Toy A Day

Action Figure Displays - Space #1 and Alley

2012-02-01T22:51:00.000+08:00

Okay, so it was Christmas and Action Figure Displays had their Christmas display on sale again. Since mine is a bit damage from over use (heh!), I decided to get another one. But I couldn't just get one, no sir-ree, since I'm ordering, I might as well order a few of the others that I had my eye on, including another Dark Castle so that I can use it for display.

I decided on the Alley and the Space #1 displays. The Alley is nice for figures such as Batman and such, while Space #1 gives that cool Star Wars feel without it being too obviously Star Wars.

The first thing I noticed are the boxes. AFD actually took the feedback I gave the last few reviews and are now protecting the displays in a box. The box is all black and is generic. The contents are marked by a label on the bottom left corner or the front - Alley in this case. The back has a bit more text. Could it be improved by a black and white image? Not really, and besides, there is already one that's part of the logo.

I got my second surprise when opening up the box. There is a piece of styrofoam inside to protect the display, particularly the L-shaped brackets. I do remember that the last shipment I received, those brackets were almost damaged. Well, there's no danger of that now!

The Alley display has great artwork. I like how the floor has graffitti. The painted nature of the backdrop has a nice 3D perspective to it as well.

Assembling it is a breeze, now that I have my own technique set. Nope, I don't follow the instruction sheets which were enclosed separately with the boxes, but, as I explained the last time I reviewed these, I put both pieces on the side and move the floor towards to the brackets. That ensures that at least one of my edges line up! And it wasn't until I took the first picture with this then I realised how awesome it is. I can barely tell that the stand is L-shaped as the floor blends seemlessly (and seamlessly!) with the background. Wow.

The Space #1 Display may seem to have a boring name... and it does look a bit boring at first glance either. However the large circular window, and the alien ethnic glyph on the vacmetal walls does give it that Babylon 5 meets Star Wars feel. The image for the floor seems to be a recycle of Secret Base... or is the image from here recycled to there? Either way, there are subtle differences to the floor.

This display isn't too bad, but since it's too simplistic for my taste. That's not a bad thing though as it ensures that the figures place on it will "pop out" when displayed, particularly brightly coloured ones.

Overall, I'm surprised that AFD has continued to improve their product. I have been waiting for Series 3 to be produced since I first got displays from them. Granted, at $20 a stand it's not cheap, but the quality of the product is definitely worth the price, especially now with the extra packaging to protect it.

#740 and #741 Chaos! Comics Lady Death and Lady Demon

2012-01-30T18:14:00.026+08:00

The final two of my gitd figures for this month, and it's another two figures from a Comic book series (or are they separate series?) Lady Death and Lady Demon are both from the now defunct Chaos Comics.

There are lots of things common on the packaging, including the reuse fo the gitd card in the bottom right corner.

Lady Death comes on a nice black card, with the Chaos Comics logo behind her bubble. She does have custom art on the back of the card, next to the bio and the other figures in the line are represented by the comic rendering instead of the toys.

Lady Death comes with a sword, a stand and a removable cloak. She has 5 points of articulation, and despite the high heels on her feet, she does stand on her own... for a little while. The headsculpt is great, but the body sculpt seems way too simplistic. I don't like the V-cut of her legs as it means she can only stand straight, but that's a minor detail when I got her because she gitd.

She's slightly smaller than Ghost, but she is painted, unlike Ghost. She also has a cloth cloak in a shiny blue satin which makes her look rather nice in the light as well as in the dark.

Lady Demon comes on a card that's similar to Lady Death, but the Chaos Comic logo behind her bubble is red. The back of her card has a gorgeous comic rendering of her as well as her bio, but otherwise, it looks much the same as Lady Death's cardback.

Lady Demon comes with a stand and a sword as well, but unlike Lady Death she does not have a cloak. Instead, she comes with a sceptre. She can only hold one item at a time though, and there's no sword holder on her back, so that's one thing I immediately disliked about the toy. The paint is mostly great - the metallic purple does make her stand out, but the face seems to lack a bit of details where the paint is concerned.

Lady Demon has the same 5 points of articulation as Lady Death. She suffers from the same flaws in the articulation department. The sculpt is good, but not as good as Lady Death. I like the skull on her groin in particular. The way her high heels are sculpted though (or maybe it's because of warping?), the stillettos are shorter than the toe which means she has a tendency to topple backwards when standing.

Overall, a pair of good characters if one is into big breasted women, but for me, I got them because they gitd, so I guess it doesn't really matter how well they are overall.

#739 of Year 3 Ghost Ghost

2012-01-27T23:47:00.025+08:00

I have no idea why comicbook characters get gitd toys, but this is the fourth one in as many days that I've opened. Ghost is the title character from Dark Horse comic. She's a ghost assassin of some sort? I have no idea, nor do I really care. She gitds, that's all I want from her.

The packaging is a bit odd. The bubble is stapled to the card. The card back has a rather Victorian-styled artwork with a bio that I didn't bother reading.

Apparently there's a comic behind the bubble. Wow. And it's not a boring 4-page thing, but a fully coloured comic. Okay. I didn't bother reading it as well though. One of these days.

There are five pieces inside the bubble - the figure, her cloak, two guns and a belt. Everything fits nicely on the figure who has 7 points of articulation and no paint. The V-shaped cut of her crotch means that she only has one standing posture. Urgh. The sculpt is good, but her boobs are a bit too perky. She holds the guns in her hands nicely, but they don't fit onto the holsters on her belt.

