Transformers Universe Powerglide Review

It's bird, it's a plane, no it's just Powerglide. Not as fast as the Seekers, but skilled enough to do tricks in the sky. He was a pretty cool plane in G1, but lacked the weaponry to execute fatal shots. He's just good for flying around, tricking Decepticons with aerial spins, barrel rolls, and death defying nosedives.

In alternate mode, he is a A-10 Thunderbolt II, basically the same alt mode from G1. It's not as slim in the front, but rather wider due to transformation. This is an Ultra Class figure, so it's a bit bigger than Voyager, has lights and sounds as well. At first, you're probably thinking, this isn't Powerglide, why is he grey? Well to tell you the truth, I don't know either. Maybe to get it to be realistically accurate, who knows, it's like Takara's first MP Starscream release. The majority of him is not grey though, it's more of a very light tan. He has some red on the wings, tail fins, thrusters and front sides. There is some silver on the front of the thrusters, front sides, and cockpit. The thrusters and cockpit also have translucent plastic for lights and a orange button to activate lights and sounds. He also has some markings throughout the wings, fins and sides, the significance are not known to me...

The plane is nicely detailed, with lots of panel and rivets. He does have landing gear but it seems useless. The gun on his front underside sits lot, and the front landing gear doesn't work well, and the wing landing gears are too high and make the front of the plane dip down a bit. Also the gun has a missile, which when it connects into the peg, the missile will bend due to a piece in the way. I don't know if it'll be permanent if it sits there too long... Something that I dislike is the paint, it's rather sloppy and isn't accepted to me. Some of the red is over painted and runs off, some lines that look like the person painting had shaking hands, lack of paint, and even paint where there is paint no where near that area. It's just isn't that good. The translucent parts of course, light up, and has several sounds of the engine, swooshing in the air, and machine gun shooting. For the machine gun sound it's continuous if you hold the orange button down.

Transformation is pretty basic, it's real easy. There is the classic transformation sound at his torso, and when he turns back to alt mode, the sound is reversed. A real nice addition of keeping the classic feel of an updated figure.

When transformed, Powerglide stand pretty tall. Comparing him with my Animated Ultra Magnus, he is a few centimeters below him. When you look at him, you'll think he's bulky, but he's more crowded than bulky. All those pieces of his thrusters and wing assemblies are the main reasons, thus he looks strange. The robot mode is pretty accurate to the G1 cartoon though, wings on the sides, the head sculpt, it's all good. Still overall tan, but some grey plastic pops out on his torso, and legs, it's not a lot, but helps contrast. His thighs are like TFU Cyclonus, the plastics don't match up very well. Other than that, he's pretty bland. Detail is black too, still panels and rivets, but other details are basic, maybe too symmetrical for my taste.

Part of being in the Ultra Class line, he gets lights and sounds. It works the same as plane mode, press the orange button down. The button is concealed with pieces of the back tail assembly. All sounds are the same, this time his eyes flash red, not blue as the cartoon. His thrusters still flash too, though I am unsure of the cockpit because I took the batteries out before examining it...

There is a G1 reference not mentioned yet, and it's a heart. In the episode, Girl Who Loves Powerglide, a girl, or rather a young adult falls in love with him after he saved her, even after his Hank Pym abusiveness against her. At the end of the episode, Powerglide goes flirty flirty and asks if she'd like to go out next time he's in town, TAKE THAT MOONRACER! Anyways, after being ridiculed by the Autobots he goes into a secluded place and opens his chest panel to reveal LEDs flashing lights in a form of a heart. Well flip the chest panel on the figure and there is a sculpted heart, no LED, and it's like a fully sculpted heart, not the outline like the show. It would have been neat if they made that a translucent red or something and make it light up, but they didn't...

Articulation is good, swivel head, hinge neck is due to transformation. ratchet shoulders, hinged shoulders, swivel bicep, ratchet elbow, ratchet waist, ratchet swivel hips, ratchet hinged hips, swivel thighs, ratchet hinged knees, hinged ankles, and side to side movement in the ankles. As you might of notice, or should have noticed, he's built of ratchet joints to have stability and keep his structure. He can get is pretty sick poses.

His only accessory is the gun located on the nose of the plane in alt mode, which doubles as his Thermal Beam in robot mode. It's just the gun reversed with the missile facing out. The missile it self is plain, no detail what so ever. His gun is facing inwards though, he might shoot his arm off...PA CHEW PA CHEW!

As much as it seems bland as robot mode and alt mode, he's a very cool TF. Well constructed with a fun , yet simple transformation. Not a G1 accurate paint job, but physically he is. A good homage with the heart too. He stands pretty tall, and presents an overall modern design to a classic character. I gotta give it a 8 out of 10. Paint is something to be careful about on every toy, plus the randomness of the plastic is not the professional looking. If you want a more accurate Powerglide, there was, or is a Walmart Exclusive repaint which I never saw. I got this at TRU because I've been thinking of getting him for a while, and there is a half off sale ending today, get him now!!! For now, this may be my last review in a while, DTM Outz...

Transformers Universe Blackarachnia Review

Yesterday, I got my box full of TFs in the mail from C-310 on TFormers, which I highly recommend trading/ buying from. One of my favorites right out of the box was Blackarachnia. Blackarachnia into a Black Widow, because, I'm guessing, it's more feminine, yet dangerous. TO top all that, I think Black Widows mate, then "backstab" the other spider and kill them as she bores their mini spiders. It all fits in to her personality of being really feminine in structure and emotional, plus she does turn into a Maximal for a period of time with Silverbolt, only to become Predacon again...In Beast Wars they featured the word, technorganic, which is like a robot or mech with characteristics of a real life animal. Blackarachnia is a robot, but she turns into a spider. It all works out for her...

As I stated in the paragraph above, her alternate mode is a black widow, sort of- she's definitely not black though. She doesn't have her black and cheetah paint scheme like her first Beast War appearance, but then again this isn't the first mold, it's the Transmetal mold. She has mainly purple and a yellowish orange throughout the majority of the body. There are some silver "tattoos" with pinkish outlines, and some neon green near her spinneret and the abdomen, and her six eyes are red. She does feature some translucent parts, like her cephalothorax and some clear windows on her abdomen to reveal her alliance, which is Decepticon, not Predacon, or Maximal, or what other alliances she has been part of. Underneath is a red hourglass.

The mold is pretty good, but has it's flaws. One of which is the larger legs, they snap together fro robot mode, but in Spider Mode, you see pegs and holes, and some metal brackets. There is some cool detail though. Keeping with the technorganic, she does feature blood vessel like sculpts and wholes that look like marrow, maybe, but spiders don't have bones. Another is the front pair of legs aren't recognizable at first, they are much shorter. The gimmick is press the pedipalps together and the chelicera will move up and the front legs will move outward.

Transformation is cool and a bit practical. When transforming back into Spider Mode from Robot Mode, be extra careful with her larger sets on legs. There are lots of pegs and some small pegs that might snap off.

This mold is the best for her, no others can compare. It's more mature than the animated one and less bulkier than the first release. She still has the purple and yellowish orange, and now she shows some dark grey on her hips and upper arms, some silver at her face, shoulders, breast, abs, and waist. Also red lips, eyes, and black pupils. Paint apps are pretty nicely done, I had no problems on my figure.

The sculpting is great, it's pure feminism at it's best. He has big hips, like not even normal hourglass, the top is more smaller compared to the hips, more like two times smaller. Her abdomen from spider mode folds on top on the chephalothorax creating a big butt, and it's nothing to lie about. Her legs are like Chun Li's, big thighs, but on a side views it's thin for quick movement. She does have breasts... It's pretty busty, and I'll leave it at that. Her face is something that bugged me a bit. There are panels on it, which makes her old with wrinkles. From a distance it doesn't look as bad. Her visors on her head can fold up to reveal two more sets of eyes, thus creating six eyes like her Spider mode. I like keeping it in one piece though, so it looks like a hairband. Also her ass, will bite you, she has some legs and fangs hiding under there...Another thing to notice is the her and Crystal Widow have the forearms switched, with the spikes up towards the biceps, just pop those off and switch them with the spikes facing down.

