Combat Heroes Bazooka and Zartan

I picked up these cute lil' guys at the usual Singapore Sunday flea market over in China Square Central--and for a mere S$3 apiece!  Aren't they cute? Heheh ok, I'll can't stop thinking that!  Ok I'll stop.  But they're cute, aren't they?  The wife-to-be certainly thinks so. ;P

Thing about these 25th anniversary GI Joe version Combat Heroes is that they cost quite a bit in package and are not that easy to find loose.  A 2-pack costs in the region of S$12 here, as opposed to their Rise of Cobra counterparts which are clearing for S$3 for a 2-pack.  The difference between the two?  Well, the 25th Anniversary versions have our fave Joes and COBRA dudes in classic uniforms, while Rise of Cobra is more well, movie oriented. Heh.

While this might be my very first (Super) Combat/Robot/Galactic/Hero (Squad) review, it's no means my first purchase of these guys.  I've got a whole bunch of them that look great in package.  I've just been hesitant to open them because of 1) lack of display space and 2) I'm gonna move in a few months so I really don;t wanna have to pack more than I have to.  But that's besides the point of them being toys.

So how do these guys shape up as toys?  More after the jump!

Iron Man 2 Movie Series 3.75" Iron Monger

Wow.  Is this thing a beaut or what?  I guess you wouldn't know unless you have it. Well, I was really looking forward to getting him because not only is he super hard to find, but he's also a plus-size figure.  And I love those.

I owe the Rangerlord big time for snagging him for me.  He managed to catch a local Toys R Us while they were re-stocking and spotted them.  I guess you could say he's got some mighty fine "stocking' skills.

Get it? Stocking?  As in 'stalking'?  Ok that was pretty lame...But ya have to admit he's a Rangerlord with top-motch hunting skills, toy hunting skills.  Get it? Ranger? Hunting?  Heh...Guess that was funnier when you said it to me face to face, Bro...

Ah, but what am I talking about?  Get on over to Articulated Discussion for the latest in my series on Iron Man 2 reviews.  Yes, it's Iron Monger!
 

Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3.75" Classic Armour

I'd like to clarify: I've always regarded this red and yellow version of the armor as "Classic," while I called the silver tin can original version "First Appearance."  After checking and double checking, I realize that this is correct as far as I know.  I just wanted to point this out because lots of fans use "Classic" to describe "First Appearance."
 
Why is this guy called "Classic," you ask?  Well, I think it's because he wore this armor the longest (almost 50 years?) and upgraded it many times without changing the look.  Yes, boys and girls, this was before every upgrade got a different look, Hence "Classic."


Well, this will be my 6th review of the Iron Man 2 3.75 inch movie line and I have to say I've enjoyed doing all of them because the toys have been so solid.   But how does the Classic look and armor match up to the new-fangled sleek and sexy of the current century's Tony Stark?  Well, hop on over to Articulated Discussions to find out! ;)

Iron Man 2 Movie Series 3.75" Mark VI

If you haven't read it already, the review for this guy is up on Articulated Discussion!  If you're eager to see what Tony Stark's new armor in the movie will look like 3.75" scale, then you'll wanna head on over right now!  But if you wanna have an even closer look, then you'll have to get the toy!

And why wouldn't you?  Why wouldn't anyone?  After the disappointment of the Mark III, how will this slick piece work from of Tony Stark's armory work out?

Strangely enough, I might not have picked this guy up if not for the Rangerlord, who said to me, "You'll definitely wanna get one of these" and I said that yeah, it's the latest in Stark Technology as far as the movies go.

I think the bio speaks for itself:  The Mk VI is nearly unstoppable!  So now we know who'll emerge triumphant in Iron Man 2!  Wha...You mean you knew already?  Eh?...Otherwise the movie wouldn't be called "Iron Man 2"?

Haha, well, I know one thing's for sure: this figure really makes me wanna catch the movie soon as I can--so many questions about the armor, but no answers till May!

For now though, I've got Iron Man Mark VI and all of its intrigues and mysteries!

How to Destroy Crimson Dynamo

Yes, I confess, I destroyed my Iron Man 2 comic Series 3.75" Crimson Dynamo.

How?

Well, as most of you might know, Dynamo comes with his lower legs attached backwards. (See right pic) This gave him some problems ranging from looking knocked kneed to, in my case, being unable to straighten his right leg. (His left leg was the standard knock knee when straightened.)

So of course I had read all the possible cures for this and decided to remedy the problem.  But I had never done any toy 'fixing' before, but I was eager to try it and confident it would work.

So I boiled some water and stuck dynamo in there.  True enough, his knee joints went soft.  But the water also started to turn red!  And then Crimson dynamo's feet were crimson no more (but brown instead.)

