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

[F For Fake]

On 4/24/2023 at 9:58 AM, Dave2739 said:

Are Hound's tires made of rubber or are the wheels solid plastic?

Surprisingly, they are still rubber, and can even be removed from the wheels!

[Dave2739]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:03 AM, F For Fake said:

Surprisingly, they are still rubber, and can even be removed from the wheels!

Wow! Even Takara Masterpiece Transformers don't have rubber tires anymore. Very cool!

[Cat]

On 4/24/2023 at 11:38 PM, F For Fake said:

These arrived from Pulse last week, Walmart/Pulse exclusive retro repaints, give animation decos. I'm really loving this line so far. Hound is an odd choice, considering that he doesn't even have a speaking role in TFTM, but any opportunity to see this rarely used mold is a good one. As for the deco, I'll say that I understand the reason why they're going with the flat gray on the "metal" pieces instead of chrome, in order to match the animation aesthetic, but it does make it look sorta dull and chintzy. 

Thundercracker, on the other hand, is beautiful. This is the deco I wanted so badly as a kid, as I always loved that shade of blue. Looks great on the mold. The only drawback with this one is that, like Starscream, something is off with the mold itself, in that the wings no longer sit flush up against the body of the plant. There's a little gap there, and it kinda drives me mad. I'm not sure how long ago this went wrong, but it has been a while, and they don't seem to be interested in fixing it. The other knock is that on my copy, the right wing doesn't seem to want to stay plugged in, and falls out very easily. 

On the plus side, they're still using die-cast parts on these, just like the originals, so they have a nice heft in hand. And they're so familiar, I could transform these in my sleep, so they're very satisfying to "play" with.

Gimme more! (Included some pics of the new ones alongside my G1 originals, to give you an idea of the difference in paint apps.)

Beautiful pics! I've got Hound and Thundercracker on the way to me as we speak. I'm glad they've fixed Hound from the last reissue. That was so annoying how his head wouldn't come up the whole way, ruined the whole figure. 

[Buzzetta]

So... 

I already had a loose figure collection.   I have a blue Snaggletooth.  I have a Yak Face and the final 17.  I even have a double telescoping Luke figure.  However I never had a full Jabba playset.  I had Salacious Crumb. I had a loose Jabba.  I never had the whole throne setup.  I wanted it way back in 1983 but somehow my brother got it for Christmas instead.  I decided that after 40 years that the wrongs committed by my parents that 1983 Christmas would be rectified.   So I went hunting and then I came across a few other great deals that I could not pass up on like another MOC Luke Jedi.  This Luke Jedi brings my collection to one AFA MOC Graded POTF Luke Jedi, 2x "Raw" MOC Luke Jedis, one AFA Graded Luke Jedi in Baggie, and then about 4 or 5 loose versions to varying degrees of completeness. 

Oh... and btw.  I PURPOSELY had Jabba sent to my parents house so they could do an unboxing.  I had a big laugh at all of this.

"What's this?"

"This is 40 years in the making to rectify your poor parenting skills."

They laughed.  They recognized it right away.  

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Buzzetta

[D84]

Added an upgrade to my Indy. He now has a real leather jacket.

 

[fantastic_four]

On 4/24/2023 at 7:42 PM, Buzzetta said:

I wanted it way back in 1983 but somehow my brother got it for Christmas instead.  I decided that after 40 years that the wrongs committed by my parents that 1983 Christmas would be rectified.

I guess you both found out who their favorite was.  

I'm sure it was the old school parenting idea that you don't buy two of the same toy for two different kids, but instead buy one and let them share it.  Although boys usually aren't great about sharing so I'm sure your brother lorded his Jabba over you to some sickening degree.  

[fantastic_four]

My favorite figures so far this year are the new Hasbro Indiana Jones Adventure Series 1:12 scale figures.  All I wanted originally was Indy and the build-an-artifact Ark of the Covenant, but of course the BAF concept sucked me into buying the others--and wow, they're mostly all great.  The one I wanted least was Belloq in that ceremonial garb, but he's surprisingly great with far better articulation than you'd think a robed figure would have along with an EXCEPTIONAL head sculpt and paint.  Indy is my favorite figure of the year so far and cuts a convincing Indy profile in almost any pose you put him in.  Really love this line now and am all-in on it, and I can't wait for the Last Crusade figures to eventually come out.  

[Buzzetta]

On 4/25/2023 at 9:03 AM, fantastic_four said:

I guess you both found out who their favorite was.  