Artiulation is good, not superb for agile movements though. Her head is hinged below the chin and on a swivel where the neck connects to the torso. It's strange, they could have done a ball joint, but did two separate joints at two different locations. The shoulders and elbows are ball joints, the forearms are swivel, and the two outer fingers on each hand are hinged, the middle fingers don't move. Her waist is on a ball joint, as well as her hips. The knee and ankle are hinged. It's nothing too bad, the ball joints give lots of movement though.

I think this is the best mold for Blackarachnia and nobody else. The Arcee repaints don't really work. This figure is pretty expensive though because of that reason. If you could get it somewhere cheap, go right ahead, it doesn't hurt to add another fembot to your collection. It's a great figure overall too, a 10 out of 10 for me.

Cyber Slammers Jazz

I have a review in the works, but got lazy and didn't finish it. Today I, well my mom got me a Cyber Slammer. She didn't know that it was for kids, smaller than I, but she knows I love TFs and got me Cyber Slammers (CS) Jazz at Ross for $4.99

The vehicle mode of CS Jazz is a miniature form of the Pontiac Solstice. It's pretty squat in length and wide in width. Molded of greyish plastic, it has several paint apps, including "sparkling" blue windows, red tail lights, light "sparkling" blue and yellow head lights, black grill and side vents, and a red Pontiac emblem in the front. The back wheels are slightly larger than the front, with rubber treads around the wheel for friction. A minor problem shown in the picture and the final product is that assembly sticking up above the hood sculpt. It's mainly due to the tension in the spring, I believe...

The main gimmick and fun of the toy to kids is the automorph feature. Not called automorph though, in car mode there is a plastic white molded switch, hold the back wheels, push the switch towards the back and let it go on the ground or any flat surface. Jazz will spring up instantly or after a few inches of rolling. With the most of the plastic in the body of Jazz's semi robot mode, him springing up will cause the Solstice to do a pop up wheelie.

In his go-cart mode as I like to call it, it's basically Jazz and what happened to him when Megatron ripped him in two. The only robot parts seen are the waist up, no legs. Jazz is pretty nicely molded overall though, much leaner than the deluxe. From the front it's awesome, but because his body and feature, he pops out from the middle and along with him the roof and doors of the Solstice.

Despite being a "kiddies" TF, he does have some articulation. His ball jointed and really limited to movement. Just a few degrees to the left or right, and his head can do a slight nod. Paint is good, some bronze apps, and his Solstice paint scheme. His visor is done great, as he has purple paint apps on both sides for to signify lighting, the middle is blue, that's cool!

To transformer him back this is where Slammers come in play. First and most importantly, the switch you pushed to the back, push it forward so a hole on exposed in the switch area. I got confused the first time, and I actually had to read the instructions. From then on, slam him down. Though I pull the front and push him down, kids would slam them down either way.

At first, when my mom was like look in the back and see what I got you, I was hoping for the Final Stand Longarm, not the case. After examining it and deciding to open it or return it, I returned to my Movie Jazz collection tactics and opened him. He's quite fun, and very cute. At $4.99 I can surely recommend this. After all, my mom was about to get Robot Heroes if not for Jazz...

Transformers Movie Payload Review

Some of the first Transformers Movie figures were great, but I took interest in the characters that didn't appear in the movie, rather noes that had look a likes, or appeared on another continuity, like games or comics. My last review was that of Stockade, the "bully" of the Autobots, the one, even Ironhide couldn't punch down. Today we have Payload, the Armored Truck of the Decepticons...

Payload appears in the Transformers Video Game as drones. There were many drones in the game, either Decepticon or Autobot. The differences were the heads, with the 'Cons having one eyed Zaku/Shockwave style heads, and the 'Bots with more humanoid classic TF heads. Most drones released in toy form were Decepticon, I believe to my knowledge...

Payload is a dark blue Armored Truck as stated. He has some minor silver paint on the back and hub caps. Parts that are supposed to be silver is the front grill, and side skirts. Some orange paint apps on the top lighting, and red light in the back. There are two red and one white stripe on the front hood. The windows are a dark illegal tint translucent plastic. The emblem on the sides on the Truck are also red and white and have a purple Decepticon symbol. The insignia reads, "Armored Security Services", and coincidentally the first letter of each word spells out ASS...Overall it's a pretty cool design, though the hinges for transformation stick out like a sore thumb...Something to take notice is the front portion, or the cab-like front is paint or made of shinier plastic than the rest of the truck. Also the grill seems to come off, I fixed that with some super glue...

His transformation is pretty simple. Nothing too hard, but some issues that are being addressed below...

In robot mode, he's pretty short, and also rather awkward. He's still dark blue, still has some grey palstic, and some silver apps, but now he has some shiny "AllSpark" blue. Detail is great in these TF Movie figures, even the newer ones took a huge step forward. A lot of wiring sculpt and exhaust fans, panels, the whole deal in mechanics is sculpted here. I especially like the hands, as they have a very skeletal appearance. He has a camera eye, much like Zaku and Shockwave, which is cool, nothing too special though. He stands pretty good despite a "tower" sticking out his back.

Articulation is pretty good. Very limited swivel head, sadly, ball jointed shoulders, swivel biceps, hinged elbows, and ball jointed hands for the top half. The bottom half consists of swivel waist, ball joint hips, swivel thighs, hinges knees, hinged knee pads, and hinged ankles. He's pretty well articulated and could get into some decent poses.

The awkwardness begins here. First off, in transformation, and in robot mode, his entire head and chest piece tends to snap off, or peg off. Again I used superglue and it's on permanently now, and will now alter the transformation. His gimmick is the huge stick poking out his back. You push that and a claw comes out his stomach and eats you or something... It's a rather dull gimmick and gets in the way. Sometimes, or several times for me, the claws dangle or don't retract with the gears and it gets stuck. As with many I don't like the gimmick, but I think it's an cool gimmick if I was still a kid. Ending with that...

I think it's a pretty cool toy. Great vehicle mode, you can pretend he could carry Energon to the Decepticons for power, or whatever you'd like. His robot mode is pretty cool. The gimmick is iffy. Totalling up that, he gets a 8 out of 10. Now I know some hate this guy, for the gimmick mainly, but get past that, and he's a great detailed, well articulated figure, and a very cool design. He was a pegwarmer, so if you look him up online or ebay, he might be cheap. It's definitely something to look at...

Transformers Stockade Review

Stockade likes Gatorade! No, he doesn't, it just rhymes... Stockade is one of those vehicles in the first TF Movie line which had a similar stunt double, but didn't actually transform or was called by their figure name. Stockade is based on the vehicle used by Sector 7...

Stockade's vehicle mode is a Cadillac Escalade SUV, of course made by GM. It's not an exact replication of and Escalade, there are some minor changes like the grill. It's not a single piece, but rather it's split into three sections, also some additions and lack of other detail. Colors featured are black, silver, red, and translucent dark blue. On the grill is also a Decepticon emblem, and S7 and symbol on the driver and passenger doors. It's really a great vehicle mode overall. There is a luggage bar on the top that's just grey, nothing painted, it really sticks out though...

Nothing too hard about his transformation. It's really easy, but effective...

Now, this is where he shines. Stockade is a short, stocky robot, and has a gorilla like appearance to him. Not Optimus Primal gorilla, but his physique. He features long arms that almost reach the ground, he also has a wide chest. You can pose his with his fist impaled to the ground and his legs slightly bent for the gorilla look. What you really have to appreciate about this mold is the detail. IT'S EPIC! I can't quite explain all the detail, there is so many. There are panels, internal wiring, something the looks like disc brakes, and some vents. The head is cool with some details too. He has a Prime-like face mask, but he features bar-like details around his head. He doesn't feature a black pipe lighting in the back of his head, but rather the top of his head is like a separate piece and the dark blue light piping wraps all the way around his head. The way his top half has a ridge makes his look evil...

