April 2005

But the 90's continue to live on. We stopped at 1996, but there still remains more of the 90's on current toy aisle pegs. Perhaps down the road, we'll come back and revisit more of those properties, but for now, it's back to business as usual here. Thanks to everybody who came by over the past week. For anybody who missed it, the update series for last week is available in the Archives, and the reviews themselves are spread out among the rest, all accessible by the menu as usual. We have at least a couple reviews on schedule for this week, so be sure to check back for that.

Maybe after a little while, we'll do another themed week...

After looking at the the US side of the toy world for a full week, it's time to turn once again to Japanese imports with the Gunner ZAKU Warrior, this time in standard "shoot me" green. This was pretty difficult to review- my personal figure had some problems which are clearly manufacturing errors. This made it difficult to determine what's a real flaw with the design and what's just a problem with my figure. At any rate, should you ever have the chance to see your MSiA in person and inspect them carefully before buying, you should definitely take the opportunity. Trust me on this.

In domestic Gundam news, it's been reported at various message boards that the Gundam Astray Red and Blue Frames have finally been surfacing at KB Toys stores. A search of eBay seems to confirm this, since up to now I've never seen two or three different auctions for the figure at one time. While it's not up to the same standards of articulation as the latest and the greatest to come out of the Gundam SEED Destiny line, it's a decent figure, an attractive design, and has these really neat locking knees. It's worth a trip to the mall, particularly since most of KB's Gundam figures are currently 3/$10.

As always, feel free to check back with us later on- we've got more reviews coming.

Hobby Link Japan has posted a round of new MSiA preorders for July onward. No pictures, as usual, but the preorders include Destiny Gundam (¥1700), Super Freedom Gundam (¥1700), Justice Gundam II (¥2000-¥2175), Windam Mass-Prod. (¥1500), and GuAIZ (¥1500). These prices are approximate, as HLJ currently features its Early Bird preorder discount pricing on those. So far as I'm aware, HLJ is the only retailer to post preorders so far, so it's possible that there will be changes made in the near future, but the odd prices aseem to back up the accuracy here. As always, we'll bring you more info as soon as we get it.

Glad to see the obvious GuAIZ retool and production colors Windam, at least. I'm undecided on the others thus far...

Today we have for your consideration a review of the RMS-108 Marasai, an impeccably engineered figure brought down somewhat by a poor choice of plastics. Plastics that also don't lend themselves to photography terribly well- the photographs you see in the Gallery are the best I was able to get after something around 1000 attempts. My apologies- I had hoped to do a bit better.

Now that more is known about the MSiA release schedule, I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed that the Zeta figures seem to stop at June. I doubt we've seen the last of them though, considering that there are two more movies to be released. I hope we haven't seem the last of them anyway- I'd very much like to see a Nemo made, and Hyaku Shiki needs an EMiA far more than Zeta Gundam. Matter of fact, Hyaku Shiki needs an EMiA more than any other existing MSiA I can think of.

There's more on the way- with Marasai done I'm only two MSiA short of being up to date with my reviews, and we have some other stuff in store as well...

Second half April 2005, part 2
An Unintentional Theme

ExVee 04/18/2005

When I said we might do another theme week soon, this is certainly not what I had in mind. By a matter of highly coincidental circumstances, RAC and I have wound up with a week's worth of Star Wars merchandise to review, and decided to run with it all this week. Through Friday, there'll be a new review here every day, so check back!

Monday brings Shaak Ti, who got what'll probably end up as her best screentime in the final series of Cartoon Network's Clone Wars. I understand it has led to quite a little fan following, in fact. So, if you're on the fence about picking up the figure of a character that has made such an impression, check out today's review and hopefully it'll help you make your decision.

There's yet more to come, so keep an eye here all week.

Today's review is of the Quick Draw Clone Trooper, which is superb and, amazingly, has an action feature that doesn't cripple the articulation. That's impressive enough to begin with, but the fact that it has decent articulation, based on my previous experience with Star Wars figures, is even more amazing.

A little research has revealed that this isn't the first figure to have this level of articulation, nor is it the last: there are "Super-Poseable" Episode II Clones as well, and the Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Stormtrooper from last year is pretty similarly made also. In the Revenge of the Sith line, we have, or will have, a Clone Commander, an AT-TE Tank Gunner, and at least one other plain old Clone Trooper on the way- the latter drops the action feature for a waist joint. Odds are good I'll end up with one of those as well.

Coming up tomorrow: something a little less generic, and that's also a pretty good likeness of an actor that I'm sure isn't in Revenge of the Sith. Stay Tuned!

