Spring Hauls

[JediTricks]

So February/March/April hauls? Anyway, Birthday hauls! A Funko POP Minion from one of my friends. Another friend got me a NERF gun and the parents got me an excercise bike and three new shirts: One Hawaiian, a purple polo and a Star Wars Force Awakens tshirt. Had a party on Saturday. One of my coworkers gave me a pinata filled with candy and we took turns trying to hit it with lightsabers. It turned out to be the most armored pinata ever. We did eventually get it opened after about 2 minutes of four of us ganging up on it.

Happy birthday Shocky! Sounds kinda awesome, hope you asked for that exercise bike tho

I renamed the thread "Spring Hauls".

Mine apparently is here already but held at the post orifice. Which of course is only open during the exact same hours that I work.

If they left you a pink tag, you can call the number or go online and have them redeliver it, just make sure to sign the tag and stick it to your door or whatever the instructions say. Best of luck.


My MPs made it through customs unscathed, turns out EMS has a solid waybill, the customs slip wasn't even removed from my package, they hustle EMS packages through quickly unlike SAL ones. And my condo's awesome mailman returned from his injury yesterday, I went down to the PO because normally the way it was written meant it would wait another day for delivery and I figured I could head it off at the pass before the temp mail carrier got to it (she refuses to deliver anything beyond the lobby, and if it needs sig she just leaves a tag on/in the mailbox, so lazy) but everything went ok.

So, my hauls:

Masterpiece Shockwave (aka Destron Laserwave) - this is my first Takaratomy Decepticon Masterpiece, and it's pretty great packaging, Hasbro should totally adopt this, very striking, the larger format and greater space allow for a lot of character impression. I posted my first thoughts of him in the MP Reviews thread, so all I'll say is that I like him, he's a bit simple, but his lights are SOOOOOO good.

MP Hot Rodimus (I didn't name him!) - I suspect the US version won't have that surprisingly charming fishing pole accessory. Again, posted my thoughts in the MP review thread, so I'll just say he's alright, some design choice issues (damned flat-plank chest), but nice overall and not as annoying as MP-9.

Haggar flat-front pants - JC Penney gave me a $10 rewards cert when I opened my JCP card and it was expiring, these were on sale from $80 down to $50, then an additional % off if you used the JCP card, then I had my cert, all told I got that and a $5 shirt (which also came down to $3) for $30 and used my free shipping cert to boot. These are dark gray and not what I expected, much classier. They fit pretty well and are light, comfy.

Lime green t-shirt - uhhh, it's pretty bright, like '80s bright. It fits. It was cheap. The end.

[JediTricks]

Star Wars 6" Kylo Ren, Capt. Phasma, and TFA Stormtrooper - good prices and good paint/costume work led me to these particular ones. The Stormtrooper headsculpt is not good though, the lenses are far too big and the whole center line of the face is asymmetrically angled to the left. Kylo Ben works well with his cloth outfit segment, very expressive figure, and I didn't think I'd get over the crossguard flare holding the blades on but in person it's not too bad.

[Shockwave]

I've been forgetting to post stuff here. I got MP Shockwave and posted at length about it in the review thread but forgot to mention it here. Also, comics!! Superman Red Son, All Star Superman, Superior Spiderman 2, some Thor books and the lady Thor books. Reviews in the comics thread for once.

[JediTricks]

Reprolabels MP Hot Rodimus set - nice looking foil sticker designs, but it's the 3D-printed tire treads that are especially interesting. I'll need more sleep before I can attempt these, I got shaky hands.

[Dominic]

The Stormtrooper headsculpt is not good though, the lenses are far too big and the whole center line of the face is asymmetrically angled to the left.

Hasbro just keeps making it easier to skip toys.


Now, toys I have not skipped in recent weeks:

-4 inch Marvel Hyperion, Yondu, Captain America/Vance Astro and Iron Man/Machine Man.

Hyperion is the weakest of the lot, with the worst segmenting (especially the thighs and wrists), but is a sentimental favourite of mine (and a character that has shown up in enough good stuff over the years that I can forgive some problems). Marvel seems to be consuming the most of my (much reduced) toy budget of late.

-GI Joe 50A Snowjob v/s BAT (custom fodder). I need some more parts to make a custom character I have been working on. But, the BAT can just be recoloured easily enough (using traditional Cobra colours and adding details that Hasbro skipped on this release).

