Category: Western

Power Armor – Fallout 4

So… I actually bought a Dorb again…

And it’s this cute looking dude here:

Personally, I think this is one of the better looking Dorbz, and I’m still thinking that when he’s out of the box. The head has been done well – the finish on the helpet is good, and there is a decent amount of detail to be seen here. 

Left:

The paint is neat, there is a seamline, but that would be hard to hide on a flat surface like this. Shiny! 

Right:

I can see one stray brush mark on his helmet, but other than that, paint look good, Like the gun thing he’s holding, but this is that part where I admit to not playing Fallout 4 and subsequently not knowing anything about it. 

Back:

Nice bit of detailing back here on the helmet, and the body looks decent for its stylised fashion.

Top:

Definitely got that Dorb-y shape to him. Seams are a bit of a mess though. Well, he was put together on the wastelands, so we can’t be too hard on him :P. Would be better of the seam wasn’t so rough-hewn and misaligned though.

Overall, I think he’s good for the money I paid. I got him for £3 at B&M. I think it’d be a hard sell at over a fiver tbh. Still think he’s a decent-looking Dorbz, so would recommend if you like the style. 

AG-SYS – Wipeout

And this was the one I was waiting for, before I bought the other, as they’re 2 for £20 at GAME. 

Managed to snag this one prior to the official release date (per GAME’s site). Was just there, chillin’ on the shelf, so I wasn’t leaving without it… and gladly they had the Feisar there too :D.

So here it is:

This ship ha a more interesting design than the other, what with having two distinct “halves”. The paintwork is nicely done, and it also has the weathering effect like the other.

Right:

This one has asymmetric paintwork, which is a nice attention to detail. Paintwork looks neat and crisp.

Top:

Love the overall shape of this one – a fair bit different from a bog-standard ship design. Also has its designation nicely painted down the middle. I also like the fact they’ve done the windows in transparent plastic, adding to the realism of the figure. 

Back:

Some nice detailing in the engine area here.

Underside:

They’ve actually painted down here on this one, which seems to be a step up from the previous one. Looks like they’ve learned from the last one.

And here are the pair together:

They look great together, and I’d definitely get more Wipeout ships, if they chose to release them. Even if this pair cost me £20… I’m not entirely sure they’re worth that much, but hey, captive audience unfortunately. They know how to pick their franchises! 

Feisar FX350 – Wipeout

This is the first of two Totaku based on ships from the game Wipeout. 

Right:

I like the dirty/weathered effect they’ve added, and the details and decals look good for the most part. However, that ladder looks kinda derpy for being painted on. Maybe they should’ve taken the time to mould that a bit at least… 

Left:

Ladder on this side actually looks less derpy in this shot, as it seems to have a bit more detailing and not be just black lines… hm… This side is pretty much a clone of the other, and looks good imo.

Front:

Hullo. Not much to see here!

Top:

Love the shape of these craft, lovely sleek design. 

Back:

The vroomy bits! Don’t look very vroomy though. 

Bottom:

Looks a bit like a bike seat! Not too much detail down here, but some at least. 

Overall, I like this figure. The detailing and paintwork is good, and I like the fact it sits on a ball joint, so you can position it at any angle you like. They’re fairly small figures though, and kind of expensive here, at £10 each. I don’t mind too much for these ones, as there isn’t really much Wipeout loot out there, and this one is done decently well. 

Zombie Pigman – Minecraft

This figure I picked up at the same time as the Demogorgon because I sort of semi-collect these figures… and he was a fiver.

Presenting… Zombie Pigman:

He’s gonna cut yah… I like the fact that this figure has been done with two levels on his head, instead of it being flat – it definitely gives extra depth and detail to the figure. The paint alignment is a bit eh in places, which isn’t unusual for these figures unfortunately. Overall though, it is faithful to the design in the game.

Left:

Here we see the design on the side, with the Zombie Pigman’s skull showing through. Sword looks OK, but the alignment has wonked over to the left a bit on mine. 

Right:

Figure looks OK, netherstone block looks good, but the print on the sword isn’t the best. 

Back:

Print alignment? Who ares about that? Erm, don’t think I’m going to look back here much if I can help it. 

Well, it’s one of the Minecraft figures. Paint’s janky, found an official distributor’s pic, and their pic wasn’t much better than mine… It doesn’t look quite so janky at a bit of a distance, so it is what it is. Nice to have an addition to the Minecraft shelf, though. 

Hela – Thor: Ragnarok

Here is a figure of Hela, from her appearance in Thor: Ragnarok:

This figure I kind of missed in stores, then had to pay UK RRP when I saw her in a figure store, and didn’t want to let her out of my grasp again. I love Hela’s look, and was happy to have an opportunity to have a larger figure of her, as I only have the Eaglemoss figure prior to this. 

