Revoltech Queen’s Blade, Echidna & Alleyne Review

Posted in alleyne, echidna, queen's blade, review, Revoltech, toy, Toy Reviews on September 22nd, 2010 by VitaminZinc

So, with as much fun as I had with the Trigun Revoltech figures, I had about the opposite experience with the Queen’s Blade figures. Not that they weren’t amazingly poseable and all that! I saw the figure of Alleyne and thought, “Oh, a figure of a cute elf girl who fights. That’s kinda neat.” And then I watched the show. Being an old man of nearly 30, watching anime is kind of hard now-a-days. Watching this show actually pissed me off. I had heard it was a mostly T&A kind of show, and I was okay with that, cause Japan is a fucked up country. During the first episode, I threw my hands into the air with disgust and rolled my eyes enough to probably convince people I was having seizures. There is so much unnecessary nudity for a show that isn’t inherently pornographic. And there’s not enough plot for it to be taken seriously. The show is like softcore porn, really. I’m too old to enjoy it and not old enough to enjoy it–if that makes any sense at all. (To further explain, I’m not a teenager, and I’m not a dirty old man)

So, that’s enough about the SHOW. The figures that I purchased cause I thought they looked cool are actually kind of neat. They’re very poseable and have their weapons from the show. And they even come with nice stands. These stands are much better than the crappy ones that came with the first few Fraulein line figures from Revoltech. They allow for more dynamic poses, and it pegs into the back of the figure so they don’t have a clip around their waist.It also allows them to have their feet on the ground, so they’re not in a constant state of hovering like my Evangelion Revoltechs.

However, I’ve never felt more awkward holding a toy in my life. The Alleyne one is pretty innocent… She’s an elf with a staff, and has a cape. But, there’s a catch to this innocence. You get the T&A features on the toys, too… Yeah, that’s right. Every bit of clothing on her torso can be removed. While there’s not a lot of detail on those areas, you can definitely tell the figure is meant to be stripped. Oh, and it doesn’t help matters that the changeable face she has is a damsel-in-distress look, as if she’s being violated or something. The Echidna one is hard to even want to display. She has a snake around her waist which doubles as panties. Yeah, that’s right. She uses a snake companion as underwear. It can be removed. Not to mention she’s showing off her ass anyway. I didn’t take any pictures of the “oh no, violated” expressions that both of these characters come with–but plenty of people have. You can search the googles if you need it to see it for yourself. Or, if you want a PG-13 idea of it, just check out the pictures of the back of the boxes. =P

The figures themselves are some great works of engineering. But it just seems wrong to have some of the features these have. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ll like them. I don’t think I could recommend this to someone as just a casual display piece, though. It’s a bit too perverted for my tastes.

Pros:

  • Cool stands!
  • Very poseable and show accurate.

Cons:

  • a little TOO show accurate, if you get what I mean…
  • Not suitable for minors and impressionable minds!
  • Possible mockery from your peers for having pervy figures.
  • wtf Japan?

Revoltech Trigun, Vash & Wolfwood Review

Posted in reveiw, Revoltech, stampede, toy, Toy Reviews, trigun, vash, wolfwood on September 22nd, 2010 by VitaminZinc

I actually have quite a few Revoltechs left to review–if I do them one at a time. But I had this great idea to do them in duos because it works out great that way, and I can have slightly longer reviews that are less repetitive that way. So, first up is Vash the Stampede and Nicholas Wolfwood from Trigun fame.

Hearing these two figures were getting updates from their original Kaiyodo releases made me extremely happy. I really liked the Kaiyodo figures (Kaiyodo actually makes Revoltechs, but that’s beside the point), and actually have all of the original version of the figures. BUT they weren’t exactly ideal. For one, Vash had NO mobility in his legs. Yikes. Wolfwood was a great figure, but hey… if they’re remaking Vash they might as well redo Wolfwood and make some cash, right? Well, that’s how I figure they were thinking. Worked out great, imo.

