Shock Trooper 12″ Figures by Medicom.
Posted on | August 29, 2008 | No Comments
I’ve cheated on Sideshow. Twice. At the same time. (That’s right. It’s my very first threesome. And would someone please stop me from ever again using sexual metaphors in reference to my toys.)
I won’t lie. Medicom does quality work. These figures look great and they photograph very well. Any complaints about the scale of early figures should be shoved right out the window of a derigible at, say, 3,000 feet into a pit of flaming dragons and forgotten there.
The armor is more than a little restrictive, to the extent that it requires a good deal of thought and patience to work the figures into any sort of satisfying pose whatsoever. But we’re dealing with soft plastic here, which flexes nicely and prevents breakage for those (like me) who tend to get a bit aggressive with their posing of stubborn figures.
The real sin of this soft plastic lies in the details. While it seems to hold the paint really well, the finer points of the armor seem to be a bit dull for this 12″ size. I’ve never owned a Hasbro 12″ figure, but I’d expect the quality to be similar. Which, at the original $150 price, makes these figures very over-valued. I’m really excited now to see if Sideshows armor will feature sharper edges.
I could complain about the lack of accessories here, but I really shouldn’t. True, the Shock Trooper only comes with the one standard-issue blaster rifle. But, in all fairness to Medicom, it’s also the only one that we ever see this particular variety of Clone carrying in Revenge of the Sith. The larger, more interesting rifles are left to the more battle-hardened Clones in the field, and are most often seen in Attack of the Clones by those wearing the Phase I armor. (Although I’m pretty sure that Medicom’s Episode II Clone also comes only with this smaller blaster. More on that one when it arrives on Tuesday.)
I’m a big fan of Medicom’s clear plastic stand, by the way. It’s much less obtrusive than the bold black block that Sideshow send with their figures. (Does anyone know what the Hot Toys stands look like?) The Medi stands are designed to attach at the leg, I think. It can be awkward when it comes to posing, but once I got it figured out (so to speak), it worked brilliantly.
All in all, I’m pleased that I got these two at half price. However, I think that I’m going to be disappointed that I paid $130 for the Clone Commander that arrives at my door next week. Anyone complaining that Sideshow’s quality no longer supports their elevated prices need look no further than these Medi Clones to see what a true price-to-quality deficit is. I really am looking forward to Sideshow’s perfect Stormtrooper, and their perfect Vader, and their perfect General Kenobi, and any and all subsequent Clones they see fit to release.
I’m sorry, Sideshow. I’ll never stray again…except to get those Hot Toys “The Dark Knight” figures… ;)
Taking a Dump
Posted on | August 28, 2008 | No Comments
Spike and Angel have sold, to the total tune of $555. And my Princess Leia PF Exclusive and (whimper) Stealth Iron Man Comiquette are currently on the auction block at e(vil)Bay. (Username Rook325, if either of my readers are interested…)
Does anyone else out there get some slight symptoms of a panic attack whilst forcing themselves to part with their collectibles? It’s ludicrous, isn’t it? Especially when the sum quantity of one’s collectibles by far exceeds the square footage available for display. But here I am, chewing my nails and thinking about a bottle of Canadian Club at 7:30 in the morning.
Of course, there may be little need to worry at this point. Both of my vampire auctions were won by the same person on Tuesday night at 7 p.m., and I have yet to receive so much as an e-mail, let alone payment. :\ There’s a slight possibility that I may have a deadbeat bidder on my hands. (That whiskey’s sounding more like breakfast all the time…)
I really need that cash, too. Not to buy food, or to pay my bookie. But I do have several Medicom Clones on the way. And I just ordered both Hot Toys Jokers and a Batman from Marc at Alter Ego Comics. And Weta will have their Halo items up for pre-order soon, I’m told…
I’ve really gotta sell more of my crap. :(
Prairie Dog and friend
Posted on | August 22, 2008 | 1 Comment
No, they’re not statues. But they’re still as statues, so to speak.
The St. Louis Zoo was actually the first place I acquired a statue. It was a 5-inch-high wax sculpture of a gorilla. I think I still have it somewhere.
Anyway, this photo needs a caption. Who can help me with that?
Medicom Shock Trooper
Posted on | August 18, 2008 | No Comments
No photos with this one. Just a general announcement that the Star Wars website is featuring the 12″ Clone Shock Trooper, which is exclusive to that site, at the bargain price of $75 — 50% off the retail price, for those who don’t know.
Unlike the other Medicom figures I’ve looked at, the Clones are apparently to scale with the Sideshow products, as evidenced by comparison pics featured in the review of the 501st Clone Trooper written by Michael Crawford on his website (www.mwctoys.com).
I took full advantage of this offer. It’s the Shocktroopers who arrive on Mustafar with Palpatine at the end of Revenge of the Sith to retrieve the badly-burned Darth Vader after his penultimate duel with Obi-wan Kenobi.
