Khan Exclusives? They are Mine!!!!!

Being a keen collector of the Art Asylum Star Trek figures, it was a major bummer to learn that the second wave of the Star Trek: Wrath of Khan figures were going to be SDCC Exclusives. Some folk on my favourite message board have spoken about dropping the whole line because they wouldn't be able to get their hands on them. It seemed like a very odd move.

For myself, I was resigned to not having the Khan set, since I wouldn't want it unless I could have them all.

With this in mind, you could have pushed me over with a (very, very, small) feather when I got an email from my LCS today saying that they had two sets of the SDCC Exclusive Wrath of Khan figures IN THE SHOP, and would I like a set.

Now, you do know I am in Australia, right?

I managed to find time in my schedule to race over the the LCS after work and couldn't believe my eyes. My favourite person at my most wonderful LCS told me that they'd ordered a couple of sets from a shop in Melbourne for a couple of their customers who they knew were keen collectors of the line.

So here I am, on the other side of the world, before the SDCC has started, AND I HAVE THEM! ALL OF THEM! And I didn't have to eBay for them and get ripped off for international shipping and wait for ever for them! BWAAAAHAAAAHAAAA!!!!

Hey guys, being over here and trying to collect all this stuff can be a royal pain in the bee-hind, so you just have to allow me this moment, 'kay?

I couldn't get a good pic of the back, but it shows the first wave (Two Kirks, Khan and Capt Terrell) which hasn't come out yet, and the "second wave" : Spock, Uhura, Saavik, and someone I can't remember but can't be bothered to get up right now to find out.

Extra nice was that when I explained all my garbled excitement to The Wife, she actually understood that this was a good thing and responded very supportively. All is very, very, happy.

But I still want those Legion toys......

Something nice from across the pond....

Oh, boo. I'm a mad Legion of Superheroes fan, so it's been a bit frustrating being here in Oz when the new cartoon is airing elsewhere (snippets on YouTube don't cut it and I would never like, download it or anything.....).

As if that's not bad enough, now McDonald's US is doing Happy Meal Toys with LSH Action Figures, including first-time ever representations of at least one Legionnaire (Bouncing Boy, not sure if Timber Wolf has ever been done before) and some villains.

Seeing as the show isn't airing here I doubt we'll get this promotion. Any AFB readers from across the ocean that are moved to pick these up for me, send me an email. I am sure I can find something to swap. You like koalas? They're very cute.

At least they're not making Phantom Girl. Then I would have to buy a ticket......

EDIT: Michael from the very awesome Legion blog The Legion Omnicom has pointed out the McDonald's has an interactive site up an running for these toys. Check out the Omnicom at http://adventure247.blogspot.com/ and check out the McD's site at http://www.happymeal.com/en_US/#LOSH. Thanks Michael!

New God Goodness

Always happy to give credit where it's due. DCD - thanks, but please don't leave us hanging with one wave of these babies. We need the set. Kalibak, Desaad, Granny and a decent Barda at least before you finish up.

See, we don't ask much..........

DCD Throws Up Again......

Haven't had a good 'ol rant for awhile, but can't look past the DCD solicits for March '08, which includes DCD Regurgitated Wave 4, featuring... the Super Squad????

Looks like DCD can add "Recycled" to the slang for this series. It's not bad enough that so far in four waves we've seen the Big Three plus a hanger-on each time, we are now seeing the SAME SCULPTS recycled for the SAME CHARACTERS in the SAME SERIES!

Points for effort with the cowled Hawkman, and while I'll buy him for the JSA shelf, no points for execution here. Another case of waiting so long to get something only to find you wish it had never been made. And what is he a "Reactivation" of anyway? I'm not even going to ask what "Super Squad" is supposed to mean........

Mark this day as a new low point for the DC of D folks. They're obviously so over any shame of selling you different versions of the same three characters over and over, they'll now just sell you exactly the same dreck time after time.

Are people really stupid enough to keep buying this stuff?

Of Cats and Kittens......

So I wasn't getting the 13" Catwoman. I said it in a previous post here, maybe even two. I wasn't doing villains (yeah, she's an anti-hero now...), I wasn't that inspired by the promo pics, you have to draw the line somewhere, blah-dy blah-dy blah.

I saw her in my local comic shop on Friday and I didn't cave. I looked her over, came up with lots of reasons against and put her back on the shelf, and even resisted her when the shop attendant tried to coerce me, seeing as I always buy the 13" figures. I got in the car, impressed with my own resolve.

It lasted about 24 hours.

Anyway, now that she's home and in her proper place, what was I thinking??? This cat is awesome. I haven't totally unpacked her (see previous post for future 13" display plans) but I did take her out of the box in the tray for better photographing.

A few comments: Love the detail in this line. The leather bodysuit is really amazing. The zipper works (hey, I had to try) but doesn't feel overly robust, so we'll leave it up (makes everyone here happy anyway...). I'm not that keen on her facial expression (eyes I think) but I plan to display her with the goggles on and they look great. She seemed a little bow-legged but I was able to adjust that even with her still in the tray. From what I've read she is a bit shorter than Batman so that bodes well for Robin and future teen / female figures.

Funny that when we went to pick her up my eldest (all of 6) told the shop attendant she's very worried about when the "big Wonder Woman" is going to come out. What is going on DCD??

