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fantastic_four

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Everything posted by fantastic_four

  1. fantastic_four
    Any idea where this look is from? Never seen it nor that axe he comes with.
  2. fantastic_four
    One additional note about Medicom Mafex figures--if it's a popular character if you don't pre-order they can be VERY difficult to get. Medicom seems to either plan for inventory to sell out fast or are just underestimating how quickly they will sell because anything remotely popular is typically sold out before it even releases. That's why I pre-ordered Mark 85--I thought he'd be popular and hard to get once he released, and as expected I don't see anywhere you can get him now. And even if I were to decide I don't need him the aftermarket is so strong that you almost always make some degree of profit if you re-sell. Even less-popular Mafex figures go for $200 and up on eBay once soppily is gone from the retail market, and more-popular ones tend to go for double to quadruple original retail price. Medicom does often re-release popular figures, although they don't always do it so it's not something I rely on. The best example is their Gambit figure released in late 2021. Mafex Gambit is probably the best action figure I bought all last year, but it was just about impossible to get within a month of and following its release, and it's now regularly selling for $250 to $300 on eBay. I bet they re-release it, but who knows when--could be later this year, could be three years from now. One interesting thing about Mafex re-releases is they almost always make design tweaks to improve the re-releases, and there are more than a few hardcore Mafex fans who buy re-releases just to get the minor upgrades Medicom makes. Among the upcoming releases examples of figures you'd better pre-order now or you may not get them are Scarlet Spider, Magneto, Iron Man Mark 50, Storm, symbiote Spidey, Jean Grey (already sold out for months), classic suit Spider-Man, and Infinity War Doctor Strange. Strange is my most-anticipated figure of 2022 and is now being shipped. He looks absolutely glorious in the pics and one Japanese review that hit Youtube yesterday and as usual is likely to be the definitive version of the character in twelfth scale. The cape looks AMAZING, and the accessories look to be over-the-top good.
  3. fantastic_four
  4. fantastic_four
    Mafex Iron Man Mark 85 from Endgame came in yesterday. The main hitch was that DHL--the cheapest and most popular shipper from Japan--showed the package as delivered about a half-hour before it arrived. I've had them deliver about a dozen Mafex figures from Japan so far, and two of those were left on the wrong porch luckily on my block so I found them both within 20 minutes of mis-delivery. So I assumed they had done it again, took a 15-minute lap to all of the houses within a square block of my house, didn't see it, but by the time I got back it was already on my porch. Frustrating, but not for long so not so bad. The Legends Mark 85 was already one of their better Iron Man sculpts so it's not a clear upgrade. But it absolutely IS an upgrade, particularly on articulation since for whatever reason both Legends Mark 85 releases are made from rather gummy plastic with ratcheted joints that don't want to stay in poses between the course ratchet points. The Mafex has drop-down hips, and if you look at the pics below in the first his hips are fully pushed up into his pelvis, but in the second they're fully extended down. Pushed up he's about a third of an inch shorter than the Legends figure, but pulled down he's about the same height within 1/16 of an inch. Overall I'm satisfied, but he's an easy pass for the Legends if you already have it or are looking to get one of the two.
  5. fantastic_four
    Every time Gorr was on-screen it felt like a completely different movie, and yea, I wanted to see that movie with Gorr more than the parts without him. On the one hand Taika seems like an ideal choice for a far sillier character played by a more comedic actor. Taika's Thor actors have done OK with their delivery, but nowhere near ideal or great for what he's having them say. Hemsworth does mostly fine, but a lot of his sillier Taika dialogue just comes across as cringey and bad. Pretty similar with Russell Crowe as Zeus--that's just not Crowe's forte, and he was mediocre at best with that silly shtick he did with Thor. The best part of Zeus was when he fluttered down the steps and lifted that Olympian skirt in a decidedly and ironically feminine way for someone blustering in such a macho way. But if you have a better comedic actor deliving Taika's lines then they can pull it off. On the other hand Thor has had an MCU record four films now, and if Taika hadn't done so well with Ragnarok that almost certainly wouldn't have happened, so I'm definitely glad Feige gave him his two turns at bat. I'm not entirely sure what the list is of ideal Marvel characters for Taika to tackle. Deadpool is the first to jump to mind, and certainly Ryan Reynolds is a step up from Hemsworth at comedy. Are there other wacky Marvel characters I'm forgetting that Taika could do well with?
  6. fantastic_four
    Taika's best work is the "What We Do In the Shadows" television show which I was reminded of after just learning season 4 premieres tomorrow night. The movie of the same name was good, but with the show that followed it he landed actors who deliver his silliness to full dramatic effect. Boardie Xenosmilus who just posted in this thread last night has a forum avatar that pictures Laszlo from that show. But I still assume over half of people wouldn't even like that show, and even though I like it at least a third of Taika's humor falls flat to me, which is also true for all of the Monty Python I've seen. Taika's sense of humor isn't at all mainstream. I haven't seen all of his movies though. I won't be surprised if "Jo Jo Rabbit" ends up becoming my favorite work once I see it since it was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture. Also haven't seen "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" which has an insanely high RT score at 97%.