In the box, she definitely looked the part, out of the box… let’s see. When I first got this figure, I put her on the kitchen table, but with no stand. She then ended falling over (on the table, not off it) and all four parts of her headpiece came out. And then they were a bugger to get back in, requiring the assistance of a hairdryer. So, erm, be careful of that. And that’s why I borrowed the Demogorgon’s stand for this photoshoot. 

Face:

I love the helmet, and the face is painted well. What I love less… is her cape. They’ve made it floating so it doesn’t restrict the movement of the arms, and so you can use it to hide her arm joint, but… it has a habit of going into a mess like in this photo. I’ll probably have to heat and then “freeze” it to get it to stay in a halfway decent spot :/. 

The green paint on her top is done very nicely, and it is a nice, appealing (and shiny!) shade. With the lined pattern of her top though, I wish they didn’t bother with a cut joint tbh – figures like this always look stupid when it’s not properly aligned. 

Left:

The horns on her helmet have a good amount of depth to them, which makes them have an impressive look to them. Her sleeves are painted nicely, and she seems not too big in the chest area. 

Right:

Here you can see the cut joint being a bit blergh. Can we have extra foot/hip articulation and do away with this cut joint? Face looks nice though. 

Weapon:

A nice pattern to it, but fairly simple. Doing some quick web research, it is supposed to be just black, so we can let them get away with not putting paint accents on the weapon this time :). We can also see her painted fingernails here, which is a nice touch.

Back:

Cape looks decent enough on the back. Texture isn’t too plasticy and we have some shiny bits up top. Overall, probably one of the better capes I’ve seen on a PVC figure.

Overall, I’m glad I finally got her, and can see why she was a popular figure. She’s a decent bit ahead of other figures of this type, though she has a couple of annoying flaws. Wish the cape was a bit different so it wouldn’t float about like it does. Maybe have some kind of fastener on the ends of the loose parts so that they can be clipped in when you’re done posing? Also some glue for the helmet horns wouldn’t have gone amiss. 

Demogorgon – Stranger Things

This is a figure I aimed to chase down on release, and found it at a local comic book store for a good price.

So here he is:

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Love the paint on his erm, face? The body paint is also really good, and gives the figure extra depth and detail. 

“Face”:

The teeth are done well, and there’s some lovely blending in the red paint. Love the fact they’ve added the bony protrusions on its “leaves” as well as having he teeth ring. Wouldn’t want to get too up close and personal with that!

Left:

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He has been textured well throughout, and I like the clawed hands.

Right:

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The textures and colours are good on this side too. Joints blend in decently well, where they show. 

Back:

The leg joints are very square. It looks fine when he’s standing straight, but moving the legs at an angle like his left one is in this shot… looks a little odd. Again, the texturing is very good. The rest of the joints have been made to not stand out too much, so it’s just the leg joints that are an issue. 

Base:

The base has the logo on, but however you pose him, it’s going to obscure a good chunk of the logo. I like having a logo on the base, but feel it’s kind of pointless if the figure’s foot is going to cover it… still, it’s a nice touch, even if it isn’t the best execution.

Overall I really like this figure and glad I got him. Think he’s a bit prone to fally-over, but I’ll find out over time. He doesn’t seem too hard to balance, just that you will have to balance him to ensure he poses OK. If you wanted him in more of a fighting position, you may want to invest in a claw stand. Really glad I got him. 

Deadpool – Marvel

Now for some articulated action with Amazing Yamaguchi Deadpool:

Yeah, this fellah here. I won’t be doing much articulation of him in this blog post though – am trying to catch up a bit with my bloggery. He does have some decent articulation to him though. 

Love the paintwork on the figure – the shading on his chest looks really good, and his mask is sculpted well. The ammo pouches and the gun pouch are detailed well. 

Left:

Looks OK from the side. Not too much to say here. Joint on the back of his head sticks out a bit, looking at him from the side. 

Right:

Pouches look good from this side, and he’s also got a large knife/small sword strapped to his leg on this side, as part of the figure. Imo, with the knife on his leg, the straps on his lower leg look a lot better- they look kind of odd on the other side, as there’s no paint separating them from his leg. 

Back:

Love the sheathed swords accessory. Looks good on his back, and pegs well. The straps on his forearm look good. Leg joints, whilst visible, do meld in well for me, compared to other figures. 

Accessories:

He comes with a good range of accessories – no Chimichanga though. He has a good range of hands, plus his guns and swords, if you wish for him to wield them. There is also a spare head. 

And now for what the weird red bar is for:

You can pop his eyes out, and replace them with the ones in the plastic tray. pictured above. I think this is a pretty neat idea, and gives you many head options at a cheap price. 

Overall, this is a decent, chunky figure of Deadpool, and I would recommend it. Looking at pictures of the Figma one, it does seem to be more refined than this one, but this one won’t eat at the wallet so hard. Having a brief read around the internet, it does seem to come down how much you want to spend vs the look and feel you like as to which one you get. For me, the price of the Figma was not worth it, and there’s not enough in it to make me get the Figma. And I already had the Marvel Legends large Deadpool. 

