Winners of the 1st W.A.R. Competition

And the results are in:

2nd Runners Up:

Photo Title: Crash Landing in Endor
Description: This is what happened when an AT-AT Driver piloted a stolen Tie Fighter
Submitter: Double H
Note: I really like how the Driver looks like he's struggling through the grass. Superb!

Photo Title: Twilight
Description: Based from the Twilight movie.. modeled by Duke and Baroness from G.I. Joe ROC
Submitter: Khai Yussof a.k.a. Mr. Bokz
Note: I was really torn about this photo and the one below. The effort to include the sky in the background makes it look as if they are really high up in a tree. Nice.
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1st Runner Up
Photo Title: Who's Dying?
Description:This Alien has been terrorizing the American Secret base of Area 51. A lot of people are dead while some are being harvested.This picture shows a soldier whose uniform is already covered with dried blood that clearly shows he's been through hell just to survive,being lifted by one of the alien infesting the base,he lost his primary weapon but luckily he is armed with his sidearm but will he pull the trigger in time or will he be like the rest.....
Submitter: Faris/Garuda5
Note: What can I say? This is just intense. Good choice in action figures. Good choice in additional lighting.
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Winner
Photo Title: Help from a Stranger
Description:Spidey seeking for help from Dr Strange
Submitter: Fadle Salim
Note: The subtle glow, the way Strange faces the camera instead of the crystal ball and the addition of Spidey being strangled in the the crystal ball. Its just to cool. In fact I had to take out my own Dr.Strange figure to compare and mine still doesn't look as mysterious as this.

Congrats to all the winners. I will contact you all shortly. Thank you to all for participating.

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Update : Competition

First and foremost I'd like to thank all that have submitted for the competition. I purposely did not put a result date because I was not sure when I could really sit down and have a good look at all the pics submitted. Tentatively I'm looking at the 28th December to announce the 4 winners(names and pics will be posted here). Yes I said 4. There will be 2 spots for 2nd runner up. Yay!! I will contact all the winners via email to confirm which prizes they choose. And in case you're wondering, the Winner will of course have the honour of selecting then 1st runner up will select from the remaining prizes and so on.

I'm in the middle of doing some last minute preparations to go back to Brunei on the 26th. Hopefully all the winners could meet up with me to collect their prizes. Cheers and stay tune to this blog for the results.

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Pic of the Day : Leaders

Leaders by Lobo
Note: Two more to go, Commander Bly & Commander Stone...for now.

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# 51 : G.I. Joe, ROC - Mole Pod with Terra-Viper

The Mole Pods were the vehicles Cobra used to infiltrate the Joe's headquarters. The Cobra team was led by the Baroness and Storm Shadow. This is a great time to grab yourself G.I. Joe : ROC merchandise because its Christmas sale and most shops are trying to clear out the figures to make way for other new figures. For the most part I do think that shops overstocked on the G.I. Joe figures because it is after all, a well known brand. Yet there were a LOT of the figures on the shelves, even when some shops were selling them for a reduced price of AUD 10 each. The vehicles on the other hand, is another story.

Packaging
I really like the packaging for the ROC line. They're nice and compact unlike the SW deluxe figures. It has a front window to show the vehicle, pretty straightforward marketing. There is one issue though. The Terra-Viper figure at the back of the box is different from the one you get. The figure in the box is a darker shade of blue with black vest.

Details/Sculpt/Accessories/Articulation
"Cobra Mole Pod vehicles drill through the walls of the underground G.I. Joe Pit headquarters. Using a composite carbon steel drill bit that chews through solid rock, these powerful drilling machines are just one of the attack vehicles masterminded by Destro, The head of M.A.R.S. industries."

The overall design of the vehicle is superb. The drill spins if you push the vehicle. My only complaints would be the red and unattractive missile/rocket at the tip of the vehicle. I know that Hasbro couldn't make the tip of the drill sharp like in the movie because then it would be a hazardous toy.

Secondly would be the interior. It's nice and all but I wished there was more stickers for the screens instead of just making it look too plain.

Accessory wise there's none. No diorama, no extra weapons. The figure that comes with the vehicle looks very cool. I didn't think about it much when I first got it but now it's starting to grow on me. He just looks like a badass.

The articulation for the Terra-Viper is the usual ball jointed neck, swivel hinged shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, ball hinged hips, hinged knees, swivel hinged ankles.