She's the best all gitd female I have so far, and that's probably because she's not part of the other unknowns like the rest but actually has Dark Horse behind it. Despite her flaws, I do like her.

#738 of Year 3 Creed Mai-Ling

2012-01-26T23:39:00.011+08:00

Batman is probably one of the more well-known superhero comic character. Creed though, I've never even heard about, let alone who his supporting cast is. Mai-Ling? Hmm...

Despite the obscurity of the character, it does gitd, and the packaging artwork is fabulous. The back of the card even has what seems to be two pages of the story, drawing and coloured in amazing detail. That's one huge plus for the ~~toy~~ packaging.

The figure though was a disappintment. It's just a lump of plastic. A statue that gitd. No articulation whatsoever. Feh. Even Nira from the same line (but different comic series) has more articulation than this character. And Nira is larger too. Oh well. I guess one doesn't need to play with it if it's just gonna be used as a night light.

#736 and #737 of Year 3 Batman Mission Masters 4 Midnight Hunter and Velocity Storm Batman

2012-01-25T23:24:00.041+08:00

The Animated Batman Mission Masters 4 are among my favourite of the Batman figures... only because the entire line has gitd parts.

I picked up another couple of the Batman variants, some of which are probably repaints from previous figures, but since I'm not a Kenner Batman, or any Batman, fan, I don't really know much about these figures except that they gitd.

Midnight Hunter Batman has a large bear trap and a sword. His packaging is the standard for Mission Masters 4, and I have to say I like the bats used as the background to the bubble.

There's card art, of course. This is a nineties figure. And the instructions are on the bottom of the title card. a weird place to put it, but it does ensure the maximum use of 'real estate'.

There's just the trap, sword and figure inside the bubble. Nothing much sadly.

The sculpt on the figure is greath though - there's a crossbow on his back and the doodads on his upperarms also have quite a bit of detail. I also like the fact that the sword can be pegged into the hole in his back. The paint seems to be flaking on mine, but that's probably because of age.

The spring-loaded trap is nice, but it doesn't really gitd and it's just a huge lump of plastic when displayed. It is fun to play with it though and it's the part of the figure that targets the average 6-year old. The figure is a bit smaller than some of my previous Mission Masters Batman, but the great sculpted details more than make up for the dimunitive size.

Velocity Storm Batman is another Batman variant. True story - the Batman line was the inspiration for the millennium line of Masters of the Universe. No kidding.

More great card art, more instructions on the bottom of the card... although the instructions seem to be taped over something else. Perhaps Velocity Storm Batman was supposed to be another figure?

There's just the sled and teh figure inside the bubble. Again, nothing much. I like the clip on the sled to hold the figure in place. That's a nice touch, but it may also be practical as this Batman, with the lack of articulation (both this one and Midnight Hunter version only have the standard 5 points of articulation) is probably unable to 'sit' unaided.

The missiles are removable from the sled and can be held by Batman. Now that's nice. The figure and the sled has a lot of details. It's a pity that the sled is not painted to bring out the details. The paint on the figure is generally good and the gitd paint wasn't flaking on this one.

This is the smallest Batman yet from the Mission Masters 4. Yes, all three Batman are from the same series, yet there are three different sizes to the figures. That was the nineties. There'd be a huge outcry if this was still being done today.

What I'm opening in February

2012-01-25T13:13:00.005+08:00

February is all about love and stuff. And here on Toy a Day, it's always been about ladies. So here's a picture of what I'm opening in February!

It's not one a day, but that hasn't been what I'm doing this year. Which reminds me, I need to write up what's happening this year here on the blog. It's February and I'm still busy with things from Christmas! Eep.

#735 of Year 3 Minimates Ghostbuster Ray Stanz and Slimer

2012-01-24T23:13:00.000+08:00

January is traditionally gitd month here on Toy a Day, and this year is no different. Coming off Lego minifigures, I thought I'd show off their imitators, the Minimates.

I like this box and the windows on the front. The back seems a bit boring though - it could use a nicer background picture. However, it does its job.

The inside packaging is nice, but the way the leaflet is folded is a bit odd. They could have rolled it up instead.

There are four pieces inside the box, Slimer, Ray, goggles and the proton stream.

I like the articulation on the figure - three points on each limb as opposed ot one on Lego's minifigures. Even Slimer has articulated arms. I don't like Ray's frightened facial experssion, but the figure does have some nice touches including the Ghostbuster logo tampographed on his right upperarm.

OK, this is the smallest Ray that I have - he stands up the the waist of the Kenner figure of the 90s and up to the knee of Mattel's figure of the noughties. The slimer is rather huge by comparison - it's definitely bigger than the Lego ghost thanks to the stand. A nice Minimates set overall, but I'm in no hurry to get the rest of the Ghostbusters.

#731 - #734 of Year 3 Lego 8827 Minifigures Series 6

2012-01-23T20:18:00.003+08:00

The first thing I opened in the new year is more Lego! Heh. Minifigures Series 6 hit the shores of the UK way back in December but have been trickling to the rest of the world in January. Well, what did I get?

I got four bags though... and there are twelve characters. I do really want the roman... will I get him?

Yes, Roman! Nice spear piece there.

Yay, Lady Liberty. That's a nice tiara on her head.

Hooray, Space Girl.

She has a hairpiece and a helmet. Note the Classic Space logo on her chest!

Leprecaun! Win with a pot of gold.

These figures are great. This is shaping up to be a good year after all!