Now that he's unfolded into robot mode, you notice some new colors, and more of the same colors. Of course he still has the main characters of black, red, silver, and translucent blue. There is also an addition of a dark grey, "AllSpark" blue and more of the plain light grey plastic. It doesn't take away from the appearance, but I think anything that's bright or light takes away from the Decepticoness of the character.

Articulation is good, just enough to get some good poses. He features a limited ball joint head because of his bulk around the head. His shoulders are balljointed, double hinged elbows, and two hinge joints on his knuckles. His waist rotates 360 degrees, his hips are balljoints, hinge knees, and hinged ankles. It's a pretty decent set of POA, expecially the fingers.

Like most figures from the TF Movie line, it features an Automorph or now called Mech Alive gimmick. Stockade's gimmick is his luggage bars that are molded plain light grey. When you push them up, he'll gain additional arm length when his "internal" forearms slide out, giving him a wingspan of about 12 inches, more or less. He's known for punching the crap out of Autobots, or Autobots trying to punch the crap out of him. While not necessarily an Automorph gimmick as it doesn't help with transforming Stockade, it can be considered a Mech Alive Gimmick...

Overall this figure is great, the mold is great too. Looking at him now, he has a Nemesis Prime fell to him, and since I'm lacking a Nemesis Prime he looks to be a great substitute. They are releasing a Gears in this mold, but I like the original color scheme better, but you gotta pick up the mold, even if it's not in Stockade's colors. I'd have to give it a 10 out of 10. It's simply one of the best molds, and coolest character designs created.

Animated Ultra Magnus Update

There are some stuff I failed to mention as I played with the figure more last night...

First off, his Elite Guard Autobot symbol has lights too. I didn't see it because the Elite Guard symbol is made of clear plastic, but it's painted red. It flashes when you use his robot talking gimmick or when you flip his shoulder blades up or snap them on for transformation.

There is a red button on the side of vehicle mode that creates shooting blaster noises, and will flash the Cannons that were on Magnus' shoulders. On the opposite side there is the battery compartment which uses 2 AA batteries already included.

That's about it. I don't know if anything else is missing, it was mostly minor features...

Animated Ultra Magnus

Blah, I don't like the Animated TF series that much. I only watched one or two episodes. I do like the somewhat G1 styles though. Some designs are cool too, but the strangest of them prevail. Out of the Animated Series I have, Swindle, Soundwave, Samurai Prowl, and Ultra Magnus...

Ultra Magnus is a leader in the now defunct Animated line. Leaders of the Animated line usually run for $39.99 or more depending on the store. TRU is having a sale right now with the Animated Leaders and Supremes half off, so I got mine for $20. Who knows if this means the Animated Leaders and Supremes will be on clearance forever...

Magnus comes packaged in robot mode in the recognizable animated style box. There is a whole in the front to allow the person to push his Autobot insignia and make his mouth move with one of the three phrases:

Ultra Magnus Here
Don't be a hero Optimus... it's not in your programming
We must return the AllSpark to Cybertron

The speaker is located on the stomach, and the mouth opens and his "eyebrows" tilt to the side. In which his optics will have green lights, as well as yellow lights on his shoulder cannons. These are really decent features for a Leader Class...

The robot mode is great for Animated Magnus, not for the G1 counter part. The head is about the only G1 thing about him. Ultra Magnus is huge, it's like he's from Texas or something. Big shoulder pads, big arms, big legs, and his big Mass Hammer. Though not show accurate, it's better than not having one at all. The sculpt is pretty good, but basic. Some of the complex sculpts include rivets and wiring details, but it's basic enough to include flat sculpts with only indents of other shapes. The Elite Guard insignia is nicely sculpted. The paint on UM is pretty good. Mostly blue, some light blue, plastic grey, "AllSpark blue", red, silver, yellow, and black. He does have translucent tealish blue on his shoulder cannons and his Mass Hammer.

Part of his features also include the weaponry found on Ultra Magnus. Weather it be hidden or in plain view. As mentioned a few times his shoulder cannons folded on his back, goes on his shoulders. On the side of the cannons are tabs, you list it up in the groove and push it forward to reveal tank line cannons, or heavy cannons as the box calls it. Inside the shoulder is a battleship type turret. The shoulder pads are hinged in the front, pull the turret out and push the peg to extend the barrels. He's still not done. There is a bar on each shoulder on the front. It reveals Gatling guns, which are a bit hard to get out because I had excess plastic restricting it. His Mass Hammer extends when you pull the Hammer base. He's fully loaded, there's no competition!

Articulation is weird...a 360 degree cut swivel head, moving mouth, and eyebrows if you'd like to include that. Swivel shoulder, hinged shoulders at three places. On his shoulder blade, back of his bicep and his shoulder...Swivel bicep, hinged elbow, and hinged fingers, no individual finger movements. Hinged-swivel hips, hinged knees, and swivel thighs. His hip armor is also on hinges. His other weapons have movement, but it's more necessary to use them, that's why if you'd like to include his facial movement as articulation. One problem I do have is the weak click joints. You can't pose his with his Hammer straight out, his arm just tilts back down.

His transformation is pretty basic. The Classic Transformation sound are located on the shoulder blades when you unpeg them...

His vehicle mode... The box calls it an Assault Carrier. I can see that, it just looks weird. It's probably me because I'd rather have a truck or car carrier mode. All his weapon features are still functional in Assault Carrier mode with the exception if his Mass Hammer. It's a pretty solid vehicle mode though. He has eight nice rolling wheels. All is good in vehicle mode, maybe the back is kinda bare.

Overall a very well made TF. He's packed with fun, his full range of arsenal is something to be feared for any Decepticon. You guys should pick him up while he's on sale now. Tomorrow's the last day. A great figure with great features and tons of play value. Clearly a 10 out of 10, despite his shoulder problems.

Toybiz Sentinel Review

Sentinels, yeah, this isn't the most "recent" incarnation of it from the ML series. This is the pre marvel legends version. The animated version if you will. I got this at the flea market, still in the original box with the stickers not applied. The figure itself has some minor play scratches. Nothing too bad though, all for $4.

The pre ML Sentinel is nothing as good as the ML Sentinel BAF. The paint is bland, not a lot of detailed sculpt, but there is some, and the articulation is just meh. To start things off, paint... There are really only a few colors, Some magenta, purple, black, red eyes, and skintone for the face. It's basically Sentinel colors, so it's most recognizable to the comic fan.

The sculpt is good, not great like the BAF Sentinel, but it does feature some wiring here and there on the boots. The head has a great sculpt, definitely cartoon accurate to some points. The skull cap is kinda flat and not rounded on the top. The face sculpt a shocked face look, with it's internal mouth circuits showing. It's definitely more humanized than the BAF Sentinel with wires and such some the mouth AND jaw internals. There are no panels or nuts and bolts sculpted like the BAF Sentinel...

Articulation is okay, considering it's from the 90s. Two points of articulation, swivel shoulders. Moving on...

Action features, being labeled a robot playset on the box, it's bound to have some features, let alone the whole body. Lets start from head to toe. His head is like a trigger, when you hit his head, his chest armor shoots out to reveal a hollow interior fit perfectly for a pre ML X-Men figure. They said they are prisoners, but I don't know how the X-Men gets in there in the first place. Plus they show a Sabretooth jumping out the chest on the artwork, so it could be like a insurance back up to house more mutant baddies. Sadly the newer figures won't fit.

His hands feature two features. on his right hand, a stringed orange segmented claw can grab figures, then it has a button to pull it up. It's an alright feature. His left hand shoots out when you press the trigger on his upper arm. KA POW!

His last feature in his knees. Shoot his knee caps and the corresponding front foot shoots forward. Shoot both knee caps and TIMBER the Sentinel falls over. This and the head/chest feature is the coolest of the bunch. I think the hand features could been cooler.

It's really a cool figure at the price of $4. They released the same mold of it, for the X-Men Classics line. They retooled it a bit, like the head, paint, not sure on the chest compartment though. I think I might do a little paint app to it to show some detail, or I might keep it as a vintage figure. I'd give this a 8/10. It's pretty cool, not as cool as the BAF Sentinel, but it has tons of play value. For the price I got it for, it's a great value too. It's a Sentinel after all, yo gotta have it for your X-Men.