I'm sure it was the old school parenting idea that you don't buy two of the same toy for two different kids, but instead buy one and let them share it.  Although boys usually aren't great about sharing so I'm sure your brother lorded his Jabba over you to some sickening degree.  

I am sure that my mother believed we would share.  My mother probably never envisioned her boys getting into it so many times that the orthopedic surgeon wanted to know if we were victims of abuse.  

 

[Buzzetta]

On 4/25/2023 at 9:07 AM, fantastic_four said:

My favorite figures so far this year are the new Hasbro Indiana Jones Adventure Series 1:12 scale figures.  All I wanted originally was Indy and the build-an-artifact Ark of the Covenant, but of course the BAF concept sucked me into buying the others--and wow, they're mostly all great.  The one I wanted least was Belloq in that ceremonial garb, but he's surprisingly great with far better articulation than you'd think a robed figure would have along with an EXCEPTIONAL head sculpt and paint.  Indy is my favorite figure of the year so far and cuts a convincing Indy profile in almost any pose you put him in.  Really love this line now and am all-in on it, and I can't wait for the Last Crusade figures to eventually come out.  

Did you order the deluxe Indy set with the golden idol and sandbag setup? 

I shrugged and preordered... 

https://hasbropulse.com/products/indiana-jones-adventure-series-indiana-jones-temple-escape

[fantastic_four]

On 4/25/2023 at 6:37 PM, Buzzetta said:

Did you order the deluxe Indy set with the golden idol and sandbag setup? 

Not yet, but I'm all over that.  I only pre-order under two conditions--there's a sale on pre-order items (mostly Target), or I suspect it's a figure that's HIGHLY in demand that will be hard to get once released.  Not too many figures are in high demand, so I usually only pre-order to take advantage of a sale price.  And when I do identify a figure I expect will be in high demand I usually pre-order multiples to sell later, usually 1 to 3 years later.  I've mostly been buying multiples and pre-ordering Mafex figures over the past 6+ months since that line is sizzling red hot and it can be tough to get any copy of popular figures like Gambit or Symbiote Spider-Man.

I can't fully gauge the popularity of this line yet, but I expect that temple escape Indy won't be too hard to find.  I could end up being wrong and the line is selling out...always hard for us to guess how much supply Hasbro makes of any given item.  For example they originally under-produced the GI Joe Classified Series figures when they first released and the first wave sold out fast, and now they're probably over-producing most of them and it has been really easy to get almost everything in that line for well over a year aside from new character releases like Serpentor.

If you're unaware the same team that does Star Wars Black Series is also doing the Indiana Jones figures, so whatever LucasFilm person that doesn't like double-jointed elbows and knees that forced that with the Black Series is apparently forcing it with this line as well.  I'm OK with it; Indy doesn't really get into Spidey-like poses.

Edited April 26, 2023 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

Heads up for Street Fighter fans--a company called Jada Toys is starting to release a line of 1:12 scale Street Fighter figures that reviewers are absolutely raving about.  The articulation, paint, and sculpt is about as good as Japanese import figures (as far as I can tell Jada Toys is an American company), yet the plastic is durable enough for kids to handle.  The articulation in particular is better than anything Hasbro, Mattel, and McFarlane ever design.

Wave 1 is Ryu, Fei Long, and Chun-Li, with a wave 2 planned of Ken, Dhalsim, and M. Bison.  Price is great at an MSRP of $25, and they're being sold at some retail stores with people already finding Ryu and Fei Long at Target.

Edited April 26, 2023 by fantastic_four

[fantastic_four]

The packaging on the Jada Toys Street Fighter figures is awesome too.

And lastly here's how Ryu and Fei Long look with recent Marvel figures for Marvel vs. Capcom displays.  The Cyclops, Cap, and Rogue are Marvel Legends in the pics below, and the Psylocke is from Mafex.

  

Edited April 26, 2023 by fantastic_four

[BitterOldMan]

On 4/24/2023 at 4:43 PM, D84 said:

Added an upgrade to my Indy. He now has a real leather jacket.

 

That is a great Indy.

Here is my custom Blondie from Good, Bad, and Ugly.  Sculpture by Trevor Grove.  Custom paint by Iminime

Edited April 26, 2023 by BitterOldMan
Correct error. :(

[Buzzetta]

On 4/26/2023 at 7:29 AM, fantastic_four said:

Not yet, but I'm all over that.  I only pre-order under two conditions--there's a sale on pre-order items (mostly Target), or I suspect it's a figure that's HIGHLY in demand that will be hard to get once released.  Not too many figures are in high demand, so I usually only pre-order to take advantage of a sale price.  And when I do identify a figure I expect will be in high demand I usually pre-order multiples to sell later, usually 1 to 3 years later.  I've mostly been buying multiples and pre-ordering Mafex figures over the past 6+ months since that line is sizzling red hot and it can be tough to get any copy of popular figures like Gambit or Symbiote Spider-Man.