What I'm opening in January

2012-01-17T22:59:00.000+08:00

January has traditionally (and when I say traditionally, I mean for the past 2 years) been gitd month here on Toy a Day. I'm still a bit behind on other things and am playing catch up, but I'll be opening these sometime this month.

Hopefully I'll have the time to blog about them as I open them up. Have a great 2012, and if MotU is your thing, Happy 30th anniversary!

12 Things I'd like to see in MotUC in 2012

2011-12-26T20:36:00.065+08:00

2012 is going to be a bumper year for MotUC. That's because Mattel is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the line. Hooray.

Mattel has already announced the figures for the first half of the year:
January: Sorceress, Fearless Photog
February: Fisto, Star Sisters (Starla, Tallstar, Jewelstar)
March: Kobra Khan, Draego Man, Shadow Weaver
April: Stinkor, Griffin (Beast), Snake Mountain Stands
May: Slushhead, Spector
June: Horde Prime, Snake Man-at-Arms
Conventions: Temple of Darkness Sorceress

Whew, that's a good line up. So what do I want to see for the second half of the year? In no particular order:

1. At least three Princess of Power characters, with at least 2 from this list: Frosta, Glimmer, Angella, Madame Razz, Broom, Kowl, Light Hope. We seriously need the core members of the Great Rebellion and these seems to be the figures most in demand. I'd like Peekablue and Castaspella and Sea Hawk as well, but those are really optional when compared with the core list.

2. One more Galactic Guardian from NA and either a NA He-Man or NA Skeletor. We've been promised an all inclusive line and so far we only have two New Adventure characters out of a possible 30 (realistically) or so? They really need to step up and give us more NA characters to balance things out.

3. More nods to the MYP design book. Again, this has been hailed as the all inclusive line, yet we never got extra heads for Sy-Klone or Clawful or Buzz-Off. OK, Fisto can be displayed both ways, and that's good.

4. No more cheapening out on the Quarterly Variants. Snake Man-At-Arms seems a lot cheaper and not is not really a must have for the fans. When the line started, we were promised that there would be no variants that would not make sense. Well, this version of Man-At-Arms doesn't really make any sense since he was never shown in that guise in any of the media up to this point. Yes, I know the mini-comic will show him as such, but an entire reissue when all he needs is a new head? Really?

5. A brand new Snakemen from the 30th anniversary line. There is a shortage of figures for that faction and it would be great to get another one to swell up the ranks. Sure, there's King Hiss' slave girl, but she's not being made any time soon. And of course, Vipra is still off the table.

6. Mantenna... or Dragstor... or another vintage Horde member. They've been parading one Horde figure in the second half of the year for a few years in a row. We do need Mantenna to complete the original four Horde figures, but I wouldn't mind if they hold him back for 2013. Dragstor (with a spinning wheel please) would be a superb figure in his place, but I guess Mosquitor would also be good.

7. No more mini-comic characters. Enough already with the minicomic characters - we've had ToD Sorceress this year and that should really be it. I know there are huge fans of Geldor and such, but really Mattel should just make a minicomic character a year.

8. More stand alone accessories. OK, we are getting the Snake Mountain stands, but will we get another Weapons Pak this year? It would be great if that was on offer. We'd also like a heads pack as well, but I doubt we'll get those this year.

9. Geoff John's figure not to have anything to do with DC comics. He needs to wow us, so hopefully he'll be able to dig deep within the mythos and produce a character to wow us, just like what the Four Horsemen has done with Draego-Man.

10. DVD releases of the entire MotU, PoP and NA library as a collector's set. This would truely tie-in the entire mythos into one universe. And while they are doing that, how about a trade paperback of the vintage MotU, PoP and NA minicomics. This should be a no brainer as well. Mattel should have all the rights to these, and there are some rather big names on some of these.

11. No more QA/QC issues. I don't want to read about reversed shoulders or limbs, or exploding body parts next year. We are paying at least $20 for a toy. Please make sure that it meets the quality expected of it.

12. A fully functional online sale site that does not give the users any grief. How hard is it to do that when the online Mattel shop does that wonderfully?

And I guess that's it. Phew, that's not a short list either.

10 things for 2011 - a review at the end of 2011

2011-12-25T12:58:00.000+08:00

Last year, I made a list of the 10 things I'd like to see for MotUC in 2011. Let's go back and review to see whether Mattel has met my predictions.

But before I start with that, let's go back to see if Mattel has met my wishlist for 2011.

X Last year the first thing I had on my list was more fantastic PoP females. Well, Mattel gave us Catra and Battleground Evil-Lyn among other females... but they weren't that amazing. Don't get me wrong, they were good and on par with the other figures, but not really awe-inspiring nor above and beyond awesome. So a big red X on this item then.

O Last year I wanted Snakemen and Galactic Guardian stickers on the bubble. We got those with King Hsss and Icarius respective so that's one for me!

O I was worried last year that I might not get enough Palace guards. Well, Mattel not only made enough of them, but apparently overproduced them, resulting in us having Palace guards on sale on Black Monday. Yay!

O 100% new figures? Let's see, we got King Hsss which is more 150% than 100% thanks to his second torso, but there were QA issues with his shoulders... and with Roboto's as well. We also got Bubble Power She-Ra with the new female body, so that's two points in Mattel's favour.

O Faceless One was announced to be the June figure - he was pushed back a month, but he was still made this year, so I guess I'll have to give this one to Mattel.

O I wrote in December last year "I'm hoping for a Wind Raider" and we got a Wind Raider. Yay, I called it!