*Another note to make, this version isn't as tall as the BAF Sentinel, just a head size smaller...

Giratina

After my purchases of the DS and Pokemon Platinum, I found the addiction of Giratina. With that said, I went out and got an accessory for my DS and a little action figure, both being reviewed below...



Giratina Pokemon Platinum DS Lite Case
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I bought this case seeing, if I went anywhere or if I were to buy more games, I'd store them in there. The price tag is pretty killer though, $9.99 for a lightly padded case with a pocket for games and straps and clips to carry along. The case has a zipper on the edge of the case and opens up to reveal two elastic straps that secure the DS Lite very securely. There is some padding on each side when enclosed. There are two little straps on the inside of the spine, holding the strap, which is optional. The exterior features a clip to go on your pants. I would use the little straps to maybe hold any extra stylus'.


Zip that up and the outside has a pocket. It appears to be mesh, but unzipping that pocket reveals a cloth interior for your games, or maybe you can keep a few Pokemon cards in there. Now this wouldn't be a Giratina review without the cover art on the front. It features the text "POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION" then below it is Giratina's Origin Forme, then below that it's the Nintendo DS signature. It's rather a nice case. It's all cloth or close to it. There are two colors available, a dark grey, or white. I chose the dark grey that fits Giratina's nature. If I could rate this, it would have to be an 8 out of 10, partly the price tag...





Jakks Pacific Giratina
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This figure is not the huge one, it's the single pack, smaller figure. It's pretty small, but pretty bulky looking at the other figures I saw on the pegs. Standing a bit more than an inch, with a wing span, probably two inches. Giratina has decent amount of articulation. All six legs and the head has swivel, though only his head can turn 360 degrees, with the legs restricted. The wings are on hinges, so you can give him a flapping motion. I'd want some articulation on the tail, but it's alright.



The paint isn't that bad, but th paint doesn't fill in the lines sculpting on the body, it's either too thin, or too much that it runs over. His face has this goofy smile, but it's meant to look like it's roaring or something. It's fairly accurate though, even with painted lines around the eyes. It has a hole on each foot, so maybe he's supposed to be pegged in somewhere? Who knows, it's my first Pokemon figure, ever. The price was $4.99, so I didn't think it was expensive at all. I'd give this a 8 out of 10 as well. The paint ruins the look of Giratina, but if he's on display and you look far away, he's decent. He doesn't have a lot of poseability either. I mean what can you do with six legs, a head, and wings? I would've liked balljointed segments or some tail articulation, but that may be asking too much.



These were decent purchases, definitely something to look for in stores...

Pokemon Platinum Review

Along with my Nintendo DS, I got the game Pokemon Platinum. I haven't played any Pokemon game in a while, actually since Crystal. It'd be nice to get a reboot of a classic game...

Pokemon Platinum comes in a plastic box that snaps open. A definite change from GB and GBA games which came in carboard boxes and was immediately thrown away. In the DS box you can store one GBA cartridge. The hardware itself is what appears to be a huge memory card. It clicks in the slot in the DS. Oh the times... There are also instructions about gameplay, and how to catch the Pokemon, Rotom, and how you can get special mystery gifts to change his form from several varieties. Though, you'll need a wi-fi connection to obtain it...

The gameplay is pretty simple. It's near exact the same thing as the old games. Catch Pokemon, raise them, and fight the Elite Four and become Champion. After that, it's a post story travelling to other regions of sorts. There are a few changes in additional gameplay. The bottom touch screen features a multi task watch. It features a calculator, a coin toss, your party Pokemon status, among other features to help you during your quest. You have a variety of pockets in your bag, something quite different from Crystal, but I'm guessing in the modern games, it's nothing new...as well as the dual battles you can have. Either two people jump you, or you team up with an ally.

Some bad guys you encounter are Cyrus, and Team Galactic. I have no idea what happened to Team Rocket or Jessie, James, Meowth, and Giovanni. Heck, your rival is a pain in the a**, so he's on my bad guy list.

I got the Platinum version over the Pearl and Diamond because of the Pokemon on the box, and one of the main Pokemon, Giratina, a dragon like serpent creature. It's truly a cool design, and ever since I was addicted to it. I have since then caught it, and he's cool. When you fight it, he's in his Origin Forme, the snake like dragon form. When you catch him, he transforms into his Alternate Forme. It's mostly the same body, but it has wings instead of finger-like tentacles, it's head is tweaked a little with a more bulkier head design, and most noticeably, it has six legs.

Overall this game is pretty fun, addicting actually for the first few days. After that, it's play for fun. The new slim look of the cartridge is space saving. The gameplay is near identical, but that's the fun of it. I think Pearl and Diamond are the exact same game with minor tweaks, so you have three to choose from. I gotta give this a 10 out of 10. It's just pure awesomeness, I don't recommend it if you already have Pearl or Diamond, though.

Nintendo DS Lite Review

On Sunday I got my Nintendo DS Lite, after two weeks of searching online and about 5 stores to see if they could go any lower than $129.99. Unfortunately not though. I searched many stores, and Target was the only one with the Crimson colored DS Lite...

The Packaging for the DS Lite is really nice. It's a nice hefty box, but not big. It features the colored DS on the front. Open the box up and you will find a bag of Manuals and troubleshoots. Also a guide to PictoChat, which is a built in Chat that allows the user to draw, type, etc. to another person with Wi-Fi, I'll get into that in a bit... On the bottom of the cardboard case, is a AC Charger. It plugs into the back of the DS. There is also a stylus, but there is already one inside the system, so it's just a neat extra. The cardboard housing unfolds and the DS Lite is in a foam bag. My Crimson DS has a shiny Crimson red top with two raised dual screen designs in the middle to signify the dual screen feature of the DS. The rest of the DS is a matte black. It's pretty small compared to the PSP, but it's nothing you can't grip onto for gameplay.

The external features of the DS in the volume button, headphone button, power switch, and two slots. The main reason I got this was because they had two slots, one for the DS games and one for the old GBA games, in which I played Street Fighter, and it stills looks great. The GBA Cartridge does stick out quite a bit, but they include a "fake" cartridge when a GBA game is not in use. There is also a slot for the stylus, so there are no loose accessories needing to be carried around, nice! The DS also features to rubber paddings on the bottom for flat surface gameplay.

Open the top up on a hinge and you reveal the dual screens, D-Pad, ABXY buttons, and start and select buttons. There are also speakers, which are pretty loud on full blast. There is a microphone slit on the hinge, and lights to signify Wi Fi connection and battery power. The top half of the DS has two rubber paddings on the sides so it won't scratch when you close it.

When you turn it on for the first time they ask you for a name, b-day, etc. Everytime you turn it on, they give you a warning and and you have you use the stylus to click on to move onto the menu screen. The menu screen gives you the options of four light stages, and it's pretty bright, even lighting up my room in the dark at night. There is also a setting button, and wi-fi button located on the bottom. In the middle of the screen is when you can select PictoChat, the GBA or DS game. Pretty self explanatory. I did find out that you have to put the GBA game in before you start up the system. Just for anyone unaware, the BOTTOM SCREEN is the only one with TOUCH FEEDBACK. Don't go tapping, then stabbing the top screen...on that note as well, the touch feedback doesn't require a lot of force, just a light tap...

Now onto the Wi-Fi. It wasn't what I was expecting. I have DSL, and I clicked the button to search for Internet access. My search came up with my sister's Internet connection, and two un-named connections. One didn't' support the DS Wi-Fi, and my sister's and the other connection required a password. So I'm left in the dark. It's not that instantly accessible as I thought...

With the $129.99 price tag, it's definitely a strong purchase, not too much with just the system itself. You gotta get a game. These games aren't high priced like, say, Xbox 360 games. They range either from $40 or lower, depending on what you get of course. By all means go ahead and get it, it's great for on the go, but get a game, a fun game something like Pokemon Platinum...

