Marvel Monday: Hall Of Armors Movie Edition

Been a while, hm? Having a full-time job, then losing said job and going on a Mass Effect binge will do that, I s'pose. Oops. The upside is I've managed to get ahold of some more-than-blogworthy stuff. Like two of my guests today.

From left: Mark VI, Claymore (custom), War Machine, Mark VII, Inferno Mission Armor, Hypervelocity Armor 

The four at the back I've had for a couple years now, and the eagle-eyed among you will remember them from my "Meet The Crew" post. The mostly-black guy is a custom armor I had painted by the awesomely talented blogmistress at Life Of A Hellenic Pagan (check out her other blog too), which I'll probably spotlight in a future post. Both he and the Mark VII are from the Hasbro's "Avengers" line.

I feel like the Iron Man toys from "Avengers" were rushed out. There's a few features the Iron Man 2 armors have that the newer one don't. For starters, poseability. Three of my four IM2 figures have at least limited chest movement, and all four have rotating wrists/hands. Not so Avengers suits, as you'll see below. Also, a glaring oversight in my opinion: NO STANDS. The IM2 figures came with plastic gray stands to display your shiny badassery. Again, not so Avengers suits.

Despite their lack of poseability, I don't actually hate the Avengers series of Iron Man suits. The detailing is top-notch (it's HASBRO, fer Doom's sake), and the paint is (mostly) pretty good (note the lack of blue on the Mark VII chestpiece). And despite the lack of wrist movement, they can make some half-decent "blasting" poses.

"Make a move, Reindeer Games."

So there you have it. There's another custom paintjob on the way (ETA depends on when either I or my painter can get ahold of another Mark VI-based armor), but until then, ciao.

And now for something completely different...

Super-hero Sunday

Wow, do I suck at keeping to a schedule with this. Anywho...

The first thing you'll probably notice is the photos. I upgraded to a better camera/phone recently, so rather than the decent 3MP shots from before we now feature 5MP shots. Enjoy.

The true hero Gotham needs, but better than it deserves.

This fortnight's issue of the DC Chess Collection is Commissioner James Gordon. As with Ivy, he's a pawn as well. And, like Ivy, I don't see him as true pawn material. As one of Batman's most steadfast allies he should be in the back row, not up front with the rest of the fodder. That said, it's still an awesome-looking piece. Next issue we get Ra's al Ghul. At least HE'S not a pawn.

No caption needed.

So I finally, FINALLY got a Captain America MB figurine. I had all but given up on getting him when my local Gamestation ran out of Marvel MB "blind packs" (and by ran out, I mean I bought 90%+ of the damn things and ended up with more Hammer Drones than actual characters). It's a forgone conclusion that as Wolverine's the "ultra-rare" of Series 2, God will simultaneously disprove his own existence and disown Jesus before I see him on my shelf. Same with Green Goblin from Series One, and Silver Surfer from Series Three. The high point, at least, is that I now have three Avengers.

Some assembly required. Literally.

And finally, the newest winner of the "Most Epic Find In A Pound-Store" award is...

Off with the head of whoever took my mask!

...Mr Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814. Both he and Tomar-Re were hanging from a peg at my local Poundland. I got Hal (and his alright-ish axe construct accessory), and my buddy at Prime Of A Lifetime got the fish-guy.

Finding recognisable names at a discount store is enough of a win, but it becomes a bigger case of "HELL YES" when these figures come with their own Power Rings.

In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight.

Okay, so it's not big enough to fit the finger of anyone older than, say, 10. But still. It's a fucking GREEN LANTERN RING, dammit. It'll do me until I get my hands on a Sinestro Corps ring, anyway.

Well, that's it for now. Next weekend's post will feature Ra's al Ghul's chess piece incarnation, and a possibility of Aquaman. You've been warned.

Forever Red

Again, this is why I love charity shops. My childhood lives again. :D

Original. Best.

Jason Lee Scott, aka Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger. I just about squee'd when I found him in a 99p bin at my local Salvation Army. He's now sitting on my black corner unit, and I still squee internally every time I look over at it. First it was Batman, then MMPR, THEN Marvel, THEN Transformers. And now it's slowly becoming Green Lantern. But MMPR - the ORIGINAL cast - are an epic find, regardless.

It's morphin' time!

Epic Weekend Haul 01-03 June 2012

Wow, this is long overdue. Anywho...