O Last year I also wrote "Could we please have a Stinkor that really does smell of patchouli, or a Mantenna with pop-up eyes or a Man-E-Faces with a spinning head?" Well, we didn't get Stinkor or Mantenna, but we got Man-E-Faces... with not just one spinning head, but two of them. Wow. Nailed it again.

O Camoflaged millennium parts on vintage figures? There was that missed opportunity with King Hsss, but Clawful did incorporate the crabshell on his back. I guess that's still one in the year though.

X Nope, we didn't get any new stands this year, which is a pity.

O No 5-minute sell outs? Well, Bow was the only figure that sold out after an hour. Most toys were available for over a day with Snout Spout almost hitting that mark. I'd say Mattel did well here.

So, 8 out of 10 isn't too bad, and I'm sure glad I called Wind Raider and Man-E-Faces rotating head. I'm gonna do a list for 2012 to see if I can predict what Mattel would be doing for the year. It shouldn't be too difficult since unlike this time last year when only 4 figures were announced, this year we've had 9 figures announced + a three pack and a stand for next year, so I'll have to get creative...

My Top 11 Toylines for 2011

2011-12-24T17:14:00.000+08:00

It's another Top 11 for 2011 list, and this list is going to be a tad difficult to write. It's not because there are so many excellent toylines this year. Far from it. the Green Lantern movie line was a dud and the Thor line was boring. So what made it to my top 11 for 2011?

Before I do that lemme recap what I liked last year in 2010. The top 10 from last year were:
10. Ben 10 (Bandai America)
9. Strawberry Shortcake (Hasbro)
8. Floating Tardis (Underground Toys)
7. Toy Story (Mattel)
6. Scooby Doo (Character Options)
5. DC Universe Classics (Mattel)
4. Lego Toy Story (Lego)
3. Revoltech Sci-Fi (Kaiyodo)
2. Masters of the Universe Classics (Mattel)
1. Transformers Animated (Hasbro)

So what about this year? Here's the countdown:

11. Polly Pocket (Mattel)
OK, I have to admit, Polly Pocket only made the list because of this SDCC exclusive. Last year, Mattel used the Polly Pocket line to introduce their DC franchise. This year, the crossover is with the Princess of Power girls which have been rolled into the Masters of the Universe... universe. It's a neat concept and it refreshes the toyline in a "think outside the box" type. And it's also the first appearance of Frosta in over 20 years.

10. Transformers Animated (Hasbro)
The cartoon has been off the air for years and the line is officially dead, yet this line makes an appearance on my list two years in a row... because? Mainly because of the BotCon version of Stunticon which was issued this year. OK, so these are not scramble city type Transformers, but are instead repaints of existing molds, some with unique heads. Yet the overall concept and the idea of keeping the (sub)line alive is such a great concept that I just have to give it this year's number 10 slot.

9. Playskool Sesame Street (Hasbro)
Who doesn't like Sesame Street? Hasbro through its Playskool line has reinvented Sesame Street to create a kid friendly toyline that's colourful, yet true to the educational values that the Sesame Street franchise represent. There's little muppet statues of course, but what sets the line apart are the huge colourful playsets. Now, why can't Adult Collectible toys be like this?

8. Dr Who Character Buildables (Character Options)
This is the first non-US toyline on the list, but rest assured, it won't the the last. Character Options has the license for the UK series Dr. Who and have a line of figures (which sadly is still missing a Rory). Well, they've also jumped onto the Lego minifigure bandwagon and have started a line of minifigures (which includes a Rory!). The figures are cute and there are a few playsets as well, including the Tardis shown.

7. My Little Pony (Hasbro)
I have to confess, I'm not a Brony. So I have no idea why there's such a huge draw to these toys to the extant that even straight heterosexual males are collecting these. Is it because of the cartoon? Maybe. Is it because of the colourful designs? Probably. Is it because it's easy to find these in stores? Maybe. I don't know, but I won't deny that it is probably a very successful toyline in 2011 and based on that it does deserve a spot on my list.

6. Revoltech Sci-Fi (Kaiyodo)
Revoltech is the line that puts out characters from multiple franchise. Characters released this year include box office hits such as Optimus Prime and Iron Man, but they also have figures such as Mike and Sully from Monsters incorporated. They have been improving on their designs this year - case in point being Mike - I expected him to be top heavy and to fall over, but thanks to their weird design, he does stand rather well on his own two feet! This is a line that's moving from strength to strength and it does have many years to continue.

5. Lego Minifigures (Lego)
This has been another runaway hit this year with two series of 12 figures. Blind bag figures means that one doesn't know what one is getting, unless one cheats! The design of the figures incorporates elements and pieces never before seen in Lego sets and collectors are just going crazy over them. I'm a fan, but not a huge fan of these though, yet again it's the popularity of these that gives them a spot on my list.

4. Masters of the Universe Classics (Mattel)
OK, this is my favourite line this year, and the only action figure line that I'm actively collecting. The designs this year has been great - from the customisable Palace Guards, Bow and Icarius to the double headed Man-E-Faces and Megator. Mattel has even given us two torsos for King Hiss. What's there not to like about this line? Well, quality checking, the bad customer service and the horrible site that these can only be purchased, although improvements are constantly being made to all three. This year has been a bumper year for MotUC, and next year seems to be shaping up to be even greater given that it's the 30th anniversary of the franchise.

