So I've seen Episode VII now (just a couple of days after it came out). Yep, it's good, the characters are likeable, there is the right amount of nostalgia and the action is great. The lightsaber battle gritty and realistic, the storyline is compelling, it's everything you might hope for. I'm intrigued by some of the fan theories around Supreme Leader Snoke, I actually hope it plays out as I think it would be rather neat.
The trailer for Captain America 3 played before the film, I can't wait! I'm looking forward to tracking down a 3.75" Black Series Kylo Ren figure, I might even pick up a Rey......
I think Machete order works rather well. I haven't actually seen any of the Star Wars films in about 10 years, so they're not fresh in my memory. Starting off with IV makes sense as it gives the best introduction to the franchise, following it with V is logical as you have the reveal of Darth Vader being Anakin Skywalker. It was a nice trip down memory lane watching those films, there's not much to say about them, I've always wondered why is there a monster in the waste compactor of the Death Star?! Most of the plot inconsistencies can be blamed on the prequels however.
Swapping back to II and III you get Anakin turning to the dark side. I think the main thing that can be said about the prequel films is that they don't set the stakes high enough, the Jedi need to be built up as a more credible force, they just blunder about without really showing their supposed wisdom or knowledge. Anakin is never really shown as a great and wise Jedi, and his relationship with Obi-Wan doesn't have the required depth. The greatest failure I think is not making him likeable, he acts like a petulant child who we don't really care about when he turns. I think him killing the younglings is unnecessary as he is supposed to be conflicted, so him not following that order to the letter would demonstrate this. The less said about his relationship with Padmé the better.
The suggestion that Darth Plagueis created Anakin seems pretty ridiculous to me. Actually had I never seen Episode I, I'm not sure I would have picked up on Palpatine's comment about him creating life. Incidentally, the omission of Episode I is fine, I like Darth Maul and Qui-Gon so it's a shame they're missing, but story wise it's no great loss (Qui-Gon is mentioned in III, but then so are other non-seen characters such as Plagueis, Sifo Dyas and kind of Quilon Vos).
Returning back to VI, this is a much better film than III to finish off with, there's good tension to the film, plus that warm and fuzzy feeling at the end when it all ends well. I was paying particular attention at the end when the Emperor is trying to turn Luke because it never really occurred to me as a kid that he might. It does seem to me that given all of Yoda's warnings, that Anakin turning to the dark side isn't really all that surprising.
I'm set for another round of custom Marvel 3.75" over my Christmas holiday. I'll let you know how I get on but plan to start with Ms Marvel. I had the black costume version, but was planning to get a new Captain Marvel version. Then I realised what I really want is an Avengers: EMH version so I picked up a classic version and swapped the head and legs.
I have finally opened Masterpiece Soundwave, yep, he's great. A fantastic version of a classic character. I opened him on Christmas Day!
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My customs are going well, after Ms Marvel, I finally cracked open my 3.75" Doctor Who Foretold figure who I'm going to use as N'kantu (the living Mummy). I painted the pink fleshy bits grey, whitened up his bandages a bit and gave him some eyes. Shame he doesn't have ball-jointed legs but I'm happy with how he turned out.
Similarly I opened the new Marvel Legends Giant Man, he's had a classic makeover, having said that, I couldn't find any pictures online where the 3.75" Marvel Universe Ant-Man (with black line going up the middle of his costume) turns into Giant Man, so he may be unique! He turned out well though, I think having three versions of him next to each other displays rather nicely.
I made a custom Zeus from an extra Hercules figure I had, really it's the only buck which is somewhere between the Absorbing Man and Hulk sizes and one which would I don't think was ever used for anything else (the Champion figure from the Deadpool SDCC set perhaps?). Anyway, I'm pretty happy with him, just need to make an Odin now.
I made a Wendigo figure from a grey Beast, referring to my scale calculation a couple of posts back, I decided he needed to be about an inch taller so I sawed him up (at the waist, thigh and calf), drilled some holes, used styrene rods to increase the height then used epoxy to sculpt around the rods, to fill in the gaps. Similarly, I created a tail using styrene rods and epoxy. I then gave him long hair and sanded off his pants then painted him! Hulk has a couple more villains now.
Here's a slightly less washed out version:
A while back I made a list of Marvel characters I want a figure of then set out about working out how I would make a custom version. It suddenly occurred to me to do the same for DC! I have therefore worked out how I would make the remaining 3.75" Batman villains. I have been buying figures to use as fodder, luckily a couple of places have some of those figures on sale right now. Between that and Chinabay, I have a really good bin of parts. I have around thirty ideas so I'm set for some time, given how long most projects take me!
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I have got Takara Unite Warriors Devastator! I played with Long Haul first. As a dumper truck he is a really good size, he doesn't feel oversized in the way that the original feels undersized. In robot mode he is one chunky monkey and is obviously all about becoming a torso for Devastator, his robot mode is a bit of an afterthought really. As much as I like him, he is the reason I won't be displaying the Constructicons all in robot mode.
Mixmaster and Longhaul are pretty good figures, but Scrapper, Bonecrusher and Scavenger are excellent, like they just stepped straight out of the cartoon. There has been quite a bit of discussion about whether they could be used in a masterpiece display, I think if they had articulated hands then they could easily be. Devastator combined is a thing of absolute awe. I haven't actually got anywhere to take any good photos so I'll just include Scrapper.
Looking at the figures together, I don't regret for a moment selling my Maketoys Devastator. Okay, so scale is out of the window, but first and foremost I like good toys. Scale should always come second to that and Devastator is an excellent toy. Thinking about my other figures; Galvatron, Dinobot, Shockwave and Thunderwing should be voyager sized (Galvatron soon will be). Darkwing, Dreadwind, Brainstorm and the Voyager Triple changers, for me at least, should be deluxe (Brainstorm might soon be). But, I have those figures because there's no real alternative. In some cases such as Classics deluxe Bumblebee, HFTD voyager Seaspray and Generations deluxe Warpath, I have passed on a clearly better figure because of scale, but for Devastator there is absolutely no question for me about conceding to my preferred scale.
After the poll about the next Titan I think I will be very torn if they do an Omega Supreme, I really like the Energon remold, but given what Hasbro are doing at the moment with their large figures, if it's anywhere as good as Metroplex and Devastator then we're in for a treat.
A few hints about Takara's Unite Warriors Bruticus are trickling in, I have decided to go for that version for several reasons, I don't like the black Bruticus head, I don't like the excessively bright colours on Vortex, I don't like the brown-green on Brawl, who also has waist issues, I'm not overly worried about jet Blast Off but new mold is always nice and I'm hopefully we might get an additional gun for Onslaught so he can keep his cannons on his back. Also he has random purple on his feet. There is a risk that they go overly anime and make Bruticus' chest Blast Off coloured, so I might yet get a Hasbro Onslaught and paint the combiner head myself. Plenty of reasons to wait! Listings are starting to appear for a Computron gift set so it seems Scattershot with his Superion combiner head is also worth skipping at the moment.
I managed to get an Even Piell for a decent price, he completes my movie Jedi figures (for the time being). I like that he's a bit of a short arse as it adds a bit of variety to my display (unless you display him with other short arse aliens.
2015 was quite a year, I've rediscovered Transformers' comics, Star Wars and customs. I think this year might be even more special though!