Now to another amazing feline: the Bowen Kitty Pryde Mini-Bust. I know it's not DCD, but anything Kitty crossed my radar. This bust is awesome, and frankly puts the Women of the DC Universe to shame. She's on a bigger scale than the DCD busts, the paint apps are amazing and the detail is great. Despite the thin arms and Lockheed's wings she's very sturdy. An A+.

I'm very happy with her and am planning on getting the Thunderbird and Banshee Mini-Busts that are coming out later this year. Enjoy!

And by the way, I am definitely not getting the 13" Nightwing...

My Favourite Martian

I have to say that DCD has outdone itself with the new Martian Manhunter 13" figure, especially since he's been the cause of a much unexpected turn of events in my collecting journey...

First to the figure... I've been a huge fan of this line to date, but was uncertain about how they were going to handle the task of bringing J'onn J'onzz to 13 inches, what with all the bare green flesh and such. The result is more than pleasing. Certainly the weaknesses of the 13' body sculpt (cut arms and thighs) are exposed, but it doesn't detract from the overall effect. The extra pair of hand and extra Martian head are very nice touches. They've done a nice job with the box design as well. Needless to say this stands up very well against the rest of the 13" line.

..and that leads well into my unexpected event.... when I got him home my kids were interested and The Wife came over to have a look and even made an admiring noise. At the moment I have all my 13" MIB and I commented that I was going to have to take them out of the boxes soon to make room, to which the wife commented that we should really get some proper display cabinets for them so that they don't collect dust.

Now to understand the significance of this you need to understand that just a couple of years ago my collection was allowed nowhere nearer the house than a large number of plastic containers in the storage shed which has a suspect roof and threat of leak or storm damage. In this short time they have worked their way from plastic tubs to on display on very basic shelves in my study, and now I'm getting proper display cabinets and I didn't even have to ask for them.

Just finished reading New Avengers #31. Starting to the The Wife is actually a Skrull, but I'm not going to skewer her to find out.

Then I won't get my cabinets.

Infinite Indifference

I think I may have cracked DC Direct's strategy. With a couple of recent exceptions, the amount of effort and QC put into a figure is in inverse proportion to how much anyone cares about it. Stunningly clever, ain't it?

Take this week's Infinite Crisis Wave Two. Hands down, Firestorm is the figure of the bunch. See him here with his other newcomer friends. He's well sculpted with excellent paint apps. His fire base is exceptional.

On the other hand, the Wonder Girl and Donna Troy figures, ones I expect were more widely anticipated, have been pretty much botched in my view, The Wonder Girl figure doesn't look too bad with some of the Classic Titans (pictured below), but I wouldn't suggest putting her next to the Contemporary Titans or putting the Donna figure next to any version of Kyle Rayner - Scale Issue City.

But it's in the individual inspection of the Donna figures that they really fall down. First up, we have some majorly freaky arm construction here. They're far too long and almost appear to be on backwards, making for a very awkward stance. The hips and waist are also clunky, although the loose fitting belts help cover that up. It appears as though a pinkish plastic has been used as opposed to flesh coloured paint and the effect is that they look more like something you'd find in the cheap toy section at the supermarket rather than what should be a quality collectable. More strangely on the Wonder Girl figure the flesh pieces of the upper body are raised above the uniform as though they were different pieces. On the plus side, the head sculpts for the two figures are quite different and fitting.

As for the big three, these are great(ish) ideas that fall short to varying degrees. I'm definitely more of a BVP person but when it comes to Superbat, how many BVP's do you need? I actually quite like the shredded uniform Bats. The detail is excellent here, down to little scratches etc., but there is some sloppy paint work on mine and what appears to be paint spatters on his flesh. Wonder Woman has the same cheap-pinky flesh thing as the Donnas and also the same weird waist and hip thing which me no likey. Supes just doesn't work for me at all. Really hate the head sculpt, and as you can see the only way he'll stand up on his little peg thing without pulling the base over is to put the base sideways which is annoying. As for the claims that you can put these in a plain pose? Not likely.

I don't have a problem with Firestorm II getting a figure. He's had his own series and obviously a base of fans, so good for them. It does seem very typical DCD however that in a line-up like these it's the newcomer and least likely to be remembered that gets the corker of a figure, while the others get progressive levels of blah and blech.

That's a way to keep you fan base, isn't it?

Forbidden Fruit

So a quick confab with the domestic coordinator confirmed today that I will not be owning the 13" Power Girl if I want to keep my marriage, my collection and I think it was implied, my willy.

*Sigh*.

Something to do with the gratuitous representation of women in comics and the fact that we have two young daughters and (you know that sound that all the adults on Charlie Brown make when they speak? Yeah, that's what I heard)

Currently seeking one centrally located friend who will allow me to keep this one at his place and come to look at it often.........

Oh, and to the self-righteous prick who always complains when I post anything about my wife, she, unlike you, has a sense of humour.........

Custom Heaven

I'm not just an rabid Legion of Superheroes fan, I'm a major Phantom Girl Phanatic, so it's always been a point of desperation that DCD pulled the plug on their SA Legion cookie cutter series short of PG and the other early Legion Ladies.

I fret no more, because my amazing customising friend known on many a board as Jackknight92 has produced me this extra fine custom which fits in unbelievably with her SA friends.

I'm still at that stage where I get a little tingle up my spine every time I walk past the shelf and see her there (which is an improvement since when I first put here there I was so excited I'm pretty sure I peed a little bit).