These two are amazing! Super posable, and come with awesome accessories. The bases that they have to stabilize them looks like a puff of dust coming from the ground. It makes it very unnoticeable. And they come with fire effects for the gun. So, it looks like they’re mid gun battle with whatever pose you choose. It really makes the figures pop aesthetically.

They cost me about $33 a piece, so it’s a bit on the high side for the average consumer, but on the reasonable side for Revoltechs.

My only problem with them is perhaps Wolfwood. His cross is a heavy accessory, and it took me quite a long time to find an action pose to put him in that he could stay in for longer than 10 minutes. Sadly, the one I took pictures of is not that pose. He also comes with cigarettes, so you can pose him killing his lungs (not like it really matters, though, right? RIGHT?!)

Vash is pretty accurate with his accessories. He comes with a folded out gun arm that you can switch out with his normal one. And he has his “peace” fingers, so you can put him in his crazy-“love and peace~!” poses.

Not really a lot more to say about these guys. I had a ton of fun playing around with their various accessories and putting them into fun action poses. They’re a great addition to my collection-o’-shit, and my pile-o’-debt. =P

Pros:

  • Very poseable.
  • Accurate representations.
  • Good accessories.

Cons:

  • Weight of Wolfwood’s cross.
  • Price, maybe.

Revoltech Professor Layton Review

Posted in professor layton, review, Revoltech, toy, Toy Reviews on July 2nd, 2010 by VitaminZinc

Here’s a Revoltech figure of Professor Layton, from the series of the same name. So far, we have Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. We also have another game coming out sometime in the next year to further his adventures in puzzle-solving. The games are great, so it makes sense they’d make a figure of this amazing character.

We get what we’d expect from a Revoltech at this point. He’s about 5 inches tall, comes with a variety of hands and 2 interchangeable faces. One’s serious, the other’s with an open mouth. All things considered, and how serious of a guy he is in the games, this is all you need. He even comes with a small table and a some accessories for it. You get some tea cups, a book that opens and that he can hold, and some other really British stuff.

I apologize for the pictures being so horrible, and this review being so short, but this was one of the toys I took pictures of ages ago. I just wish I’d have taken more effort on getting some quality out of the shots!

Either way, I certainly recommend this figure. It’s a fun little desktop piece. The cost is right at $37 on bbts.com, if you’re wondering. Soooo, for the breakdown…

Pros:

  • Accurate representation of the figure
  • Highly posable.
  • Many accessories.

Cons:

  • Price. (might be an issue to some)

Bioshock EVE Hypo Injector Replica Review

Posted in bioshock, eve, Game Related, hypo, Prop / Replica, review, toy, Toy Reviews on June 22nd, 2010 by VitaminZinc
Hm, ok, so this review isn’t really going to be much of a review since I didn’t take many pictures. In fact, I only took one picture. It looks mysteriously  like the thing from Bioshock. It was mass produced by NECA, who make the most non-posable action figures ever (They still look really cool, just more like statues–but less like statues than DC’s Warcraft figures… but I digress…) This little prop is pretty cool, though. It costs right at $15 on bbts.com.It has an LED light that activates when you push the injector at the top. It nicely clicks in place so you can leave it on. That’s about all it does… seriously. Waste of money, I’d say. But, I waste lots of money so it seems like a worthy investment to me!

I should have some more reviews up soon. I got in a TON of stuff since my pile-of-loot from BBTS was starting to look imposing. I was actually waiting for the Fansproject Bruticus add-ons to come out, but that’ll have to wait til July. ;-;

Til then, though, I’ll have some reviews up on the Alternity Skywarp, Animated Blackout, Revoltech Mari, Revoltech Jack Skellington, and some other stuff I may have forgotten to review.