To add to my woes, the lower leg wouldn't come off and I was afraid of tearing the knee joint, so I just let him cool.  But he was never quite the same again and couldn't stand right because of his wobbly knees.  Then I remembered that I could still save the guy if I re-heated the knee joints and the upper and lower legs together a bit, then dunked him in cold water.

Success!  But more red paint came off.  And for some reason, Maroon (feet) Dynamo started to have loose hips.  Now he had tight knees, but still couldn't do a wide stance.  So how was I to take decent pics of him?  On hindsight I think I might've dunked him a little too deep in the hot water, but I figured then that I would use the super glue trick!  For the very first time!  What followed was complete disaster.

Yup, what  you see is the result of too powerful a super glue eating into the hips of Maroon Dynamo.  The more I moved the joint around to ensure it wouldn't be stuck (and instead be nice and tight), the more of Dynamo's ball-joints got sloughed off.  talk about armor eating liquids!

So the moral of the story?  Don't screw around with your toys if you don't know how!  Now when I think back to just over 24 hours ago, Maroo...er, Crimson Dynamo still looked fantastic in all his knock-kneed glory.

The upside?  There's plenty of him out there, so I can go get one more! (And Marvel Universe Cyclops now has an eye-beam accessory of his own.)

And I also managed to fix the loose grip on both my DC Universe Hawkgirl's and Wonder Woman's hands!  Yay!

Iron Man 2 Comic Series 3.75" War Machine

That's right, it's the most anticipated Iron Man character to hit the big screen this year. (Ok, that may not be entirely true to some.)  It's not Black Widow, it's definitely not Whiplash, it's War Machine!

But wait, what' that you say?  This is not the movie version of the armour?  Sure it isn't!  But it ain't gonna stop us from getting this badass figure in 3.75" scale for the first time ever!  And if this isn't the movie version, then there's surely gonna be a big screen accurate version coming somewhere down the road, isn't there?  Well, you're right!

 But for now, head on over to Articulated Discussion  for the Comic Series review!

Why is the  review on AD and not here, you ask?  Well, they gimme loads of writing space over there and blow up my photos till they're huge!  I even get a desk, and my very own cubicle at the Articulated Offices.  Ain't it grand?.  While I'm there, I can plot and scheme my next move to rise in the ranks of the TAO empire (or just write my next review).

But I digress....

Go check out Iron Man 2 Comic Series War Machine!

Iron Man 2 Movie Series 3.75" Mark III

This is one of the armours I just had to get because it's iconic in the movie continuity.  However, it's really just a red and gold painted Mark II.  Yep, it's the one which Tony Stark has to use to take down Iron Monger while running out of power and using his old arc reactor.

Taking that into consideration, it's got to be one helluva suit since he could still beat Monger on empty, but I think Stark retires it before even the start of the movie to come in May.

So we jump back in time to just before the Mk III got beaten to a pulp by Big Bad Obadiah Stane, shrink the armour down to 3.75" scale, and take a look at it in toy form.

Will it prove as kickass as in Iron Man I?  Can it match up to the fantastically detailed Marks I & II?

Well head on over to here at Articulated Discussion to find out!

Iron Man 2 Movie Series 3.75" Mark II

That's right!  The review fort his guy's up!  Check it out at Articulated Discussions right here!  And if you're feeling chatty, drop a note--those guys over there are awesome. ;)

Here are some notable personalities:

TAO - aka The Articulated One, after whom the site is name.  He is lord and master of AD--don't be fooled by his yakuza-like name and demeanor.  He's actually a really nice guy.

DrNightmare - The resident laugh-a-minute poster and contriutor to the site.  He'll have you rolling around with uncontrollable laughter whether or not you let him.  All he needs to do is get you to read one of his reviews...

Wes clones - Don't be confused by these guys!  They're all different people called Wes.  How may of them are there?  No one knows!

There's a whole bunch of other regular posters and contributors that I haven't mentioned but that doesn't mean they aren't as warm, friendly, and funny.  So what are you still reading this for?  Head on over there right now!! ;)

Iron Man 2 Movie Series 3.75" Mark I

Hey all,

Just a short note to say that you shouldn't fret if you don't see any updates on Chase Variant in the coming few days--I'll still be doing reviews, and more often than usual even, over the next week or so.

The long and short of it is that I managed to snag some Iron Man 2 figures and I'll be reviewing them over on Articulated Discussions.  The first one's already up, so head on over there to check out Iron Man Mark I!

And don't forget to check there for more updates.  I'll also post a note here to tell you when a review goes up.

So cheers all, and haappy hunting!

P.s:- Here's a sneak peek at a coupleof the other Iron Men I got:

New Year with Ninjas 4: The Big Fight !!!!

You know it's coming when you watch them kung fu/ninja movies, and sometimes the way the plot gets you to it is crap, but what the hell, it gets you there anyway.

IT'S THE BIG CLIMACTIC BATTLE!