Stalking the Skies

Did a bit of a head swap on Medusa. Prefer the bodysuit look over the leotard, but the new headsculpt/hair sculpt is much much better.

Also did a bit of Transformers upgrading, popped a new noggin on Kup (again), no question it looks much better, and now he looks a little more alive. Also put some stickers on Sunstreaker. I think I’m finally happy with this figure now (having changed the head as well).

Winston arrived. I always thought he looked the coolest as a kid since he had the mint coloured jumpsuit. Thankfully no incorrect parts this time. The figures seem to be coming quickly now after a big old wait for Peter. The team is almost complete.

In a slightly unexpected arrival, the corrected Haslab RID Optimus Prime/Fire Convoy (cab only) arrived without notice. I finally transformed it into super mode. Okay, it’s pretty amazing. To my mind it’s beast wars (according to Takara and the Japanese Beast Wars mook). Works for me. A fine addition to my leaders collection, it also came with an Ultra Magnus. I like the Optimus super mode more than the Omega mode so that’s how it will stay. I think his gun looks like a hairdryer mind.

I’ve started to catch up on MCU TV stuff - watched Ironheart (enjoyed the science/magic dynamic) and Marvel Zombies (dark). All good fun. Am going to rewatch Black Panther 2 then watch the Eyes of Wakanda mini series. (Then Wonderman.)

Got a Star Wars VC figure for the first time in a few years - Shaak Ti - it’s been less than a year since I got the BS version.

News month! Or not. Preorders for Powerglide and Swerve. Good to get them lined up. Watched a Marvel Legends panel and….. nothing I’m interested in (or I already have those characters), which set the scene for Toy fair: McFarlane are doing a Johnny Cage (to be fair new moulds were also hinted at). Absolutely nothing else of interest. There was a briefly a chance of a Lego Marvel modular but it looks like it’s going to be a Helicarrier. Bruticus looks decent but in truth I’m hoping for a toy deco (Swindle is very yellow), and he’s going to need a third party gun. There was a Sunstorm name drop in the recap which was encouraging. I listened to a podcast about the Transformers news, and again just nothing for me. I better get used to this.

Still going with a bit of customising, though slow progress. Managed to slow myself further by realising I needed to buy some new paints. Anyway, got there eventually - Skystalker! To quote myself from March 2009 (after putting in an order for Universe Countdown): “It would be good have a Skystalker for him to face off against”. Finally managed it.

Finally, a couple of new (old) figures to finish the month, Brawl! It looks pretty great (and so it should for a deluxe masquerading as a voyager), but I do apparently need to sand a bit down. Looks good though. And also in a dirty shade of green, Abomination! I had a part swapped version of this figure before but the head and body match properly this time.

Inhuman New Year

2026 is going to be a good year for completing things. Inhumans, A:EMH (finale) Avengers, Ghostbusters, plush Dinobots, and hopefully Lego minfigs. Maybe a few other bits as well. I watched the latest leak video for Marvel Legends and there’s nothing new I want - still want Doc Samson and that’s it. Marvel Legends is now like Star Wars black series - just waiting for a couple more figures but otherwise I’m not really collecting it anymore.

The first step towards that is finally getting Gorgon to finish off the Inhumans (and Medusa, although I already had the Walgreens version). He is huge! Taller than the Hulk. I’d rather he was a bit smaller but he looks great. The Inhumans are complete!!!

My resolution for the year I think is more of the same - I did really well tracking my spending last year so will do the same again. Hopefully a few less unplanned bits though.

Starting the year off with….. an unplanned thing. Sky Byte! I’d heard good things about this one and it was at a price which is hard to say no to. But, I prefer the greater symmetry of the T30 version and then it dawned on me - T30 is closer to the Cyberverse version of the character, and so that’s the one I will keep. Should have listened to that little voice.

I started working on a new custom - started by using rubbing alcohol to remove some paint. Very tedious. This is actually the second iteration of my idea for this custom but found myself thinking about the first again, and so re-bought the original figure I got for it. Which then also needs paint removing and the old UV treatment. Custom has doubled in work required.

My first proper Transformer of the year is Windcharger. The blue/green is a bit cartoon-ish for me but it’s a nice figure, and the transformation is quite surprising - it all comes from the legs. Am sort of hoping they do a toy deco release in the carded retro line.

The best present I got for Christmas was the Lego Game Boy. I’ve not built anything quite like it before but a really impressive build. Looks the business!

Thinking about my future transformers wish list - I think I may just have passed a tipping point where (assuming Throttlebots and Grandus do actually happen), I’m more excited about the prospect of certain characters being redone in Generations rather than G1 characters that haven’t had an update yet. Thunderclash aside, the prospect of an updated God Ginrai, Metroplex, Broadside, Dai Atlas, Defensor and Predaking is where the excitement is.

Talking about excitement - Missing Link Grimlock! Looks great, immediately put in a preorder. Also preordered Abomination, hopefully it’s not too long until we hear about Doc Samson.