In the inaugural "Epic Haul" post, we have a few Batman chess pieces, a few Megabloks additions, and the awesome finds I scored from Skelmorlie's annual Jumble Sale.

Firstly, the Bat stuff:

Poison Ivy

Ivy's a pawn in this set; personally I could see her as a rook, as I don't think she's pawn material. Vines and all. Since Harley Quinn (unreleased as of this post) is set to be Joker's "Queen", that leaves only Rook or Bishop for ol' Pam.

"The Dark Knight Returns" Batman

 The first of the "alternate Kings" is the Dark Knight himself. I've never read TDKR, and my first exposure to this costume was the DLC pack for Arkham City. I hated the skin in AC, but I like how the chess piece turned out. Now, if only they'd do one for Sinestro Corps Batman... (they won't :'( )

"The Dark Knight Returns" Joker

Again, never read TDKR. But if I'm honest, he doesn't seem to have "aged" noticeably. Aside from facial expressions and outfits, I see no difference between this Joker and "classic" Joker (the purple suit). Still awesome, though.

And now, iz Jumble tiem!1

Unexpected-yet-epic find.

This is a Brute. Helmet-and-weaponless, but still a Brute. According to Google Images, he's from some sort of "VISR" series. Never having properly played any of the Halo series, I can't comment. If anyone has any further info on him, I'd be very appreciative.

One down, six to go...

A shout-out goes to my friend over at Prime Of A Lifetime for this little gem. Outside of Japan, these are stupidly impossible to find. Which annoys me, 'cause I wants me the rest of my Porunga, dammit. Silver linings and all that, though. While most "Gacha" balls only have a single figurine inside, these have/had miniature set pieces from the Namek Saga. Such as the one below.

"I thought you'd be taller."

Oh Frieza. The first serious threat to Goku and co., hacked to bits by some punk kid from the future (oops spoiler alert).

Best. Find. EVER.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a mostly-intact G1 Smokescreen. He has no roof or doors, but DOES have a body at least; most of which is made of metal. This guy bumps my Dragon Ball off the post of Most Epic Find of Jumble Sale '12.

And now, some Lego-I mean, Megabloks.

The army grows...

Series 4 of the Halo MB set has been around for a bit, but up until recently I resisted the urge to grab some. Then, like the weak sack of human I am, I caved. At this rate I'll have more Covenant than UNSC. Feh. Welcome, alien overlords!

"Stealth" Spider-Man.

That's right. Stealth. Ignore the Day-Glo green lines of my Tron-wannabe Spider-suit. I'm STEALTHY- oh balls. *shot*

Side-note: how the hell many uses can one accessory have?! Stay tuned and find out, true believers...

At least it's not a damned whip. Or a "flame".

 Apart from the money-bag (which only serves to highlight his profession as a bank robber - 'cause no self-respecting fan would know this guy at all), I like this guy. Especially his mace-hand.

And now for something different...

"In ze Munich Circus I vas known as ze...you know vat? Forget it."

Nightcrawler! Little-known fact: he's my second-favorite X-Man (Wolverine first, duh). This guy has the top of his left thumb missing, but is in otherwise perfect condition. For £1.99, you bet your pointy tail I'm snagging this awesome blue teleporter.

Well, that's it. Sorry for the wait, but between E3 (DEAD SPACE 3 IS COMING! EEEEEEEEEEEE! :D ) and trying to ID the Brute (first guess was a Locust, believe it or not), well... yeah.

Later!

This Day Just Keeps Getting Better...

If part of your room didn't look like this at one point, you had no childhood.

Finds like this are why I love charity shops. A full-size garbage bag full of Lego, Megabloks, and various other bits and pieces including...

Robot Heroes Rat-trap

...this guy. I never got the chance to get a full-size version of him way back when, and once the Robot Heroes disappeared from Tesco I figured I never see ANY of them again. So yeah. Today is full of win.

Now buzz off. I have ships an' guns an' crap to build. =P

Dead Space 3 All But Confirmed

Yes, yes, YES.

I don't care if it turns out to be Resident Evil 5: Space Edition, I don't care if Isaac dies at the end, I don't even care if it all turns out to be some half-assed fever dream of an over-worked engineer. I'm just SO. HAPPY. :D

Not much detail beyond what rumors/"facts" have been floating around already, but here is what got me all SQUEE-like.

