February Hauls

[138 Scourge]

After kind of half-ass searching for a week, I ran into a FoC Grimlock yesternight. And it turns out that even if I've severely reduced the amount of toys I'm buying these days (last one was almost a year ago) I'll still buy a Grimlock. Lord knows I don't have enough of em, I guess.

Still, this one is actually really nice. It turns out that I like this thing in person better than I did in pictures. If I'm gonna be dragged back in, this is a pretty good way to do it.

Now I'm sort of curious about the FoC Soundwave.

[138 Scourge]

Oh, and on the off chance anyone cares, I bought a few things whilst I was away, too.

Badass house: Went in with my girl on this one. It's in my favorite neighborhood in KC, is a lot bigger than I thought I could ever afford, and I've got no neighbors since the backyard is completely surrounded by woods. It was in completely shit condition when we bought it, so we put a ton of work into this beast, but it's paid off nicely.

Pair of rings: So I guess I'm getting married in August. Life is crazy.

Really, guess that's the big stuff. But y'all can see why I was gone for awhile.

[Onslaught Six]

Now it all makes sense!

Glad FOC Grims is up to your specifications. I sold ShockTrek my ClaGrims expressly to fund FOC Grims, so it'd be crappy if he sucked.

[138 Scourge]

Well, I've got a pretty strong pro-Grimlock bias, and I can't say that FoC Grins is perfect. But I can tell you for sure that FoC Grimlock is way better than Classics Grimlock any day of the week. Maybe I'll try to do a proper review here soon.

[Shockwave]

Oh, and on the off chance anyone cares, I bought a few things whilst I was away, too.

Badass house: Went in with my girl on this one. It's in my favorite neighborhood in KC, is a lot bigger than I thought I could ever afford, and I've got no neighbors since the backyard is completely surrounded by woods. It was in completely shit condition when we bought it, so we put a ton of work into this beast, but it's paid off nicely.

Pair of rings: So I guess I'm getting married in August. Life is crazy.

Really, guess that's the big stuff. But y'all can see why I was gone for awhile.

Man, I understand the renovation thing all too well. That was my 2010. The 'rents and I spent literally every waking moment fixing this place up. What all did you guys do to your place. And congratulations by the way, on both counts. And welcome to home ownership.

Oh yeah and I have stuff to report too:

Went to Toy Fusion again yesterday to trade more stuff. I took in two Star Trek figures and a repaired G1 Mirage. I walked out with Generations Kup and Blackarachnia. first version deluxe BW Blackarachnia. So I'm one spider towards rebuilding my TF Halloween collection.

[Dominic]

Iron Man 2020 figure:
A few years ago, this would have been a middling to poor offering, (the soft plastic harness piece was a huge mark against it). But, relative to modern figure, it is middling to good. And, if the early buzz is anything to go by, the upcoming "Iron Man 3" figures are going to make lackluster toys from a few years ago look like masterpieces.

Iron Man 2020 appeals to my sense of humour. When the character was introduced, 2020 was decades away. It was possible that kids reading the comics at the time would not be alive to see that year, let alone older fans living that long. Now, Arno's time is less than a decade away, and he has yet to be born on page.

The "top secret" HAMMER files reconcile Arno's role in the Dark Reign of Norman Osborn. Apparently, Osborn's computer assistant, the ever wacky Quasimodo, spent a fair amount of time researching where and when Arno could be found. Quasimodo suggested that Osborn either hire Arno or kill the future Iron Man in order to appropriate his move advanced suit of armour. The idea of "Green Goblin 2020" really appeals to me in a way that I am not entirely comfortable with.


Dom
-seriously considering a custom project....

[BWprowl]

And, if the early buzz is anything to go by, the upcoming "Iron Man 3" figures are going to make lackluster toys from a few years ago look like masterpieces.