So not quite the cheap January I might have expected but a good start to the year.

Ghostly Christmas

Egon turned up! I heard of a few QA issues and I thought after opening that I’d gotten away with it, but realised the joint on the foot wasn’t sitting quite correctly. Sadly after closer examination (and looking at the soles of the feet), he has/had two right feet! Luckily Mondo have said they’ll fix the issue. The feet are fairly symmetrical so it’s not really a big problem anyway, but glad they’re going to sort it. Anyway, looks great - I’m into uncharted territory now as I only ever had Peter as a kid.

Also got a bit more Kombat. I really like the extra accessories for the ninjas to differentiate them, Scorpion is great, can’t quite decide which accessories to display Reptile with (Sub Zero, Scorpion and Reptile have the distinct honour of going on to the shelf rather than into a storage box). I guess Sub Zero is the most festive because of the ice?! Because of buying the two-packs I ended up with P2 versions, but some lightning accessories for Raiden at least. I like him a lot more than Liu Kang.

I did another Transformers thing, got this on eBay as thought it looked pretty good. Certainly makes Carnivac shine. I wonder if they’ll do anymore pretender beasts? (Presumably not as headmasters.)

I actually did two Transformers things - I made a Browning custom. I went with the toy deco, I generally prefer the toy deco and it saves painting half the figure bronze. Casting the head was a real struggle - three attempts and it’s still a bit iffy in places. Overall, pretty happy though.

The other head I cast was Mace Windu. This was a slightly strange idea but when looking back over my blog I spotted a photo of the vintage collection figure and thought it could work as the Hood! (Not many bald man options in the toy world.) I think it works better than it has any right to. The cast wasn’t brilliant and one side came out a little squished but all things considered, happy.

Whilst casting the heads I also did some thighs for Shao Kahn since the 90’s version is really quite muscly. I used the Storm Collectibles version as a reference - very helpful as there’s not any pictures of him from all angles otherwise. It’s funny, 10 odd years ago I thought it would just be a matter of painting the red a bit darker and making the mask metallic rather than bone. Turned out to be more complicated than Goro. Probably good I didn’t realise. Somewhat appropriately for a boss I feel like I used everything I’ve learnt in the last 15 years - using casts to improve a sculpt (like Groot), making spikes using styrene rods (like the Terrorcons), plus all the painting and sculpting. He’s done! I’ve finished the MKI/II lineup of characters in 3.75” scale. Whoop, it’s been quite the celebration of Kombatness recently.

Feel like I’m running out of energy a little bit on my customs, down to three now (gave up on one to make T30 Jetfire look more G1 toy accurate) - time for a break before switching to some Transformers ideas I have (I’m starting to feel more enthusiastic about them in comparison). There’s also been quite a lot of life admin stuff I’ve been putting off so better get on with that now.

I watched a video on ‘Black Friday Shopping’ and whilst I didn’t buy anything, it made me think, and so I’ve decided to cancel Missing Link Ultra Magnus. I can’t quite explain it, I love G1, the idea behind Missing Link is great, yet somehow, I’m just not feeling it. For me it’s about 20 years too late, it was starting to feel a bit more like an obligation and that’s not a great place to be. I’ll keep Sunstreaker, and will gladly buy Sideswipe, and any cassettes or Dinobots they offer up but I just can’t justify starting another sub-collection.

Speaking of which; I’ve got my plan for slowing down my collecting, which is come up with a list of 10 ‘exceptions’ then stop buying everything unless it’s on that list. The ten is quite easy at the moment: Metroplex, Broadside, Defensor, God Ginrai, Road Caesar, Omnibots, Throttlebots, Thunderclash, Skyquake and Grandus. The more tricky part is if in the next couple of years we get any of those then I need to pick replacements. The replacement list is: Lego Baxter Building, Lego Wayne Manor, 1996 Maximals, Diaclone repaints, G2 Sureshot, G2 Archforce, Thunderwing, Mayhems (Octopunch and Stranglehold), Headmaster Jnrs, Targetmasters, Powermasters, Flamebots, Triggerbots, and Transmetals (Depthcharge and Rampage). I’ve got a couple of years though! (And maybe could cheat a little by grouping a little.)

It’s the end of the year! Eek. It’s been a fairly average year for Transformers, finished a couple of subgroups but nothing that really stands out in Generations. Devastator and Superion were better than expected but not amazingly exciting. My favourite has been Missing Link Sunstreaker - can’t resist a Lamborghini, especially a yellow one. I think the year has been mainly about Marvel Legends though - it has given me just about everything I wanted (I might have said this before): Chameleon, Ms. Marvel and Shanna at the start of the year, and Triton and Werewolf by Night to finish (Gorgon sadly bumped to next year). Plus Yellowjacket and Shuma Gorath in the middle who is my favourite figure for the year - it’s a six armed green inter dimensional creature with a posable eye, what’s not to like?! As well as the aforementioned trio, I also got a new Iceman and Gladiator. I can’t see myself getting too many more Legends figures next year (not really anything on the leak list) but I’ll definitely enjoy what I’ve got now.