It's an excellent job, but also shows how easy it would have been for DCD to have finished off this line. Grrrr.

At least DCD's current output is making it easy for me to have enough money to commission more customs.

One Hell of a Hal!

I've tried to be a disciplined collector. When I caught the AF bug I realised quickly that this was a hobby that could be a quick road to the poor house, so I decided to clearly define my collecting limits, and I decided that the DCD 6" line was going to be it.

Yeah, that was before the 6" line went to the fractal armor shithouse. (And while we're on armor I'm not going to waste a whole post bitching about the fact that they are ACTUALLY going through with that bloody MA Nightburp and Flamefart armour line....) So I decided to add the 13" line, and the odd Minimate, but I was definitely going to stay away from the statues. That was my line in the sand.

I blurred the line with the Zatanna mini-bust, but that was just because I love the character so much I'd buy a Coco Pop with an extreme Zee likeness. It was pretty nice tho.

And so it was that I was suitably softened up that when I saw the Green Lantern JLA Cover to Cover Statue, I cracked. And I have to say, it's bloody awesome.

As you can see from the comparison pic it's about 10" and after a bit of fiddling it sits beautifully on it's base. Oddly I have to position the base backwards to get him to stand properly, otherwise he slopes oddly. However this statue is so beautiful I really don't care.

I'm not going to be drawn in to this statue thing tho. I mean, I definitely didn't order the Flash and Wonder Woman JLA Cover to Cover Statue, and I most certainly didn't order the Donna Troy or Black Canary Women of the DC Universe Mini-Busts.

And yes I'm totally lying.

Credit where it's due

After my rant in the previous entry, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge Georg Brewer's "interview" with superherotimes in which he does actually acknowledge a scale problem (in this case the Giant-Size CRISIS Batman). Here's the link: http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/002182.php

The reason it's an "interview" is that it's all kid gloves, no truly hard questions asked, and the "interviewer" even wraps up the brief discussion on scale and QC with a glowing statement of how Brewer's obviously addressed it to make sure that scale issues never happen again, or some other such rot.

Was that a paid advertorial? If not, publishing such sycophantic drivel doesn't do much for a fan site's cred. If you're not prepared to ask the hard questions you shouldn't be doing the work in the first place, and if you're not allowed to ask the hard questions then they don't deserve to have the article printed.

When my kids say they're sorry for something I tell them that the true way to show you're sorry is not to do it again.

Same applies here Mr Brewer. Talk is cheap.

Well worth the (bloooody long) wait

It's good to know that DCD takes my threats seriously. And so they should. I was working on some very nasty ju-ju if my fears from the previous post came true. I'm talking really evil, toxic tantrum type vengeance.

Thankfully I can save that up in case they screw up the Shazam Family Wave because I really don't think Booster or Buddy could be much better. True to my word, there will be no complaints about them, especially since, most importantly, Booster and Blue Beetle don't look at all out of place with each other. It's great to have the boys together and also to be one step closer to being able to recreate the cover to JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 circa 1987ish (team photo below) - doubt we'll ever get Black Canary in her funky outfit from that period but I can dream.....

From what I'm reading online, the scene in my LCS today seems to be occurring elsewhere - not a Booster or Animal Man in sight and lots of Supernovas and Batwomen on the pegs. It would be great to think that DCD is watching and seeing that figures of the classic characters (okay some might argue Booster isn't classic but he's been around more than five minutes) WILL sell, especially if done well like these guys.

True to DCD style, of course, the rest of the wave is comprised of flash-in-the-pans who really don't merit a figure at this stage, so the no-bitch policy doesn't extend to them. I predict Supernova will be one of 2007's top peg-cloggers. The final issue of 52 does raise some possibility he might have a future, but with that costume........ He's a competently done figure with a slightly twisted torso, but at the moment I'm struggling to work out where he's going to go on the shelf.

Isis is possibly one of the best female figures DCD has ever done. Shame she also seems to be one of the most pointless, unless this incarnation of Isis is going to rise from the ashes. She looks pretty good paired next to the JUSTICE Black Adam - see the 52 cast photo below.

Batwoman is the disappointment of the bunch. Her face looks puffy, her right leg has an awkward bend in it which was evident in every figure in the shop and this little bunny couldn't get her to stand on her own and I have a bugbear about shelling out my hard-earned clams for an action figure that can't stand up under its own steam. The black lipstick from the solicits has been replaced with red and she looks the worse for it. An underwhelming figure to match an underwhelming character.

It's great to have Skeets, altho he's a touch big IMHO. The stand to create the floating effect is a very nice touch.

I'd say a second wave of 52 is unlikely. Would have been a great opportunity for a Rip Hunter or a better Steel than the one we've got, but again I'm not going to complain about getting these two excellent and long-awaited characters in one wave.

If you haven't bought these two yet, grab them while you can, firstly because I don't think they're going to stay on the pegs for long and secondly so that we can send out own message to DCD about what we want to buy.

Have to go - these guys have thrown my shelving arrangements into chaos and I have to find a place for everyone before I can go to bed.......

Warning shot

Barring any delivery screw-ups, it's two sleeps until I get my much-awaited Animal Man and Booster Gold figures. In appreciation of finally getting these characters I am not going to bitch about minor issues, scale or QC. I have resigned myself to the likelihood that my Booster Gold is going to stand head and shoulders above my Ted Kord. I have reconciled myself to Animal Man's MA styling and leather jacket. I want these characters so bad I'll wear that.

