Masters of the Universe Classics Eternian Palace Guards

No namers.  Minions.  Collateral damage!  D-listers.  Calefare (meaning bit part actor--and hence expendable--in the Chinese dialect of Cantonese...)

But we love them all, whether they are Stormtroopers, Rebel Commandos, Iron Man 2 Assault Drones, or COBRA Troopers!  Without them, the Empire would be an empty place, Justin Hammer wouldn't know what to do with his time, and GI Joes would have no one to warm up on before laying the smack down COBRA Commander.

Without the Eternian Palace Guards, who would Prince Adam get to do his bidding?  Who would go to the Burger King drive thru for King Randor?  Who would Man-at-Arms get to boss around?

But that's not why we love them so.  We love them to bits because they lack star power.  The toymakers, feeling bad for these poor fops, make up for their lack of charisma with...tons of accessories!  (And lots of new tooling.  Ok, maybe not the Stormtroopers but ya get what I mean. ;])  Just check out GI Joe's Pit Commando.  Or the tooling on Iron Man 2's Ground Assault Drones.  Heck, the Eternian Palace Guards are no different!

In fact, they might even be better, lots better...more after the jump!

DC Universe Classics Green Lantern Wave 1: Kyle Rayner

Seriously, how many DCUC figure come with big swords?  None.  None, except Kyle Rayner here.  But what's truly impressive is the amount of work that's gone into making sure a top notch accessory came out right.  And I guess that's all we as fans ask for: quality.  We don't need a bunch of crude constructs packed in with figures (though that would beat no constructs at all), we just need one; one with quality and that will excite our imaginations.  And that's just what (wrong as it sounds) Kyle's big sword does--Excite us!

Kyle is Figure 1 in Wave 1 of the DCUC Green Lantern Series.  I hear that the series will last all of 2 waves, but I have a feeling Mattel has more planned for our Emeral heroes and their enemies in upcoming DCUC spin-off waves. DCUC GL 1 is the first wave I pre-ordered in its entirety--I liked the characters, I liked the new articualtion, and I liked the Collect and Connect figure.  How could I pass it up?

Unfortunately, it's also the first wave I'm paying the new higher retail price for, having cherry picked in past waves and/or holding back till I found the figures I wanted for reasonable prices. This wave cost me S$35 (US$25) a figure, bringing the total to S$210 ($150).  But thanks to Vincent at Toyrealm, I managed to get 'em at S$30 (US$21.40) a piece!

So how did Kyle do as the first figure of the series? Well let's see!

Sneak Review: Green Lantern Movie Masters 6" Hal Jordan!

I was at the local weekly toy "flea" market last week and guess what had hit the streets?  All right, so it's in the title of this review but hey, I had to set the stage somehow, right? ;P

Well, Dave from Davestoylet had his usual table/booth set up at China Square Central and besides the whole host of the latest loose DC Universe figures, packaged GI Joes and MOTU Classics figures, he had his newest offerings: Toys 'R' Us Exclusive Green Lantern Movie Masters 6" figures of Hal Jordan, Rot Lop Fan (gotta love that name) and Tomar Re!

But instead of trying to sell me the figures, he tosses me one of the Hals and asks me to review it--I jump at the chance because these haven't been released.  So here it is, my first ever "sponsored" review, a loose but exclusive movie Hal Jordan!

Star Wars Vintage Collection Wicket (Yub yub!)

Or Wicket W. Warwick, OBE, to be precise.

Ok so maybe he's not an OBE but he does have a very distinguished name for a hairy little furball.  Who knows?  Maybe in Ewok culture that "W" in his name means he's the most heroic and resourceful Ewok alive.  Kinda like George W. Bush is a resourceful Ewok...Nah, you're right.  Even the Ewoks would consider themselves way smarter than W. :P

Hasbro has really upped their game for Star Wars figures of late.  Yes, any new figures should be better than any of the first generation releases in general, but the current Vintage line blows all previous figures out of he water.  At least the new sculpted, new articulated ones.  And no prizes for guessing where Wicket falls.

 More after the jump!

Valentine's Day Lovin'!

Did I get a box of chocolates from the wife for V-Day this year?  Hell, no.

Did I get a bouquet of flowers?  Uh-uh.

Did I get Lego Kingdoms 7947 (Green Knights Fortress set)?

Hell yeah!

 

DC Universe Classics Wave 16: The Riddler

Riddle me this: What's one of six in 16 and all about the tricks?

Who's the only on-screen super-villain that will ever be played by Jim Carrey?

What's neon green and and has 51 question marks all over?


THE RIDDLER!!!

This was the only figure that interested me in Wave 16--this and Robin, ah, the super articulated, muscle-bound and curly-haired Robin.  Gotta love how his lack of pants indicated he was a superhero sidekick, just like all the other sidekicks back then: Aqualad, Wondergirl, Bucky, and Chewbacca.

But I digress...

I picked the Riddler up for S$30 (US$23) after a discount from Vincent at Toyrealm.  Real nice guy and a great store at China Square Central to get stuff from hereabouts in Singapore. And I'm glad to say the Riddler didn't disappoint!

On to the review!

Iron Man 2 - 3.75" (Nick) Fury of Combat 4-Pack!

Well, at least most of it. ;)

I actually bought this off a guy at the local Sunday toy "flea" market."  He'd sold off one of the Ground Assault Drones and he gave me a real good price of S$38 (US$29) for the remaining 3 figures...which was awesome because I managed to get the much coveted Nick Fury and one of the Assault Drones!

 Finally!

What of the movie-accurate painted Iron Man Mark VI, you ask?  Well, it has a missing left hand and a twisted right leg.  -__-  Yes, this was a factory packed, sealed, MIB package.  But hey, I got a big-ass discount because of it. :).  Actually the guy charged me for the drone and Fury and threw in the Mk VI.  But some hot water should fix the leg, and a spare hand can be easy found, either off my old Mark VI or an old GI Joe figure.  I'd probably just have to repaint the hand that but it's only a tiny part so it's all good. :)

Then weeks later, The Rangerlord finds this very 4-pack for S$60-ish (US$46-ish) but he only wanted the Fury.  So guess who snapped up the Ground Assault Drones from him?  No, not Chuck Norris.  Me! :P

So is the much coveted Nick Fury worth, well, coveting?  Is the Ground Assault Drone?  Well, we're just gonna have to take a closer look, aren't we? ;)

Marvel Universe 3.75" World War Hulk (Wave 12, Series 3)

I just can't get enough of this look for the (not so) Jolly Green Giant!  This was probably the Hulk's best moment in recent years and all that recent stuff about the Red Hulk and the Fall of the Hulks kinda sets the Hulk character back a couple of years, as if he'd had this whole interplanetary episode and then forgot about it.

How could he?  He should be way MORE dangerous than before because of the whole Planet Hulk experience.  Thinking about it just makes me mad.  And when I'm mad, I get angry...And when I'm I angry I..I..WWWRRRREEEAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH!!!!!  HULK SMAAAAAAAAAASSSSSH!!!!

Oh, er, sorry.  Where were we?  Oh yes, the review.  I'm glad they gave this Hulk a 3.75" version.  The King Hulk 6" Marvel Legends version is awesome, as is the Face Off release.  So why shouldn't this one be?