Thresher – Spawn

And now for a Spawn figure, Thresher:

I already owned the blue/red variant, but this one was ¥380… How could I turn that down? And she looks cool in both colour schemes! This one also has the advantage of being complete (as it was still sealed)… believe the claw is missing on my other one. 

Here she is without her mask:

And a close-up of her face:

She does look more diseased than speckled than the other variant, what with the grey skin and purple dots. Her makeup is nice though. 

Close-up with mask:

I love the masks for these figures, so will likely display her like this. The chest paint is a nice fade from yellow to green, though her belly is painted green rather than grey, which looks kind of odd. Looks like they designed it to be a gap in her top, but it’s not painted like that. Fairly minor for me though. 

Close-up of one her arm parts:

This is where a bunch of the attraction of this figure comes in – the number of articulated “extras” she has. I love the bio-mechanical design. The serpentine bracelet(?) on her arm looks good too.

Left:

I like the gun she has – is an interesting design, and there are some paint accents so it isn’t a fully flat silver colour. She has that “big leg” thing going on that most Spawn figures have – but I guess it does help figure stability a fair bit! The bone-coloured parts work well with the green. If I had to nitpick, the grey under her arm is eerily flat grey – could’ve done with a tad of shading in there. 

Close-up of the gun:

Plenty of sculpt detail here. The spiky claw parts help it fit thematically with the figure. She also has a knife down here, as a backup, but this part is part of the figure, so she doesn’t have one to pose her with. 

Right:

Here she wields some bio-gun and a claw launcher. I tried to pick which angle would look best for the claw, but managed to screw it up and not notice until I was writing this blog… The tube plugs in securely into the relevant holes, and as it is loose, it won’t snap if it snags on anything. 

Close-up of the claw:

The painting is really nice on this – the paints blend well. And it fires pretty good too! Pull it back, let it go, lose it on the other side of the room… 

Back:

Other holes are available, should you wish to plug the tube in elsewhere. Back looks OK, but I wish they did more with the area where the parts hinge on her back – added a bit of sculpting so that they fit in with the figure more, instead of looking like round lumps. Sculpting on the back of her clothes is nice though. 

Overall, happy to have two of her, so I can appreciate her in more than one room :). For a bargain price too! Would recommend this Spawn figure, even at less of a bargain. 

Meiko & Sheryl Nome – Vocaloid & Macross Frontier

So theme of these two is…. gacha that aren’t usually gacha. 

First up is a Nendoroid Petit – I found a Goodsmile Company vending machine in Japan, and it vends Nendoroid Petits. There were 3 series to pick from, can’t remember what my choices were, but I went for the Vocaloid ones, as I’m familiar with some Vocaloids. So ofc, it gave me one of the ones I didn’t know, Meiko:

I remember this one costing a bit more than your average gacha, but being a Nendo Petit, this makes sense. From even a quick glance, it’s fairly obvious these are a fair bit higher quality than a gacha. 

My main issue with the figure is the mic – it is a bit of a pain to get into her hand, then it very easily falls out. The mic is attached by a peg, but the hole isn’t quite tight enough to hold it well. 

Other views:

Overall, I think she’s a decent Nendoroid Petit, but don’t have any personal attachment to her. The clothes are sculpted well, and she has some nice shading on her hair. Just wish she’d stay in one piece once assembled.

Next up, Sheryl Nome:

Originally, this was an Ichiban Kuji prize, but one of the shops in Japan had a gacha machine vending stuff from Evangelion and Macross respectively. Blog about the Evangelion items here. So this was the one I got from the Macross gacha. I like Sheryl’s outfit in this figure, plus the shading in her hair. 

Without hat:

I really like her hat, but displaying her without it is a viable option, if you prefer to see her hair. It’s fully sculpted, so she doesn’t look like she’s missing anything without it. 

Other views:

I really like the piping around her hat, and her outfit looks good from all the angles. She does have some fairly noticeable seamlines in her hair though, so she’s best viewed from the front. 

Overall, really happy I have this figure. I didn’t know it existed, and is the kind of figure I’d want the moment I knew it existed… and even better, I already owned it on knowing it existed 😀

Raven Spawn – Spawn

Ah, a Western figure for the first time in ages! I have been buying Western stuff, but this is still part of my Japan haul… so a bunch of other stuff to get through… 

So let’s have a little look at Raven Spawn:

He was sold as a loose figure, so I don’t have his base. As far as I can tell, that’s all that’s missing, barring the box. I did think that one of his hands was missing at one point, but it had just escaped and hid behind him in the bag. I’m not bothered by the missing base, as I find the bases that these figures come with way too big and ugly. They have a feature where they can spin around, but this is kind of pointless… 

From the front, I love the pose, and the brown-black-grey colour scheme works well. 