Knight Morpher Commander KM-01 Review

Posted in custom, knight morpher commander, optimus prime, review, steampunk, toy, Toy Reviews, Transformers on April 9th, 2010 by VitaminZinc
IMG_0475
When I first saw pictures of “Knight Morpher Commander,” I couldn’t help but think how cool this looked. It’s based off “Hearts of Steel”–which is a comic about Transformers from IDW Publishing. It’s an elseworld of the Transformers universe if it happened in the industrial age instead of the modern day. I’ve never actually read it, so I don’t have a lot to compare this to. However, Optimus Prime never actually appeared in this comic (so says the internet… Gotta be true, right?), so it gave the creators of this toy a lot of room for creativity.

This figure is very steampunk in nature. So, if you’re into Transformers, and if you’re into steampunk, then this was made just for you. It’s a steam train, and it’s Optimus Prime. In his robot mode, he’s got a kind of medieval vibe–hence the “Knight” part of his name. A part from the cannon inside of the trailer pulls out and forms his lance. And one of the walls from the front of the trailer can fold out and make his shield. The transformation is fairly simple, but it works. I didn’t feel cheated by the simplicity of it at all. I didn’t even need to refer to the instructions either. By the way, included in the same baggie as the instructions is a visor piece for him. It makes Prime extra “Knighty.”

I like the fact that the trailer section is a decent homage to the G1 series and that it has a gun inside. It’s sort of like Roller–minus the car thing. I think they could have upped the ante a bit by putting a Roller-like vehicle inside that was a hand-cart. Just for lawls. It does come with a Matrix of Leadership, which is removable. I thought that was a nice touch. The part that comes out to form the lance from the cannon is oh-my-god-fragile feeling. The plastic that this whole toy is made of feels like the same grade of plastic as a Gundam model. So, it’s very thin, light, fragile plastic. The tip of the lance is cool and all, but I didn’t want to have this out longer than it needed to be. I was especially wary of putting the cannon back together with the lance inside. I’m actually afraid of breaking this toy. …and that was a sensation that stuck with me throughout my entire experience with it. I almost feel like displaying it in any way, aside from safely in the box, would expose it to the dangers of breaking.

The paint apps are decent, but nothing I couldn’t have done myself. There’s a few mishaps here and there, which makes sense since it’s a custom mass-produced piece. The thing I don’t like is there’s obvious signs of when they molded this toy and broke it away from the frame or whatever. Well, that’s what it looks like to me, anyway. It’s got the whole “I got this gundam kit and I really wanna put it together quickly” feel. Like, which small stabs on pieces, or slight indents where too much was taken off. Basically, the same thing that happens when you pull any plastic piece of a model away from the frame. It seems tacky.

There are a lot of very small things wrong with this figure that kind of ruin the overall experience for me. I still like the toy, but I don’t think it was worth what I was charged for it. This could be me being spoiled by Fansproject, though, so don’t mind me. I really am not a fan of the color of the cowcatcher. I understand that some trains in that time period were very bright. I wish this one wasn’t. I think it looks dumb this way. In fact, I kind of wish they’d have made it silver. The red just doesn’t make sense to me.

Pros:

  • Original Steampunk Design
  • Easy to Transform

Cons:

  • Price ($85)
  • Quality of plastic seems a bit fragile.
  • Paint application is a bit hit-or-miss.

Final Verdict:
There’s nothing about this that screams “GOTTA HAVE”. It comes down to “Do I like this character? Do I like this design?” For this toy, it has to be both, otherwise you’re probably not going to feel justified in the least with spending nearly $100 on this thing. As far as the quality of materials goes, it doesn’t feel like $100 toy. For a casual fan, I’d certainly say for you to pass this.

