D-Arts X (San Diego Comic Con Limited Edition)

Bandai produced a D-Arts figure exclusively for the San Diego Comic Con which was the much beloved Blue Bomber, Mega Man X.

Out-of-the-box content. It was exactly the same with the regular release.

Front view of the figure. The chrome finishing was very eye catching.

Close up on the figure.

The regular version looks pale in comparison to the chromed version.

We do not negotiate with the Mavericks!

 

Ready! Aim! FIRE!!!

It is time to put this buster to good use!

The articulation was as good as the regular version.

Charged buster shot!

I was reluctant to get this chrome X for the exorbitant price tag it was put on sell in the secondary market. Fortunately, I stumble upon this while I was on honeymoon in Hong Kong and I remember paying around USD80 for mine which was acceptable for me. It has all the pros found in the regular version such as the great articulation, good proportion, sharp detail and a good amount of accessories. I have mixed feeling towards the chrome finishing. On one hand, the finishing looks great! There are some imperfection on the seam lines but that is still acceptable to a certain extent. On the other hand, the chrome finishing reduced the freedom of articulation on the figure. It was very likely for the parts on the figure to make contact with each other and in the process chipped or scratched the chromed surface. That was one of the reason why I was reluctant to pose it vigorously during the photoshot. That aside, it was still a very nice addition to my Mega Man X collection. Grab this if you can find one for a reasonable price.

Revoltech Sci-Fi #049 Iron Man Mark XLII

Mark 42 was another Iron Man suit which was design by Tony Stark while he was suffering from severe anxiety after the Chitauri invasion.

Out-of-box content. This is standard issue for Revoltech.

Mark 42 in it's full glory.

Close up front view of the figure. There are lots of detail and panel line on this figure.

Back view of the figure.

Close up back view of the figure. Similar to the front, there are tons of detail here.

This figure comes with 2 different type of Repulsor effect part.

The one on the right is longer than the one on the left.

Pepper is in danger! I need to get to her as soon as possible!

Up! Up! And away???

Help is on the way!!!

HONK!!! HONK!!!

Apparently this suit is still in the testing phase so it falls apart easily.

There is nothing much to say regarding this figure. It was more or less similar to the previous release with some minor changes to the design and paint scheme. Mark 42 comes in the inverted gold-red scheme which looks great. The finishing was just your average Revoltech standard. Articulation was good thanks to the Revoltech joints but there were still space for improvement. After producing more than half a dozen Iron Man figures and Kaiyodo have yet to figure out a way to conceal those joints. Not sure if stupid or lazy. That aside, the earlier Iron Man releases have one or two extra gimmicks such as the concealed missiles, LED arc reactor, booster flaps and etc. This release have non of those! Once again, not sure if lazy of being cheap. The only redeeming feature on this figure was the detail. There were detail all over the figure from panel lines to the different layers of armour. Fans like me will be sucked into getting this figure for the look and design of the Mark 42 suit. I expect this trend to continue on for another 3-5 figures before the Iron Man fever dies off. Let us all hope that Kaiyodo does not plan to release the other remaining 34 suits from the third Iron Man movies.

Figma #133 Samus Aran

Way before Lara Craft became the mainstream sweetheart of the gaming world, there was Samus Aran. As a tribute to that, Figma has produced a figure of our lady in her power suit.

Out-of-box content.

Front view of Samus. The suit was painted in a red, gold and bronze.

Close up on the front. There were a lot of panel lines which adds up to the detail of the figure.

Back view of the figure.

Close up on the back. Is that a jetpack?

Unlike most female protagonist which wear very skimpy and revealing armour. Samus wears a full body armour.

Articulation was great for this figure. Here are some action pose.

Hip hip hooray!!! I have no idea what am i thinking when I took this shot.

Jump shot!

The figure came with a blaster effect. It was one of the best effect part I have ever see so far.

Samus can kneel without much issue.

Let us play some football. This figure came with a morph ball.

Every wonder how Samus can just conveniently roll into a morph ball?

Figma did a great job with this figure to the point that they have to reissue it due to the high demand. The sculpt was detail and sharp, the paint application was good and it came with great articulation. I am not a die hard fan of Samus or the Metroid series but I have to admit that this was an overall great figure. My only complaint regarding this figure was the lack of a head for Samus which we can swap with the current head. It would definitely make this release complete if Figma ever produced it. That would really be the icing on the cake.

Year of The Horse!

Thirty first of January 2014 mark the beginning of a New Lunar Year for Chinese all around the world and this also mark the first year I am handling out "ang pow" to the "poor" and "needy". Here were some quick facts I found on the net regarding the horse:

1. The horse is the seventh animal in the 12-year cycle.

2. As of 2014, we are in the Wood Phase of "Wu Xing" (Five Movements/Phases/Steps/Stages, commonly known as the Five Element) so this is the year of the Wood Horse. It will take approximately 60 years for us to revisit the Year of the Wood Horse which is in year 2074 (not sure if I am still alive by then).

With that, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year.

Revoltech Sci-Fi #045 Iron Man Mark I

What would you do when you were caught by a bunch of terrorist and were forced to produce weapons for the said group? Build an armour and free yourself from your captors! That is how Tony Stark did it!

Out-of-the-box content. Nothing much to see here.

Front view of the figure. It is not pretty but looks cool nevertheless.

Front close up. The asymmetrical design of this suit is very appealing.

Side view of the figure.

This figure comes with a lot of detailing and weathering.

Back view of the figure. Is that a water bottle at the back?

Is that something like a power regulator unit?

Close up on the right arm. There was a missile concealed inside.

Hi! I am the Thin Man from Wizard of Oz.

Let us heat up the party!

I am exhausted after partying all night.

Here is another Iron Man figure from Revoltech. I was a bit reluctant to get this initially because it was one of the most ugly Iron Man suit out there. Despite that, it has some redeeming features such as the realistic design, good articulation and good amount of weathering. My only problem on the figure was Tony Stark. Yup Tony Stark! This figure was suppose to depict Tony Stark in the Mark I armour but there was no single visage that this Mark I was actually worn by him. It was as if this figure was of a robot build upon the Mark I armour. All in all, it was still a very good depiction of the Mark I armour so grab it if you want to complete your Iron Man figure collection. Makes you wonder how long we will have to keep this up.

UFO Annular Trailer + Transformers Optimus Prime

In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Optimus carried it's annular trailer into the battlefield which acted as a weapon rack when it was fully deployed.

This was the annular trailer produced by UFO.

It was an original design and definitely not a pirated product. It comes in different version. The which I have here was the silver version.

Optimus with the trailer. The trailer sits right into the peg on the prime mover. This is as close as you can get to movie accurate.

The trailer once fully deployed. That was how the name annular trailer came from. It formed a circular weapon rack.

Close up on the interior of the annular trailer.

The LED gimmicks were on the canister. It was a nice addition to this product.

The interior of the trailer/rack was rather detailed too.

Optimus sitting on it's weapon stash to ponder on what to equip. I can use some extra accessories with this rack.

This was another big third party purchase for me. It was not acceptable for Optimus Prime to move around in vehicle mode without it's trailer so I did what was right and bought this annular trailer. Boy was I excited when I received it once it was finally released!

It was huge and it compliments Optimus both in trailer mode or weapon rack mode well. The transformation was really well designed. No disassemble or part swapping needed which was really neat. The only downside regarding this product was the finishing. The blue marking above and below the trailer was a bit off on mine. That aside, the price tag for this product was a bit too steep. All in all, it was a great purchase in my opinion. This will surely made any leader class Optimus Prime whole and complete.