But consider yourself warned, DCD, that if I get a Crisis Batman-sized Booster or a Total Justice-style Animal Man, this little blogger is gonna unleash a big can of whoop-ass, a plague on your house that will curdle the toes of your grandfathers' grandfathers in their graves.

Just so you know.

Right Sculpts, Wrong Toys pt. 2

Finally picked up my case of First Appearance Series 4 this week after last week's delivery fiasco. All I can say is that these are the best toys that have every been made about characters that people care very little about.

These figures deserve to be celebrated in their own right. There's very little to complain about here. Blue Beetle and Martian Manhunter are the stars of the wave for me. I haven't really gotten into the new BB (altho his appearance in BRAVE & BOLD #3 piqued my interest a bit and I'm now giving him a try) but this is an amazing figure. This is one of those rare toys that really looks like the character has jumped straight off the page onto your shelf. The bug thing on his back (I don't know the character well enough to know what it is) clicks on easily and looks groovy but the wings (I guess they're wings) make no sense to me and since DCD is allergic to providing any assembly instructions they're in the extraneous accessories box. He looks great as he is.

Martian Manhunter is a very fine sculpt as well. I seem to be a lone voice in quite liking his new look so as a fan of the character I'm very happy to have a figure of it. Aquaman is a fave character of mine and this version will make a nice addition to the Aquaman shelf, but I'd like it better if the orange and green bits weren't so sparkly. Not sure why they do that. Atom is a fine sculpt but the headsculpt lets it down a bit, he's a little bug-eyed. Kudos to DCD for maintaining the First Appearance Series packaging and bases, but these are missing the mini-comics previous waves came out with.

The way my LCS prices its DCD stuff it's better economy to buy the whole wave when I want 4 out of 6 so I have the Warlord and Blue Beetle variants but they're MIB as they'll be going straight to eBay. I have a buddy on a message board who says that DCD has a way of giving you what you wanted in a way that makes you wish you'd never asked for it. That's got to be the case with this Warlord figure. Fans have been clamouring for a Travis Morgan figure for years and we get a rebooted version of the character whose series lasted a whole 10 issues. Argh. The Blue Beetle "Stealth Variant" has to get the prize for the most meaningless variant ever. We don't know this character well enough to want two of him for pete's sake!

Okay, now to the bitching. DCD has to be given it's due for producing an excellent wave of figures, but as I said in the last post, PLEASE can we have this quality for characters that really matter?? Imagine where DCD's credibility would be right now if JSA Wave 1 was done at this standard? (I know I hark on about JSA Wave One but it bloody well deserves to be harked on about. Three words: Golden. Age. Atoms.)

What ires me most is that we get nothing from Brewer to acknowledge any of this. Recently Art Asylum had a very rare scale issue with it's excellent Star Trek range and they acknowledged it. Some fans were pretty upset about the issue but being given an explanation of why it happened and what steps were being taken to prevent it happening again helps to restore confidence. If anything ever deserved a public acknowledgement it's the Atoms debacle, and what do we get? Oxygen.

So thanks for this great wave DCD. It puts a little in the bank, but nothing near as much as trying to show that you're listening would.

Right Sculpts, Wrong Toys, but what about that Bust??

Ok, back to my recent DCD acquisitions. First a definite travail..... while the other two comic shops in the area received their shipments of First Appearance Series 4, my LCS (who are fantastic) didn't and thus I'm waiting a week for mine - that's what I get for preordering! I'll let you know how I go with them.

I had preordered the Bizarro from the Superman / Batman Series 4 because I needed another Biz for my display. I have to say I am a sucker for those McG figures. I ended up getting Batzarro as well as he just looked so groovy. I can't imagine ever wanting Kryptonite Batman (altho I did hear he glows in the dark....), but the others may sucker me in yet. I know these aren't everyone's cup of tea but they are fun.

Something else that suckered me in were the Supergirl and Batgirl from the latest Elseworlds Series. I had preordered the Aquaman and Nightstar figures and left the rest on principle of character selection, but....... they are actually great figures! Thus the title for this post - why the $#!@#! can't DC Direct pull out decent sculpts for the characters that matter?? Here are a couple of figures using a standard body sculpt (mirror image) that work (altho Supergirl can't stand on her own which always shits me - I hate having to use bases). In the light of these what possible excuse can there be for the Total Justice-style JSA and micro-Atoms we were insulted with earlier this year? It's galling, absolutely galling.

I picked up Mini-Mates Series 3 - at least I got one Aquaman last week! I still am trying to work out how to display these little, but all their teeny-tiny little accessories frighten me. How to keep track of them all?? This was a pretty good assortment, altho we did get a Battled-Damaged Batman. Who actually likes battle damaged figures? It escapes me.

Finally, I have entered the world of statues by picking up the Zatanna mini-bust. This is a fine piece. Emphasis on mini - she really is quite small, but she's beautiful. As much as I have liked some of the other Women of the DC Universe busts, they've been to bust-y for what I would be allowed to display, so I haven;t bitten as these come in around the $90 mark here in Oz. Zee doesn't have that issue. There's a little bit of paint bleed from one side of her face to her hair, but otherwise she's great.