Armor Plus Ronin Warriors: Ryo of Wildfire Toy Review

Posted in armor plus, figure, review, ronin warriors, ryo, toy, Toy Reviews, wildfire on February 4th, 2010 by VitaminZinc

IMG_0348To start off, I was quite stoked to hear they were remaking Ronin Warriors toys (or ‘Samurai Troopers’ to others). The figures were even available for preorder on some sites, and even solicited in Previews. However, this was not to be. All orders were canceled, and the only way to get the toy was to import it. So, that means sellers on eBay, generally. I don’t like that idea at all, so I used BBTS.com–who I use all the time. They were nice enough to honor the preorders for the toy, but at a higher cost since they had to import it as well. I’d rather pay a couple of dollars more to KNOW I’m getting my product.

I was on the fence for a long time on this, since the price was right at $90. That is a lot of money to me. I really liked Ronin Warriors, though. But, I’m not a fan of Ryo. I actually think he was the lamest of all of them. But, knowing my luck, they’d come out with all of the rest of them, and I’d be missing one and have to pay even more to get it. Of course, now that I’ve bought the toy, they’ll obviously release a cheap American version for half the price. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t!

On to the toy itself– it’s ok. For the price you pay for it, you’d expect it to be a little more sturdy. I started off very excited about it because of all of the extras it came with. It’s basically the perfect representation of Ryo of Wildfire. He comes with 2 heads (angry/open-mouthed, and calm), and and 3 sets of hands (fists, open hands, and holding swords). He even comes with a black armor dummy to put the armor on for display purposes while the main figure… does whatever he does.

It also has 2 helmets–one with the face showing, and one with the mask down. It’s interchangeable, just like the faces. So, you can have it however you like. You can also have it with the swords in the sheaths, swords in hand, OR the swords together as they are in the final attack.

IMG_0301I originally started taking lots of pictures for this, but then got very very frustrated with how the armor is put on. Specifically, the shoulder armor. The white shoulder-piece comes off its hinge, and the hinge of the red shoulder piece goes in its place. It took me about 10 minutes to get ONE shoulder on. I think it was more of just my particular figure having the defect, but there’s a lot of room for problems. I think they could have engineered the combination a little better. There also aren’t any instructions to speak of. You just kind of have to figure this out as you go. Maybe it was supposed to have instructions and mine didn’t have them…?

Now, parts of the armor are die-cast! It makes the figure very heavy for the size. Which, by the way, it’s about 6 inches tall. It makes sense that it would cost as much as it does, knowing that it’s got metal parts and all sorts of options to go with. While I do really like the figure, it’s not really one that I want to mess around with. The pose it’s in now is the pose it will be in forever.

I do look forward to future releases of the Ronin Warriors figures if they continue to make them. I’d be more happy to pay this price for them instead of Ryo, him being my least favorite.

Pros:

  • Very accurate representation of the character.
  • Die-cast armor.
  • Lots of options for poses. Heads, hands, swords, etc.

Cons:

  • Price is a bit high.
  • Difficult to switch armor. It’s a chore.
  • Kinda heavy.

Voltron: 25th Anniversary Metallic Lion Gift Set Review

Posted in 25th, anniversary, figure, gift set, lion, metallic, review, toy, Toy Reviews, volton on December 5th, 2009 by VitaminZinc
Voltron Action Pose!

Voltron Action Pose!

Just last week I received this fun addition to my collection of junk I could have lived without. It’s a Voltron toy, much like the one of way-back-when, but slightly updated to be slightly more poseable. It works pretty well on that, since the elbows and knees are now jointed. It transforms, like the old one. Same five lions are basically as show-accurate as I remember them. Take in mind, it’s been a long time since I’ve watched the cartoon, so it might not be 100% show accurate.

As far as the pose-ability goes, it’s nice to have the option to move it around and ATTEMPT to put it in some awesome poses. However, it’s really not meant for any of that. For the price range, I suppose it makes sense that it would be limited on this. And I’m glad it has as much mobility as it does considering it transforms. But the jointed knees are a tease. The action pose I have pictured on the left is very unstable. I feel as if it’s about to fall over at any moment. And, as fun as this toy is, it doesn’t feel like it would survive a fall in the least. I’m also a bit wary of any fall it might take due to the metallic paint. I feel like it could chip off at any moment. I’d never display this anywhere that it might fall. To have it out at all, I put it on the top shelf over my PC–and put it into a more boring/heroic pose.

