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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