3. Soul of Chogokin (Bandai)
Bandai only released three boxes in their Soul of Chogokin line this year, and all three have been winners. The last one release was God Sigma and the toy was just all sorts of awesomeness distilled into toy form. The toys are true to their cartoon depiction, and looks great both in individual robot mode and in the gattai or combined mode. It's made of a mixture of die cast metal and plastic and the joints are strengthened to ensure that they last. The articulation is where one would expect articulation to be and they don't get in the way of the action feature, which allows the individual robots to combine. I just wish I have the money to get the figures from this line.

2. DC Universe Green Lantern Classics (Mattel)

The two pictures above should demonstrate how awesome the line has been this year. Thanks to the Green Lantern movie (which spawned its own line that failed drastically), Mattel launched two waves of 6 figures as a subline of the DCUC line, and the resulting Green Lantern Classics allowed us to fill in the ranks of the Sinestro Corps and the Green Lantern Corps. Sure there were problems with the figures, but the design is what we have come to expect from the line and Mattel even decided to sell these online at their mattycollector.com store.

What's the top toyline of the year for me? Is it the Thundercats, which debut this year? Is it Ben 10, with which I have a fondness for? Surely it can't be Strawberry Shortcake or Scooby Doo? Well, it's not Ben 10, because that line has been rather lackluster this year. Strawberry Shortcake is still going strong, but they are branching off into a more dolls dominated area with the toys. I don't think there were new Scooby Doo toys this year, at least not that I've seen. And Thundercats has been a disappointment this year for me, and the recent announcements about changes in scale doesn't help either. So what's the top toyline of the year for me? In a list that's dominated by Hasbro (3 out of 11) and Mattel (3 out of 11), will they provide the top toyline of the year for me? Nope.

1. Lego Cars (Lego)
When I was opening these this year, I was totally estatic. These are Lego blocks, yet they are not. Lego somehow transformed their boring bricks into the interesting anthromorpic characters from the Cars movies. The colours are bright and colourful. The designs are innovative. The characters are built from bricks and some of that is apparent, yet, they are still aerodynamic and smooth and cartoon-like and nice. This is how Lego should be. This is how a movie should be translated into a toyline. This is awesome. At least to me.

What do you guys think? Feel free to discuss in the comments below or at The Poester Gallery.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 24

2011-12-24T12:23:00.010+08:00

It's Christmas eve.. and this is the last window of the advent calendar for this year...

That's the nice police boat from this year... and the window opens to show... Santa and a chimney? Wait, shouldn't this be two models instead of one?

The build isn't too difficult, and this Santa does fit in will with the rest of my Winter Village. Merry Christmas to all and may you have peace this Silent Night.

My Top 11 MotUC for 2011

2011-12-24T01:31:00.000+08:00

It's the end of the year. There's a number of top 10 lists flying around out there, but since this is 2011, I'm gonna be a bit different and do Top 11 lists. I'll start off with MotUC, which put out quite a bit of product this year. This wasn't an easy list to cut down to 11, but I think I've succeeded.

Nope, Preternia Disguised He-Man didn't make the cut, but the following did:

11. Hurricane Hordak - this is the first vacmetal figure in the line and he does look nice. I like how they incorporated his three weapons into the design. I also like the fact that the cannon-arm works well with all of Trap Jaw's and Roboto's weapons! Score one for the Evil Horde.

10. '59 Cadillac Funny Car- gotcha! It's been a while since we've seen merchandise with Slime Pit on it. The last time mattel did something similar was Harry Potter and the Slime Chamber. Well, that's close, but it's just not the same. Neither is this Slime Pit, but it does have a picture of it on the car. Hopefully Slime Pit will be the first playset announced for MotUC.

9. Battleground Evil Lyn - I haven't got my flesh-coloured Lyn yet, but I do like her thanks to the purple colours and the extra unhelmeted head. OK, so she's a cheap repaint, but I don't really mind.

8. Sy-Klone- what's there not to like about this garish figure? OK, his action figure is gone, but he does have the new Saturn ring on his back. He also retains his renticular sticker on his chest, another win for me. So he doesn't have his Asian features and the red ring on his head is also not removable, but those are minor quibbles for such a great character.

7. Polly Pocket She-Ra/Catra/Frosta - The first appearance of Frosta in over 20 years, and she does look cute. The Polly Pockets are SDCC exclusives (and they were also sold on mattycollector) so they are a wee bit hard to get, but does it matter? These figures still look great.

6. Palace Guards - This two pack came with a whole bunch of accessories so that the two figures can be customised a number of ways to obtain a troop of guards. Granted, it was spoilt by the Spector head, but for the first time ever, Man-at-Arms gets his army to lead into battle.

5. Man-E-Faces - OK, so he's not orange, but that's a plus in my book. Another plus is his extra head which allows him to become Skeletor, He-Man or Orko. Finally, Orko gets to hold the book eh comes with! Despite this being a cheap reuse of most parts, Man-E-Faces still gets to stand out and be awesome.

4. Megator - So Tytus was talked about twenty ways to Wednesday about how horrible he was. Well, Mattel decided to include a "secret accessory" for Megator and guess what? That one accessory made the set great. The accessory is a second head of course, and it pays homage to the vintage toy as it has rooted hair. I also like the real metal chain links on the morningstar. Other than that the figure is more or less a remake of Tytus with a different head (or heads), but unlike Tytus, the complaints of the figure was relatively muted.

3. Marlena! Finally, we get to complete the Royal Family of Eternia. That's not the only reason why Marlena made it so high up in my list though. Well, there's also the fact that she comes with an articulated Cringer, which is a nice bonus. Another bonus is her Filmation look, which is great. The big bonus is that there are enough parts in her package to convert her from Marlena to Captain Glenn, captain of the Rainbow Warrior. This is basically two figures (three if you count Cringer) for the price of one.