The pose-ability of each of the lions separate is pretty good, too. There’s some slight horizontal give in the joints so the legs can take a wider stance and they look more ‘natural’ (as far as giant robot lions are concerned…) Each leg has three basic joints. One at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. You’re still pretty limited on how much they move, but the horizontal movement helps a little.

It comes with the sword and shield, which are painted metallic silver. I seem to remember the sword being more of a golden color, but upon further googling, every image I see has a silver sword. It’s nice that it came with the shield, but I don’t remember them ever using a shield. Makes sense, though, since that’s a pretty freakin’ big sword. How could this imaginary robot made of robotic lions use such a huge sword that forms from nowhere AND use a shield at the same time?!?

I was a bit disappointed by the fact this is just purely plastic,though. There is a die-cast version, but it’s much more expensive. For some reason, I read “Metallic” as “die-cast”. Metallic means… metallic paint, obviously. It still looks great, and is very well done, but… it’s plastic. It would certainly explain why it was only $50. Honestly, for what it is, I probably had my hopes a bit too high. I was expecting more of a ‘modern toy’. Which is to say, I wanted it to be super-pose-able, be super-accurate, and for some reason, made of metal (which isn’t very much like modern stuff at all… but anyway). Time for the breakdown.

Pros:

  • Affordable option for Voltron fans.
  • More pose-able than the old toy.
  • Nicely painted.
  • Very show accurate.

Cons:

  • No metal… at all.
  • Not as pose-able as I’d like.
  • Not really as impressive as I’d had hoped.

‘Aerial Team Appendage Add-On’ Kit for Superion

Posted in add-on, custom, Fansproject, figure, review, superion, toy, Toy Reviews, Transformers on November 18th, 2009 by VitaminZinc
Superion

Superion

Next on my review list is the ‘Aerial Team Appendage Add-On’ Kit. This add-on is meant for Superion, which was a Target exclusive. Let me just start off by saying, I saw this in stores and laughed at it. It looks so damn stupid as-is. There is literally no reason whatsoever to buy this without the intent of picking up this add-on kit. I have pictures of the original mode of this down at the bottom. It’s just… argh. It’s angering to see something this ‘durpy’.

Needless to say, there was no hesitation to pass on this because I wasn’t as into Transformers as heavily as I am at the moment. I basically just bought the Transformers: Animated toys, and that was it. To buy a toy like Superion would have been a waste of money–not to mention, it’s considered a Movie toy. I hate the movie toys. I’ve never bought one–aside from Superion and Bruticus–when I heard FansProject was making add-ons for these. Kind of a peer pressure buy.

Seeing the pre-order for this on BBTS.com made me think, “Oh, that looks kind of neat. I don’t remember it looking nearly that… Oh. my. gawd… That thing is hideous.” Maybe it was my reaction to how much of a difference this add-on makes that made me want it. It’s like Extreme Robot Makeover. HOWEVER, I’m not too keen on how much this set cost. Supposedly it’s a very limited run, but I find it hard to believe this should have cost $45.

It basically fits together the same way the durpy version goes. The durpy version is supposed to have the limbs alternated. One jet for a leg, one for an arm. One plane for an arm, and one for a leg. It’s able to stand up better like that since the planes are a bit too wide to stand up without the ‘knees’ rubbing, but the way it does the hands and feet looks dumb. This version keeps some semblance of symmetry and has the jets be the arms and the planes be the legs. It can take a much wider stance with the add-on feet, so the ‘knees’ aren’t rubbing together.