I only ordered one. But I’m considering a second.
At any rate, grab ‘em up. Even Sideshow’s clones aren’t likely to come it at this pricepoint (although they are likely to be superior).
Clone Wars Review, or “Lucas Deconstructs Star Wars”
Posted on | August 17, 2008 | 3 Comments
First of all, let me get this out of the way: I genuinely enjoyed The Clone Wars.
I know what you’re thinking: “Of course Terry liked Clone Wars. Geeky sci-fi fanboy would like a mushy cow patty if it could whistle the Star Wars theme while wielding a lightsaber.”
Well, it’s not really that simple. See, when I’m critiquing something — any kind of art, really, and especially cinema — I consider two questions:
1) What was the artist trying to accomplish, and
2) Was the artist successful in realizing that goal?
Remember how Lucas has always maintained that Star Wars was based on the old sci-fi movie serials from back in the day? Of course, being feature-length motion pictures, they were allowed to be more in-depth with their stories and characters in the films than those shortened episodic pieces allowed their creators to be (And who cared, really? It was World War Two. People went to the cinema for mindless escapism. But that’s another topic.)
Well, it seems to me that the more condensed episodic nature of a show like “The Clone Wars” has allowed Lucas to take Star Wars back to its serialized roots. And, to that end, he’s allowed himself to give the show a purer resemblance to its source material. Hence the grandiose voiceover at the beginning (reminiscent of the old cinematic newsreels from WWII, which are not at all out of place here) and the overly stylized adaptation of the original Star Wars score, more bombastic and playful than the original.
“The Clone Wars” is rife with everything that made Star Wars the phenomenon it was to me as a child. There’s the brash hero, the reckless youth, the wise old master, and the feisty young woman, and the droids. In addition, they’ve thrown dozens of the clones into the mix who, as stated in other reviews, are the real darlings of the film. And let us never forget the fact that there are lightsabers. Lots and lots of lightsabers.
The clones’ interaction with Ahsoka alone makes her character justifiable. She’s like an orphaned youth that gets adopted by some Army unit in WWII. (Think Bucky with Captain America in the old Golden Age comic books.) They clearly get a kick out of having her around, and it’s easy to see them (especially Rex) go from scepticism to adoration in their dealings with her.
Ahsoka herself is spunky, cute, cocky, at times badass … and, sadly, cursed with a bit of bad dialog. But not too much. Just enough to remind us that this is, above all other things, a Star Wars film.
There is one thing, and only one thing, that pained me beyond measure: Jabba’s uncle, Zero. Oh. My. GOD!!! The slug’s overly-stylized, weaselly gangster voice made me cringe. I mean that. I visibly cringed every time this ridiculous character spoke. I’m sure he was based on some character from some Cagney film I’ve never seen, but that voice emerging from a giant Hutt body, sounding like the polar opposite of Jabba’s deep, guttural utterings, was just … wrong…
But the battle scenes were not. Nope. Not in the slightest. In fact, most of them were downright brutal … much more so than those we glimpsed in “Revenge of the Sith.” Those clones, man. They’ve got a hard life.
Here’s my advice for those of you on the fence (or in flat-out refusal mode): Dismiss all pre-conceived notions as to what you imagined the Clone Wars show should be. (I never allow myself that sort of conceit. It’s not my film, after all.) Pretend instead that you’re going to the theater to investigate a curious and dubious animated feature film that has its roots heavily fixed in 40s cinema sci-fi nostalgia. Then pretend they gave it lightsabers. It’s good fun. Seriously. I think, as a wise old (and dead) Jedi once said, “you’ll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” ;)
(And, yes, I’m likely going to fork over the cash to give it a second go.)
All In Good Time
Posted on | August 14, 2008 | 1 Comment
Like the old saying in comedy, timing is everything. In many ways, this can be equally applied to collecting, especially when it comes to the timing of release dates.
Flash back to SDCC 07 and the announcement of Weta’s Doctor Who line and initial preview of a couple of statues. Combine that with a very early picture of Sideshow’s Eagle vs Fellbeast diorama and the Lara Croft PF around the same time, and a few items went onto the must purchase list.
Fast forward a little as release schedules start to fall into place and we get a bit of nice spacing between statues, which is important when they cost $300-$400 each. Lara due around December 07, first two of four Doctor Who statues around May/June and the Eagle vs Fellbeast around July.
Join me again in the here and now, to see just how “compressed” timing can be. Lara was significantly delayed and has only just been released, notice has been given that before the end of August the Eagle vs Fellbeast statue will start shipping and if current information holds true, the first Doctor Who statue will also start shipping around the end of the month, with the other 3 to be spaced out over the next few months.
So much for nice even and manageable timing. It’s a bit like the old bus schedule joke, “If there are 6 buses scheduled every hour, what’s the maximum time you have to wait for a bus?”