2. Bow. There's no hiding that I like Bow and I don't really care if he's gay or straight. The figure (and a hunk of plastic can't be gay or straight!) looks absolutely stunning, but that's not the full story. There's of course the two heads and the two chest pieces which allows for both the toy look and the cartoon look to be created. Then there's the awesome bow which has a detached arrow. Oh and he has a wrist joint that allows him to cock his bow. Now that's awesome.

1. Flipshot - I never would have thought a NA character will be my top figure for the year, but here's Flipshot. Let me count the reasons why.
i. Great looking sculpt that's true to the vintage toy
ii. first Galactic Guardian/Protector figure
iii. The huge backpack which can be converted into a jet sled!
iv. firing missiles from the jet pack!
v. removable missiles on the arm missile launcher
vi. two heads with three very distinctive look - visored, unhelmeted, helmeted
vii. clear eyepiece on the visor
viii. great original parts, which can be used as a base for other custom figures

So there's my list for this year. What's your top MotUC figure for the year?

#723 of Year 2 Lego 7050 Alien Conquest Alien Defender

2011-12-24T00:19:00.025+08:00

Another day, another Alien Conquest set. I guess I'm going in order of the size of the box, from the smallest to the biggest. Being day 2, well, it's the second smallext box, which happens to be a vehicle.

The box looks great on the front, and thankfully, the back has an image instead of just text. The front shows off the action feature - the firing missile thanks to friction, and the back shows the false advertising with light shooting out of the guns...

The box contains two unnumbered baggies, a decal sheet, an instruction booklet and a chassis piece. This feels more like a proper set.

It builds two figures - don't ask me why Lego decided that each set should have a protagonist and an antagonist, but there are there in all the sets these days. I do have to say that the shade of blue on the spaceman is a rather unique shade that I've not seen in Lego though.

The build wasn't too difficult, and there are two vehicles in the set. The Alien set is small but it looks surprisingly good. It's a great candidate for a polybag or an impulse set. The Defender vehicle seems a bit boring. The sides are exposed, the windscreen blocks the view of the driver and the yellow wheels just scream what were they thinking. I don't like it that much despite the presence of the aforementioned action feature.

The vehicle is only saved by the decals. I like how the Aliens are building up, but the Defenders suck at the moment.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 23

2011-12-23T12:29:00.000+08:00

It's the penultimate day, and I'm actually a bit sad that I won't have an advent calendar to open after tomorrow. Wait, the whole Toy a Day for the past 2 years has been like an advent calendar, and well, was basically based off the advent calendar concept anyways. It's a pity that that too is coming to a close at the end of the year... but oh well, let's enjoy this while it still lasts!

The picture on the front is more of the same apartment block... and the inside is... a dog with a bone?

There's not even any building with this! Feh.

#722 of Year 2 Lego 7049 Alien Conquest Alien Striker

2011-12-23T00:15:00.024+08:00

I'm going to close out the year with the Alien Conquest sets. Today, it's the small Alien Striker set. The entire Space subtheme was released this year. This is the direction that Space has taken - more Star Wars, less Vehicles in space sort of thing. It breaks my heart somewhat.

The box is green and has a nice picture of the set on the front, complete with additional flourishes including showing a double-barrelled pistol firing shots. Sadly, that's just a misrepresentation as the pistol doesn't fire anything. The back of the box is just a mass of text. That's just lazy on Lego's part.

The box contains just one baggie and an instruction booklet. Wait, this reminds me of an impulse set... yet it's being sold in a bigger box with a higher price point?

There are two figures in the box. The humanoid seems dressed to the nines, but that's just the print on the minifig buck. The Alien looks like an outcast from Bucky O'Hare, and I have to say I like the clashing reptile green, maroon and black. The vehicle took a minute to build, and it's boring mostly. It just seems a mismash of parts. This isn't a very good set, but it is a quick way to obtain two figures to army build...

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 22

2011-12-22T12:08:00.011+08:00

Two swans necking! Or whatever those Bingo announcers do to call out the numbers. I have no idea what 22 is though, but I do know it's another window on the Lego Advent Calendar.

The picture on the front shows a police truck... and it opens to show another snowmobile?

Wait there's one in orange and this one is in white and blue, so does that mean that it's cops and robbers?

#721 of Year 2 Lego 7848 City Toys R Us City Truck

2011-12-22T00:08:00.042+08:00

Lego does have certain exclusive sets - sets sold on ferries and planes, but also sets sold in retail stores like this one that's specially made for Toys R Us.

The box is the standard City box - that's because this set was originally a yellow truck, but customised to blue and white for TRU. The back shows the details of the toystore, but there are a few other things not shown on the back.

There are only four numbered baggies inside, two instruction booklets, three large plates and a decal sheet. The decal sheet wasn't in great shape when I opened it.

Booklet one builds the cab.

It starts off with baggie number 1 which builds the cab driver, and the undercarriage of the cab.

Baggie number 2 completes the cab. Hidden inside the cab, is a bed and a TV. It is actually very cool inside.

Baggie number 3 builds the trailer.

The vehicle is long, but wait, the dimensions of the trailer are a bit familiar... yup, the trailer, with the wheels and rear lights removed fit nicely on the Maersk flatbed wagon.

Instruction booklet number 2 and baggie 4 builds the toystore.

There's quite a lot of goodies including a teddy bear, miniature Lego sets...

... and a whole barrel full of knives and a pistol. The build was easy for both the store and the truck.

