This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[oldmilwaukee6er]

Here's a Lego video while you hobby ... a YouTuber I subscribe to that mostly discusses Magic and collectible card games has revealed his horde of sealed product 

[FoggyNelson]

On 9/9/2023 at 8:03 PM, OtherEric said:

Today’s $4.99 pickup at Walmart.  Pretty nice micro set at that price:

Cheap fun

[Skylath]

On 9/10/2023 at 4:59 AM, oldmilwaukee6er said:

Here's a Lego video while you hobby ... a YouTuber I subscribe to that mostly discusses Magic and collectible card games has revealed his horde of sealed product 

He also does give some decent financial insights (again insights, not advice) and/or dialogues for those who appreciate some musings (and it's at least worth a gander since he was a stockbroker in the 2000s). I used to love watching his videos when I was a MTG player in 2016-2020.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Skylath

[wombat]

Picked these up in Baltimore. 

[F For Fake]

Some shtuff arrived this weekend. First up, the Legacy Menasor set from Hasbro Pulse. I really love this, the package is ENORMOUS, an homage to the old combiner gift sets. I am tempted to leave it as is, as it's so pretty like this. I had made plans to order a second set whenever the next Pulse sale pops up, but lo and behold, it finally sold out this week. I was thinking that the fact that it is mostly a repack, with only minimal design changes for a couple of bots, plus the high price tag, would keep it in stock a while longer. Oh well, happy to have this one.

[F For Fake]

And next up, a couple more additions to my slowly growing McF DC collection. Most of what Todd puts out is still clearly not my thing, but if he's going to release more classic character designs with vanilla sculpts, I'll keep buying. This Riddler is gorgeous, maybe my favorite DC figure he's released so far. More like this, please!

[fantastic_four]

On 9/10/2023 at 5:03 PM, wombat said:

Picked these up in Baltimore. 

What the heck are these?  Killer mutant baseball players?  And is that one on the left in blackface?

[Dave2739]

On 9/12/2023 at 8:59 AM, fantastic_four said:

What the heck are these?  Killer mutant baseball players?  And is that one on the left in blackface?

Here you go.
https://blog.mezcotoyz.com/throwback-thursday-the-warriors/

[F For Fake]

It hurts my heart that anyone wouldn't instantly identify the Baseball Furies! Is "The Warriors" no longer taught in our schools??? What has happened to this country?

"Warriors, come out and plaaaaaaay." 

[F For Fake]

I've been very tmepted to grab this, but $275 is little steep. Look great, tho'.

 

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/product/variationdetails/88090

[wombat]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:03 AM, F For Fake said:

It hurts my heart that anyone wouldn't instantly identify the Baseball Furies! Is "The Warriors" no longer taught in our schools??? What has happened to this country?

"Warriors, come out and plaaaaaaay." 

I cried a little when I read that post. 

[F For Fake]

As was rumored, Titans Return Fortress Maximus is coming back. He sold out at Pulse in under 15 minutes, but is still up at BBTS (and presumably EE, amongst others) for those that need him.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/32707?o=1

I missed out on this guy back when he was being clearanced at Ollie's (I didn't get back into TF collecting until WFC) so I jumped on this one.

 

[B2D327]

On 9/12/2023 at 8:42 AM, F For Fake said:

This Riddler is gorgeous, maybe my favorite DC figure he's released so far. More like this, please!

 

 

I dig a lot of the McFarlane line but I think it’s a crime to release this figure without the boller hat

[Cat]

On 9/12/2023 at 10:42 PM, F For Fake said:

And next up, a couple more additions to my slowly growing McF DC collection. Most of what Todd puts out is still clearly not my thing, but if he's going to release more classic character designs with vanilla sculpts, I'll keep buying. This Riddler is gorgeous, maybe my favorite DC figure he's released so far. More like this, please!

Where did you find Catman? 

[Cat]

Anyone else tempted by the Hot Toys Ahsoka Sabine Wren? 