Score out of 10s

Price: ********/8

Fun: **********/10

Deal: ********/8

Features: ********/8

Wi-Fi: **/2

Size: **********/10

Overall: *********/9

SDCC is over!

Well, it wasn't that exciting I must say for this year. The new MLs were a surprise, since most people thought the MU line was going to be the future of Marvel figures. They hauled out the new MU figures and everyone was amazed, even me. They would certainly fit in with my GI Joes. I like the Iron Man MU line. That War Machine kills! Other stuff that I liked was the NECA SF figures. They look huge in the packaging in stores, and we finally get a decent Akuma. He's ripped and mad. They alternate costume of Chun-Li is awesome. Black and red always make my day.

The TF panel was great, even though the lack of physical evidence. The Movie Lockdown looks cool and a new Deluxe movie Ratchet mold. I look forward to the TRU exclusives of the Commemorative figures.

Mattel was great too, they had a lot of great figures, Powergirl, Black Canary, Movie Zod. It's all great, sculpt is there. Powergirl should have a bit more bust for accuracy, but as the rumor says, it gets bigger in every comic. So maybe this is just the beginning of her reign... They are also releasing an online exclusive of the Sinestro Corps. In which I really want the Yellow Lantern scary chick (forgot her name).

The GI Joes weren't biting this year, not many interesting figures for me. Most are just repaints of figures. Pretty depressing. I'm not getting much vibe from the movie figures either. The only cool thing is Baroness, but I'll wait until the Paris Pursuit version comes out...or they can release the Resolute figures in stores, not online retailers..

The pics were from Cool Toy Review, which is linked to the right, they had the best photos out of the sites I went to, to get the coverage.

Leader Starscream

This is the first shot of the supposed Leader Class Starscream. Which I wouldn't mind having. Looks so detailed, hopefully the paint job on it will bring it out. I enlarged it a bit to see if it catches any details. Maybe this can be even more accurate than the already amazing Voyager 'Scream, which I have yet to get. Maybe they'll show off 'Screamer at SDCC...

SDCC: It has begun...

Well Preview night, was, last night. Pretty cool things seen so far. Some new ML are coming out. A new freakin' ML Deadpool too. I had my eyes on White Phoenix and Black Widow. There are so many other figures to look forward to. There were Constrictor, Classic Costume Ms. Marvel, BAF Hulk, etc., lets just say, if they are released in lots, so everyone can get them, everyone will be happy. Though the MLs might be one of the main parts of the show, the 3 3/4" figures are probably going to steal it. They are downgrading most of the figures to that scale nowadays. New Marvel Universe figures were shown, plus an MU scaled Iron Man movie line, and MU scaled Spider Man line. I am rather intrigued by the Rhino figure, it has tons of finely sculpted details.

Transformers is kinda eh now, just repaints, rereleases. The only thing I saw interesting were the exclusives which, hopefully will be chugged out into the stores. They had Walmart Exclusive Materpiece Skywarp, Walmart Exclusive Movie Ram Jet repaint, and TRU exclusive Commemorative Perceptor. I hope Skywarp reaches my Walmart, I always loved that mold, but lacked the Starscream when he was released.

Now jump into GI Joe, which I am very excited about, they never fail to impress. Though I wish they didn't have SDCC Exclusives, I'd like to get my hand at the 12" Baroness. Pretty cool looking. The sculpt looks dead-on with a smirk. It seems they are releasing Past and Present Target Exclusive packs, in which they include the original mold of the figure and vehicle and the updated version of the figure in vehicle. In this case, they show Snow Job and the Rockslide ATV, and the little tag says ARP of $12.99. What the hell? The exact ATV that is on the shelves are listed at $15 or so dollars, for the vehicle and figure. Who knew adding more degraded the price...don't care though, it all works out in my pocket, huzzah! They also have some 12" figures, which are bleh to me, never got into it really...

This was just a preview, in the upcoming days, they'll release other info on more cooler stuff. This was just the icing on the cake...

Target Exclusive Conquest X-30 with Python Patrol Viper Review

Oh hell yes! I am back from a long computer virus run. I have no avoided social sites like Facebook and Myspace. I had the Koobface virus, so I couldn't update you guys on the other stuff from the previous week. The Voyagers were not on sale, regular price, so I was kinda iffy that day anyways. Really wanted that Starscream. I went to Target today to check out the new GI Joe movie figures, at first it looked awesome, then I looked closer and went bleh. I don't know, I think I like the classic looks more that the new modern looks. Mostly every clearanced items were moved to the back of the aisles. There I found the 3 3/4, and 6 inch terminators on sale. $5 for the small ones, $7 for the $6 ones. They had 12 inch ones, but I didn't like the looks of them. After some thorough searching, finally found some GI Joe, since all of them were cleared out, they only had some Mighty Muggs, and two Conquest X-30, and you won't believe the price on the Conquest... $6.24! Freakin' $6.24, DAMN!

The Conquest X-30 is housed in a box of sturdy cardboard. It's pretty light since the box is kinda big. The box features art of the Conquest firing away in a desert like setting with another Conquest flying behind it. There is a window to view the Python Patrol Viper, along with art right next to it. The box is decorated with a Python Patrol insignia and a "Only at Target" sticker. On the back of the box it features the toy itself and has tags pointing at certain parts of the vehicle to show its' gimmicks. They read, "Removable Missiles!", "Removable Bombs!", Canopy Opens!", and "Fold-Up Landing Gear!". Most of which are common sense when you open the box. They do fail to mention some removable panels on the Conquest, which I'll get to later. There are two file cards on the bottom of the box, awaiting to be cut out like old times...

The sides are taped so anything sharp is required to open it. Inside the Conquest is fully assembled, except for the plain black back fins, missiles, and bombs. Upon assembly it looks pretty bland. It features printed on panels on black and silver "camo". The Conquest itself is a dark blood red. The black nose cone is a softer plastic, with the white glue marks still seen. The missiles and rear thrusters are a bright yellow, and the bombs are darkish grey. The canopy is a smoky translucent. Inside the cockpit is a plain grey seat with electronics. Removable panels behind the cockpit shows the same plain gray engine. Behind that is also another removable panel with the thruster internals. Underneath the retractable landing gear is a grey with the dark blood red caps, and perhaps rubber wheels. Panels are attached to the landing gear to hide it when retracted. The rear landing gears actually have gears that spread the wheels out and in.

The Python Patrol is the same as the regular Cobra Viper released before. The colors aren't like the part or production photos in the box. The art and proto figure is all black with some skin showing on his arms, and yellow highlights on his vest and pants. The visor is a red. The figure released isn't all black, he's mostly grey with black boots, gloves and helmet. The yellow is the same though. The backpack is just a plain grey with no paint apps at all, and the gun is plain black. Sadly you can't leave the backpack on him when you set him in the cockpit. You have to leave it on his lap or something...

Details on the Conquest are just panel and vents. Nothing to outrageous. There are sculpted machine guns at the front of the plain, but they are "camo" as well.

Sticker decals are included for the ole, sticker application that mostly everyone hates. These stickers are really, erm..sticky. I mean you better have a good shot at it first, because once it's on, it's not coming off. The sticker really adds to the plainness though. They have eye stickers like a snake...really cool. 31 is the number of the say for the Conquest, you get three 31 stickers, but the instructions feature a fourth one for application under the rear wings, wonder if it's an error.. The Cobra Insignia features wings on them. Several warning stickers are located near the landing gear, thrusters, etc. There are stickers that have arrows and the word panels on them to signify where the panels are removable. Python Patrol stickers are scattered on the wings...

Just a notice on the instructions sheet for the sticker application, it also has statistics. Number two on the list is "Reconditioned Snake Skin Pilot Seat". Now that's badass..