If you've been carefully avoiding Revenge of the Sith spoilers this long, well, I salute your tenacity- the air is thick with them of late, particularly online. The toy store is no more exempt than anyplace else, and that having been said, you may wish to avoid today's review of Count Dooku if you don't want to know what happens to the Count, and how. You'll want to avoid his Gallery, as well.

It really is amazing how much the figure looks like Vincent Price at certain angles- a minute variance in eyebrow and eye thickness changes the appearance drastically. Still, I certainly don't mind having a Price-esque figure, and I have no doubt he'd have made a great Star Wars villain given the chance. It's just not quite Christopher Lee, which is what I was pretty sure I was buying at the time.

Also, I'm mildly surprised and disappointed to see that Shaak Ti has the same stand as the Count- it looks like part of a larger puzzle, and I was kind of hoping it would be. Finally, a piece of advice to prospective owners of this figure: I believe there's a small elastic band holding his lightsaber to his hand in-package. You'll want to keep that- trust me on this.

What's next? Tomorrow, I'll be posting my last Star Wars review for the week, which will contain far fewer spoilers, but much more frustration. Join us then, and you too will feel the pain wrought by hard plastic capes.

To finish off my contributions to Revenge of the Sith Week, I have the Deluxe version of General Grievous, who would have been a much better toy if he were a mere Basic, I'm sorry to have to say. If you like the character design and the "Battle-Scarred" decoration style, he might still be worth picking up, but there are other Grievous figures to choose from, and they may well be worth more consideration than this one.

There's a photograph in the Gallery that I called "The Tragedy of Plastic Capes," and it bears examining whenever you think about buying a figure that is known to possess a plastic cape, especially a very hard plastic cape. That photograph is unretouched, and no tricks were used to make the cape do that- it really stands up on its own. Attach that(if you can) to a figure whose build is very light, very skeletal, and you have a big, big problem.

And, that's it for me this week. Probably not the last Star Wars review I'll do- there's at least one or two more figures I'd like to get, and if I do, they'll probably end up here. But for now, I've had my say, and tomorrow ExVee will wrap things up with the final review of the week. Don't miss it!

The close to this impromptu week of Revenge Of The Revenge Of The Sith is quite appropriate, I think. The single most anticipated moment of the prequel trilogy is certainly the point when Anakin will turn to the Dark side of the Force, and become Darth Vader.

Being neither clinically oblivious nor one to pass up a good concept, Hasbro has taken advantage of this anticipation to release a Star Wars figure that actually appeals to me on its gimmicky merits. And while this review only tops out at Good, after the run of low scores this week, I feel the need to make a clarification.

Good is exactly what the word states: Good. It's a perfectly okay thing to buy, as long as you're aware of the flaws. Good is the lowest scale rating where you are likely to go buy the item in question and be happy with it. Naturally the steps above it are a better, more satisfying toy, but Good is still good. Could Have Been Better is when you need to start worrying...

Anyway, we expect to be back to our normal routine next week, and we'll sure try not to do anymore theme weeks for a while. This is a pain.

End of April 2005
Looks like it's Imports from here on in

RAC 04/25/2005

An email update from BigBadToyStore announced that Bandai USA has offically cancelled the US Gundam line. While this is far from the first pronouncement of doom we've had for Gundam in the States, in my opinion when a distributor tells the retailers that it's over, it's pretty much over.

This is sad news, but not terribly unexpected- the action figure line has been suffering for a while now, and the Gundam SEED assortments were horribly difficult to find until recently- in fact, the Arch Enemies Aile Strike Gundam premiered direct-to-clearance at KB Toys.

What this means is that if you're hoping or waiting for the domestic release of anything you can currently buy on import, don't. It also means that whatever is in stores now is probably all there will ever be, so if you've been holding off on a Gundam-related purchase, you may as well go ahead with it now.

Speaking of imported MSiAs, today we offer a review of the ZGMF-601R GuAIZ-R. It's a fine figure with no serious issues, and for the life of me I just can't get excited about it. That's one of the reasons it's taken so long to review, even though I got it at the same time as the Marasai and Gunner ZAKU Warrior.

And of course there's Bandai's seeming redefinition of what makes a ¥1500 figure, which I feel deserves some commentary. You don't need to look that far back- only as far as the MSiA GINNs, to see figures that had more equipment than this and were 300 Yen cheaper. Even if you do count the side skirt plates as "accessories," The GINN still beats it pretty readily in terms of dollar (or Yen) value.

This would've been somehow easier to take if the ¥1200 price point was simply dead, but it's not- the Strike Dagger, scheduled for later this year, will be at this price point. And the only reason I can think of that the GuAIZ-R would have more equipment than Strike Dagger should is because those railguns are being counted as accessories.

Well, enough ranting out of me. Check out the review, and check back with us from time to time- there's more coming.