Answer, “1 hour, then all six come at once.”
Bored at Work…
Posted on | August 13, 2008 | No Comments
Between photo shoots at the office. Got bored. This is what happens when I get bored.
Kyle
Posted on | August 13, 2008 | No Comments
This is Kyle. Kyle is one of my soldiers who works for me on the valet parking lot at Harry’s in downtown St. Louis. His role on our team? Shuttle driver. Which means that every night, when the drunken children start to roll into the place in droves and we have to park cars further and further away, it’s Kyle’s job to get the troops back to base as quickly and expediently as possible, and with minimal loss of life.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Not all of the drunks prefer to valet park. Most, in fact, choose to park blocks away and walk. The catch is, they don’t usually use the sidewalk. So the trip from Valet Base Alpha to Parking Lot Bravo and back is rife with randomly moving obstacles, all of whom are feeling drunk and litigious.
Kyles the guy driving the big Nissan pickup loaded up with exhausted and smelly valets, all of whom are holding on for dear life as he zigs and zags at speeds exceeding 30 mph with nothing but his reflexes and a pair of flashing hazard lights between him and a frivolous lawsuit.
The only things about this photo that concern collecting are the Anakin Skywalker vs. Obi-wan Kenobi diorama from Sideshow Collectibles that can be seen in the background, and the fact that this valet parking gig keeps my collection going. If any of you need some extra cash with which to buy cool things, find a valet parking job. It’s worth the extra hours, and all the running keeps you fit and young.
Stealth Iron Man Comiquette
Posted on | August 13, 2008 | 2 Comments
I keep meaning to sell my Stealth Iron Man Comiquette, but the bloody thing’s just so damned photogenic! I mean, really.
I woke up a couple of mornings ago after a night of Olympic-watching with friends, and, while lying there in bed, I looked into The Cave. I had accidentally left the blinds open the night before, and sunlight was streaming through the window. The way it bounced off the Stealth Iron Man armor made it look like the character was just emerging from hiding in the shadows. I stumbled downstairs, rubbing my eyes the whole way while bouncing off the handrail like a drunk (which I was), and grabbed the camera.
Sunlight moves quicker than you think. I barely had time to grab a few shots before the sunbeam had moved back far enough to ruin the effect.
Oh, and the blinds are closed again. :) No more sun for my statues, nope.
Anyway, enjoy.
Aayla Secura
Posted on | August 12, 2008 | No Comments
This one’s not as bad as I feared. Even with the robe off, I’m not nearly as distracted by the joints in her arm as I thought I would be. It’s hard to deny, though, that the figure looks better overall whilst wearing the robe.
A lot of flack has been given to the hastily-assembled top, and it’s well-deserved. I can’t believe that they couldn’t come up with a way to make this thing fit better. I’m pretty sure that I can get it to fit better with a dab of super-glue or something, but I’m always hesitant to use that crap on my figures. :\
Oh, and she’s more the color of the Diva from “The Fifth Element” then that of Aayla in Revenge of the Sith. :( I guess it was tough to land that color in the hard plastic while getting it to match with the color of the soft plastic head. Too bad.
Still, the flaws aren’t nearly enough for me to hate this figure, and I’m likely going to hang onto it. Once my Ki-Adi-Mundi figure arrives, I’m going to get a group shot of the non-human Jedi figures that I own.
The Star Wars 12″ Saga Continues
Posted on | August 12, 2008 | 2 Comments
I just made this for a post over at the Sideshow Freaks forum, and thought I’d share it here. I know it’s been months since I’ve blogged. And I hope that fact hasn’t offended either of my readers. I’ll try to get something more regular up.
At any rate … here’s the composite photo of all of the 12″ figures I own.
Tags: 1/6 scale figures > Sideshow Collectibles > Star Wars > star wars figures > starwarsfigures
The Good Results of a Bad Adaptation
Posted on | May 1, 2008 | 1 Comment
I finally got to see “The Golden Compass” last night, and I was not thrilled.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW…
Of course, interrupting the ending of the book like they did was a smart and predictable way to leave it open to a sequel. But there was absolutely no emotional connection at the end. Without the death of that key character (who dies at the end of the book), I could feel less inclined to jump aboard a sequel, were I not in-the-know with this series.
In addition, the entire film seemed a bit rushed to me throughout.
But there were several good bits as well. There had to be, if Lindsey was getting as excited and nervous as she was. Typically, she loathes this kind of film. (Film snob. Hates POTC, for instance.) Iorek was brilliant, and lifelike in his animation. The daemon CGI left me wishing that I could wear my soul on the outside. And Dakota Blue Richards was simply outstanding in the lead roll. What an amazing find, and way too perfect for them to waste time creating the sequels.