That's the lowdown on the last few purchases. I'll finally get my FA Series 4 this week and with 52 coming up as well there will be more to share soon. Until then, travel well!

A Very Happy Find!

In addition to DCD I collect JLU figures, Art Asylum Star Trek stuff and the occasional Marvel Legend. My LCS orders in DCD and Art Asylum but I'm on my own with the retailers for the rest - I'm in Australia and Diamond doesn't ship Marvel Legends here. Once upon a time I could count on Meyer or Kmart to regularly get in each line of JLU or ML, but the glut of movie toys (especially all that Superman Returns dreck) brought alot of that to a halt. Since then it's been a real hunt.

I had to eBay for the last set of JLU 3-packs on the orange card - they never saw the light of day here. That's always a slippery slope as the shipping here to Oz can be pretty treacherous. Same for the last couple of series of ToyBiz Marvel Legends. Finally, however the first series of Hasbro ML and the purple carded JLU stuff have shown up here. A few weeks ago I got the two Marvel Legends I wanted (Banshee and Hercules - I had wanted Emma Frost too, but then I saw her....) and then today, jackpot. I was with my kids in David Jones (one of our major department stores) and checked out the action figure section. I've found a few sets of the purple carded JLU but the elusive Nemesis/Lightray/Amazo and Stargirl/Parasite/Aquaman sets have been picked off by collectors already. The same seemed the case here, nothing of interest. I moved over to where my girls were and as I was calling them away, bingo - secreted away amongst the Bratz I spotted those two elusive sets. I probably spoiled someone else's day, but I cared not!

Anyway, I just had to share my joy.................

Latest acquisitions - DCD scores, bores and deserves to be abhored

Dreadful I know but that's the best rhyming I can do at the moment. The dreaded work monster has inserted too much "real" into my life of late so there's lots to report on in terms of recent DCD releases. Too hard to be sequential in terms of release dates so we'll go with the ever-reliable stream of consciousness instead. Hang on....

First up is my latest purchase, the Batman through the Ages Boxed Set. Having heard QC grumbles on the net I approached these with caution. The decision to buy was based on the FA Bats with plastic cape (since they don't make rooted capes, plastic is my preference ;0) ) and the nothing short of amazing GA Bats, who looks pretty awesme amongst the JSA. Despite some disappointments in other sections of the box, I decided these two were worth the money.

In all the sets I looked at the left "bat ear" (bat antennae? bat prong? bat sticky-uppy-thing?) of Superfriends Batman looked like it had been damaged in production, shortened and bent - you can see it clearly in this picture. I've just been to Perth (the other side of the country) for work and saw a set in a shop there with the same flaw. Has that been the case with them everywhere? Let me know. My other gripe with Superfriends Bats is that his blue is too dark compared to how he appeared in the show. And I know because I watched every bloody episode of that show and blame it for the twisted individual I've become today.

Interesting that the Bats from Justice was included as "Modern Batman" - (the DCU really is being remade in the image of Alex Ross, isn't it?) DCD could have shown a tad more originality in choices for this set, especially considering that both the Superfriends and Justice Bats are both being issued again in other sets later in the year. Not exactly sure how DCD is justifying that one. Wait, I forgot, DCD is too lazy and overconfident to even bother jutsifying. Silly me. Wonder if the flaw on SuperfriendsBats bent bat sticky-uppy-thing will be fixed for the Superfriends assortment?

Before that I picked up the Elseworlds Kingdom Come Aquaman and Nightstar figures. While many complain about the lack of articulation in the KC figures I enjoy most of the sculpts and Aquaman has to be close to the top of the class in this series. Great detail, love the robes and trident. As many have lamented it would be great to see this quality of sculpting for the in-continuity figures. ...

Also new on my shelves is the 13" Superman Deluxe Collectors Figures. I didn't pick up the first version. This is a pretty good addition to the line, however on every one I saw the "S' was slightly crooked and his jaws were very square, almost flaring out. Supes get jaw implants! I managed to find one with the least crooked "S" and the least flaring jaws and I am enjoying him on the shelf. There may now be a dry spell for me for this line as I'm passing on Nightwing and Catwoman and waiting to see how they pull off Martian Manhunter (all that bare green skin!) before I commit to buy. I am looking forward to Batgirl in November though!

I picked up some of the second set of DC Minimates - no pic sorry. I'm refusing to buy the zillion SuperBat variations that are sure to be regurgiated through this line and only by characters I want, even though at my LCS that means paying alot more per item. This time around I chose Dr Fate and Power Girl and Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. Like 'em, but I did think that some of the little details like Fate's helmet and the goggles on BB and BG looked a little shaky.

By the way, if anyone out there who loves Minimates (in ways that it is legal to love Minimates) has pics of how you display your little friends I'd love to see them - my creativity has come up with nada on this.

Last but certainly not least I bought Hawkman and Natasha Irons from Superman / Batman Wave 3. All I can say is that the International Superhero Anti-Doping Agency is asleep at the wheel if they haven't asked 'ol Hawky for a cup 'o Thanagarian wee. As much as I wanted to take a principled scale stand I really love the sculpt of this figure, but he does look pretty silly towering over his colleagues at the back of the display...

