So Shiny!

SDCC then. Nautica looks okay, Lego Nightcrawler’s not what I want so I’ll revert to my earlier plan of getting the Advent Calendar to get Doom. McFarlane showed off Klassic Smoke and all the P2 colours for the next lot of releases. Conventions definitely not as exciting as they used to be!

I recently found out about ZD Toys, they make fairly high end Marvel figures (better than Legends, not quite Hot Toys). They’ve done a good few main characters, but they’ve also made just about every single Iron Man armour. Me want. I did briefly consider buying ‘all of them’, but that would cost several grand and so thought better of it. They’re also 1:10/7” scale so they don’t strictly work with Marvel Legends. That said, some of the MCU armours are supposed to be a bit bigger so you can sort of fudge it. There are a few which are a bit bigger, but rather than get all of those, I decided just to get the ones which I had on my want list - specifically the Mark 37 Hammerhead armour and Mark 48 Hulkbuster.

They’re painted with metallics so a bit more fancy than Marvel Legends, but I thought I’d give them a go. (The Hulkbuster even has lights!) I’m not sure why the Mark 37 appeals to me so much (green is my favourite colour mind). I look at it and think, that looks cool, I need more! But I just don’t really like the other armours that might work scale wise all that much, and I’m reluctant to replace ones I already have even if the scale is better. So I will just try and enjoy these ones.

I went to watch the new Spider-Man film, very much enjoyed. Though I haven’t really thought about the MCU as much recently, I’ve enjoyed the last few films - Fantastic 4, Thunderbolts, and the Doomsday trailer looks epic. I’ve found it hard to get going on some of the TV shows recently but the trailer for Vision Quest also looks good.

Missing link Grimlock! So good I bought two. It looks great, a genuine joy. Could well be my figure of the year. I put my original G1 figure in the packaging to create a display of both modes plus MIB. Living the dream!

I have a lot of amazing toys, but I have so many their true amazingness is diminished by the sheer number I own. I have slowed down a lot though so hopefully I’m able to appreciate them a bit more. It’s eye opening looking at my spending from five years ago, I’m in a very different place now.

Bored?!

So despite having given up non-Transforming transformers….. I bought Blokees WW Grimlock, just in case they do the rest of the Dinobots. It looks really good so I’ll probably keep it regardless.

Johnny Cage arrived, probably the least interesting Mortal Kombat character! Still he has a pair of sunglasses.

My spending for the first half of the year has been extremely low - I’ve sold more than I’ve bought, and actually if a couple of the things I’ve budgeted for don’t materialise then there is an outside possibility of my selling being higher than my spending. A couple of years ago that would be unthinkable. I have just had my highest ever quarter of selling which has really helped.

I also seem to be making better decisions, I’m not sure whether it’s because I’m losing interest, or simply I’m not prepared to spend big money on things that aren’t exactly what I want. I wanted a MP Blaster, but I’m just not sold on the cartoon deco the new figure will have. I wanted a voyager Sunstorm but I’m not sold on the deco of the new figure, and I’m definitely not paying over quadruple the price for the made to order set.

Speaking of MTO. Mephisto has turned up, a surprisingly short amount of time after the US release (unlike say, Liokaiser…..). He’s devilishly good! So unless Hasbro stun me at SDCC, this is my penultimate Legends figure for the foreseeable. I’m glad I replaced the Selects version.

And finally, Ray Stanz has finally turned up to complete my Real Ghostbusters team. It even came with a little Marshmallow Man. This feels like quite the milestone - I now have a complete set of Thundercats, Turtles, and Ghostbusters in the versions I want. 

Apparently a Lego set has leaked with Nightcrawler (and Dr Doom) in it! Fantastic, hopefully Nightcrawler is generic enough to fit in with the other X-Men (and not too movie-ish), but great news. Just need a Baxter Building now! It really feels like my non-Transformers wants are pretty much done. Hoping for a Saesee Tiin from SDCC, maybe see some new Klassic figures from McFarlane. Not really expecting too much else.

Got Powerglide and Swerve. They both look solid in robot mode. I found on Powerglide that several parts would rather fall off than move in the way they are intended, there were a few times I wondered if I was stressing a part. Anyway, they’re fine. Apparently Missing Link Grimlock is on its way, with the Minibots and Bruticus it’s not been the most exciting of years so hopefully Grimlock can save it!

Streetfighting!!!

I would like to spend a bit more time taking pictures of my collection, but it has always been tricky finding the particular figures I’m after. Previously it was organised by line (roughly), but to find any one thing required me to know what came out around the same time. I therefore decided to sort it by the year the character first had a figure. Quite the epic task, and made more tricky by Titans. At the same time I want to set up ‘Primatives’ and Lost Light shelves. Took almost an entire weekend but if nothing else it was quite a useful exercise - like taking a census to remind me of what I have and what I got rid of! I’ve also bought a much bigger light box, potential for Titan pictures now!

Started off by sorting out the Lost Lighters (and Scavengers)!

Secondly, got the Dinobots out.

Both generations! These guys have had the benefit of some reprolabelling as well.

Some exciting reveals from Takara - Beast Wars II Galvatron. As much as anything it’s exciting that we’re getting new moulds in the New Legends line. MPG Blaster is also interesting, though I’m mostly interested in the cassettes. I’m also still keeping an eye on Missing Link, I think Ironhide and Ratchet look good. I’m trying not to be drawn into another line though. In other news, Thunderwing and Sunstorm have been leaked!!! Very exciting news, 2027 is shaping up nicely.

Some reveals for Mortal Kombat Klassic - they’re actually finishing off the roster for playable and secret characters. I was thinking about on passing on Baraka - I was just going for the earth based characters (MKI plus Kung Lao, Jax, and Smoke), but since I already have Mileena perhaps it would be rude not to get him. I will try to pass on Jade and Noob Saibot - as much as anything it’s almost impossible to get them anyway.

Also a picture of Marvel Legends Doc Samson, bit of a low key reveal but once I’ve got him and Mephisto that’s all my must haves done for Legends. Not quite stopping but nothing else on the horizon. Got him preordered.

Also got Swindle, Tailgate, Joyride, and Pointblank preordered. Prices have crept up again. Good to get the last Combaticon and Minibots lined up. Also some promising mentions of Throttlebots, Targetmasters, and Powermasters.

Spent a bit of time messing around with my Diaclone inspired figures. They really are great, I like every single mould. Just need the few they haven’t done yet.

Got some new Streetfighter figures - Balrog, Akuma, and E. Honda. They all look great. Balrog and E. Honda are to go with my other Streetfighter characters, Akuma is to go with my X-Men characters! I never actually played Children of the Atom (I only had a Mega Drive when it was released), but I was buying a computer games magazine focused on Sega so I was very much aware of it. Got a preorder in for Zangief, very almost done. With not much on the horizon it feels like I’m almost done with 6” figures (Mortal Kombat are 7”).

Collecting feels a bit low key at the moment, I guess I’ve just been a bit distracted with other things. SDCC next month, let’s hope it delivers!

Finished with Customs!

I was about to finish my ‘final’ custom project when I started thinking about my Marvel collections. This caused something to occur to me: I wanted a non-powered up Iceman, so I took a small break and made a new custom. (Actually really want a Legends figure with this look.)

I also decided to to get a Legends Kate Bishop. I really liked the dynamic she (briefly) had with Ironheart and Ms. Marvel in Marvel Zombies. I would prefer the trio in 3.75”, but really not inclined to start new projects. Anyway, managed to grab a Legends one for a decent price.

Finally in my little Marvel creative/spending spree, I found out 3.75” Spider-Gwen was a (ready made) thing, so I can finally complete my Into the Spider-Verse lineup.

So after all that, I did actually get on and finish my final custom project - Motaro!!! I completed my MKI/II lineup a little while ago but I had also wanted a few things from MK3 - cyber ninjas (done), Jax with metal arms (done), and finally Motaro. It feels like a suitably large last project - a centaur! I used a Bossfight horse (and human blank) for the base. It has a slightly different anatomy to the in-game appearance of Motaro, which makes it tricky, but think the horse part looks good - maybe a bigger (human) chest could improve it. For the time being at least, I am done!

I’ve now decided to get rid of some of the spare parts/tools I use for customs. I am done with new projects (famous last words) and, sort of, with Marvel.

Just after I started collecting Transformers, Star Wars Transformers came along with their little pilots. I started collecting miniatures of Star Wars and Marvel. But then, Marvel Universe happened (and Wolverine Origins Deadpool and Wolverine). Between official and customs I got a whole load of (1:18) Marvel, Star Wars, and Mortal Kombat. I started collecting 1:12 Turtles and Thundercats (since there were no other options), but then in 2018 I saw Marvel Legends Deadpool and Wolverine (those guys again). I needed them, and so I began collecting Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black (and later Mortal Kombat Klassic).

I’ve long since got rid of the miniatures, but I’ve always been trying to work out the balance between 1:18 and 1:12/1:10 scales. I have finally settled on getting most stuff in 1:18, but my favourite/important characters and teams in 1:12. It’s a tricky balance and one I’ve now spent quite a lot of time thinking about. I’ve now got all the characters I want for Marvel (though I’d like to switch the scale on a few).

At the same time, I’m also just about done with Star Wars Black, Streetfighter, and Real Ghosbusters (long since done with Turtles, Thundercats, and Power Rangers). Bit more to go on Klassic, did get a preorder in for Johnny Cage though.

To celebrate the occasion of getting my last customs done (and because I saw someone on YouTube do it) I thought I might have a go at listing my favourite projects that I’ve done.

