I think it's fair to say that Marvel has got a little bit of attention with its recent Phase 3 announcement. They've certainly got mine, excited is not the word. It's incredible how they've put together this universe using different vehicles for different characters (films, TV, Netflix). They've cast some great actors that work well together. It's not a competition, there's no reason why we have to choose, but if there ever was a competition between Marvel and DC, I think it's finished before it's even started.
I opened Mastermind Razorclaw at the start of the month. As you might surmise from my avatar and username, I'm a fan of Razorclaw; I have a fledgling collection in fact (G1, Kreon and Botcon). Mastermind Creations' effort does not disappoint. I can not wait to get Divebomb and Rampage from BBTS. Okay, yes I could ship my pile of loot immediately, so yes, I suppose I am choosing to wait. Gawd, give it a break won't you! The head sculpt in both modes is spot on and the metallic red paint on the eyes works a treat (ala MP Grimlock); that is something I would like to see more of. He obviously has some compromises for being the centre of a combiner, but I'm really enjoying him. He's in lion mode now looking at me as I write this, ready to pounce. (Definitely not being lazy.)
I finally got round to buying a Lego AT-AT, having waited just shy of a year, I managed to get it with just over £30 off. I actually took a day off work, popped Top Gear Great Adventures volume 1 into the DVD player, made a cup of tea and built. It's a great build; the point where you put the legs on is guaranteed to evoke happy Empire Strikes Back memories (that film is linked to Christmas in my subconscious). I'm a little bit tempted to buy two more for some real Hoth goodness.
Obviously it didn't take me the entire day to build it, I had also decided to extend the trailer on Kreo Prime. I bought a second Prime just to do this, the trailer is three panels according to the build, and looks stupidly short. I tried it with four, and that still wasn't quite right (plus with the pieces you have it's impossible to get a correctly fitting roof). With five I managed to get the roof to work and now Prime looks like the all American truck he's supposed to be.
This has actually been the first brick thing I've done since I was a child where I haven't been following instructions, making it up as I go (and having to make do with what I had). Several adventures and cups of tea later I managed to put together something reasonably solid.
Doing these two builds concurrently really brought home where Kreo falls short of Lego. Firstly the difference in detail is staggering considering they are compatible; Kreo are like shrunken Duplo in comparison to Lego. Secondly, when putting together the panels on Prime's trailer, I know it's not an official build, but it just doesn't want to hold together. Considering I just want to use it as a display stage it's not a problem, but it's just not at the same level of quality. (I'm sure this is a great revelation to many people.)
Since the reveal of the Play With This Too stuff last month, they've now also revealed a Landmine. With Bombburst and Skullgrin, that's three of the Masterforce Pretenders. I'm rather looking forward to them, they're going to have a Kickstarter which I might just have to get involved with.
In one of my very first posts I stated that one of my collecting goals was to get all of the G1 animal based Transformers, at some point a couple of years ago I actually achieved this (well technically I have every mold - I don't have Black Zarak, Sixknight or Greatshot).
This goal (and in fact my username) was motivated by the G1 episode 'Call of the Primatives', so here they are, the Primatives:
