your butts!

- Aunt May and Uncle Ben:
Being brutally honest here I would like to make this part of a Four Pack: with great power comes great responsibility four pack. It would contain Mayim been of course the burglar and a first appearance Peter Parker.
I know it sounds a bit dark having Ben and the Burglar, but those two characters literally shaped Spider-Man into becoming the hero he is now. The burglar is literally a new head as well as Peter Parker. Man Band might require a bit more new tooling but if Hospital place at smart they could really use some basic parts on other characters. Like say Madame Web and I mean Cassandra Webb Madame Web not Julia Carpenter.

-Firestar:
I wouldn't mind the Maximum Carnage new Warriors are a fire start but I would prefer that Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends Firestar. Right now I think any version of fire start and let's face it hot springs going to throw in the new Warriors version first then the Amazing Friends version in order to make us double dip.

- Carrion:
Got the phone clone of the Jackal is here for one reason and one reason alone completing the Maximum Carnage teams. You can reuse parts from the Goblins so he's basically a new head and maybe new crotch.

-Demogoblin:
Literally hobgoblin with the demon head repaint with a new translucent flaming glider. Completing Maximum Carnage yada yada.

-Shriek:
Literally same as a previous too and I think we have most of the parts to build her it's just a matter of mixing and matching.

-Kaine in his 90s molecular stabilizing suit:
The big bad Peter clone needs some representation from the days he was evil. And he's one of nephthys Most Wanted characters so he's going to beg plead and pretty much do anything legal and non-sexual to get him in the line...

- Age of Apocalypse cyclops:
We are getting Wolverine so we kind of need cyclops and preferably with an extra head that you can poke Logan's claws in it and I bear optic blasted off Logan hand.

- full-bodied Cannonball:
It's a load of crap what they did with the Wendy go wave Cannonball. He could have easily not come with a build a figure part and have his build a figure Parts substitute being the blast second lower half that would be better off as a Snap-On set of two pieces.

- Professor Hulk:
He's basically a new head on the 80th anniversary Hulk versus Wolverine body. And yes I want the professor Hulk head on the Savage Hulk body to make a reference to play Marvel versus games.

- the Mandarin:
I've said it before I've said it again we need a true comic book Mandarin and the one we got from toybiz is very lacking.

-Baron Mordo:
Again I'm referring to the comic book version since we already have a movie version but we need a classic mortal to go with Doctor Strange

-Shuma Gorath:
Lovecraftian horror monster that also appeared in the Marvel versus games check and check

-Baf Sized Blackheart:
- yes I thought this one was okay but it looked a bit too wimpy we need a bigger batter classic black heart preferably looking like the Marvel games.

- Superior octopus:
Nefty loves Ock, Nefty loves Spidey... a Spidey-Ock hybrid?
Yes Please!

- Quasar:
Not the VCR, but the Marvel Superhero...

- Mar-Vell and the Genis-Vell:
I want to replace a Toy Biz ones that while good they're not as aesthetic Lee pleasing as these new Hasbro Legends.

- comic book War Machine:
We've gotten plenty of movie war machines and we need a classic comic book War Machine

- the leader:
Again the toy Biz figure was okay but it's not as a statically pleasing as the new Hasbro Marvel Legends so we need a replacement.

-Spiral:
I know one was made in Hasbro's Dark Ages but we need a more modern one with that improve articulation and Aesthetics.

-Tarantula:
Like Spiral before him Tarantella Weston 8 in the dark ages of hospital and he could be greatly improved with the new articulation and Aesthetics

-Banshee:
Same thing as the last two.

-Arcade:
Now this guy is a bit more complicated sure you can make the figure which is basically suits body with a bow tie and may be reused Carnage Cletus head or the evil Adam Warlock head. But arcade on his own ass I've been on the labor side if we're being totally fair. Now if we got arcade with a Murder World "playset" ( basically a bunch of accessory traps and doodads for display to "kill" the X-Men maybe with some cardboard background.

-Dan Ketch Ghost Rider... WITH BIKE!!:
Seriously, why would anyone make a Ghost Rider with NOTHING TO RIDE!?

-Uatu the Watcher:
Screw Marvel select and their lacl of rerelease of Uatu.

-Storm black outfit with tiara:
Yes the same Storm from the X-Men arcade game from Konami. We are getting gas Slurpee soon so old we need is storm to complete the arcade game theme... aka the Pryde of the X-Men team.

- White Queen Emma Frost:
I know that Walgreens has the Black King version but when I think of Emma I think White Queen not Black King. My Black King is Sebastian Shaw!! Are we paint off Black repaint the black king Frost could work as a white Queen.

- Sebastian Shaw and the rest of the Hellfire club's Inner Circle:
Classic X-Men villains that haven't been made I would be pretty awesome to have.

- classic Toad:
 we haven't gotten one since early toybiz days and we're long overdue to replace that oversized abomination.

-Blob:
Since Hasbro has improved their technology to make articulation on irregular size figures, Blob deserves a second chance.

-Pyro:
Replace the Toybiz one...

-Avalanche:
We never had a PROPER Avalanche.

-Super Skrull:
We need one that's all there is to it. The toy biz one is nearly impossible to find... also like the toy Biz figure Hasbro can do redecos like flamed on invisible and regular version of Super skrull.

- Joe Fixit:
I guess some of kingpins parts could be put to good reuse in there.

That's just that they've of the iceberg because I didn't mention so I'm off my ones like the power pack, Howard the duck, an actual fantasticar Jarvis, Lilandra, Moira,  and many others. Not to mention certain redecos like full water hydroman...

Jul 20, 2019

Odds and ends July 21st 2019: Tom Cruise is getting old, Avatar dethroned, and other stuff...

Jimmy Cameron must be pissed that a dumb superhero flick beat his magnum opus of Furry Ferngully. Also in a lot less time that it took Avatar to get where it was. I'm mentioning thos because of Cameron's arrpgance, Avatar being overrated, and to rub it in the faces of all the Suck Snyder fans. His "dark, edgy, gritty DCU" failed.
Suck it, Warner!!

Tom Cruise has entered a Danger Zone... No, Spike! Don't play Loggins.

The movie's premise seems to be Tom Cruise is too old for this shit. I completely agree this is basically an old man's last hurrah to prove he can still run with the young'uns.

It's not Schwarzenegger bad but it is kinda bad.

Now you are a furry...


Cats is now a movie. And I'm going to see a rise in the furry population.

The Masters of the WWE Universe are crap: the rant.

Yes, you read that right. And no this is not about methyl using the oranges bodies instead of classics. I'm going to explain why I'm calling them crap.
This is The New Day figure... can you notice something a little peculiar? They made them into Man-E-Faces... but still they look like a member of the new day.

I know what you're thinking:
But Nefty didn't you say in a previous rant that you wanted to mutate some of the wrestler is to reflect their Persona as a bit better to fit in Eternia. 

Yes I did, but they are doing it wrong. There characters that aren't even being put three master's of the Universe filter you basically take out some of the armor bits and surprises a normal WWE figures. They should first and foremost look like Masters of the Universe figures that are recreating the WWE Superstar looks.

Also why does the new day get the Man-E-Faces gimmick when you have Mick Foley?
Think about it one faces mankind one face is Dude Love the other faces Cactus Jack or Mick Foley. And why is Triple H wearing the terror Claws I mean you could give him you could give Man-E-Foley the Terror Clawsand they could be Terror Claws Sockos.
Also why are they replicating Masters gimmicks instead of giving them original gimmicks?

You don't seem Triple H and fury Underpants and He-Man boots that would have been awesome! Stone Cold Steve Austin with trap-jaw legs... you know making them more eternian like with the generic Parts but not putting a Man-E-Faces helmet on the new day.

Sting with The Claw for claw that was a cool idea but the clothing needs to look more Eternia like. Hell the Trap jaw legs would have been perfect for sting.

I know they're probably would have been a bit of resistance from the mcmahons side of things but, it seems to me that metal didn't try to Masters of the Universe eyes the WWE looks which is what we should have gotten from the get-go. But then again Mattel has to Mattel...

Hasbro owned SDCC

NECA started good with their TMNT stuff.
Mattel was underwhelming on the MOTU area... but they are gonna make a DCUC Alfred... I meam a DC Multiverse Alfred that apperently will have:
Comic book Alfred Head, 1966 Alfred Head, 1989 Alfred head...

Super7 is Super disappointing. No MOTU, no TMNT, supposedly, they have THUNDERCATS, but nothing to show.

But Hasbro... Tons of Power Rangers stuff...

You know I'm a Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers fan, so these 3 are the only ones I care about.

But on the Marvel side... prepare your anus!









My wallet has committed sudoku 27 times already. Where to even begin? 90s Havok and Polaris, bone claw Wolverine Jim Lee Cyclops with bomber jacket 90s cartoon Jean Grey... classic Vulture, Nate Grey the Age of Apocalypse counterpart of Cable, a Strong Guy build a figure, Shang Chi, freaking Squirrel Girl!! Hit monkey and a Deadpool that looks like perfect custom father for Arcade, Walgreens Has a Dani Moonstar that triples as a Wolfsbane and a Karma but so that means triple dipping on figures. (That is if Walgreens gets to move all the Magiks clogging pegs) DOCTOR FREAKING DOOM!! And there is another and game wave that has The Big Thorbowsky build a figure.
I know he technically should be called the dude but that's the nickname he's got in on the interwebs.

That's just part of the new stuff remember that we have still some items that are beginning to show up like the whole Boomerang too bad the Colossus Juggernaut too bad the upcoming vintage X-Men wave Etc...

Seriously Hospital knocked it out of the park...



Jul 19, 2019

Mattel actually followed my advice for once!!

In a Mattel styled quarter assed way... because Mattel's gonna Mattel.
But they are doing it for the Oregons line...





I have to admit that these guys are pretty cool in theory. But since they're based on the origins Style articulation looks really shity and that's because Ruben is back. Yes the master of incompetence the douche himself Ruben mediocre Martinez... and the results will be less than stellar.

While I wish these were made in classics style and scale.. the full vintage look kind of works for them... but there is one thing that I'm super excited for and at the same time I hate it because that'll pretty much ripped my castle Grayskull man Arena of pain...


I know people can claim coincidence and that there are so many ways to make a Grayskull themed Arena and that this one has plenty of differences to not be a rip off of mine...

I made mine in 2012 I made mine in 2012 Mattel made there's in 2019 so you do the math... where they inspired by my work or not you be the judge.

Mildly related... Wave 1 of the MOTU Oregons line...

Jul 17, 2019

The Faux vintage MOTU are retailbound in 2020

MOTUC is dead, MOTUC is dead! How long till you blame me for that, Scott?
If you can sing that to this tune, then you might guess what I'm gonna say.
The new faux vintage He-Man look very Robot Chickeny... and no, that's NOT a Compliment.
But they are cheaper than Super7's...

They're a bit too expensive at $15. They look cheaply made and sloppily made as well. Look at Skeletor's boot! They have bits of flesh in Purple, when they should be blue... This type of laziness is wave 4 corner cutting and we're barely on wave 1... What the Hell Mattel!? You're making the Neitlich era look good again...

I don't see these doing good... They're not for kids, but they aren't made for adults...

I'll let Hall and Oates take it away... This one's for you Mattel!

SDCC has barely started and NECA has me saying cowabunga

And all I can think is: Super7 who? Right now there is NO WAY that Super7 can top NECA's TMNT offering:
Roadkill Rodney... Multiple style of Foot Robots...
Rocksteady and Bebop... but the ones that have me reaching for my wallet are:
While I saw these on my Facebook newsfeed, check Toyark for more pics.




Toon Slash may be a dud for me, But... I Gwarantee! that I NEED that April and Casey. The Leatherhead, the Rocksteady and Bebop, the
 METALHEAD!! Sadly for me, these seem to be Target exclusives...

Super7, how are you going to top those?

Jul 16, 2019

Mario Maker 2 is the shit!

Language warning: Super Mario Maker 2 is the shit!!!
And after paying 20 bucks for online I have now played the full Super Mario Maker 2 experience.

The 100 Mario mode is gone. Now it's an endless mode you get 30 life and you beat stages until you die... and it's incredibly fun okay it's similar to 100 Mario mode but the difference is that the game doesn't stop every 16 levels.

The horse maker mold takes a lot to get used to especially if you tinkered around with the original Mario maker. The touchscreen is incredibly underused on the switch. But when playing on TV mode the makers seems a bit more intuitive than I first thought. But still the original Mario Maker has the better course maker interface with the Wii U pad.

Other than that is basically normal Mario maker with a couple of things taken out then a lot of things put in...

I know your worth wondering Nefty did you play The Co-op and versus mode?

Yes and I suck ass at them. The lag is incredibly bad, but it is kind of fun if Nintendo can find a way to improve the lag issue then it would be wonderful.

Not much has changed from my first thoughts except that I can see the potential in the maker mode now that I tinkered with it and weaned off a little bit from the Wii U version and the creativity that the course makers are showing it's amazing!  The troll levels are deliciously evil!! I've been frustrated as heck while playing them!! AND there have been some nice sweet courses that even casual semi hardcore well that's not accurate... Um, semi-hard... huh huh! I would say like medium core Mario Gamers would enjoy!

If you enjoy old school platform games and you're able to tolerate some Insidious trolling then this is the game for you!!

But if playing the game is not your thing you can check out some YouTubers that are doing it Mario Maker runs... they can be nerve-wracking, or hilarious...

Hasbro is crowdfunding Unicron... and he's expensive as F...

I'm talking $574.99 for a 27" Transformer that turns into a Planet with 30" diameter. You have until Aug 31st to preorder... also they only need 8000 units to make this a reality.

Personally I'm skipping this because I'm not that huge of a Transformers fan and it feels a bit of a rip-off. I would understand if this was the price tag for a Takara Tomy import, and they are getting to ridiculous prices already. I hope this can be made for the fans who want one but it's not for me. I do find it funny that people bitched about Snake Mountain being made by a third-party having a ridiculous cost and a first-party Transformer maker is asking almost the same price for a much much smaller figure.

If I was a hardcore Transformers fan instead of a He-Man fan I would definitely get it.

Jul 15, 2019

Netflix's "She-Ra" dolls revealed... leaked!

Yikes! Mattel can't even get some exclusive figure reveal without the actual store leaking them. It's so easy to poke fun at the situation...
Let's check the dolls out!

They SEEM to be Frankenstein'd out of Ever After High and DC Superhero girls dolls. They are exclusive to Target, so *IF* I wanted to get them, I'm SOL... I'd have to go through eBay.
Here are my thoughts on each figure
"She-Ra":
She looks a bit androgynous... on the face. The body reminds me of DCSHG dolls. Gotta love how cheap her outfit looks. Her shoulder pads and crest are not part of her top. She looks bad... not Horrible, but bad...

Tyrone:
Oh, em, gee! They gave him an eating disorder! It doesn't help thathis clothes look oversized. He also looks wimpier than his cartoon self... Never thought that this could be possible. He looks a bit too light skinned (could be the camera flash)

"Adora"

And she's not horrible. I mean it's really hard to screw up Adora but Mattel really close to doing it. The pleather jacket will be the first casualty. Her jacket and shirt are literally one piece. I know these were cheaply made but damn!

Catra:
She clearly is the pick of the litter. Then again when pretty much everything has been bad; mediocre will look good. Since her outfit is a unitard Mattel managed to not screw it up. They gave her pretty brushable hair because dolls when she needed a wild Mane.

I didn't know I was saving the worst for last
"Glimmer"

What The Hell!! She's raising her leg as if she was like trying to let a fart rip! Also look at their stupid accessory glitter blast... never had a fighting staff Bowl had well, a  bow She-Ra and Adora both have the sword of protection...
Also is it me or does glimmer look like she lost a lot of weight compared with her cartoon self?

What in the actual hell Mattel!? No wonder people keep believing the rumors that you guys are going down...

Don't get me wrong I freaking hate this reboot and it's designs but I expected this kind of crap from Playmates Toys not you Mattel... you are pretty much the house that Barbie built I know you can't even make those right what the hell!?

Jul 13, 2019

Remember the Transformers G1 reissues... It's time for the small statured equines that I possess.

It is NOT a reissue of the G1 ponies, but the G4 ponies "classicized"... The mane 6 made as if they were 80s ponies... and For the first time in a long time, I want to buy some official Hasbro MLP merchandise... despite giving up on the show thanks to Season 8.
It's bizarre. There is so much wrong with this but it feels so right, somehow... this is almost as if Mattel were to make 200X figures in the Oranges line.
But this "vintagized" set reminds me of

The 2021 MOTU movie and MOTUC: the rant

All signs are pointing towards MOTUC dying with Snake Mountain. Mattel is interested in the new MOTU Oranges line. And it would be PRETTY STUPID for Mattel to NOT immortalize the new movie figures in plastic...

I know that they will make a crappy 5 POA line for kids... or worse... in Oranges... they already have an adult collector line that is an anthology line to everything Masters of the Universe. Heck even the super seven stunt got them to have the 1987 movie figures in the anthology line that is Masters of the Universe classics.