What would normally be part of the arms is now the shoulder–which looks great. He’s an all-aeronautical Transformer combiner, so to have jets as shoulders makes sense. What’s normally an arm for the stand-alone flips down and you’re using that ball joint to give him more mobility of the limbs. A ‘forearm’ is placed over that stand-alone, and then a fist is attached at the end into a peg. It works surprisingly well. He also comes with a visor, which helps him looks more like the G1 counterpart. It stands at about 10.5 inches tall–to the topmost point of the shoulders.

I wish I’d have thought to take some pictures of the stand-alone figures with the accessories, but to me that wasn’t the appeal of this. It’s great they made everything fit together and work as one cohesive unit, but the only reason I got this was because it was a combiner that was getting the FansProject treatment.

For those that may have picked up Superion directly from Target, I’m sorry. I feel your pain indirectly–since I basically paid the retail price for it, but on eBay. So, that was $35 spent on the durpy toy. And then $45 to make him look cool. Why does this math not make sense? Don’t get me wrong–It looks so cool. On a scale of 1 to 10, Ultra Magnus would be a 9.5. The Superion add-on would be about a 6–drunk 7–so to speak. The price tag is just too high for this considering how much Ultra Magnus is. I’d have paid $30 tops for this. If it goes on sale on tfsource, or bbts, then go for it. You won’t be disappointed FOR THAT PRICE. If you’re going out to specifically get this toy just to get the add-on (like I did), then you should save your money. Not worth the price unless you’re very into Superion. What’s sad is that when they come out with the add-on kit for Bruticus Maximus, I’ll probably buy that as well. Blargh.

Pros:

  • Figure looks awesome with the add-on. Very much so accented by the fact that it looks DUMB AS SHIT otherwise.
  • More G1 accurate… If you’re into that kind of thing.
  • Fits in amazingly well with the single-vehicle mode as accessories.

Cons:

  • Price. $45 is a lot to pay for some appendages, a gun, and a visor.
  • The figure is worthless without this add-on.

‘City Commander’ Ultra Magnus Add-On

Posted in add-on, city commander, custom, Fansproject, figure, toy, Toy Reviews, Transformers, ultra magnus on November 18th, 2009 by VitaminZinc

I got my ‘Pile of Loot’ from “Big Bad Toy Store” yesterday. It was a happy day, so I’ll be posting some pictures and my opinions on each of the things I got.

First on the agenda is ‘City Commander’ Ultra Magnus. As I said in my preview, I was really stoked to see this. All of the previews I watched made this seem very cool. It did not disappoint. Well, maybe it did disappoint some. I kind of imagined it would be a little bigger. With all the armor, it comes to 8.5 inches tall–to the top of the shoulders. It’s about the size of a normal ‘Leader’ Class figure. Really not all that big of an issue to me, but I was expecting something more of the size of the original Ultra Magnus trailer.

For the price of right at $90, it’s kind of worth it if you’re really really into Transformers, and already have an Ultra Magnus sitting around. With the re-release of this add-on, the eBay market is now averaging around $40+ for just the figure. So, all-in-all, it makes this figure ~$130. So, honestly, you’re not going to get this figure unless you’re really into Transformers to begin with.

It’s kind of a shame that Hasbro didn’t make some kind of add-on like this themselves. It would be much cheaper if it wasn’t being made by a third-party, but at the same time, I don’t think Hasbro would listen to the fans as much, or at all. The original add-on didn’t include the missiles for the shoulders, or the white, transforming gun for both modes. Fans pointed out it would be much more G1-accurate if he could have missiles and a gun, so FansProject did an addition to their add-on that updated their original.  Pretty fancy, and shows that they listen to what people say. After all, they are getting $$$ from us, so it only makes sense they should listen. Good for them. So, to break it down… even though my cons will outnumber the pros, the pros are far greater if you’re a Transformer fan.

Pros:

  • A very cool re-imagining of the G1 version.
  • Collectible third-party add-on.

Cons:

  • You have to have an Ultra Magnus to start with.
  • The price is a bit steep at $90.
  • Not as big as I’d hope for the price tag.