Face:

A mean-looking dude! Wouldn’t want to meet him on a dark night. His arm is sort of poseable, but not to any significant degree – he’s definitely been designed to hold his sickle aloft. 

Closer look at the sickle:

Fairly uncomplicated weapon, though mine looks like it might be a little damaged at the end there. The sculpting is pretty nice though. 

Middle:

I love this skull tucked in here – it does a good job of holding the chains, and adds detail to his armour. 

Hand & lower chain:

Mmm, spiky. I like the way this stands out from the rest of him, so his hand can be clearly seen, despite the muted colour scheme. This hand is perfect for holding the lower chain half from his body. 

Left:

Here we get to see his leather strips cape. I like the texture on it, and the texture on his boots. 

Right:

Oops, looks like I had the chain a bit twisted up here… Love the “feathered” bits on his arm and ankles – they add a fair bit to the figure. The texture on the side of his chest looks good too. 

Back:

His cape feels a bit flat form the back. I feel almost it needed more separation of the leathery strips, so you could manually add a bit of depth, but then again, this could become annoying and tangly. Overall, not a figure that the back warrants much attention, further making the spinning base that he should have come with kind of useless. 

Overall, I like this figure – the small details really makes this figure. The sculpt really helps with what could potentially be a boring figure into an interesting one. Would recommend if you’re OK with him being more of a poseable statue and like the stylised look. 

Trinity – The Matrix – N2 Toys

Another cheap pickup, due to Western figure not popular in Japan:

Always thought about buying one or two of The Matrix figures, but the quality vs price tends to be pretty bad. But hey, this one was cheap. 

Let’s start with her head – the sculpt is nice, but the paint leaves a bit to be desired. For some reason, they’ve done her glasses in a matt finish – this looks odd and makes it look like she’s wearing opaque goggles. A more shiny finish would’ve helped here. though in a modern figure, they may have actually done her glasses with a transparent plastic. Her hair looks a little derpy too. 

In isolation the clothes look nice – the finish is good, and the wrinkles help to add realism and depth. However the paint got a little sloppy at the top, making it look painted on in the upper part. And +1 for the pointless articulation – she only looks good with her arms outstretched, so the arm articulation is… kinda useless. Maybe some point if you’re setting up a specific diorama and need her pointing slightly up/down. Action-wise, you’re not going to get a lot here. Her belt paint is crisp, though.

Left:

Her hair has some good texture to it, making it look good from this angle. I feel she might want to give her clothes a bit of a tug to straighten them out, at least a little bit. Here we can see that with the arms, if you were to point them a bit too far up or down, things are gonna look a little weird. The guns themselves are sculpted nicely, with some small details in there, making them look like guns. She also holds them well, and looks like she’s shooting. 

Right:

Here we can see a nasty seam on her neck. It’s partly visible on the other side, but here, you aren’t missing it. Here we see they’ve sculpted her ears too – much better than Taserface *ahem*. Her belt loops are painted crisply too. Her body pose I feel fits with her arm pose, when aiming. 

Back:

Bit of broken leg syndrome going on there! Her hair abruptly stops, which looks a little odd. Also the paint on her top is a bit of a mess here too, which is a shame. Her ensemble still feels like PVC back here, so that’s good. Arm joints look a little blergh though, and I do feel they maybe should’ve gone all out on the frontwards aiming and forgot about articulating it, when they’ve gone for a specific arm pose. Articulating the arms does mean she can hold them flat in the box, seeing as how assembling your figures was less of a thing in the early 00′s. 

Other accessories:

I feel these are surplus to requirements, and don’t have a way of fitting with the figure. The knife is painted nicely – if she had a sheathe for this, I’d put it on her side. The machine gun, however, feels kind of misshapen, so this one is for the accessory drawer for sure.

All in all, one for the older figure fan. If you can handle pointless joints and a bit of a derp paint job on the top, then maybe this figure will interest you. I’m happy to have a Matrix figure in my collection that manages to be semidecent and look fine at a bit of a distance. 

Taserface – Guardians of the Galaxy – Dorbz

Needed something cheap to meet the tax-free threshold… after dithering over the sale goods I settled on this dude, despite not seeing the film (yet):

I was attracted to him as he was… purpleish. From the front he looks decent – his beard has a good sculpted texture, and his face seems to be painted decently neatly. His outfit is also a detailed pattern. 

Left:

Aaand here is where it gets messy. Bis body looks fine from the side – the print looks neat on his body. As for his head, his ears have been reduced to flat, barely-shaped pieces of plastic. And that seamline… not even a little bit of sanding? On his hair, there’s places where yellow paint have been blobbed about, and small areas where the paint is too thin. The purple paint on his hair shows some of the same issues. Looking at pics of the character via the magic of Google, these design pieces don’t fit at all… He does have bands in his hair, and the yellow seems even a bit brighter than the brightest one. And the purple bits? What? 