Overall
If you see this vehicle I suggest picking it up. If its on sale, even better. Imagine having more than 5 of these vehicles. That would be a sight. And it would look great with your normal Joes(other than the ROC) or your 1:18 figures.
Score: **** out of *****

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Update : One More Figure to the Loot

I've added one more action figure to the prize loot. A Star Wars action figure, Asajj Ventress from the Clone Wars series. Don't forget guys, you all have less than 3 weeks to send me a pic for the competition.

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Pic of the Day : They Came From the Dark

They Came From the Dark by Avanaut
Note: This guy has some of the best close up photos of Star Wars figures. I especially like the SW Lego figures. The above pic looks as if it was taken from a scene in a SW movie. Cool.

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# 50 : X-Men Origins - Wolverine by Diamond Select Toys

Another Wolverine figure hits the shelves a few months ago. This figure was supposed to coincide with the Wolverine solo movie. There are two figures of Wolvie released by DST. This version and the usual comic blue & yellow version(and the comic version has another variant *sigh*). I opted for this one because I'm a sucker for so called 'exclusives'.

Packaging
I don't think DST will change their packaging any time soon. They seem intent on using the oversized carded box to distinguish themselves over their competitors. Currently their only competitor is the Marvel Legends line by Hasbro and I'm not so sure Hasbro is keen on continuing the 6" M.L.

Details/Sculpt/Accessories/Articulation
"Shrouded in mystery, Wolverine's past is filled with secret government programs, memory manipulation and more death than is dealt in most wars. With his mutant healing factor, heightened senses and adamantium claws at the ready, Wolverine will stop at nothing to hunt down those responsible for his vicious treatment and make them pay the ultimate price. With the odds against him, can Wolverine do what it takes to save the future?" - taken from the back of the box. First off, this is what you call being lazy. What adamantium claws? Clearly the description is about Wolvie but this is just Logan. He still sports his bony claws. Secondly, save the future from what? I thought he was out for revenge. Is it just me or is everyone else as confused as I am?

The sculpt is decent at best. The paint app nicely done. I'm not going to touch if he looks like Hugh Jackman(he doesn't!!! lol) but the sculpt overall is good. The claws are a bit too smooth for me. It should be with more ridges and not too thin and curved. But at least the claws are not made out of soft rubber that will warped over time. And in case you're wondering as of now there are 5 Marvel Select Wolverine to date. They must be taking notes from Toybiz. LoL.

His accessories is a base that resembles stone pavement and what to me looks like a beaten up trash bin. Maybe I'm wrong on that one. But I'd like to think it is because Logan here looks a bit like a homeless person, if you dirty him up. Well at the very least, I can reuse the base.

Articulation is the usual. Ball-jointed neck, ball-hinged shoulders, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, swivel waist, ball-hinged hips, hinged knees and swivel ankles.

Overall
I am not recommending this figure. Usually, the sculpt for figures are a bit tricky when its based on an actual person compared to comic or cartoon based characters. Yet, there are times when you can see the person it is based on if you look at the figure from afar or maybe from the side. This just doesn't cut it. To be honest he reminds me of one the Backstreet boys. LoL. So while the body sculpt and paint app is nice, the face sculpt just fails.

Score: **1/2 out of *****

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Things to look out for in 2010

We all know that the movie, Iron Man 2 will be coming out next year. This of course, will also mean we will get to see cool action figures. Hasbro will be doing a majority of the distribution and there has been pictures and news that most of the I.M.2 line by Hasbro will be in the 3 3/4" scale. Personally, I don't have a problem with this. In fact the ways things are going with the increase in cost of goods I expect that this is the size where action figures are headed to in the near future.

What surprised me is that Diamond Select Toys are also releasing a Marvel Select figure based on the I.M.2. It will be in their usual 7"-ish scale. From the pic it looks very, very promising. They did a decent job on Logan based on the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie(I'll put up the pics soon).


And there is more good news! DST is also doing War Machine!! The bad news is that these figures are expected to come out May 2010. But it's something to really to look out for. To pre-order yours click here.

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And there comes a time when...

...I need to face the fact that doing toy reviews as I've did before is just getting harder and harder for me to do simply because of lil' Princess Lobo. Basically I did ZERO reviews in November. The most time consuming part of the review is taking the pics and editing them.

So maybe I should just take one or two photos for each review and see how it goes from there. I'm glad I'm not getting paid for this or I'd be a out of a job already. Since I'm constantly learning on how to improve this blog I've summed up what the usual categories that I'll regularly blog about which are:
- Reviews
- Pic of the Day
- Random news

Let's hope this month will be a good one and for those who wants to win free action figures, don't forget to join the 1st W.A.R. competition.