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/251772?o=4

[fantastic_four]

I won't touch Hot Toys for multiple reasons:

• The materials the figures are made from degrades too quickly.  Sometimes it just degrades over time all by itself, but more often it degrades if you have the figure in any kind of pose where the joints are bent.  I don't want action figures that I have to pose like statues.
• Even if you do want to pose them the articulation is absolutely terrible.
• Most faces are squarely in the Uncanny Valley.  A few aren't, but the great majority are.  Sabine there looks like she almost avoided the Uncanny Valley, but not entirely.  She's definitely better than most and somewhere on the upwards slope out of the Valley on the way towards complete photorealism.
• They take up too much space.  I much prefer the 1:12 scale for the space reason, or for lines where large creatures or vehicles are integral to the brand then the 1:18 scale.  Ever seen the Hot Toys sixth scale Millennium Falcon they made for a con a few years back?  That thing takes up an entire large room and demonstrates why the sixth scale doesn't work for lines where vehicles are an important part of the line.

Edited September 13, 2023 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

For those who haven't seen the Hot Toys sixth scale Millennium Falcon here it is.  VERY impressive, but nothing any of us would normally have room for.  They never sold this and only made one for display.  Not sure if they still have it, but I'm guessing they do.

[F For Fake]

On 9/13/2023 at 2:31 PM, Cat said:

Where did you find Catman? 

I got a bundle from McFarlane's website, included these two and a "Gold Patina" Superboy, which I'll probably sell. At the time I placed the order, Catman and Riddler seemed to be sold out everywhere, so I probably ended up overpaying. Oh well. 

[fantastic_four]

Because I dumped on Hot Toys yesterday I'd like to clarify I LOVE that company.   I respect that they exist and the work they do, and whenever they release any new action figures I'm always interested in seeing them.  But I can't buy them due to the bad articulation and poor durability.

The Hot Toys figures I've been most on the fence about are the Ahsoka figures.  I debated buying those for months.  However, that rubbery material that they put over elbow and knee joints that are exposed which you can see on the Clone Wars Ahsoka below crack if you leave the figures in a bent-arm pose.  So whenever you see Hot Toys figures in poses flexing those joints hardcore Hot Toys collectors know not to leave them in that pose or the skin will crack.  Both figures are also squarely in the Uncanny Valley, although it's highly minimized with her alien look defined by her multi-colored montrals and lekku.

I love that Hot Toys is doing what they do in covering joints with skin because it really does improve the look of action figures...but it just isn't working.  I hope they eventually perfect it in a durable way.  

Edited September 14, 2023 by fantastic_four

[F For Fake]

I used to be all in on Hot Toys. I was an early adopter, my first figures being the Colonial Marines from Aliens. This was back when a brand new Hot Toys figure was about $80. They didn't have rights to the likenesses at that point, so they weren't totally screen accurate, but the attention to detail on the costume design was unreal. It was my first experience with hyper-detailed, high-end collectible "dolls" like that. In subsequent years, I picked up several more. I ended up selling them all off when my focus changed, and I wanted to fund the purchase of some vintage pieces.

As for the issues with the material, it is largely a case by case basis. There are definitely instances of figures with "rubbery" costumes exhibiting signs of "weeping". Not sure if that's due to uncured plastic or what. There are also sometimes issues with figures that have joints hidden by fleshy rubber cracking if they are held in certain positions.

However, I don't think it's the majority of figures. Many have held their shape for many years with no problems. I'd say just do some research on any particular figure you're interested in, in order to gauge whether or not there are concerns.

As for articulation, I don't really "play" with my toys, so however I pose them initially is how they're going to stay. And I also tend to keep them in a bland vanilla pose. So articulation isn't an issue for me.

As for Sabine Wren, I only know this character from the Ahsoka show, which we just started watching last week. I am familiar with Ahsoka from having watched Clone Wars all those many years ago, but I don't know any of these other new characters, who apparently were on another show or something and have a fan following. So, no interest in the character. I'm sure it'll be a nice likeness from HT.