I’ve managed to stick to a proper budget this year - partially from selling, but also from almost entirely avoiding buying on eBay. I had a list of planned purchases which I really stuck to, the exceptions have primarily been Marvel Legends and McFarlane Mortal Kombat (which we only found out about this year). My aim is to carry on with this approach next year, though I haven’t got quite so much to sell.

Happy Christmas everyone!!!

Insecti-dones

Looking at my preorders/expected spending for 2026, and whilst it’s down on 2025 (ignoring selling), it’s not gone down quite as much as I expected. That said, it seems 2026 will be the end for a lot of the things I’m collecting (with the notable exception of Transformers). Ghostbusters and Streetfighter will be done. Lego minifigs look like they’ll be done. Lego builds, there’s a couple of potential things I would buy, but who knows if or when they’ll do them. Marvel Legends will be done in terms of ‘really want’ (there will be still be a few things I would happily buy - blue Angel, non powered up versions of Human Torch and Iceman, and a Thorbuster armour). Star Wars black and vintage are pretty much done, but again a couple of bits I would buy (Saesee Tiin). I don’t really know what’s happening with Mortal Kombat but if they’re focusing on MKII then there’s not too much. Non-transforming Transformers stuff I’ll be done once I get plush Swoop. It’s at the point where I wouldn’t be too worried if any of the lines got cancelled. That just leaves a lot of actual Transformers wants!

Excitingly Evan from the Transformers team confirmed there were plans for Throttlebots at MCM! Amazing news. They are the figures that have been on my wish list the longest so it’s great to hear they should be along soon. Also, should celebrate a little about getting all the (deluxe) Insecticons as they were on my wanted list for a long time. Dug out some old photos, here they all are! Goldbug looks a little lonely, definitely needs his mates.

Anyway, have finished my Poison Ivy custom (again), I changed the hair, gave her green lips plus a bit more eye makeup. The base figure was perfect, but the head wasn’t (it was a fairy type character). Definitely an improvement but not completely sure I’m happy. I also made a Harley Quinn - bit more happy with her, eyes very tricky though. That’s all my Batman villain customs complete! For my other projects I did a round of mould making and resin casting, but they didn’t work out. I always find it a bit stressful in case it goes wrong. I’ve added two new projects to the original 16 to make 18, but over halfway through them now.

Got a bit more Kombat - Sub-Zero. To be fair, he looks great. I’ve been giving which characters to collect a bit more thought. With my 3.75” figures I went for a Mortal Kombat 2.5 lineup - mostly MKII, but including the MK3 cyber ninjas and my Jax custom has metal arms. So with my 7” lineup, it would make sense to do Mortal Kombat 1.5 - mostly MKI (but the characters have their MKII designs), I’ll include the new earth based characters from II (Jax, Kung Lao and Smoke), and the most important characters from a story perspective (Kitana and Shao Kahn - a little nod to the 1995 film). 15 characters in total (slightly more than Streetfighter!), of which they’ve done six. So I need nine more. Regardless, I could be tempted to get the next few two-packs to complete my set of backgrounds. Sorted!

Here’s Jax, who I’ve added a belt to and redid his back - I’ve added a bit of sculpting so the metal parts are raised. My art teacher would be very impressed - I remember him pressing upon me the importance of making 3D objects look 3D (somewhat ironic since when the actor who played Jax was in costume the metal bits were simply painted on).

I did my first transformers custom in over 10 years (not including making Misfire a bit more IDW accurate). Waver(ider)! Just a bit of painting, looks a bit rough in the photo as it’s so small but looks fine in person. Finally, a complete set of Masterforce pretenders. I think if I got most of the figures on my current wishlist I’d probably end up adding the ‘88 gang to it, especially as there’s so many subgroups. The ‘87 gang is one step closer to completion as preordered Sureshot  (as well as the next two Combaticons). There’s a little part of me thinking about the Dr Wu Overkill and Slugfest just to properly finish it off. Okay, fine I’ll order them……

(Quite the improvement over the last third party ones I had!) I finally assembled Superion and Devastator. Actually pretty happy, they are to blame for such an expensive couple of months! Just need Defensor. Retro Brawn and Seaspray arrived, they look great. Just need Windcharger and Powerglide to wrap up the ‘84/‘85 Minibots (and Swerve, Tailgate and Outback for ‘86). If we could wrap up triple changers (Broadside and Octane) as well then as well as Metroplex that’s all the redos I want done.

And that wraps up Transformers for the year! Unless I suddenly have a wobble on something that’s done. Still plenty of Marvel Legends to come, starting with Shuma Gorath. He’s Gargantuan(os)…… he looks great, I’ve got him on my desk and I can’t stop looking at it (I think it’s giving me the eye), possibly my favourite figure of the year!