Right:

Smooth and seamy. Just.. blergh. Getting a feeling why this dude was on clearance now. At least the ear is actually ear-shaped here. I know he’s misshapen, but it should either be clearly so… or not. The other side looks like a mould fault rather than a sculpting thing. 

Back:

His hair does give the feel of a braided mess, which is accurate to the character, whilst being simplified to fit into the Dorbz design.

Top:

Let’s get to the bottom of the hair issues… or not. As far as I can tell, the purple bits are supposed to be bits of skin showing through his hair? Just makes him look like he’s got a poorly-painted centipede trying to make its way out of his skull… It doesn’t look good on this figure, and it doesn’t look like anything I can see from the movie. This figure would be much-improved if these pink tentacles were removed and the front bands were painted orangey yellow instead. 

All the major flaws, all at once:

Yeah. Blergh. His gun isn’t shown too well in most shots, as it’s mostly hidden. Shame, because it actually looks OK. 

Overall, can’t recommend. He looks OK from the front, from any other angle… well, a bit shit. I may use him for painting practice or something. Shame, as the body is really nice, and some minor tweaks would have him looking better from certain angles. Not sure why they didn’t sculpt his ears – whilst they are deformed in the movie, they weren’t completely flat like this. 

Metal Art – London

This set I bought for cheap in TK Maxx (TJ Maxx in other parts of the world). Well, I say “cheap”, still possibly slightly pricey, partly considering my set was missing the pliers, as I found out later. Thankfully, awhile before I got into building plastic models, so I had a full set of tools, and one set of those pliers fit perfectly into the hole in the packet – not that I used that pair much! I bought this a while ago, but built it not too long ago. Let’s see how it went! 

First up, “Big Ben”:

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Looks like Elizabeth Tower to me :P. It’s the bell that’s officially Big Ben, but everyone knows the tower by that name, even if it’s not the tower’s name </trivia>. If you get this set, I’d recommend starting with this one – the build is relatively straightforward and short, compared to the others. Didn’t quite get the top bit straight.. oops. 

It does look good though:

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The etching is clean, and looks good. Building it involved some swearing. 

Next up, Tower Bridge:

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This one involved a lot more swearing. The end result is… a bit wonky. But is a fair representation. One of the pieces broke whilst I was constructing it – one of the flat edges of the middle stands, but fortunately this does not show, as it’s held up by hooks and the rounded parts. Oh, the rounded parts. Getting them curved just so and then getting the flaps in is not for the faint of heart. I’d recommend grabbing both pins with a pair of straight pliers, and bending them together, and get the angle right as you can. Also work left to right – tried the middle pin first on one, didn’t work out quite as well. Getting the corner towers on the middle towers was a pain in the ass too – you have to bend them into shape, then poke the pegs through into the central tower, then get some pliers/stiff metal down into the larger tower, then bend the pins enough so they don’t ping out (here’s where curvy pliers came in really handy). Once done though, they’ll stay on there well. One note to make – when folding them into tower shape, bend half of a side with pliers, but not to the full 90 degrees. When you bend the other side, the side you just did will bend in slightly if you have no rig to hold it (I don’t), and when you finish, it’ll be the right shape. 

Top:

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The bridges are a pain, and will likely crinkle. Given the effort, I’m happy they’re as straight as they are, lol. 

End:

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I like this – it looks good. Might not got the tops of the towers completely neat. These end bits on the bridge were far easier than the rest of it, but still a bi fiddly. Again, having curvy pliers as well as straight ones likely helped. 

Bottom:

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Not too much to see here. One of the straight parts that the curved parts are attached to is the part the broke – the straight parts are attached to the base piece with the four “dots” in. These are tabs from the tower part on top. Probably fairly obvious from the uneven shapes how much of a ballache it was getting the curved bits right. 

Overall I’m pleased with the end result:

image

Hm, I called this one back, and the other one front, but I think this side might be neater. The flat metal bits bend out of shape easily, and here we see I didn’t get the pliers and correct the spires. The side triangles I used tweezers on a couple to help me get them in place. These slotted into place a lot easier than expected. 

Now for the shard:

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Ha. Started with this one. Really shouldn’t have. Assembling the first three pieces was a MASSIVE pain – you have to bend them into precise shapes, then try to get the tabs bent enough to hold the damn things in. Then came the fourth piece… which wouldn’t fit in! The instructions for this one are terrible and not very well drawn, so it’s hard to even work out what tab goes in which hole. And pinching the outer tabs is really hard, due to the way the pieces go together (or not). 

Here’s the back of the above construction, to show there are parts attached:

image

Look at this mess. Like fuuuu…. Fourth piece didn’t want to align fully with the tabs present, so no idea if I messed something up or not. 

