Christmas Siege

Red Swoop! Yay, popped my preorder straight in. Really glad to see they're doing extra figures like this. It does raise the interesting prospect of other extra figures - something from Punch/Counterpunch perhaps? Monstructor or Dinoking? The Ricochet also looks rather good, but will stick with my Million publishing version from RTS Jazz.

I have also finally got round to opening Punch/Counterpunch. He is a great figure, the headsculpt is (are) fantastic. I've heard that you need to swap a couple of pieces round from his shoulders. Having transformed him, it wasn't that obvious to me and given that the problem is with the altmode, I've decided to leave him as he is.

Picked up the Bumblebee cassettes. The Bumblebee looks like a right load of tat! Frenzy and Buzzsaw are nice though. Time to get rid of my 'cartoon' Buzzsaw.

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I've done something a bit strange, I've ordered an Adam Warlock figure. It's a bit random, I like the character, but crucially he was a member of the Guardians in A:EMH. I like the idea of being able to have different incarnations of the team. Really glad I did though, great figure. Looks cracking with the Guardians. Need Phyla-Vell!

I've opened Punisher. I was a bit on the fence about whether to get him, but the alternate head is brilliant - snarling expression and red bandana. The standard head I think looks like it could be Superman. Most of the comics I owned in the 90's were Punisher comics so it seems appropriate to have a figure of him.

I also opened Archangel, I can't deny it, it's a very impressive figure. Really need a flight stand to properly show him off.

I've received the Disney Store Civil War Legends 4-pack. Might as well keep the standard Mark 43 and Falcon, but I really got it for the War machine (the other way of getting the figure being a Target exclusive 2-pack). He's a great improvement over the Mark II. Much chunkier, and I much prefer the matt finish. Stylistically he seem closer to the Mark I. I've popped the old head on him though (with some blu-tac as it's a smaller ball joint.

I've ordered SDCC Netflix Daredevil, primarily for the Matt Murdoch/Charlie Cox headsculpt. And, finally, Kitty Pryde. As with many Legends figures, I really couldn't make my mind up about her. The main stumbling point was that she wasn't in the 90's cartoon. But she was in the pilot, as well as X-Men Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men and the films. I've decided she's an essential character, and so popped an order in.

I had hoped to be 'caught up' on Legends before Transformers Siege hit the shelves, but alas, Optimus and Megatron are out. I realise my collecting mentality has changed a little, I now buy figures to experience them. With the idea being to see whether I like them. Diamond have (or are about to) release some Real Ghostbusters (cartoon) figures. I did pick up a set of Ghostbusters 2 figures a few years back, but ultimately sold them again. I might have to pick them up. This got me thinking, my Turtles figures are comic based. Do I need some cartoon based figures to match? I saw some 'classic' figures for cheap in a bargain store. Were they still there? Happily they were, Michelangelo and Donatello. I picked up Mikey to see what I thought. The eyes were a bit iffy, but found a figure which wasn't too bad. Very posable, but perhaps just lacking a little something. I think I'll pick up another if I see one.

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Sooo, picked up a Raphael. I like him more, I think the shade of green is nicer. The classic figures are an interesting mix of the toys and cartoon - them being different shades of green is a toy thing. I think I will pick up a Donatello, I'll probably have to buy Leo online.

Netflix Daredevil has turned up. It is a very accurate headsculpt, and does a good job of suggesting Charlie Cox. Kitty Pryde has also turned up, I'm very glad I've got her. Much better headsculpt than the 3.75" figure. Lockheed also sits nicely on her shoulder. I've also got another Juggernaut limb. Truly, I think the 2016 X-Men wave was the turning point for Legends for me, I just didn't notice! So I was a couple of years behind, am all caught up on X-Men now though.

I've decided to go a bit more all out with Legends, sticking with heroes (apart from Venom and Carnage), but all important characters from my favourite cartoons (90's X-Men, Spider-Man plus 2000's Avengers: EMH), plus a couple of select others. Yep, I'm addicted!

I managed to win an auction for the Mark I War Machine! He's a little smaller (like the Mark III and VI Iron Man figures) than more recent figures, but I really like the sculpt, and so for me this lifts him well above the Iron Man Mark VI. Since Hasbro are supposed to be carrying on with the 10th anniversary stuff, I would love it if they did a Iron Man 2 set with new versions of both. Anyway, I now have all three War Machine amours so far. Hoping for a Mark IV figure from the Avengers Endgame line. Speaking of which, the trailer has finally dropped! Marvel are truly experts of their craft. Obviously I can't wait. 2019 is going to be something special, two Marvel films plus Episode IX.