I can't fully gauge the popularity of this line yet, but I expect that temple escape Indy won't be too hard to find.  I could end up being wrong and the line is selling out...always hard for us to guess how much supply Hasbro makes of any given item.  For example they originally under-produced the GI Joe Classified Series figures when they first released and the first wave sold out fast, and now they're probably over-producing most of them and it has been really easy to get almost everything in that line for well over a year aside from new character releases like Serpentor.

If you're unaware the same team that does Star Wars Black Series is also doing the Indiana Jones figures, so whatever LucasFilm person that doesn't like double-jointed elbows and knees that forced that with the Black Series is apparently forcing it with this line as well.  I'm OK with it; Indy doesn't really get into Spidey-like poses.

I "think" that the Temple Escape Indiana Jones was a Hasbro Pulse / Shop Disney exclusive. 

The Joe Classified collectors are getting skittish as some are claiming that after the disappointment in sales of the last few waves that future production numbers will be managed more appropriately.   When Hasbro Pulse was offering them at 35% off, even I picked up a couple upon swearing that I would not drop any serious coin on 6" Joes.  However, at $25-30 a figure, that is to rich for my blood in relation to what I would be getting. 

If a few other Indiana Jones figures go on sale, I might be a buyer, but I was pleased knowing that the Temple Escape is headed my way. 

[BraveDave]

Some of these are very impressive. 

[Cat]

My Retro reissue Hound and Thundercracker arrived today. I absolutely love them both, great decos. I didn't think I'd enjoy them that much, being simple redecos, but I'm in loooove. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes having a Hound that actually has his head come up the whole way. I'm now set on getting an actual vintage one to replace the crappy Takara reissue that had the wonky head. It feels like a completely different toy. Thundercracker is also really pleasing, the colours are nice, close to the new MP, and this may be my first G1 Seeker with the remolded hand and Megatron gun?? Not sure on that one, and I can't check, but it could be, if so that's nice to have, and it looks good. I have nothing bad to say about these at all. Superb. 

Here's my pics, nothing compared to the previous pics posted, but i try. 

[Buzzetta]

@Brandon Shepherd

Look for the announcement next week that a new version of the Lego Ghost will be released for $169.99 including Hera, Ahsoka, Chopper, Jacen Syndula, a Calamrian named Quarrie and another figure.   (Sabine and Zeb are not mentioned)

The internet rumor mill is also gearing up that the next Haslab is the Ghost as well.

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Buzzetta

[F For Fake]

On 4/26/2023 at 11:51 PM, Cat said:

My Retro reissue Hound and Thundercracker arrived today. I absolutely love them both, great decos. I didn't think I'd enjoy them that much, being simple redecos, but I'm in loooove. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes having a Hound that actually has his head come up the whole way. I'm now set on getting an actual vintage one to replace the crappy Takara reissue that had the wonky head. It feels like a completely different toy. Thundercracker is also really pleasing, the colours are nice, close to the new MP, and this may be my first G1 Seeker with the remolded hand and Megatron gun?? Not sure on that one, and I can't check, but it could be, if so that's nice to have, and it looks good. I have nothing bad to say about these at all. Superb. 

Here's my pics, nothing compared to the previous pics posted, but i try. 

They're a blast, right? Really hope they keep the line going.

[Brandon Shepherd]

On 4/27/2023 at 5:18 AM, Buzzetta said:

@Brandon Shepherd

Look for the announcement next week that a new version of the Lego Ghost will be released for $169.99 including Hera, Ahsoka, Chopper, Jacen Syndula, a Calamrian named Quarrie and another figure.   (Sabine and Zeb are not mentioned)

The internet rumor mill is also gearing up that the next Haslab is the Ghost as well.

 

Oh cool!

[F For Fake]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a giant tub of bots, and spent the next week or so identifying everything in there. Out of every figure, part, piece and accessory, these are the only two I've not been able to track down. I've looked over the ID guide at Transformerland and tfu.info, but I am just not seeing these. There were Go-Bots and some other random bits and bobs in the lot, so very likely these aren't even TF, but any kind of assistance would be most appreciated!