Whilst sifting through the paperwork in the DVD, however, I came across a Noble Collection advertisement for a prop replica of the alethiometer. It’s gorgeous, to say the least — an extremely well-designed replica.
But (and this is very unlike me, especially after a bottle of wine) I had absolutely no urge whatsoever to purchase it.
So there’s the silver lining, then. If a film is excellent, of course I’m going to be intrigued by any subsequent collectibles. It’s in my blood.
But, fortunately for me and my wallet, the opposite is also true. The bad movies with collectibles attached to them keep coming. Fantastic Four and Ghost Rider, to name a couple.
I could and should thank those filmmakers for saving me so much money.
…and the bank account wept with relief.
Posted on | April 29, 2008 | 1 Comment
Sideshow has revised the estimated shipping dates on a number of items I have pre-ordered, and I’m delighted to say that I don’t have anything coming in the near future.
I know that’s weird for a collector to say, but I think that everyone out there, at one time or another (if not all of the time), has experienced it: That cold, heart-stopping feeling you get when you feel the pinch of your wallet. It comes right about the time that you fear you’ll be overwhelmed by the a huge influx of poly.
But I’m happy to say that I have nothing arriving now until June, and the only thing shipping to me in that month will be the ANH Luke Skywalker 12″ figure (which I might even cancel). After that, it’s ANH Han Solo in July, followed by a Red Skull PF (Wait List) in August. Everything after that, thankfully, is very vague.
It’s a good thing, too. I have a Croatia trip coming up in the first week of June. (Note to self: Update Vlad on the change of travel date…) And I have a ring to pay off. And a wedding to plan for. And a fiancee to not scare away. And a house to renovate…
Hmm … so much for the relief of my bank account. :(
With a Wink and Asajj
Posted on | April 27, 2008 | 4 Comments
Sideshow threw their Exclusive Asajj Ventress Premium Format Figure up for pre-order this week, and reactions have run the gamut from drooling fanboy enthusiasm to abject abhorrence, with the main point of contention being the sculpt of the exclusive version’s change-of-portrait.
I understand the distaste. I really do. I mean, she’s one ugly bitch. Let’s face it. But it’s easy to get lost in pre-conceived notion of what we think a character should look like.
Asajj Ventress is a humanoid female. The original concept sketches by conceptual artist Dermot Power (found on pages 112-114 of The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones) illustrate this perfectly. Her features in these sketches are indistinguishable from those of a human female.
So it seems that Genndy Tartakovsky took more than a little creative license when he re-interpreted when he re-interpreted Asajj Ventress for his animated introduction of the character. The overall effect is hideously terrifying, and more than a little gruesome.
But what an amazing metaphor! In Tartakovsky’s take, we see Ventress as twisted on the outside as she is on the inside, consumed by the Dark Side into this horrid monstrosity so despicable that some can’t even bring themselves to order a statue of her.
And therein lies that call to make the Clone Wars face the exclusive. After all, for many people, this face was their first exposure to the character. While certainly a departure from the original design, and far more hideous than our first glimpses of the character in the forthcoming re-launch of The Clone Wars, this choice of exclusive has accomplished exactly that which Sideshow intends when considering what to use as an exclusive item: It’s a cool bit that is ultimately unnecessary to the collectible, but which holds some appeal, or “wow” factor, for the die-hard collector in all of us.
Either way, I like this Premium Format figure more and more. More than Anakin, even. I think that it has real potential to be one of those “Wow!” pieces that draws attention from guests to the collector’s private viewing chamber. (Yes, I have a private viewing chamber. Don’t you?) In all honesty, I scored my pre-order with every intention of cancelling. (I’m incorrigible, it seems.)
But I have to be realistic. The edition size isn’t going to be that huge. And, as much as many may consider that face up there to be one that only a mother could love, I have to admit that I’m growing fonder of it by the day.
Padmé Amidala (Ilum Mission)
Posted on | April 16, 2008 | No Comments
Sideshow’s female bodies are wa-a-a-ay too hot…
The first Ilum Padmé I received featured a left eye that looked left and a right eye that stared directly ahead. It was the worst-case scenario of what was unfortunately a fairly oft-lamented issue with this figure. Sadly, the lengthy arms are still present and obvious, but they’re easy to cover up with the cape and some selective posing.
The final complaint people have had is with the costuming. To which I say, “Figh!!” It’s a textbook outfit from an early 20th-century sci-fi serial. It’s something Dale Arden would wear to the polar icecaps of Mongo in an episode of Flash Gordon. (And who’s hotter than Dale Arden?)
Still not convinced? Try this take: It’s Padmé in her Episode II arena battle costume, only she added boots, gloves and a hood.
keep looking »Chat
: All things are possible. (Although most are improbable. And I promise to never say anything like that again.)
: Is it possible?
: I'm bringing it back.
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: Just checking out the fantastic new layout is all.
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