Sunday 20 September 2015

Just a little update.

Not a lot has happened on the Vader Armour front. With the weather not being great i have not had the chance to do more filling and sanding on the helmet and do anything with the Chest Armour.  But hoping that things change i can get back to work on it soon. I did pick up two belts so i am hoping to replace the straps on the chest box.
Doctor Who made it's return on Saturday and i was not disappointed. It was a gripping two parter and can't wait for next Saturday to found out what happens next.

On Mecha Month i can not believe i set the theme as Comedy and i forgot to include what is in my humble opinion a CLASSIC anime 
Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure
I can not believe I completely forgot about it. It is a classic from 1999/2000 and will be added to the list for this November. So as it stands and i think pretty much everything is locked in place the list looks like this.

Full Metal Panic Season 001.
Godannar.
Dai-Guard.
Martian Successor Nadesico.
Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure.

A good selection of anime so November is going to be fun. 

On a completely different subject i was saddened to hear that Bandai will not allow their Star Wars model kits to be sold outside of Japan. This is very sad as it will drive up the price of the kits on Ebay and at conventions. I was spending roughly £10-13 on each figure kit but now I will be looking at £25-30 per kit. I have the Boba Fett kit on pre-order so i hope that the per-order will be honoured. I do not know if thi has come down from Bandai or if it was from Disney but either way it is sad news for us collectors and or model builders. 
This was just a little update so let me know what you think of Dual Parallel and Bandai stopping the sales of their Star Wars kits out side of Japan in the comments below. 


Sunday 6 September 2015

Missed Force Friday... but all was not lost.

September 4th was Force Friday. The day where lots of new toys, books and everything in between was reviled. Here in the UK Toys'r'Us, Forbidden Planet, the Disney Store and many more were open at midnight and people were able to get hands on all the new toys and collectibles. This was a world wide event. Me and a few friends were thinking of going up to London but as it was on a Thursday in to a Friday and we had work in the morning we couldn't go. But that didn't stop us going online and seeing what was out and seeing the new pre-orders on Friday after work.
And that is where i began to have problems with what is coming out. More on that a little later.
So the question is what did i get or pre-order... 

To be honest..... not much.... no really.

I went to my local Toys'r'Us and did not see anything that took my fancy. They didn't have any of the 6" Black Series figures or the Star Wars Rebels Darth Vader and Asoka two pack. So i left feeling a little disappointed. when i got home i hit the net. 
My first stop was Sideshow Collectibles and I when straight for the Hot Toys Kylo Ren and then the Hot Toys First Order Stormtrooper two pack.


These pre-orders will hopefully be shipping in the early part of 2016. Just need to find the space to put them....
After that i went to the Forbidden Planet and Amazon as well as a few other sites didn't see anything and found myself on the Disney Store website looking at something called Elite Series... Never heard of them but they were Die-Cast... So i ordered the Kylo Ren, Stormtrooper and Captain Phasma.


I am a big fan of Die-Cast and have a small collection of the Super Robot Chogokin toys so Star Wars Die-Cast figures.... I will give them a try.
And now i am waiting for HLJ.com to put up the S.H. Figuarts Star Wars figures up for pre-order.
Let me know if you took part in Force Friday in the comments below.

I mentioned above i had a problem with what i saw for Force Friday. Now let me explain. I have been collecting Star Wars since the early 80's.... During the Good times and the Dark times. 
I remember when Kenner brought back Star Wars toys in the mid 90's just before the Special Editions came out in cinemas in 1997. These figures looked like they had all hit the gym and were going to enter the MR Universe Competition.. 
But in more resent years.
In the last year or so i have become more and more disappointed with the fit and finish of the Hasbro figures. And when they are compared to the toys coming from Japan from the Likes of Bandai, they are just a let down. But that does come at a price, These figures are a little bit more expensive and can be a lot more once you include import duty's. It really hits home when you compare the Hasbro 6" Jedi Luke Skywalker with the S.H Figuarts Jedi Luke Skywalker. It is night and day. Then the Hasbro 6" Stormptrooper and Darth Vader  next to 1/12th Bandai model kits Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper...

On the Left the Hasbro 6" figure on the right the Bandai 1/12th model kit

On the Left the Hasbro 6" figure on the right the Bandai 1/12th model kit.

Hasbro 6" Darth Vader flanked by Hasbro 6" Stormtoopers 

Bandai 1/12th Darth Vader flanked by Bandai 1/12th Stormtroopers

Ok tell me what looks better?

You can really see the difference in the Vader's. And the cloth capes just don't work for me.
So i have come to the dissension that i will stop getting the Hasbro figures. After many years it's time to move on. Now i wont abandon Hasbro completely when i see something that i really like then i will get it. But i wont be per-ordering any new ones I wont be going out of my way to look for new 6" figures. So moving forward i am going to focus my buying on the Japanese figures. This will benefit me long term as they release less figures a year so in theory it will be easier on the wallet.

In other news.... I got the replacement tusks for Vader Helmet.and they look amazing. with the weather being pretty bad over the last two weeks i was unable to do any work on it, but i hear the weather should be very good next week if so i will try and do more to and hopefully get to the stage where it just needs priming and painting...