Just to show the insanity of the instructions:

Just. Look. At. It. This method works passably well for the other two, but here, it’s not even clear what exactly pegs into what. Would have been nice if they separated up the bending instructions from the pegging instructions, or etched markers on the model to show what goes in where, as it’s so hard to draw in 2D. 

So if you want an exercise in frustration, buy this set. Then throw away The Shard, and build the other two. Oh, and said “tools included”. No idea what they intended you to use the ruler for, the magnifying glass is crap and the pliers it should have come with I don’t think I used. Did use a couple of different pliers though. Would I do one of these metal kits again? Probably not. 

Benny & Spaceship – Lego Dimensions

These sets were being sold off in Poundland for a fiver. For those living under a rock, yup Poundland sell things for more than £1 now. 

Whilst I don’t own Lego Dimensions, £5 isn’t too bad value for these sets – a mini-fig averages out about £2.50 if we go by blind bags, and we also have a little set to go with it, so £5 is around the right mark for it being “just Lego”, so I decided to buy it:

Here we have Benny & his ship. Not exactly to scale. The instructions don’t come with these sets, as you’re supposed to use the game to get the instructions to construct it, but working how to build it wasn’t hard. There are some extra pieces attached to mine, as I like to embellish sets with the spare pieces they give. 

If you’re not familiar with the movie – Benny is supposed to have a cracked helmet and faded logo – these are true to his appearance in the movie. 

Here they are from the back:

So far, so Lego. Benny’s pretty much as you’d expect him, Back of the ship loks good. 

Overview shot of the ship:

I like the colour scheme used in this. The design seems well-thought-out, which is something Lego tend to do well.

Top:

Here we can see the ship is of a decent size, and is reminiscent of older ship styles. 

Base:

The “LL 929″ is a reference to an older set (LL 928), and we also have the Space logo. Here we can also see the RFID that gets scanned when you place it on the Dimensions base. However, this one ain’t gonna get scanned, unless I get really bored. 

Overall, I think these sets are worth £5 if you’re a Lego fan. For me, I find them kind of mildly overpriced, but that’s just Lego – I think if it wasn’t part of a game Lego would’ve charged £5 for these sets. So I would recommend these sets at that price, if you’re just interested in them as sets… Though you may need to use the internet to get the plans for a set, if you can’t figure them out. 

Lara Croft – Tomb Raider

More old Western action figures! This time Lara from Tomb Raider:

That’s one helluva face… Her head is too thin, and that lipstick is way too red. The material shorts were an interesting choice. Looks like one of the legs has come unfurled during this photoshoot, which doesn’t help. Note to self: go fix that. I think with the top not being fabric, this doesn’t work so well, and maybe they would have been better off moulding them, but this was probably the easiest way, without losing leg articulation entirely. 

Left:

… and I didn’t pose this uzi correctly – her finger does fit in the trigger, and sits well in her hand. The holsters do feel super-large to her body, but they were designed to fit the guns she comes with, so you do have the option of holstering them. Her hair looks OK, but isn’t super-detailed. You can rotate her pony tail though. 

Right:

Here we can see where the white paint on her sock/shoe is a mess. Bit of a shame. The black bands on her leg are supposed to be where her holsters attached… but here they’re just um, garters? It might be possible to pull the holsters down so they reach, but it won’t look good. On the fence about them adding these – it is more accurate to her design, but defeats the point if her holsters aren’t attached to the bands. 

Back:

Here the stitching is a bit of a mess on the back, but the rolled short looks nice. Her backpack is pretty decent – not too much detail to it, but does the job. The joints in her arm are very visible, but this is typical of older figures. The stand in these photos is one of the spare bases I have – without a base she doesn’t really balance, so I’d recommend getting one of these plastic disc bases for her. She has a standard sized hole though (these bases work with NECA figures, for an example), so if you have a spare base, it’s worth trying with her. 

Watch out Lara!

The thing that attracted me to this figure other than the fact it was Lara was the fact she comes with a couple of creatures. She comes with this bat, and what’s apparently an Atlantean Guard:

I really like this little guy – he has a fair amount of detail to him too. Possibly more so than Lara! He also has a peg on his tail, but for the life of me I can’t figure out what this pegs to. 

Right:

Vicious lookin’ bugger. Don’t think I want to cross him. The eye is painted really well. 

Back of the guard and bat::

They’re both nicely detailed on the back. These accessories are almost better than the main feature, lol. 

Here are the other two guns she comes with:

You can sling these over her shoulders, if you like. I find that a bit overkill. They’re not hugely detailed, but I like the fact they’ve been included. I may sling one over her shoulder, but not both. 

Overall, I don’t think I could recommend this figure, and it’s one for the more hardcore collector/fan. I have a soft spot for things Lara, so couldn’t resist adding this to my collection, with the low price tag. If you’re in the US, you should be able to pick this up as cheaply as I did, however it could end up pretty costly in other countries. She feels like an experimental figure from the 90s, of ideas that would be later refined, and she has a face that only a mother could love… 

Lady Demon – Chaos

And now for another Moore Collectables figure!