Well, that's my trials and travails for March and early April. I also ordered but haven't received yet the Zatanna Women of the DC Universe Mini-Bust. I've liked quite of few of the sculpts in that wave but Zatanna is the first one that doesn't scream "boobies", and as I do have to pass all my acquisitions through the interior design coordinator (read = wife) I've left the others on the shelf out of respect to her. Looking forward to reviewing Zee when she arrives.

Until next time!

I may have to sell my children to buy this.......

Oh. my. God. I don't own any statues but I am SO buying this, even if it means extending the mortgage on my house or doing something (slightly) illicit.... okay maybe moderately illicit.

Thanks DCD. And thanks for not making PG so overly endowed that my wife won't object to this one. Too much.

Thanks thanks thanks!!!

Mini? Yes. Mates? Time will tell.

And so it came to pass that the first wave of DC Minimates finally rolled on to the shelves last week. I had initially pre-ordered these, but as you may recall the first solicitation was cancelled and as that was at a time when DC was particularly in the doggy doo with me (can't remember over what - they've blended together) and so I decided to save myself the money and not collect these little fellows. I didn't factor in how ever thoughtful Dee and Cathryn from Dee's Books and Comics are though - sure enough these were in my bag on Friday and though I know they wouldn't have minded if I put them back I decided to check them out.

There's nothing groundbreaking about these minimates. We know from all the Marvel waves that Art Asylum does these well - the lines are crisp and clean and everything is well defined. Pretty predictable character selection - Wave 1 is Superman / Luthor, Batman / OMAC, Joker / Harley Quinn and Green Lantern / Star Sapphire. There are some nice little touches - OMAC is made of clear blue plastic like the 6'(ish) figure, Joker comes with a fun little mallet prop, etc.

The package is much bigger than the Marvel Minimates and as if I go on collecting this line I'll be keeping them MIB that's a bit of an annoyance to me - more space taken up by the display. Obviously they wanted to do something different to set the DC versions apart but it's a bit of a pain for this collector.

These are fun, there's no doubt. For me the deciding factor in whether or not this becomes a regular thing for me is character selection. In Waves 2 and 3 we get Battle-Damaged Superman and Batman respectively, but in coming waves we also get characters like Ocean Master and Ma Hunkel who've yet to appear in larger scale plastic.

I'd say that like with most things DCD these days, I'll be buying very few whole waves and more picking and choosing the gems from the battle-damaged dross. I'm pragmatic tho - give me an interesting range of characters in each wave and I'll find a space for that fifteenth underwater lightning ray Superman. Really.

I loves my 13", but I won't feed Barry clams again.....

I've been a fan of DCD's 13" "Deluxe" Action Figure line and I think I may have found a new favourite - "Shazam!". (I missed something about why DC is dropping the Captain Marvel monniker but that's another story...). After initial outcry from fans about the solicited headsculpt (many felt the smile was too cheesy), DCD did some re-tooling and this figure nothing short of rocks!

Great detail on the costume, especially the cape and wristbands, and the headsculpt captures Cap.... I mean Shazza... perfectly. I have read online of a few people who thought that the lightning bolt chest symbol was faint like the machine was running out of ink (or magic gold lightning bolt stuff) but no such issues with the one I received. Green Lantern and Aquaman have been my favourites from this line so far but I think they may have to take second and third respectively after this release. (And for the slow, no he doesn't have lightning bolts coming out of his thingy, that's the camera flash. Jeez!)

On the other end of the 13" spectrum we have the Flash, another recent release (and yes, I am still feeling the pains in the wallet from these babies!). The issue here as has been well publicised is that something has gone seriously amiss with the skin colour for the tiny sections of exposed flesh on this figure, the end result being that it looks like Barry's had some bad curry and it's on it's way back up. Perhaps we are being too harsh - after all the guy's been dead for over 20 years!

QC issues seem to have plagued some buyers with the wings on the side of Flash's head breaking off, again mine are fine, but then again I am a MIB collector when it comes to the 13" figures (until such time as they crowd me out I guess) so I haven't put them under any wear or tear.

Grey flesh tones aside I wouldn't call this one a miss - it still captures Flash well - it's just a shame as it's an unnecessary flaw in a figure that could have been great.

Now what we need is some excitement for the future of the line. Catwoman and Nightwing (even with a new hairdo) do nothing for me. The recent announcement of a Babs Gordon Batgirl is good news, but it seems that rooted vs. moulded hair is still up in the air, and if they go with rooted as opposed to the moulded version shown at Toyfair I don't know if I'll be buying - it'll be crossing too for over in to doll category for me. DCD also needs to fine-tune it's female body for the 13" line as Batgirl was a bit on the mannish side for many including this collector. I'll surely keep you posted on my views on how things pan out!

Ciao for now!

Shazam Wave One: Two Please and Two Pleas

Okay, I'm wetting myself over Shazam Wave One. Ever seen "Click"? I would gladly fast forward to November to get these right now. (Hey, if I did that I'd skip our whole house renovation as well - where's the remote??)

Two pleas. The first is to Georg and co at the lovely DC of D. For the love of God please do not screw these up! Please no 7.8345" scale, no crappy paint apps, no falling off limbs, no bizarre sculpt changes from what has been solicited. Please, please please please please.

The second plea is to the collectors. Please get behind this wave. I don't care if you're not really into the Marvel family. In fact I don't care if you hate them. If you ever want to see anything Golden, Silver or Bronze Age, anything besides MA artist specific SuperBat drivel from DCD ever again, you must buy this set. Otherwise DCD will use poor sales of this wave as justification to keep making their usual dreck. Fractal freaking super armour anyone??