[JediTricks]

Star Wars The Black Series 6-inch Kanan Jarrus - an interesting attempt, but suffers the same limitations to articulation as most figures in the series, and the face sculpt doesn't translate well from the front. The profile views on the face are alright, but the front is far too round. The disassembling lightsaber is a fun idea and clips to the belt well (although it can hang from the belt because it has a loop on the hilt but no post on the belt), but the whole thing is too rubbery to hold up the blade well. The blade is also too long. Overall good but not great.

SW TBS6" Jango Fett - a pretty good outing, the big flaw is long arms almost to the knees and the same articulation issues as ever (elbows don't bend far enough, neck needs more range of movement, hips too wide and simple), and the weathering over the silver is a bit sloppy up close, although it works well with the silver paint from a far where the weathering-free Phasma doesn't look as natural. Head sculpt under is ok but paint ruins this with wrong-placed, thick eyebrows. The head fits well in the helmet, which doesn't seem oversized thankfully. The armor sculpt is uniformly soft, similar to the original Boba Fett 6", but here they made smarter choices with the shoulder pads and things of that nature. The gauntlet hose on my left forearm was cast short, broke in package before I got it, but otherwise it's alright. Solid, one of the better releases in the line.

[Shockwave]

Transformers Legends scale figures: Jazz, Hound, Trailbreaker(cutter!), G2 Megatron, Gears with whoever, Acid Storm with not Waspinator. I like the legends scale figures and will probably get more, I still have RTS Megatron on the way and might get a previous version of Rodimus as well.

Star Trek: Galoob TNG Phaser, Playmates First Contact Phaser. I've always been intrigued by the Galoob phaser and now that I have one... it's interesting. It lights up. And it makes noise. but not at the same time. There's one button for each function and you can't really press them at the same time. And then there's a slide switch which does absolutely nothing. I actually like it. I think it's on par with the Playmates one, this one I think is visually more accurate, being smaller, but the Playmates one's colors are more accurate. Either way, they're both fun. Still waiting on the Insurrection Phaser.

[JediTricks]

Star Trek: Galoob TNG Phaser, Playmates First Contact Phaser. I've always been intrigued by the Galoob phaser and now that I have one... it's interesting. It lights up. And it makes noise. but not at the same time. There's one button for each function and you can't really press them at the same time. And then there's a slide switch which does absolutely nothing. I actually like it. I think it's on par with the Playmates one, this one I think is visually more accurate, being smaller, but the Playmates one's colors are more accurate. Either way, they're both fun. Still waiting on the Insurrection Phaser.

I didn't know that about Galoob's type-1 phaser. Did it come on card?

[Shockwave]

Star Trek: Galoob TNG Phaser, Playmates First Contact Phaser. I've always been intrigued by the Galoob phaser and now that I have one... it's interesting. It lights up. And it makes noise. but not at the same time. There's one button for each function and you can't really press them at the same time. And then there's a slide switch which does absolutely nothing. I actually like it. I think it's on par with the Playmates one, this one I think is visually more accurate, being smaller, but the Playmates one's colors are more accurate. Either way, they're both fun. Still waiting on the Insurrection Phaser.

I didn't know that about Galoob's type-1 phaser. Did it come on card?

Oh yeah, it's in mint condition. But, it definitely is an odd set up for the electronics. I'm not unhappy with it though.

Also, forgot to mention that I got Windblade on a BBTS one day sale. She's interesting, I wish the feet were sturdier, but other than that, I don't really have any complaints. And RTS legends Megatron came in.

[JediTricks]

Oh yeah, it's in mint condition. But, it definitely is an odd set up for the electronics. I'm not unhappy with it though.

Also, forgot to mention that I got Windblade on a BBTS one day sale. She's interesting, I wish the feet were sturdier, but other than that, I don't really have any complaints. And RTS legends Megatron came in.

Nice get on the card. Mint condition, does that mean the sticker is still attached without even oozing? If so, dang!

In looking into the backstory on the phaser, I see a callout for using it as a flashlight, and I could only guess that is why the separated it.

Yeah, Windy's feet really are the big frustration, her shoes should have been wedges rather than heels. OR JUST FEET INSTEAD OF SEXY SHOES.