I started doing customs in 2006, my first few efforts were terrible, but I learnt from them. Mostly I think I learnt not to bother with Transformers customs, though an honourable mention should go out to my broken G1 Metroplex for being my initial motivation. I learnt how to paint, how to sculpt, and how to make moulds and resin copies. I have since focussed on 3.75” figures, mostly Marvel, but also Batman, Mortal Kombat, and several other interests. These aren’t necessarily the ‘best’, I’m also giving marks for creativity and just trying things. In no particular order:

1. V-Rex: the character is a savage land dinosaur combined with the Venom Symbiote. This is what I spent quite a lot of the first lockdown during the pandemic doing. I think it looks pretty good but it also stands out as one of my most ambitious customs.

2. Groot (Mark I and II): I’ve done three versions of Groot but the third is a completely different figure. The base for the first one was a KO BAF MCU Groot. I found out how to preserve tree branches (well, twigs really) using glycerine and combined the two. A while later I decided I wanted a costumed Groot and so took the head, arms and feet from my initial figure and attached them to a Marvel Legends Star Lord figure. Pretty cool, and I learnt a few techniques doing it. I ended up taking it apart and reverting it to be Star Lord when I started collecting Legends but I remember it fondly.

3. M’baku: doing this was actually an extension of some of the ideas I used from Groot - I made resin copies of bits of a figure (in this case the head, arms and feet from a planet of the apes figure) and attached them to another figure (Marvel Universe Grey Hulk). This is one of many figures that I came up with the idea and then took actual years getting round to it. Working out how to do the head was ridiculously hard but I think it just about works - the difficulty of turning a 2D picture into a 3D object.

4. Ghost Rider: this is quite a simple idea, I bought a 1:18 motorbike, took the wheels off and made resin copies of them, but adding some orange paint to the resin. Turned out really well! I then also redid Ghost Rider himself as I didn’t like the blue that the released figure had.

5. Goro: this figure is at the very top of the list for time taken to get from idea stage to completion. (Mostly complications relating to also getting a Kintaro out of it.) It was actually quite simple in the end but really happy with how it turned out. Generally though, this could just be ‘Mortal Kombat figures’.

6. Buzzsaw: I did lots of Transformers customs in my early days, this was one of the simpler ones but quite effective and one of the few I actually still have. (Weirdly I still have the head from one of my first customs - a Shockwave from Classics Megatron.)

7. Thunderbolt Ross: this was a really simple idea, and probably says more about GI Joe than me, but this was the epitome of finding a good base figure.

8. Grim Reaper: I’m generally happy with all my efforts to make villains from A:EMH but I feel this was one of the better ones. (A bit like Goro this is generally ‘A:EMH villains’ and this is the one I chose.)

9. Raptor: I like how this turned out (it was a ‘Blue’ originally), but really, I like dinosaurs and this was a more interesting addition to my ‘villains’ collection.

10. Iron Man Armoury: I’ve made two Iron Man armouries - one 3.75” scale and one Lego, I couldn’t choose so I’ve gone for both!

I feels like the end of 20 years of learning and getting better. I think my focus now is going to be on Lego (still customs of a sort really) and photography. I’ve got a few more ideas relating to the various (mostly Marvel) modular buildings for Lego, but I also like the idea of cataloging my collection in some way. Going through my figures, there are a few that could do with some tweaks. Perhaps rather than new things, that is what I should focus on.

To carry on with Dinobot month, I’ve got the G2 set. Fizzy pop goodness, and also some Slash(es). I really like the idea of an army of them.

So a monumental month for me but expecting the next one to be a quiet one. My next task is to spend a bit of time arranging my collection boxes. Crazy!

Dinobot Month Pt. 1

I’ve finished my final Transformers custom: Grimlock! That’s all my Transformers projects done, I’m glad my Dinobot shelf will have a custom on it. I feel like I’m on the home straight now, one project left…..

It is Dinobot month although sadly no G2 set yet. However, as as well as finishing the aforementioned custom, I did get the plush Swoop. The set is now complete. Cuddly goodness!

I got an upgrade for Sureshot. There were a few parts included but I just used the head. Much better. As much as I prefer the toy style head, I think the original head just had a bit too much blue for me.

I finally got hold of a Klassic Kitana. I think she actually looks really good. Johnny Cage is on his way, Smoke is a bit of a dead cert. Leaves Sonya, Kano, Jax, and Kung Lao as my must haves. I’d like the bosses but I’m not too bothered.

Leaks! Nothing too exciting (apart from maybe Guzzle), but a few things are quite promising - MW Starscream specifically hints at something far more exciting. I’m a bit surprised nothing on Omnibots. I’m potentially interested in Nautica, Drift, Fort Max, and Scoop, but generally get a bit more excited about new figures rather than updates. I mean they’re all updates really, but new in the sense they haven’t had a figure since actual G1!

Another round of Marvel Legends with nothing I’m interested in. Seems to be the way with everything at the moment. Maybe I need a new hobby……

So that’s it for the month, I’ve put in a cheeky Lego order which I won’t open until the first of December, and there might be some preorders popping up but otherwise it’s going to be a quiet month or so. I’ve made some moulds and casted some pieces. Gotta finish that final custom.