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Pic of the Day : Pocco touch the Sun

pocco touch the sun by esper zero

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1st W.A.R. contest begins today!

As some of you might already know, we are having our 1st competition this month. First off I'd like to thank the bloggers who have mentioned about this in their blog. I hope you guys(and other bloggers) could spread the word again.

For now, I'd like to share some tips to those who would like to join. For the rules & regulations please go to the 'Competitions' tab above.

What's it about?
This is a photo contest. involving your action figures of course. You can use any figures(Barbie dolls or anything associated with that brand are NOT action figures - I will hunt you down it you say otherwise).

Tips
- Don't rush. Take your time. You have almost a whole month to come up with ONE photo. Experiment with different figures and settings. We're looking for an artistic value.
- Quantity doesn't necessarily mean value. Don't put in a whole bunch of figures in your shot(unless you were doing a battle scene I guess).
- Make sure your photo title matches the actual picture...or the very least, makes sense. It does help by giving a brief description.
- Create your own settings. Don't go for just a plain wall for the background. You could go outside and use the buildings, garden, trees OR make your own diorama.
- You don't really need an expensive camera to take great shots. It just makes up 30% of the shot. Most of it comes from your own ingenuity. But if you must insist...you could always borrow one.
- Don't know how to use photoshop to edit your pics? There's always the online photo editor www.picnik.com. Trust me, it's the best photo editor for beginners and it's free!
-If you have any questions, do it in the comment form of this post. Thanks.

I've been a big fan of the pictures available on flickr and it has given me the idea of doing this contest. Below are just some of my favorite photographers on flickr. Have a look at how they've taken photographs of their action figures. Click on the pic or their name to go to their flickr page.

Isaac Renteria (check out his Hitman series...*chills*)

Vader9900 (his G.I. Joe set is the best I've seen)

Soyboy7

Good Luck!!

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Pic of the Day : Konata at the Office

Not my usual choice for 'Pic of the Day' but it was just too damn cute I had to share it.

Konata at the Office by Sasha's Lab
Note from Sasha's Lab: "Konata joined me at the office today and found a spot on the stapler to open her laptop. She spent the day (what else) playing web games. While I worked on reports, she and her web cohorts invaded another virtual country".

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Appleseed: Ex Machina

Remember the G.I. Joe tagline "When all else fails, we don't"? They did fail didn't they? Cobra was able to attack their base and take the Nanomite. Well it should've been "When all else fails, we don't...but if we do, we'll bring in ES.W.A.T!". LoL. (You do know I'm just kidding right Joe fans?? So don't start sending me hate mails).

Appleseed is probably my favorite Anime despite the fact I don't really watch them. That is why ever since I found out that Hot Toys made the snap-on 1/18 figures I knew I had to have it in my collection. The problem was the timing and the cost.
This arrived yesterday and I am very happy with them. They are every bit what I expected and more. They are 5 figures in the series but I needed 10 figures(basically the whole box) of them in order to complete the ES.W.A.T. Landmate.
More pics and a proper review soon. I'm currently busy packing my stuff and cleaning the house because we're leaving in December. That's why this blog has been quiet lately. Hopefully I'll be able to upload some reviews this week. Cheers guys and keep collecting!

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The W.A.R. Competition Update

The 'Competition' tab on this site has been there for quite some time. Well, now is the time. Details on the competition will be revealed soon. For now enjoy the pics I've uploaded here.

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Pic of the Day : El Domo

El Domo by ElDave

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Something for the weekend

I came across these old collection of Hellboy II promo videos. It sure made my day.

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# 49 : Star Wars, Clone Wars - 501st & BARC Speeder