Overall? This is a nice little set. I'd say it's even better than the non-TRU version as this one has the TRU sticker/label on the store.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 21

2011-12-21T12:03:00.008+08:00

The final four days of the calendar... Four more days to go to Ho Ho Ho.

The window shows another apartment block... and the window opens to show a box on skis?

The build is easy... wait, that hole... yup, it fits on the skis from yesterday! So that's what this is all about then. I suppose it could also be used to haul the tree from earlier in the calendar.

#720 of Year 2 Lego 5766 Creator Log Cabin

2011-12-21T00:16:00.016+08:00

OK, so this is a Creator set, and it's a bit odd because although it's a house, it's not really a town or city house. A log cabin... now that's interesting. Yet, despite the idea, the house actually doesn't look all that different from a town house once the river and the kayak is removed... would it fit into my residential town layout?

The creator box is boring, but here it actually does look rather nice as the reddish brown of the house contrasts nicely with the blue background. The box is rather appealing ot me for some weird reason.

There's only five baggies inside though. Wait, only 5? That's a bit few for such a small box. The baggies are unnumbered, because this is a Creator set, of course.

There's also three basepates and only two instruciton books. Yes, one for the main model and another one to share the other two models. Blegh.

Like the modern Creator sets, there is a minifig though. Granted, he's just a plain smiley with a backpack, but that's better than nothing.

The kayak or paddleboat or whatever it is seems a bit boring. The SNOT construction is nice on the sides, but it's still boring.

The house though, is choke-a-bric with details, from the barbecue pit and the tree...

... to the fireplace inside. Does it fit in my residential town plan? Actually, with the blue baseplate removed, it sorta does!
dsfsaf

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 20

2011-12-20T12:13:00.007+08:00

It's day 20 and with the amount of Cops and Robbers for the past two weeks, I'm not hoping for much today.

The window shows the bow of the police boat and the window opens to reveal.. a snow mobile? That's a surprise!

The build is easy and I like the orange and grey colour scheme. Hopefully this means we'll get interesting winter themed items for the rest of the week leading up to the big day!

#719 of Year 2 Lego 7630 City Front-End Loader

2011-12-20T00:09:00.018+08:00

In for a penny, in for a pound? There was the backhoe in yesterday's set, and I was surprised that I got a front-end loader as well. At least this is a small set. It was probably an impulse buy!

The box shows off the set nicely, but it's a small set with not that many features. The box does seem a bit bland.

There are two baggies inside, the insruction booklet, a small decal sheet and three large pieces.

The build wasn't too difficult, and I have to say there's quite a bit of detail in such a small set. It's not my favourite, but then again, I don't like construction sets in general... unless they combine to form a huge robot or something.

The set does go well with the other construction equipment from yesterday. Now I need a cement mixer, a dump truck and a bulldozer and I'll have enough for the classic Devastator.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 19

2011-12-19T12:08:00.007+08:00

Day 19 - things are really getting busy now, but it's still one window per day from the Lego City Advent Calendar.

The window shows a truck, and the window opens up to reveal a safe. Hmm...

The build - way too easy. I guess this safe just has to go into the bank... where the robber from yesterday can take a crack at it.

#718 of Year 2 Lego 7633 City Construction Site

2011-12-19T00:08:00.066+08:00

There seems to be a trifecta of Lego City sets these days - Police, Fire and Construction. Sprinkle in Trains, Planes, Harbour and Space every now and then and the theme seems complete. Almost. I'm not a huge fan of construction sets, but wait, Lego was actually smart enough to actually throw in a four storey building in this set, which is why I got it, of course.

The usual city box, blue border, blah blah... well, nothing new there. I like how the picture extends out of the front of the box and to the top of the box though, but even then, it could probably stretch longer.

The back shows the feaures in the set including a rather ingenious lift, and the modular nature of the building, which is stackable with quite a number of other sets as well. Lego has finally learnt its modular lesson!

There are baggies inside the box numbered 1 to 9. Yes, 9. There's the decal sheet, four instructions booklets, and three big pieces that's not contained in the baggies.

There's also an extra baggie that's unnumbered.

Instruction book number 1 goes with baggie number 1...

... and builds a worker and a backhoe. There is nothing special about the vehicle, but it does stand alone very well on its own. Lego should have made this a separate set altogether.

Instructions booklet number 2 goes with baggies 2 and 3.

Baggie 2 builds the truck driver and the cab.

Baggie 3 builds the trailer.

I like the design of hte trailer. Thanks to the use of a train piece, I won't be surprised if it could carry a train container. The backhoe fits well onto the truck here.

Baggie number 4 goes with Instruction booklet number 3 and builds the lift thing. It looks boring at first glance, but the use of friction (thanks to Lego's micrometer accuracy) to hold up the lift platform is ingenious.

Booklet number 3 also has instructions for Baggie number 5 to build the first two storeys of the building...

... and baggie number 6 to complete the top two storeys of the building.

The building is unfurnished, except for the flowers on the window sill. I couldn't help but modify the flowers a bit with a few extra pieces I have lying around. I like the modularity of the building, and it allows the building to be stacked up with the addition of modules from other sets.

Instruction booklet number 4 is for baggies number 7, 8 and 9. Baggie number 7 builds the lower half of the crane and the driver.

Baggie number 8 the cab and the swivel platform.

Baggie number 9 completes the crane with the crane itself. Despite my non-like of construction vehicles, this is a very nice crane and it's huge. The crane bit is telescopic and extends to double its length. The design of the vehicle is solid and I had fun playing with this crane.