This is a pretty nice vehicle, considering the cost right now, I mean right now. Last time I checked was last week, it was $17 and had a mass of vehicles, now there are marked to the teeth and bones and only had 2. I am lucky enough to even get one, these things would go clean if they didn't put them in the back of the bottom shelf. Look carefully. But even at this nice price, I still think it'd still be worth the original $25. The colors really fit, though the yellow might throw you off... I really liked the all black and yellow highlighted Viper proto, but I guess you get what you can. This set, with the Viper gets a 9.5 out of 10. The Conquest itself is a 10 out of 10, the Viper is about 7.5 out of 10. They should have stuck with the art colors. The black would've really made a difference to keep that Black Ops stated in the file card. Again, this is a great set, especially at this current price tag. If you can paint the Viper, you are set to kill off some GI Joe.

Hauling Away: Target Edition Update

So, after I posted that, on Saturday, TFormers (link on right), posted that Target is having a sale on Deluxe, Leaders, and Target Exclusive Combiners:

Free Scout- Purchase of the Nintendo DS version of Revenge of the Fallen video game
Deluxe-$8.99
Leader = $39.99
Exclusive Combiners = $27.99

There is also some coupons that give you 10% off if you buy 2 TFs, 15% if you buy 3, and 20% if you buy 4. I heard some people couldn't find them, but I went the day before the sale and found them at the end aisle behind a stack of voyager classes. I also read in the forums the Voyagers are on sale too, but that is just one person....

TRU is having a sale on Voyager Class only for $17.99. Spend $30 worth of TF stuff and get a $10 gift card. I guess general stuff, like toys, merchandise, games. Not totally sure on the limits of the purchase. They had a similar sale when TF 1 was released. Though I remember I bought the TRU Blackout and Skorponok two pack, for $25, and got a $10 gift card, they bumped it up this year...

So yeah, just an update. I'm going to Target tomorrow, and I'll try to confirm the Voyagers status of sale. DTM Outz..

Hauling Away: Target Edition

Recently I found out Target is clearing the GI Joe pegs for the soon to be released GI Joe movie figures. All basic carded figures are $4.88, Comic Packs are $9.08, and the Battle Packs, and Target Exclusive vehicles are around $17. I suggest you act quickly because not a lot of variety of figures to choose from. Mostly on the pegs were Pilot Scarlett (Glenda), Flint (Cobra Disguise), one Python Trooper, and that one dude part of Zartan's gang... The other stuff I just forgot what they were called, but the vehicles are the recent ones released from Target...

Target also seems to have stocked up on the weekdays. I went there on Tuesday or Wednesday. The RotF movie figures were crowding the pegs. I hid a Previews Soundwave behind some stuff, and wallah, he is still there when I checked today (scroll down for his status). They had ravages, the Twins, Chromia, etc. I saw the new Titanium exclusives too...

After that I skimmed around the store. Trying to find some decent DVDs to watch I looked around at the end of the aisle. There I saw the 25th Anniversary G1 Transformers Series 1, $20. Moving along to the other end aisle, I saw some clearanced games like Guitar Hero and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin. Guitar Hero was the third version I believe for $8, and F.E.A.R. 2 was $35...

Next to them were comic books, the least I would think of Target having. I grabbed the Iron Man comic, also clearanced for A little less than $2. I don't know what kind of comic it is, maybe a kids version, or they call it giant-size comic? I just skimmed and saw cool armor designs and grabbed it...

I suggest you go visit Target to see what they have for clearance. Sometimes it won't be much, like all the other times I went, but I think the GI Joe is definitely on sale for the upcoming GI Joe movie figures. And now, here is my haul for today...

Pilot Scarlett (Glenda)
Flint (Cobra Disguise)
RotF Previews, Soundwave
Iron Man: Heart of Steel Comic
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

Total: $57

I am now going to starve for that "massive" purchase...

Picture of the Day: Baroness

Sad day, true, but you gotta move on sometimes...

I found a picture of the upcoming GI Joe Movie Baroness (played by Sienna Miller). She's supposed to have black hair, but it's brunette in the movie, and hopefully you know, I love brunettes, so it's a two thumbs up for me..

Week of Deaths

This week we lost a lot of celebrities, most commonly impacted pop culture...

On Tuesday we lost Ed McMahon, the famous sidekick of Johnny Carson. He would introduce Johnny with his famous, "Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!" He will be missed by many, thanks for all the funny moments you brought us, RIP sir..

Yesterday, we lost Farrah Fawcett, one of the Charlie's Angel, who lost her battle with cancer. She was known for her looks that every teen in the 70s would go crazy over, even the poster everyone had. She's no longer suffering, rest in peace..

We though the news couldn't get anymore worse, but it could, Michael Jackson has also died yesterday. It's not yet known what he died from, but they speculate it may have been cardiac arrest. The King of Pop should only be known for the positive things he brought to us, not the bad. RIP Michael..

Evolution of Soundwave: Oh yeah, he's Superior...

The many incarnations of Soundwave we got, some are memorable, some are just silly, others are just cool...

First off, we got his "lamp post" mode, from the first episode of Transformers which aired September 17, 1984He eventually took the form of a micro cassette player...and a badass DJ...

You thought Soundwave was superior? So did I, but he got his ass whooped by Blaster, and had to be rebuilt. Soundblaster as they call him is now back in black...

We shall jump forward into the world of Beast Wars, where Alligators are now Superior...

We shall jump into the future one more time, where Soundwave is an actual DJ? He turns into a Cybetronian Jet and hexagonalprims and one transforms into Laserbeak, that's just beast...

This is Soundwave, after he was an actual toy in the animated series, and again he turns into Soundblaster. The figure of animated Soundwave is awesome though. He comes with a guitar that transforms into Laserbeak and actually fits in pegs in robot mode, and Soundwave is rocking the guitar.

Soundwave good, Autobots bad. They made a MP3 of this concept. Really intriguing concept, but I'd stick with the original color scheme.

The only cool images of Movie Soundwave is his figure. I can't find other full body shots. Supposedly he transformer into a satellite, cybertronian jet, and robot. He has a ravage missile that looks like reentry mode, and Soundwave shoots him down onto Earth. Pretty cool concept. I like it. I haven't gotten the toy yet, but maybe soon...

(All images were taken from the TF Wiki, not my images, all rights are theres...)

Picture of the Day: White Phoenix

It's like Femme Fatale this week. Hot comic chicks all over. Today is White Phoenix, pretty cool art here..

Picture of the Day: She-Hulk

Double posts today, yay! I had to post this picture when I first saw it:

Xorn

Don't even get me started on this mutant. I along with so many others, are confused with his story line. Supposedly he's a mutant from China with a "star as a brain" and wears a helmet to restrain the energy. If he takes off his helmet, well the whole world goes boom and everything as we know it gets sucked into his blackhole like brain, or something along those lines. Then it's revealed that Xorn is Magneto, but later we find out he's an imposter posing as Magneto. Then later we learn This Xorn has a twin in China, also named Xorn, wait TWO XORNS? It just gets confusing after that. I really didn't intend to actually do research before I began customizing, but it helps to know. I just liked the design, but both Xorns are a very interesting pair of mutants. Anyway, my nearly finished custom of Xorn is most likely the imposter Xorn disguised as Magneto and controlled by Sublime.

The recipe is basically the Hasbro Marvel Legends Xorn released in the second series. I tried to make him more accurate, but only ended up bulkier, but I like the effect. Added some MegaBlok chains, various clothing additions are foam. I resculpted the neck and added the key, where I heard that the helmet is locked to his head and when he take the key out he can remove his helmet? I maybe wrong... The Xorn head was left unpainted at all from the original release. The helmet is still removable. I replaced the neck joint with Gundam Model kit wrist balljoints. The alternate head can be easily swapped out:

The blackhole looks rather like a solar system to me. I was trying to go for the waves traveling outwards and engulfing as it surges throughout. The head is made of a black Symbiote Spiderman head and twisty ties glued to the back. I was trying to get a blackhole head like that, but it seemed rather hard to make. A ghost rider head with hot glue? I have an XMC Magneto head and I think it'd be perfect to have that head rather than the skinny little head inside the helmet. I'll see what I can do, or if I can get another head. This isn't completely finished though. Some parts aren't painted. Next is that rather cryptic chair. Don't know where to start with that though...Well, this custom began when the figure was released. So maybe 2-3 years? Who knows, I lost count...