Another repaint of previous figures but this time a welcomed addition.
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Packaging
Like the SW Crab Droid, it's basically the same type of display box but with a different diorama. I'm guessing its Felucia in the background.
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D.S.A.
|Details|
"Clone troopers ride Biker Advanced Recon Commando (BARC) speeder bikes on scouting and escort missions. BARC speeders give the troopers greater range, speed, mobility and firepower than foot patrols. They prove so useful to elite units like the 501st Legion that they are soon made available to the entire clone trooper army."
|Sculpt|
Hasbro decided to make a correction in the sculpt of the helmet to resemble the animated C.W. series. I think they started making this correction with the 212th Clone trooper in Wave 4.
The blue decals on the trooper has also been made to match Captain Rex's colors(about time). I had 2 of the Wal-Mart exclusive 501st trooper issued last year. The color(see pic below) is nice but it just looks so out of place with their captain. The new helmet sculpt is the inclusion of the small gap at the 'chin'. This is supposedly where the breathing apparatus connects for space missions.
|Accessories|
DC-15 Blaster rifle
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Articulation
|Clone Trooper|
No changes to the articulation. It's still the same as previous basic white clone trooper.
|BARC Speeder|
It still has the same retractable landing gear and 'exploding' bike gimmick(trust me, just leave it at that. It's not worth asking)
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Fun Factor
I currently have 3 BARC speeders from the ROTS Treachery on Saleucami battlepacks. So it's really sweet to have it all lined up. Plus I can use Rex for the blue BARC speeder and the other 3 501st for the red speeders.
I didn't have a pic of them on the bikes mainly because of their leg stance. Their articulation(swivel hips) aren't exactly the best to use unless you want to permanently ruin your figures. But there is a solution to this problem(I think). The ARF trooper has a sort of ball-jointed articulation in the hips. So if you could swap these with the 501st, you're good to go.
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Overall
I'm glad I decided to pick up this deluxe figure. The BARC speeder is nothing new but the 501st trooper with correct helmet sculpt and with the matching blue decals to Rex is a worthwhile addition. I just hope Hasbro will decide to reissue the trooper in a single pack.

Score: ****

Related Posts:

• # 48 : Star Wars, Clone Wars - Crab Droid
  
• # 47 : Astro Boy, The Movie: Astro Boy, 3 3/4"
  
• # 46 : G.I. Joe, Rise of Cobra - Steel Crusher A.V.P.
  
• # 45 : Star Wars, Endor AT-AT Walker w/ Biker Scout & Pilot

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Pic of the Day : Ravage and Soundwave

Ravage and Soundwave by Gogdog

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Stormtroopers in Brunei

These guys rock! Long live the Empire!

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# 48 : Star Wars, Clone Wars - Crab Droid

The LM-432 or Crab Droid is not the most sophisticated piece of machinery within the Separatist Droid Army. It's design is pretty straight-forward. Get a laser cannon and attach legs to it so it can move over uneven terrain.
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Packaging
This is one of the new deluxe figures for 2009. The box converts into a diorama or so I've been told. From the looks of it, the diorama is a picture of the planet Christophsis.
Once you've open the packaging there's not a lot of assembly and best of all, no stickers!!
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D.S.A.
|Details|
"LM-432 crab droids are armored infantry units that easily move over rough ground. Their legs work independently of one another, allowing them to move with agility and speed as they track their targets and take aim with their blasters. Also known as Muckracker droids, they threaten Republic forces on many planets during the war."
Personally I don't really recall seeing the C.D. in either the C.W. animated series or movie. Maybe I wasn't paying attention enough. I do remember that the first time I saw this droid in the ROTS(a bit smaller) and in the 2003 CW Series(twice the size).
|Sculpt|
The sculpt and paint is good. No real problem there. I especially like the scratch marks or paint scrapes on the legs. It looks as if the paint was really scraped off and the metal underneath was showing.
|Accesories|
No accessories though I thought a battle droid would have been nice. There is a push button at the back of the C.D. to launch the laser cannon projectile. Standard Hasbro stuff, no surprises there.
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Articulation
None of the legs are articulated despite the description as "Their legs work independently of one another". There is a button on the side that if you push continuously will make a sort of movement of all the legs.
A sort of crawling type movement. A decent attempt but it WOULD have been better if each legs had movable joints.

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Fun Factor
I'm not sure if kids will enjoy this figure. It's as dull as a figure can be. Don't get me wrong. I still like it 'cos I get to display the C.D. being attacked by my clone troopers.
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Overall
I don't really recommend this figure. It's nice to have if you're a clone army builder and you want to add to the Separatist army. 'Cos lets face it, the Clone Army needs something to shoot at while you're displaying them on your shelves. Still the lack of articulation really bugs me because it means we can't display them doing gymnastics and stuff. Lastly, there is the issue of price. This cost about AUD 30. Twice the price of a regular SW figure and less the satisfaction. If this had been a vehicle where you can put a SW figure in than I would recommend getting it. For now if you really want to add this to your collection I suggest you wait it out for a clearance sale or grab one off ebay.

Score: **1/2

Related Posts:

• # 47 : Astro Boy, The Movie: Astro Boy, 3 3/4"
  
• # 46 : G.I. Joe, Rise of Cobra - Steel Crusher A.V.P.
  
• # 45 : Star Wars, Endor AT-AT Walker w/ Biker Scout & Pilot
  
• # 44 : Revoltech Fraulein, Sweet Dreams Pocco

Read more...