Christmas is almost here, Siege is just starting to hit. Merry Christmas!

Titans Return (again)

Titans Return Nautica. I’m a Lost Light fan and I have a dedicated display, so Nautica made sense. However, given the (original) cost of getting her, I made an excuse to myself that she was just a repaint and so I couldn't justify the cost. I also wasn't too keen on the colour, though I suppose it is accurate. I would have preferred a slightly darker purple. I bought the Takara versions of the Clones (despite being a bit grumpy about the pink), then thought no more about it.

But then, Chaos on Velocitron set has turned up at UK retail for £30! I rather enjoy the thrill of the hunt and so started checking stores. I found a set in the second store I tried (Home Bargains). Yay! It's funny having talked myself out of it then going a bit crazy when it became possible to get it. I have to admit, I suppose I kinda bought it for the sake of it. Having it in hand I still think a darker purple would look better. Still, my Lost Light shelf will be a little more complete now. I also have the option of replacing my Autobot Clones with the non-pink versions, so all good. There are some other figures in the box, but I haven’t investigated yet.

There was also a hint that the BBTS set might also have made it to the UK. Again, having decided to pass on Metalhawk (I already have the Botcon figure), suddenly I'm thinking that the headsculpt on this newer version is quite nice. I'm happy to wait and see though for the time being.

I really want a voyager Sludge. I wouldn't particularly care if it combined or not, but I think it would be quite neat if Sludge could also be a torso. Then add a deluxe Paddles as a limb replacement for Sludge and then it would be set up so that the combined form could be centred around Grimlock or Sludge. Somewhat similarly to Power Rangers where the Dragonzord can also use the smaller zords as limbs. Do it!

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Legends Drax and Rocket have turned up. I feel that I made the right choice ultimately going comic. I need me some bright colours! Time to put Star Lord back together. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about Gamora though as her (comic) figure is almost impossible get hold of.

Having a brighter Drax has caused me to think I might try and paint the Hulk to be a slightly brighter green, perhaps a darker wash. Here he is fist bumping his smaller self for a colour comparison.

Last blog I started talking about frameworks for collecting. I want to get the cast of the 90s X-Men cartoon. However, that lineup is based on the blue/gold teams era I the comics. The missing characters are Archangel, Iceman, Colossus, Bishop and Psylocke. Four of those characters I want to get anyway since they're important characters and played important roles in the cartoon. Psylocke however, wasn't all that important in the cartoon, but she did appear in pretty much the only 90’s X-Men comic I had so if I’m looking for reasons I’ve got a good one.

Speaking of finding reasons, I previously bought Venom and decided against keeping him. However, messing around with him a bit he has grown on me a bit. Anyway, I've bought Carnage as well now! Carnage I knew I would like, Maximum Carnage was a big deal when I was growing up. This is a great figure, the tendrils are nicely done, he has great accessories. Nicely.

Invisible Woman has also turned up. Not much to say about her really, compared to some of the previous headsculpts figures in this size point have had, it's brilliant. Still need Thing!

With my current Legends focus I have kinda forgotten about Marvel Universe, but it has struck me that the best figures are the larger ones (Hulk, Juggernaut, Thanos, etc), or the ones with masks. The smaller human headsculpts, for the most part aren't all that great. Often with dodgy eyes. I think that's why I'm enjoying the larger scale at the moment, getting figures with top quality headsculpts.

I have given my Legends their own shelf now and packed up my (rather dusty) Masterpiece figures. I realised how much I've ignored them recently, and what great figures they are. It reminds that I should try and interact with my figures more, even if not actually transforming them then at least re-posing them. I think if I can sort my storage out a bit so that things are easier to retrieve I would like to have more of a rotation system. I also realised Grimlock still had a battery in him. I should play with my figures more!

I’ve just put in an order for Archangel, Bishop, Psylocke and Punisher. That’s a major step to getting my complete X-Men teams! I've also put in an order for the Disney Civil War set with the Mark III War Machine figure.

I hear the Bumblebee movie cassette set is now available at Argos so think will try and track that down. More Titans Return molds! If they ever release an Eject on that mold then it would be a nice set.