Man, I love Wednesdays.

Meet The Crew

Say hello to the current members of my collection. I've been building this up for quite a while...

My Robot Army, Part I

My Robot Army, Part II

  My living room hosts my "bookshelf" (all the original contents of which [i.e. books] have since been moved to my bedroom) and 98% of my collectibles. The top two shelves belong to my Transformers collection, 60-plus-percent of which is dominated by the movie lines. The top shelf holds my Leader classes (Ironhide and Sentinel Prime) and the majority of my movie toys (such as all my Legends and, for the moment, the only Voyagers in my collection). The second shelf holds my Deluxe classes as well as anything from the Prime line. Also sports a l'Cie sticker. Just because.

Some assembly required. Get it? 'Cause...y'know what, nevermind.

 The third shelf holds the Megabloks section. While Megabloks shamelessly rip off Lego in the block department, the one thing they DO trump them on is articulation and detail in their figurines. Might be 'cause they're meant for a slightly more mature audience (as in kids old enough to not pop an arm off of a Covenant grunt and swallow/choke on it). Either way, their Marvel/Halo lines are bad-ass enough to warrant my picking them up for my shelf. Now if only they'd bring out a DC line. Speaking of which...

Clobberin' Time in Gotham. Or not.

I have a standing subscription/agreement thing with my local newsagent for the DC Chess Collection. Or should I say the Batman Chess Collection (the official site bills this as Series 1. Series 2 better be the Justice League, OR ELSE. Godsdamnit, I want a Hal Jordan chess piece. And a Sinestro one, too). Anywho, these guys have pride of place on the black corner unit next to my big wooden shelf. Thing's there because he can be. Because he's Ben Everlovin' Grimm. Ares Armor Kratos and Dark Odyssey Kratos are self-explanatory. Would YOU defy the God Of War? (Special Guest Star: Optimus Prime 3D-Movie-Mask.)

Greetings, Programs.

I stumbled on these purely by accident, but I am so glad I did. The only thing cooler would be figures from the original film. Rinzler and Clu were on sale in a model shop in Glasgow (£5 each) so I figured, why the hell not, right?

Filler. Ish.

Most. Epic. Crossover. EVER.

Our final exhibits are my "randoms" shelf and my "other movies" shelf, respectively. Both bobbleheads were found/donated by a very good friend of mine (he knows who he is), as was the BK Ironhide. Three of the Hot Wheels are from movies, the other two are (in my mind) connected to two of the movie cars. I'm weird like that. Also dragons.

So, there you have it. Transformers are taking a slight "back seat" until they release Wave 2 of the Prime line over here (and considering how long we had to wait for Wave 1, I expect to be married and a grandfather by the time we get Wave 2), so expect mostly...well, anything but Transformers.

Manifesto. Or something.

If you've found me before I've even given out the link to this thing, then you truly have no life. Which is sad.

Welcome, one and all, to yet another toy/movie/tv/videogame fan-blog. I know, the Internetz is full of them, why do we need another, blah blah etc. This one's different, though. How, you ask? It's mine. And that's all that matters.

Some (alright, maybe like two or three of you) will know me on Twitter as GhostlyToast (formerly InverseReality), the seldom-tweeting pic-poster with the Space Core avatar. Those people will know what to expect (one or two of you might be surprised at the content or level thereof). For those who don't, here's what's on the menu:

Toys/Collectibles: Pics, opinions, wishlists, and "oh-Gods-why" moments. Most of these will be centered around Transformers, Marvel (Movieverse, Iron Man & Avengers primarily), and DC (Batman and Green Lantern primarily), with anything else that catches my eye joining it. Note: this includes, but is not limited to, memorabilia from Tron, Star Trek, Star Wars, and various video game franchises. You've been warned.

Media: Films and/or TV I've seen recently. Also games. I WILL sometimes include spoilers, but only where relevant to the post. I'll also, y'know, put a warning up and all.

Rants: Rant titles will be prefaced with the acronym STFA (Stay The Fuck Away). If something pisses me off enough (looking at YOU, person-who-recently-hacked-my-iTunes-account), you'll get my unedited and, I cannot stress this enough, UNCENSORED view of it. If you're easy offended, then obey the abbreviation and Stay The Fuck Away.

I think that's it. Sit back, ignore the (hopefully not so) jarring page layout tweaks, and enjoy.