  7. fantastic_four
    Making Wolverine tall defeats the purpose of his name--small, but vicious. Wolverines are about the size of a small dog. Honey badgers are even smaller and FAR more vicious, but naming a superhero Honey Badger probably doesn't carry the same gravitas. It's a fun half-hour or so to Youtube videos of honey badgers going after MUCH larger animals such as the pics below.
  8. fantastic_four
    I was wondering where Gorr's scars came from, and this video explaining a deleted scene showing him scratching off the religious tattoos he had at the beginning of the film makes complete sense. Why wouldn't they explain that in some alternate way if they were going to delete that scene?
  9. fantastic_four
    It was good, not great. This is one I'd likely never watch fully again and just skip to the good parts on, and most any scene with Gorr in it is rewatchable. Taika went nuts on this one with quadruple the silliness he put into Ragnarok, and given that his mainstream appeal is severely limited that's an understandable but risky move.
  10. fantastic_four
    Yep. He looks slightly more jacked in the film, but he's clearly being swallowed by his armor which I've never seen with any Hercules look. If any character in the entire Marvel universe needed to be Rock-sized, it's Hercules.
  11. fantastic_four
    Here's what Thor 126 did--Hercules beats Thor. Does Hercules really out-class Thor? I haven't heard specific comparisons between them, but I usually think of Hercules as stronger but Thor has Mjolnir and lightning.
  12. fantastic_four
    Does the girl have a comic counterpart?
  13. fantastic_four
    I remember thinking Hemsworth was a bit small to be playing Thor, but wow, you regularly see much beefier guys than this guy playing Hercules in any gym. And if you Google ancient Greek statues of Hercules they all look bigger than this guy does. You only get a half-second look at him in the film, but all I saw was a regular dude in bulky armor which doesn't jibe with any memory I have of Hercules in any incarnation he's had. Googling him confirms his lack of bulk. Hopefully he's at least funny like Hercules is usually depicted in the comics, which seems likely given that he won an Emmy for Ted Lasso which I haven't seen.
  14. fantastic_four
    LOVE this service. Got locked out quickly for a bit, but meh, now I've seen the lookup limits and it's fine.
  15. fantastic_four
    In general Mafex scales pretty well with Marvel Legends, although some figures will run about 1/4" tall or short at times. But that's equally true of Legends as well with MANY figures being a bit too tall or short. Marvel Legends is really a 6.5" scale and runs more towards 1:11 instead of 1:12 as is readily apparent in the pic below featuring the following figures: Legends Cyclops Mafex Cyclops Mafex Psylocke Mafex brown suit Wolverine Legends X-Force Wolverine Mafex Spider-Man Legends black suit Spider-Man (from Kraven 2-pack released in 2019) Legends retro Spider-Man Among all of the figures below the two that I would describe as being most out of scale are the Legends Spider-Man figures. Note that they're about as tall as Cyclops despite the fact that Cyclops should be about 6' 3" and Peter Parker is supposed to be around 5' 10". In my previous post the Legends Mark 85 is also a bit too tall and the Mafex is closer to how he should scale even as compared to other Legends given that Robert Downey is about 5' 8", although he wears lifts for Marvel movies and is usually around 5' 10".
  16. fantastic_four
    I get mine from various Japanese sites. Amazon Japan sellers often don't ship to the US, but if you keep checking they usually have a seller who does. Here are the direct fan sites I order from: Hobby Link Japan: https://hlj.com Ami Ami: https://www.amiami.com/eng/ Hobby Search Japan: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng Plaza Japan: https://www.plazajapan.com/ Nin Nin Game: https://www.nin-nin-game.com All of those are rock solid Japanese retailers who you can order from mostly worry-free. Hobby Link Japan is probably the best of the best, but they also sell out the fastest. Big Bad Toy Store is always a last option, but they upcharge the most since they have to import their stuff first. They also receive their stuff 2 to 6 weeks later than the Japanese retailers since they're in America. There's a Korean toy photographer who tends to get pics out first of new import releases named Isaac Wong who has great pics comparing the new Mafex Mark 85 to the Legends and SH Figuarts versions: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=IsaacWongToys&set=a.2330714350417980
  17. fantastic_four
    You mean Markus and McFeely (and Yost/Payne/Rodat)? Oh yea, wrong duo--it was Markus and McFeely. The Markus/McFeely screenplay run is rather impressive in the MCU with (in order) Dark World, Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame. Four of those are easily in the top fifteen superhero films ever, and it makes me want to go back and re-watch Dark World which I probably haven't seen since 2014. I'll probably try to get a viewing in before I go see Love and Thunder.