'Early buzz' nothing, you can walk into stores right now and see the shameless piles of crap Hasbro's pushing for IM3. I daresay they're even worse than Mattel's shitty DKR toyline, since these Iron Mans don't have knees, real accessories beyond recolored energy blasts, and they cost a buck more than the Batmans. It's rigoddamndiculous.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, I picked up Beast Hunters Twinstrike over the weekend. Shockingly beefy for a Legion figure, he looks absolutely crammed into his box (and makes the already shrimpy Airachnid Legion-class figure look positively microscopic by comparison), he feels really solid and substantial. Absolutely loaded with peg-holes for Cyberverse-size weapons, and little touches like the head folding in and the shin covers rotating around make him feel more...satisfying, I guess? Be careful with those shin covers, but the way, the 'pins' they're held in by are actually screwed in, not driven, so they'll fall out if you rotate the covers too much, the wrong way. I suggest adding some glue (or at least Loctite) through the hole on in the knee on the opposite side of where the pin goes in, to secure it against screwing itself out. That one design flaw aside, Twinstrike's a great little toy, and makes me excited for the rest of the Terrorcons.

Also picked up the first Scarlet Spider trade. Seeing Kaine's 'hero' evolution from the beginning will be nice, though I guess it's not the 'real' beginning, as I'll have to check out Spider-Island at some point to see how Kaine really got started on this track. Easy enough to follow for the most part so far, though. I have a feeling this could grow into one of my favorite titles on the shelves right now.

[Onslaught Six]

The new Wolverine movie also features figures with 5 POA articulation, and even includes a ninja who is a reduced version of the Renegades Storm Shadow figure.

[138 Scourge]

Nice box of stuff in the mail from O6 showed up today. Inside was:

Universe Springer, who I gotta say, as a Springer, he's not very convincing. As a kickass helicopter robot in a really nice color scheme? Yeah, he works pretty well. Which is okay by me, if I need a more Springery-lookin' Springer I understand Hasbro's got me covered here soon. But since I'd never had this mold, and always liked the green and grey better than Evac's orange or Blades' red, I'm pretty happy about this thing. Man, Cybertron had some really, really nice toys in it. Good times.

And then neat bonus stuff. FoC Shockwave who is...actually better than I thought he'd be. The toy seems friggin' tiny, and Cybertronian space modes can be really hit or miss, but the alt mode still has a good Shockwave vibe, and it all fits together nicely enough that you can tell when you've transformed it right. It definitely looks more like an alien spaceship than just a pile of parts. Not something I'd have bought, but really nice to get hooked up with one.

Bunch of comics: Atomic Robo and the Ghost of Station X, which is a hella good read. A FCBD book wherein Robo fights Dr. Dinosaur, who might be my new favorite character, and IDW's first arc of TMNT, which I was actually pretty impressed by. Might go after some more of those, and I know I need to get ahold of more Robo.

Couple Pretty Legit CDs. Fuck yeah, thanks, man!

So yeah, ignore that one thread in the Trading section. O6 is a pretty legit dude to trade with. Even when he gets screwed by mail thieves.

[138 Scourge]

Oh yeah, and this.

Man, I understand the renovation thing all too well. That was my 2010. The 'rents and I spent literally every waking moment fixing this place up. What all did you guys do to your place. And congratulations by the way, on both counts. And welcome to home ownership.

Thanks, man. It's a pretty cool thing. Love being in my house. As to what all we did, well, Jesus. Patched all the holes in the walls the previous owner punched into 'em, for starters. Then we had to scrape all the popcorn texture crap off the ceiling, repaint the whole inside of the upper floor, including the entryway (and it's kind of a split-level, so that entryway is pretty high up there. Tear out the carpets and have these really nice hardwood floors put in. Replace the AC, water heater, and furnace. Fix some rotten boards in the deck. Tore out some rotten drywall in the bathroom, and then replaced it and retiled the thing. Tore out the old drop-in stove and a chunk of the kitchen cabinets to put in a new stove and new kitchen cabinets and crap. Added three ceiling fans to the place, too. And probably some other crap.

Next up is to replace the roof, and then there's an empty room where the previous tenants wanted to install a master bathroom, but then they quit after putting in the plumbing. So I'll have to drywall that, put in the bathroom stuff, and then tile the beast. No lie, I'm actually sort of looking forward to that one. And we'll probably change out the windows and doors, too. So within the next few years we'll have essentially built a new house on the site of this one. Which is kind of awesome, really.