I am personally going to commit to buying two full sets of these, partly because I love these characters (except Hoppy. sorry but there's no love for the Hop - where's my Tawky Tawny??) but also because I want more waves like this!!!!!

Fini

P.S. Just realised if I fast forward through the renovation that leaves the budget in the wife's hands so I'll come to as a pauper, so I'll be waiting it out like the rest of you. Come, November, come!

Justice Wave 5: Thumbs Almost Up.....

Justice Wave 5 deserves more praise than it seems to be receiving. Perhaps it's just been overshadowed by all the Toyfair Buzz, but it's probably also one of those funny realities of we fickle collectors - we tend to broadcast our unhappiness much more than our pleasure.

I was a bit iffy about these figures from the solicits - the paint apps looked way to shiny for a start. In person however they work fine, although Red Tornado and Green Arrow have more of a sheen than figures from previous waves. The three heroes fit in brilliantly with the heroes from previous waves, so no additional scale angst is being added into the collection.

The Great: I love the scale of Martian Manhunter. He's taller than the rest as he should be but not a mountain like the McG J'onn. The translucent MM (got him but no pic sorry) is also quite impressive.

Koko the monkey attaches to Brainiac via a magnet but it's a way better job than Dr Midnite II and Charley the Owl from JSA. Very secure.

Despite disliking it from the solicit pics, GA's headsculpt is awesome. In general I usually prefer the whited out eyes but this works for me. He's an excellent figure.

The Jury's Out On: Green Arrow's snap-on arrow backpack. A nice idea but it's almost a bit big, I think. I like Brainiac's brain prop but the scalpel is very small and stays in Brainiac's hand about as well as Zatanna's magic wand stays in hers - not at all.

The truly awful: Luthor, Luthor, Luthor. Essentially a Luthor head on top of a purple see-through body with sparkles with macaroni glued on it at equal intervals. Mort of the Month? Try the Millennium.

The botch: It wouldn't be DCD without some almost-fatal flaw. I was pleased when I got these to see that there was only one twist tie - the waist restraint - making it easier to unpackage, however the legs, especially Brainiac and Luthor, seemed to be a bit warped on opening and they've both done a number of shelf-dives in the last couple of days (resulting in the loss of Brainiac's scalpel which the cleaners will probably suck up before I locate...). The three heroes have the ever-useful 360 degree calf and foot rotation feature but they're quite loose making posing a little bit challenging.

To sum up: I can't decide if GA or Brainiac is my favourite of the bunch. Yes, Ross' need to redesign all the villians is an irritation and yes, it's a travesty that we don't have a SA Brainiac yet, but objectively it's a really, really nice piece.

The glitches are annoying and typical of DCD QC but not deal-breaking in this instance. These are better than JUSTICE Wave 4 by a country mile and deserve some praise - so here it is.

Now I'm off to find a generic businessman AF in 6" ish scale with a black suit to stick my Lex Luthor head on..........

Random retail rant.....

Oh for enough money to go to all my local retailers and buy up all the Superman Returns dreck that is clogging the shelves, take it to a secluded location and burn it to ashes!

Since that rubbish hit the shelves and stayed there I haven't seen a new wave of JLU or Marvel Legends and we are falling farther and farther behind with both. Ebay is an expensive way to get toys that I should be able to pick up at my local mall.

Here's to no more stinker superhero movies with crappy mega-merchandising campaigns in the the near future......

Truth in Advertising

I was gathering up all the rubbish from unpacking my JSA Wave 1 figures to take out to the bin today (and for those who are wondering, no I don't mean the actual figures - I was in a generous mood).

For those who haven't seen it, here's the photo on the back of the card. Can you spot the errors in this pic as quick as I did?

For starters, the figures are pictures as solicited as opposed to what hit the shelves, so we have the original GA Atom headsculpts (still urky but better than what we got) and Hawkgirl without the green stripes on her helment (what are they about anyway??).

That's pretty standard of course. What really caught my eye was the scale of the Atoms in relation to the other figures - nothing to give away the reality of the scale and quality of these figures. In the same manner there was nothing in the solicit photos to point to this.

It makes me think one of two things - either DCD thought what they'd done was great and never thought to show someone who actually knew the character to get a reaction, or DCD knew that we were going to freak over this and kept it to themselves.

What's your call?

More Celebrity Inspired DCD Fare!

First up, we have "Fat Albert"'s Dumb Donald as the Modern Age Hourman:

Followed by "Rocky Horror" star Tim Curry as the Fin-Headed Golden Age Atom:

Keep them coming DCD!

The Great JSA Debate

Being here on the other side of the Tasman, I generally get my action figures about 18-24 hours after my stateside friends, which means I either have to stay away from the Net for that time or hear the opinions and reactions of others before I pick up my own set. I've come to see it as a double-edged sword. On one hand, it makes it difficult for me to have an unprejudiced first reaction, but it does have advantages as well, like knowing I need to keep an eye out for sloppy paint apps on that character's boots for example. There's often another positive by-product of this delay as well - by the time I make it to my local comic shop, I've often read so many angry, sometimes hysterical rants about what's wrong with what I'm about to buy that what I'm picking up doesn't look that bad by comparison.