  18. fantastic_four
    I have yet to see a Taika Waititi film that wasn't creatively silly, so it's his entire schtick. His films and shows remind me somewhat of Monty Python's brand of humor. I completely get why it isn't for everyone since most people don't like Monty Python either, but as a fan of both Python and Taika's other works I'm fine with the mix. At least Feige seems to have watched Taika's previous works and leaned into him as a choice. I'll still never understand Kathleen Kennedy hiring Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to direct "Solo" and then firing them for using the same sense of humor they always do. I thought they'd stop the Thor films after Dark World sorta bombed. I generally enjoyed that film, but people don't seem like serious Thor films. The Russo brothers wrote that film, and I saw them cite it as their most misunderstood film that they're most proud of during an interview. One of the two defiantly described it as a really good film that nobody seemed to like.
  19. fantastic_four
    If you haven't seen it the upcoming Mafex Infinity War Iron Man Mark 50 pictured below has the most insane array of accessories I've ever seen come with an action figure. Seems like they covered ALL of the major nano-tech gadgets Tony used in that movie, and maybe all of the minor ones, too. Not cheap at $189.99 at Big Bad Toy Store and $120 or so direct from Japan before shipping (which usually runs $15 to $40 from Japan to America and is most economical when you ship at least 2-3 figures together).
  20. fantastic_four
    I'm buying most of the newer Marvel stuff Mafex makes. Haven't gotten much this year, but my last two pick-ups are the Endgame Cap and Ben Reilly Spider-Man figures shown below. Behind both is the Mafex Infinity War Cap. Just got Endgame Cap yesterday, and he's a TON of fun and clearly the best version of that iteration of Cap ever released. Endgame Iron Man Mark 85 is on the way and should be here in a week or two. Haven't bitten on Endgame Thor or Homelander both of which released within the last month, but I'll probably end up snagging both. Virtually EVERY Mafex release is the best version of that character ever made in twelfth scale, so I lean towards buying any I'm vaguely interested in as opposed to letting them pass and regretting it later. Infinity War Doctor Strange should be coming soon, and he looks absolutely spectacular. Also still buying 80% to 90% of the Marvel Legends releases from Hasbro. I mostly just don't buy repaints or obscure releases, but I even buy most of those if they're any kind of upgrade on previous releases or have well-done new head sculpts.
  21. fantastic_four
    Obviously I agree since I've got it #3 on my all-time list, and that implicitly makes it the best origin film of all time. And I obviously prefer Dark Knight since I rank it best ever. I almost can't re-watch Begins enough. I suppose re-watching anything more than once a week or month is a recipe for getting sick of it, but if a few months have passed I can EASILY get hooked by the first two Nolan films again. I should probably weigh Into the Spider-Verse into my list. For now I have no cartoons on it mostly because I'm fairly biased against them and think of them in a different category than live-action films, but that flick is almost certainly in the top 30.
  22. fantastic_four
    It's at 74% with 55 reviews in. With early reviews usually being more favorable the final score is likely to be in the mid-to-high 60% range. Lots of praise for Christian Bale as Gorr. That's great to hear and makes me more excited to see the film now.
  23. fantastic_four
    Not having seen it I assumed he just meant the decision to choose Taika as a director twice now. It was bold because they knew they'd be ticking off hardcore fans who don't want Taika's peanut butter brand of silly humor mixed with the chocolate of a more serious Thor. We've certainly seen plenty of those types of fans expressing their distaste in this thread and the Ragnarok thread. Or maybe he's referring to something else that's specific to this film we'll find out about.
  24. fantastic_four
    Should we assume that the dead hand that they took the bangle from back in 1942 in episode 3 was a Kree warrior? It looked humanoid aside from the blue skin, so I assume it was a Kree. Did they ever explain why some Kree have blue skin and some don't in Captain Marvel? I don't think they did, but perhaps I'm mistaken. I know Ronin had blue skin, as did Minn-Erva. But Yon-Rogg didn't. I think all of the male Kree warriors on Yon-Rogg's team in the movie also had blue skin but don't fully remember.
  25. fantastic_four
    I'm not surprised, but yea, I was bored throughout episode 3. We got what, ten seconds of action while she was running away from that group who wants the bangle? I have the same general problem with all of the Disney Plus shows--they spend 4 to 6 hours doing stuff that could have easily fit into a 2-hour movie, so there's just a ton of slow-moving, extraneous filler. What they spent almost an hour on in this third episode could have been done in five minutes, but I guess then your wife wouldn't have gotten all the teenage angst, family politics, and dance sequences that I found boring. All of which I suppose I'm fine with since Ms Marvel probably SHOULD appeal more to women than men.