Last day of School

Last day of school, summer break starts. I should be happy, but I'm kind of sad, since I probably won't see much of my friends during the summer, hence the slow/sad version. I dunno, thought it would fit in with the theme, enjoy, happy Friday, and enjoy your summer break all you hard working students! No kidding, enjoy, lol...

Update

Sup guys, well who ever is reading this... The new transformers came out last week, and it was a mass kill in TRU. I don't mean that in a good way. Looks like the economy is killing us slowly, along with our future collectors. I felt so out of place just plowing through peg fulls of figures. Looks like nothing was even touched and I walked in TRU at about 2 in the afternoon? I walked out with Sideways and Sideswipe, both excellent figures. Great transformation and the car modes are near flawless if it weren't for heavy paneling. I would very well like to call them Alternators, that's how cool they are.

I got some customs, as always. I never finished Madame Hydra Viper. She's way past my hopes on completing her. Still need a cape, guns, holsters... My War Machine is coming along slowly. I just added some exhaust to the armor pack. Still arranging more weapon layouts on him.

I really haven't been up to anything, so yeah....maybe I'll have some reviews up this week or something...

Revenge is Coming...

Well the toys rather...tomorrow if you're lucky to live near a TRU that will hold the special event for selling them early, others will wait it out til Saturday. Personally I can't wait for them to be released. I think these transformers are a huge step up. The detail is getting really good, to the point of realism. I also like how these transformers look like they involve the person transforming them.

The cars are something I'm anticipating. They look cool in car mode and robot mode. You might as well call them Alternators. I'm also looking for that Soundwave figure. I mean it was supposed to be released two weeks ago, but they got snatched up. Maybe a few new cases will appear. I really like the designs of him and Ravage.

There is a new Human Alliance set that includes Mikaela Banes, Skids, and Arcee. Now that is a set that I need to get. Two transformers and a hot chick to ride them... Skids is just wack when I look at the robot head, but it is indeed cool looking.

Anyways, I might be going out to TRU on Saturday. They always seem to have everything in a huge display like the first Transformer movie. The prices are the lowest I believe. $11 is still alot, but it's definitely the cheapest out of Target or Walmart. Wish me luck because it seems everyone is anticipating this movie, even me, so they'll buy a lot of the cool characters, all that'll be left is scout classes and robot heroes. I want me some deluxes, voyagers, and human alliances. Leaders are a bit too much for me though, but that Optimus, Jetfire combo is awesome...

Smashing Pumpkins- Today, Live

Now that I finally took time to find out how to post YouTube videos on here, I wanted to post a Smashing Pumpkins song. This Live version is sung a bit differently by Billy, but I like it. With out further ado------>

Smashing Pumpkins- Today

DTM, Animated!

So, I haven't told you about this, but browsing my picture folder, I found a picture of me drawn by GrimSqueaker, I think, sorry it's been a long time since I visited the Seibetron forums. Like after TF Master passed and the forums got merged... Well yeah, I turn into a machine gun, it looks awesome. Thanks to GrimSqueaker!

Universe Not So Hot Shot

Just picked up Universe Hot Shot yesterday along with those Mega Bloks Plasma Dragons Booster Packs. I must say I had high expectations with Hot Shot, here...


This is going to be super short, the Vehicle Mode is good, not great since the door windows are painted and not translucent blue. Jolt can fit in the back of the car...

Jolt is ok, mine isn't really secure, in his one arm falls off and the other stays on really well. Talk about quality control...

The Robot Mode for both is complete utter crap, well maybe that's too far, but the plastic feels so cheap. Loose joints on Hot Shot's legs. The shoulder joints are hindered by his piece of crap backpack kibble. Can't even move then in or out, or around. His toe joints are loose and sometimes he can barely stand up. Jolt can't stand up because he's top heavy.

Now the only thing I do like about Hot Shot is his head sculpt is pretty good. I like it...

Everything else is complete utter crap. He's next to those Big Lots KO Transformers, but even those are slightly better in quality. If you need him really badly, or something, get him while he's on sale like right now, at Target, or TRU should have him for $8, don't even step out of that box though, $12 is just a complete ripoff...

Mega Bloks Plama Dragons Booster Pack

Just a little review here (no pun intended)...

Got a Mega Bloks Plasma Dragons Booster Pack at TRU on clearance for around $2. What the hell are they, you ask? Little tiny figures that you cut out from the little tree frame and you assemble the little figures, see no pun intended...

The booster pack comes with eight, count them, one, two, three, etc., EIGHT figures. Each comes with a base that you can detach from the tree frame. I'm guessing they are around 1 inches tall, no too tall, because they are small. All the figures have the same basic articulation on ball joints in the waist, shoulders, and wrist. Nothing special, I guess they can get into decent poses. Depending on the character, or figure, they have different washes or paint jobs on them. Mine are some sort of knights with a silver wash, the ogres are grey with a hit of acid green of them.

The figures are pretty detailed. Armor panels are clear visible on the knights. One of the coolest ones that came in the set has tiny sculpted chain mail. Armor designs are nice on the torso and shoulders for some. The orges have a gruesome face, with teeth poking out. The armor for the ogres have rivets on their armor. The clothing for them is nicely sculpted.

Accessories are some bases, weapons, and shields. What kind of knight and ogre wouldn't have those? Again according to the set you pick up it will differ. My set had translucent blue and silver painted shields for the knights. The shields were either diamond shaped, or circular. For the weapons one was a translucent blue sword with a silver hilt, the others were silver blade and gold hilt. It also came with a mace of the same color scheme, and some wizard staff.

The ogres came with translucent greyish shields with gold trims, the shields are either circular, or diamond shaped, like the knights. The weapons included are a spear, a hammer, and a axe, all have a brown and tan color scheme.

The set is pretty cool, they also stated that this is some sort of game with them, pshh...They are cool as they are as figures. I think you need a play set though if you really want to duke it out between the two sides. One ogre just looks amazing to me, he has a menacing grin and his teeth are jutting out. The sculpt is killer, and his arms are gigantic compared to the ones I have now. The one knight I like has a helmet like Ares of DC Comics. The armor on the arms are fantastic.

At this price, $2, I think it's a worthy set to pick up. Who doesn't like small little men. Just think of it as army men taking a step forward with articulation, but a step back in time...

PA Figure Club

Come all, come in, all are welcome...

Except non Pennsylvanians. Sephiroth started the idea of an all PA figure club to discuss our favorite hobby, I think... Not to sound prejudiced against other states though, you're all cool. Join and have fun! The link is located on the side where I post the World Wide Web links.

There is my advertisement...

Note: I haven't really haven't finished Madame Hydra Viper. Had the old, clean your room and everything is all over the place, or either it was thrown away. I also need some holsters and guns. I need to work on the cape since I don't have dark green foam, instead of using my yellow foam and have the paint chip off.

Brian Dawkins

Damn you Eagles... Brian Dawkins is the best FS in the NFL, he's beast. Well yeah, I'm pretty pissed off that he's not an Eagles anymore. I loved his hits on people. Heck he was my motivation in school sports activities. Wish he just got out of the deal, and finish his career in Philly... Well either way I wish him luck in his career, and maybe he'll get traded somehow to the Eagles...

Words of the Wise

"Chomp chomp chomp chomp a chomp, a chewey chomp a chewey chomp, uhmm grr, er, arghh"

Funniest thing Peaugh said. One of the best reviewers on Youtube, actually the best as I know of. Here's a link to his youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/peaugh

Check it out. The chomping phrase is located in his Blast Punch Optimus Primal review.

Madame Hydra Viper

Wish I knew about this character sooner, but she's hot, hehe...



I just got a Psylocke figure from Sephiroth over the week and I quickly went to work, but it doesn't help when you have no superglue. I gave her a black base coat and then green to give it the dark green in the picture, I didn't do the hands or boots yet. I think I'm gonna go for a white base coat and green or maybe a mix of green and yellow. The belt is kinda big from what I have done. I couldn't make a thin straight cut with the foam. I need some weapons for her holsters, but I have no idea what to use. I'll probably scrap make the cape. I did so some extensions on her hair to get the look, but still having trouble with the left side. I still have to do the green lipstick too, and maybe fix up the eyes.