And I honestly don't care if the movie ends up being crap I just think that they deserve a spot on the toy line. And even Noelle Stevenson's pop cultural appropriations of She-Ra deserves a spot in classics. Yes you heard that right or read in this case even the one dictating my rant to the phone... huh huh I said "dic".

It would be actually something rather simple for Mattel to do since they already have the baseball these with a Classics basic bodies all they have to do is basically make the faces and the armors preferably by The Four Horsemen because being brutally honest they are a lot better than the in-house team... ( I've avoided commenting on the Netflix She-Ra dolls that have been leaked because of that)

Let's say they make two waves of classic style 2021 movie figures. You get the He-man Skeletor key heroic Warriors key evil Warriors wearing the movie attire. Maybe toss in a second toy based head for each of the characters so you have a sort of what would metal have done in the 80s vibe to them... something the Super7 Stout Collection lacks...
I'm not going to go into details on how these ways would be split says I don't have access to the character rosters right now I have to wait like 2 years for that.

Now the horribly awful She-Ra reboot that I loathe on the other hand it's a lot easier to figure out waves for it.
DreamWorks would probably bitch and moan a lot a lot about classic icing them because they want their full vision or some BS like that in other words Glimmer to be short and fat and Scorpia to look like well an oversized scorpion monster woman that grabs Catra by the Catra?
Unwell part of me would like them to be 100% purely in the classic style like Glimmer being thin tall like the classics one. I won't accept a wimpy Bow I need Bow with the big bulky manly body from classics.
So they'd have to reach like a happy medium like say keep them in the same scale as classics all of them are 7 in tall but with different body sizes like she she ra and Adora are made with the standard body while Glummer gets a new slightly chunkier body. Scorpia gets a body that's as wide as Classics leech and textured Scorpion parts. The character hair would be as detail. Normal classics figures like a Dora tela he-man kale door clamp champ just do name a couple characters.

If Mattel were to do 12 figures as a small bone thrown to MOTUC  collectors,  here are my pics:
Adora
She-Ra
Glimmer
Bow
Mermista
Sea Hawk
Hordak
Shadow Weaver
Catra
Entrapta
Scorpia
Rogelio Kyle

Yes I have that Kyle got a problem with that?  But Dreamworks won't like this... shame.

Jul 12, 2019

It came from the Toy Chest: En Sabah Nur

Apocalypse by Hasbro, the BAF. The review, the rant.
Apocalypse pretty much the first mutant powered by Celestial Technologies something something Kang the Conqueror or something Darwin's evolution principle something something cable something something for Four Horsemen something something Archangel Wolverine and many others have been Horsemen; basically Apocalypse is ancient far more evil version of Magneto, who believes that Only the Strong Survive and in this case it's mostly mutants under his reign. The biggest baddest this side of Onslaught.

So he was the build a figure of his wave which had Mohawk Storm Jim Lee Psylocke Jim Lee Wolverine it had MULTIPLE Man, Gladiator it has Magneto with a black and red costume which everyone bought for the apocalypse part and the head to use on a real Magneto which we got in the Amazon 3 pack. I never got Multiple Man. I had to order his build a figure part through eBay everyone else I got the figure I just didn't feel like reviewing Gladiator who had nothing and Mohawk Storm well she did nothi ng for me. will wait for Jim Lee Storm to complete my 90s X-Men team.

Articulation
Apocalypse has two standard articulation for a build a figure. Usually this means single joint at the elbows and everything else just like a normal figure. His shoulder pads do limit his articulation a little bit but not too much.
4.0

Paint and sculpt
He seems to be in a modern look that has a different color scheme than traditional apocalypse. His sculpt is pretty good and it could work in a classic colors repaint for a way for Hasbro to reuse that mold. He's not as great as say the toy Biz build a figure but he is much better than that normal size toybiz figure.
4.5

Accessories
Sometimes it's rare for a build-a-figure to get an accessory and apocalypse is no exception. He didn't get an accessory on his wave bought the deluxe Archangel figure have an accessory for Apocalypse the alternate claw hand. Personally I wish she had gotten and X-Men vs. Street Fighter drill... welp! I already spoiled the reason why I wanted the drill.
4.0

Overall
Apocalypse gets a 4.17 as his final score. Personally I never thought I would have enjoyed this build a figured so much. My only nitpick is that he's nodding a classic color scheme other than that he rocks!