That was my initial reaction when I picked up my JSA Wave One set yesterday. These figures have set the online collecting world on fire and I didn't know what to expect. In the package the two things that stood out to me were that the Atoms looked a bit short and that Hourman's headsculpt was nothing short of rotten. Otherwise I was pretty pleased.

This blog isn't about detailed figure reviews - there's enough places to find those already - rather it's about one collector's journey and thoughts - so I'll skip most of the individual figure critique here. Essentially once I had them unpacked and laid out with their mates (you can't really judge them til you get them out there on the shelf), my verdict was this: MA Figures really not that bad, GA Atoms a travesty. Yes, the Hourman headsculpt should never have been approved and the legs for H-man and Mr Terrific are awful, and yes I had to put Hawkgirl in boiling water to make the holes in her back large enough to insert the wings to avoid the breakages others have experienced (!), but the MA JSA I'm building on my shelf doesn't look too shabby. Some of the earlier MA JSA figs are going to look shorter but I'll deal. I did note the irony that the Hawkgirl headsculpt is one of the best female headsculpts we've had in quite a while and it's one you stick a helmet over. Where's the mask for my Alex Ross Justice Zatanna or my Michael Turner Identity Crisis Black Canary??

The disappointment over the Atoms is totally justified. As has been pointed out elsewhere these are quite different from the solicits, are totally out of scale and not at all worth the very long wait. Wretched.

The wash up is that one of the most anticipated DCD Waves in a long time should have been done well and it just wasn't, right down to the packaging which looks lame and very last-minute. For some this seems to be the proverbial straw. Online, folks are talking of ending their DCD collections. Some of the loudest critics I have heard of these figures are people who haven't seen them in person, and they've come under some fire for that. The reality of course is that there's alot under the surface of the reaction to this wave. We are battered and bruised from a long run of solicits ranging from the predictable to the farcical (Armoured Justice anyone?). There are scale issues and less than great paint applications everywhere we turn, and the list goes on.

So what's the deal here? Do we want to much? Are our expectations unreasonable? Do we need to face the fact that a bunch of (mostly) middle aged guys who have actually read the comics and understand the characters are NOT the target audience for these toys (and let's remember, they are toys....) and either shut up for move on?

Sometimes I think this, and then I pick up my AR Plastic Man, my IC Power Girl, or even an older figure like Uncle Sam, which captures the character in every flawless way, and remind myself that DCD can and has done this well, very well, and I believe that it's fair and reasonable to hold them to doing what they do well all the time.

This collector is down but not out and determined to be more vocal. DCD, your quality control and your character selection suck. They suck big time, and this little blogger is going to call you on it, every time. As an incentive, I'm also going to be just as loud about what I think you've done right.

So get going!

Yours in blogging,

Scott

Another Daring, Groundbreaking DCD Wave Announced

Did you know that Green Lantern and Batman were in "TRON"? I'm going to have to go out and rent that flick to work out where they appeared. Thank goodness DC Direct remembers, and they've even produced new figures to commemorate one of the more unusual cross-promotions of its characters. Oh, for some reason Hawkgirl and Scarecrow are in "Tron Wave 1" as well. That's a head scratcher. Ah well, DCD knows best. All I can say is that I hope we get some groovy DC / Tron vehicles, and even though I'm pretty sure that Superman, Wonder Woman and Flash weren't in the film, we might as well get some Tron-ned out versions of them as well just to make up the set. Are you listening DCD? I know we can count on you......

DC Direct presents Donny Osmond as 13" Nightwing (or What the Heck is with that Dude's Hair??)

Okay, up until now I've been somewhat of a fan of the DC Direct 13" Deluxe Collector Super Special whatever figures. Green Lantern and Aquaman have hit the nail right on the head and while I would have preferred a Silver or Bronze Age Batman the MA version is a decent item. I'll be buying Flash, Shazam and Martian Manhunter but passed on Lex Luthor out of lack of interest and Two-Face because I thought his suit was poorly done. Probably won't go for Catwoman because again I'm not really a fan, but it looks like a good product.

Anyway.... courtesy of Toy News International we have pics of the recently announced 13" Nightwing. Hard to know where to start here, but I'll try. This character selection highlights one of the problems with the 13" scale - to see Nightwing (and Catwoman for that matter) before Wonder Woman or characters like Green Arrow, Hawkman or Black Canary demonstrates that DCD is obviously having trouble making this format work for some of their top tier characters. Brewer has made some reference to this himself. I can understand some villians needing to be done, but getting a character like this before the "Big 7" have been completed doesn't work for me. These issues need to be sorted out, because if it means we see B-listers and endless SuperBat variations instead of the characters we're hankering for, the future of the line looks grim.

Secondly, could DCD have picked a character with a blander, more booooring costume? Why a Modern Age Nightwing when there have been several variations of the costume with more detail and interest? It's probably good for production costs but it doesn't make for much to look at. Blah.

And finally... an early contender for the "What the....?" award for 2007 must be the Donny Osmond-inspired headsculpt. I defy you to find me a (well-drawn) comic where Dick's hair has looked anything like this. It looks more like Ken as Nightwing Barbie-style stuff than the actual character. And perhaps it's all the black in the costume, but the full-body shot makes him look a bit pin headed to me. Particularly frustrating when the MA Nightwing headsculpt has been done quite well with Hush Nightwing. Come on, guys......

That's my rant for today. Want to rant back at me? Your comments are welcome!