Lady Demon:

Also a sucker for demon figures :). I like her red skin and accessories – here we see her wand. The skull crotch looks good too. Her face and hair are painted well, but I think her horns could do with a bit of work. Also the rings that are part of her loincloth could’ve done with more paint, as they blend far too well into her skin, and can look unpainted from a distance. Her top is sculpted, which gives it needed depth, but the boots are painted and gloves are painted on. 

Left:

Yep, she’s deffo got some boob goin’ on. The sculpting is nice in her hair, but is quite obviously two pieces. She leans a bit on the stand – this is fairly common on Moore figures, as they only have one foot peg. I love her clawed hands. 

Right:

Tiny little skull detail on the side strap for her loincloth :). I wonder what demon magic keeps her boobs that perky…

Wand:

I like this wand – it is nicely detailed, with the claw & horns on the gem, and the bone effect on the handle. Imo, the bone effect came out really well.

Back:

Here we see she has a very full head of hair :). Again, she has a case of copyright-butt. I do like the stands for these Chaos figures, as the Chaos logo makes for a good stand design. The indents are also useful for propping the figure/accessories. 

Sword:

I really like the shiny red this sword is painted. The black wash at the bottom also works well, and we have a small detail of a skull on the base of the handle. I couldn’t get it into her hand so I came up with a different way of displaying it:

Here you can see where I use the base to help the sword stand upright. As long as it doesn’t get jostled, it’ll stay in place, helped by her hand holding it. The arm articulation actually comes in useful here, so you can pose her with the sword. 

Overall, I like this figure. The colours work well, and she has some nice small details. Again, it’s a Moore Collectables, so has that “look” to it. I’d recommend this figure, if you like this style. 

Aspen Matthews – Marine Metallic Ver – Fathom

I was attracted to this figure, thanks to its colour scheme and aquatic theming. And, er, also cheap.

So here she is:

I love the sheen her skin has, and the blue & greens work well, and definitely give the figure an aquatic feel. The blue-green weapon part comes separate, and you clip this to her arm. I like the detail in this piece. Her body is well-defined and she has a decent amount of definition in her harms. Her legs suffer from the “Moore Collectables” plainness though. 

Face:

I like her face, and it feels well-sculpted. The “fabric” part of her outfit feels very flat to her body though, with the aquatic plantlife being raised fully. 

Top of her head:

Some parts have been missed on mine, in some of the deep gaps of her hair. It ends up quite noticeable when looking at her from above, but not so much from the front. 

Left:

Not sure what the muscles are doing on her arm… she might want to get that looked at. She has painted nails, which is a nice touch. Her neck joint shows quite a bit – not sure what the point of the articulations are in these figures – it doesn’t work particularly well, but some articulation is definitely a Western thing, lol. Some of the black background paint is a bit much on her leg – it works well on the lower, denser part, but looks a bit odd higher up.  I love the use of colour on her shoulder. 

Right:

Yeah. should’a retaken this shot… but I like the shapes in the “weapon” part she has. Rest of her on this side looks good.

Back:

Lotta deformation action back here. And the copyrights somewhat spoiling it… I think they’ve given her back too much definition, and it doesn’t quite make sense. And her butt could do with a little more definition. 

Despite the figure’s flaws, I really love this figure. From the colour scheme to the theming, it falls into a few categories of “stuff I like”. If you’re OK with Moore’s style of figure, I could recommend this one. Looks far better than the default colour scheme – I’ve seen this figure being sold in a store before, and the colours make it look very messy. This is definitely the superior one for me. 

Angela – Limited Edition – Spawn

This figure came with a VHS tape, with some Spawn episodes on… but that went straight into storage. So let’s look at the figure instead:

I was attracted to this figure due to its blue colour… and cheap price tag (¥500). I love the colour scheme on this figure – there’s a variety of colours, but they work together. The blue and goldish colour pairs well.

Face:

Here we have her hair and headband. She looks like the wings are part of her head, but if we look up close, we see this is not the case. Whilst the translucent wings are a nice effect, it may’ve been better to keep the headband as the same colour as her armour. The paintwork is average for McFarlane – which is reasonably neat if you don’t look too close :P. The black belt across her midriff terminates a bit early, which looks odd. 

Left:

Her weapon is neat, and she holds it well. The tip can fire out, and does so with some force. I like the armour on her arm, and the purple boot is.. interesting. 

Right:

Here we can see the button that fires the tip. The gold armour on her arm on this side I like quite a bit. I like the spiky shoulderpads too. 

Back:

Here we can see the brightness of her hair – it is quite a bright orange, that contrasts with the rest of her. There’s a decent amount of texture sculpted into it. Paint on her backside is a bit sloppy. I like the sword on her back, which she can also hold, if you prefer it to the staff. 