I wish I knew I was going to do this so I would atleast have one HYDRA soldier, but sadly I don't. I think I can get her finished by this week, the figure alone. I'll have to wait about the accessories. Well I better get going, see you guys later, and stay tuned for the finished figure. DTM outz...

Less reviews than I thought...

It seems I haven't purchased any figures in a long time. Like in a looooong time. Last figure I reviewed, Cyclonus, well that was my last figure. I'll just review random stuff I guess until I get new figures. Today is a carrying case, but not for the things that are supposed to be carried...

Back when I had a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP I had a carrying case. I don't know what happened to the Gameboy, but I plan to get the DS sometime soon to play the games that I still have lying around. Well anyways, the case is made by Intec, and it's like a briefcase with aluminum shell. You can find the item here, but it's been longed sold out: http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?Product%5FID=26655

I cleared it out after I lost my SP, still sad that I lost it...

I now hold my GI Joes in there. Not a lot of space for all of your collection, but you can fit in atleast 20 depending on how you put them him. There are 6 sections, in rows of two. The middle column has foam for protection of the SP, but I put weapons in there. The other four are pretty deep and can fit up to two or three figures, again, depending on how you lay them out. I usually lay them so they criss cross...So that makes 8-12 figures, plus most of the accessories should fit. You can also lay them with the figures, there should be some extra space on the sides. Well, if that makes around 12, where are the rest of the 8? Well they made a flip down Velcro panel. You can put weapons in there, but I prefer not to since the elastic mesh will just get it caught. I put my army builders in there. There are two elastic mesh sections that can fit up to 4 in a section, but that's like close together.

It's a really cool case. It's pretty secure and the figures fit perfectly except for the bigger figures, in which you might have to bend the knees. You can carry it pretty much anywhere. It seems pretty cheap after so many years. Like really cheap. I got mine with the SP Accessories, so it cost me $25. Anyways, when I get that DS, I'll tell yall, but for now it's only a wish. I'll see if I can dig something up to review tomorrow...DTM Outz...

Transformers Classics 2.0 Cyclonus

Well well, after all my gagging and whining, I picked Cyclonus up yesterday along with my Gold Ranger. I was really looking forward to this figure, cool robot and vehicle mode in the movie, and when the prototype pics came out I was amazed how they updated the figure so it looks like the movie.

Cyclonus (Vehicle)

Very G1, that's all, the sculpt is there, the color is bleh. I know a lot of people are talking about the purple being too dark, but I think it works well. The wings are molded light grey, but I would've liked it silver. Some parts are painted maroon, the cockpit is translucent red. There are some dark greys, but it's not that heavily used until robot mode. Cyclonus has three landing gears also.

Cyclonus (Robot)

I really wish I could translate how to transform him, but they way I do it would probably be confusing. I do have to say it's interesting. Instead of pull down shin assembly, they actually are two halves. The swing down and click together. They aren't flimsy too, and they hold up great. Articulation is good, swivel neck, shoulders, forearms, wrist, and thighs. He has hinged shoulders due to transformation, hinged biceps, elbows, knees, and feet. And of course ball joint hips. Sculpt is still pretty nice. He has that Cyclonus looks with the bunny ears, so he's not mistakable as someone else. Also to note his thighs have two different greys. The top half is light grey, and the bottom half is more brown grey. Nothing too distracting, but it's there. The light-piping is phenomenal. Just put him in front of your computer monitor, and he shines perfectly. Like the movie, he is taller than Classics 2.0 Galvatron, but not by much. And may I say, I don't see any kibble what-so-ever, everything fits in place that are accurate to the G1 look.

Nightstick (Cannon)

His alternate mode is a...cannon? More like a gun, but that's what they call it. Easy transformation. From robot mode, flip is toes up, flip the barrel from his back up, and then just fold his torso joint and then the hips up. Pretty, nice mode I guess, nothing special though. In this mode he have various ways to attach to Cyclonus. First his peg attaches as a hand gun ONLY in his RIGHT HAND. Then you can flip wither fist in and it has a slot, and the end of the cannon has a peg, so it can attach into an arm cannon. Trust me, it doesn't hold up well. It's either the slot is a bit too deep into the "block", or the two other cannons on top in the mode is hindering from going all the way in. Once you peg it in and it stays, don't touch it ever again...but it really doesn't matter, it's just an addition, the instructions don't talk about it.

Nightstick (Robot)

Just follow the reverse of the instructions above. It's a nice robot mode. Articulation wise and sculpt. Swivel shoulders and hips, hinged elbows, toes and torso, from transformation. I like little transformers because they look nifty and it amazes me how they get the detail in such a small guy.

This 2 for 1 pack is great. I really like Targetmaster, and being very G1 accurate without killing the whole idea, that's awesome. I hate to say this, because I'll probably get basked from other collectors, but Cyclonus is thus far one of the most perfect figure. 10 out of 10.

Power Rangers Super Legends Gold Ranger

GO GO POWER RANGERS!....

Yeah, awesome stuff back then, kind of still awesome today. anyways who remembers the Gold Ranger? Well incase you didn't he was in Power Rangers Zeo, all the shapes and what not. I'm not going to go into the whole thing of how this happened and who did what...but the Gold Ranger originally was Trey of Triforia, in which he was the Prince I believe, of Triforia. The other person to don the Gold Ranger suit was Jason the Red Ranger. Alright enough of that, if you want to know more they have a Power Rangers Wiki on the 'net.

The figure is pretty cool. Nothing at all looks updated from the old suit, so it's basically an update, and that's great. He has more articulation than previous versions, that I am aware of. Swivel head, ball hinged shoulders, hinged elbows and knees, swivel hands and upper thighs, ball hinged hips. He's pretty articulate, just enough to get in some good poses. The paint is great, not much bleeding, only the belt, but it's only a bit. The sculpt is definitely one of the best. The collar, chest, forearm, and shin details are good. He's not overly muscular too, he's just like the show. Now that is without his chest armor...

The armor is very show accurate. It's removable in two pieces. The back half has two pegs that attach to the back where they screw the torso together. The front half pegs onto the top shoulder holes of the armor. It doesn't interfere in any articulation. He has another accessory, the staff. It's also sculpted well, maybe the handles is a bit big, but he probably can't hold it if it was thin. The downside is it's painted all silver. No gold, black, or anything like the show, bummer...

All in all, he is really a Super Legend and a Super figure. If you can find him pick him up immediately. He's likely on sale from after Holiday Sales. I got mine at Walmart for $5. 9.5 out of 10, great everything, except some missing paint for show accuracy.

Also a update of DCUC Despero series. You know how they are photoshopping Megan Fox to be Wonder Woman? Well the figure resembles her a bit. Also I finally got Cyclonus, maybe some review tomorrow. Here's the pic of Megan Fox as Wonder Woman:

I don't know if you see it, but I do, maybe Foxy's head is a bit small, anyways DTM outz...

Happy Happy New Year

First post of the New Year. Nothing much going on today, bored out of my mind. Started a War Machine yesterday, and I'm still stuck with all his weaponary. I mean the guy is built from all weapons and he is a weapon. So I just don't know where to put it on such a "small" body. The body is Savage Dragon, and legs are reused from my older War Machine. I have tons of weapons I stripped from the old one, because I made that when I was horrible at customizing...I think I progressed .1% from before. Anyways I just need a plan to place the weapons and I'll paint him up.

http://www.thecomiccrypt.us/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1513

Here are my new customs, starting with page 3. The first two pages are older customs, in which you can see the old War Machine. The new customs are HISS Tank Driver, Cobra Commander, Original Armor Design Iron Man, and my unnamed Spider Man, who is actually the brother of Vulcan Spider Man (on page 1). Vulcan himself is somewhat different. Flat black, different color scheme, etc...

Happy New Year, and hopefully I'll actually have updates and write up some more reviews. DTM outz...