Overall, I’m really glad I picked this one up. I was trying not not buy all the McFarlane figures, as the quality isn’t the best for these older figures, but certainly worth it for ¥500! She’s grown on me a fair bit since I’ve unpacked her, so she’s staying on display 🙂

Alien Shocktrooper – Independence Day

This was another super-cheap Western figure from Mandarake that I couldn’t not buy. Also… shiny…

Shiny and blue is also a winner with me :P. And tentacles. This figure feels very 90s. And being 90s style, it has to have an action feature:

Not entirely sure if this cardboard dude is supposed to come out or not. He doesn’t easily, so he’s stayin’ in there. Here we can see there is plenty of glitter underneath the sealant. 

Here is the head closed:

The red eyes stand out from the rest of the figure, but aren’t too hash a contrast. The sculpting is good for its age, though the colours chosen are probably somewhat Marmite if you like them or not. 

Left:

Here we see the majesty of this thing. The tentacles take up quite a bit of room, but the upper ones have wires, so they can be posed. The lower two he stands on are solid so they can prop him up. The purple accents on these tentacles are a nice touch. The upper tentacles are pre-attached, but the lower ones are an absolute arse to get in – would recommend warming the figure to ease insertion. 

Close-up of the body:

Still looking shiny and decently detailed. The protruding bit on his upper back is the clip you squeeze to open the head. The head will spring closed. 

Right:

This shot shows the levers and hinge aren’t really that hidden. Does give you a good grip to open it though, which makes sense as a toy aimed at kids. 

Close-up of the lower tentacles:

Decently detailed, and reasonably easy to balance him on these back “legs”. 

Back:

All the tentacle you could need! Haven’t posed them much, but with some fiddling, they’d look good.

Close-up of the tentacle ends:

Here we can see there is more than one tip type, which is a nice detail. I like the way these came out. 

You also get a host dude:

He has a certain amount of flexibility, but isn’t designed to be poseable. The paint colours are nice though. I’ll either find somewhere he can hang onto, or maybe hang him onto a tentacle. He’s a decent little accessory to the figure, but he’s not capable of standing on his own, so that’s a bit of a shame. Would have more display potential if he did. 

Overall, I like this figure, not sure who I’d recommend it to. It also came with a floppy disk, but haven’t been bothered to try and see if it still reads. As of the time of writing, here’s some videos that I found of the mission disks that came with these figures: https://www.youtube.com/user/JTcheatwood/videos They’re all very short minigames (my brother had the Area 51 one as kids, which came with a mini playset, which is why I know the vague content of the disks). 

Figure Spotlight: Diablo

I have both the Diablo figures by NECA – one is “normal” Diablo, other is Shadow of Diablo. Here they both are together:

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The normal Diablo I got as a gift, the Shadow of Diablo I ended up paying a fair bit for, as it got customs’d. Both figures are from the same mould, with different paint jobs. 

The normal Diablo:

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The paint job on this one is quite striking – the yellow and red contrast nicely. The figures are decently poseable – along with the usual articulation, his shoulder parts move, his back spikes move and his table is bendable. 

Here’s a shot of his side:

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Not too much to see here, though one thing here is to note he’s not on his stand properly – both of these figures are prone to falling over, and the peg is not long enough to hold him in place at all. This sort of makes the leg articulation useless, as you can’t really pose his legs in many positions without him faceplanting. Usually I have him leaning against the wall to prevent him from attempting to skydive. 

Back view:

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Nice paint job here too. Tail is poseable, but it’s kinda awkward to move it around – the wire is quite stiff. Now to leave this Diablo munching on the wooden backdrop, and look at Shadow of Diablo:

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This guy has a reasonably striking appearance from afar, but does not stand up to closer scrutiny. Close-up on his face:

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 The blue wash appears messy, where it blends into the black parts, and the shoulders don’t look as well blended as the ones on the red version. Whilst the blue paint does feel more sloppy, I’m not sure if the paint itself was partially a factor in the figure’s paint flaws. There’s less colours to play with here, though NECA is known for doing sloppier paint jobs towards the end of figure runs. 

Here is his side:

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Not much to say here – looks rather like the original version, only blue. 

The back:

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Here you can see the blue wash being uneven on the two outer back spikes. Also if you look closely near the tip of his tail you can see two dots – this is the wire showing through :/. Pretty sure this was from the figure’s construction, where they haven’t embedded the wire correctly. Fortunately, it doesn’t show as this part is usually facing the wall. 

So if you have a choice of one or the other – definitely go for the “original” version. The blue one just doesn’t have as good of a paint job, and an image search seems to confirm it’s not confined to just mine (as well as some reviews from the time). Getting hold of either at this stage is likely to be an expensive proposition though. I believe the original RRP was £25, but good luck getting them for that now.