Overall, this is a nice set. It's big though. I think the set could be split into three, four or five smaller individual sets and it would still be in demand. This huge set probably tanked quite a bit due to the high price point. It's a nice set though and it does give not just the construction elements but also a nice new building that would go great in my residential city layout!

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 18

2011-12-18T12:53:00.002+08:00

There's a week left to the big day, will we get some festive Lego today?

The winder shows a tree with garlands... and it opens up to reveal... a robber. A bona fide robber with a crowbar. I have way too many of these in my city...

The build - easy peasey, and there's even a spare hat and crowbar. And that poor bank lady with the gold bar... mobbed by a crew of crowbar wielding robbers...

#717 of Year 2 Lego 10219 Maersk Train

2011-12-18T00:01:00.046+08:00

One of the biggest names in the Danish business world is... Maersk. Well, biggest name besides Lego, that is. Lego has had a partnership with Maersk over the years, but this is the first time that they joined together to create a Maersk train. I was on the fence about getting this - it's not motorised after all, but I was glad that I bit the bullet and just got it!

The box seems very blue grey, yet the elements of the Ultimate Builders (e.g. the Modular houses) boxes are there. The front captuers the contents very well, the back shows off the action features and shows how it can be motorised.

Even the top shows the actual size of the figure on a nice background.

The box contains 14 baggies: six of which are numbered 1 and six numbered 2, with two unnumbered. There are also three large pieces...

and the instruction books and decal sheet. I have to say I love how these new large sets have the instructions and decals in a protective plastic envelope and a backing board.

The six baggies numbered 1 builds two minifigs and the engine. The build took longer than I anticipated - there are lots of small pieces a way too much detail on the train, which is good to look at but tedious to build.

The baggies numbered 2 build a third minifig...

... three containers, two flatbed train carriages to hold the containsers and a truck and trailer. I don't like the decals transversing multiple brick pieces though, yet without those decals, the set would seem a bit boring.

The set looks gorgeous but all the details are on the engine. The rest of the set is rather bland. It fits well into my train display, but the lack of the motor means that it can't go zooming around the track. I looked into getting the motorised parts separately, but they cost almost as much as the red train set in the back, so I'm better of getting that just for the parts (besides, with that I can add an additional two carriages to the red train). However, I think I'll wait and see what Lego comes up with the following year in terms of Train offerings. Maybe I'll get two of those instead to strip one for the motor for this Maersk train.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 17

2011-12-17T12:53:00.007+08:00

It's Day 17, which means there's slightly over a week of toys to open before the big day of opening more toys!

The window shows a boat trapped in the ice and another ice skater... but as expected, the contents are the final pieces for the police car.

There's only a few pieces for the car, but there's no Police sign. It's a good thing that there was a spare sign way back when we got the second piece of the Police booth thingamajig. So there's the car completed!

#716 of Year 2 Lego 6754 Creator Family Home

2011-12-17T00:44:00.031+08:00

Lego churns out houses in their Creator theme once every couple of years. I guess it's a good thing because that's how I'm getting houses to populate my City. Should these be part of the City theme? Who knows? Perhaps Lego could merge the Creator houses with the City theme?

This is a huge box, but the images on it are rather simple. I like the black and white image on the front with the dimensions of the set, but other than that, it's a rather boring box. I'm sold though, on the fact that this is a house!

The box contains 13 baggies - that's a lot!

There's also the baseplate and four instructions books. Wait 4? There are usually only 3 models. Well, apparently the main model is so complicated that it takes two books to build.

I expected the build to be a bit tedious, but it was rather pleasant to build. There's the fireplace and stairs inside the house (waidaminute, deja vu!) but nothing else.

The roof is odd in that it's actually made of two halves, but it's unfurnished.

The house fits nicely on my Lego town layout. I like the little details on the set, like the flowers on the windowsill...

...the fountain (which I've heaped with trans blue round plates) and the duckpond. Sure the set could have been better with more furniture, a minifigure, perhaps even a vehicle, but nevertheless, here's another house that's great for the Lego City.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 16

2011-12-16T12:43:00.004+08:00

It's nearing the home stretch, and there's less than 10 days to go...

Window number 16 shows guys ice skating... and the window opens up to show... addition to the go kart from yesterday to form a car.

Again an easy build, but it still seems incomplete... perhaps tomorrow will bring the windscreen and the Police sign as this looks more and more to be a Police car.

#715 of Year 2 Lego 7902 City Doctor's Car

2011-12-16T00:39:00.015+08:00

Whew, I do have a lot of large sets that I'm opening, but once in a while, it's nice to actually open and build a small Lego set.

This isn't an impulse set, it's slightly larger than that. The box is typical for a City set - picture on the front, blue L-border, action features on the back of the box.

The box only contains two baggies, a chassis piece, the instructions booklet and a small decal sheet.

The build was easy peasey. The model is okay in terms of design and aesthetics. It's four studs wide, which I'm sure will please the Conservative Finn. What I like are the openable doors! Now I need a hospital to go along with this...

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 15

2011-12-15T12:39:00.000+08:00

It's Day 15 - 10 more days to the big day when there's no more toys on the advent calendar! I'm hoping today brings something good.

The window shows the huge police van... and the contents is... a buggy?

The build is easy, but the model seems a bit too plain...

#714 of Year 2 Lego 5771 Creator Hillside House

2011-12-15T00:31:00.050+08:00

Let's go into some history then. Lego started a 'Basic' theme way back in the late 70s... that has been renamed again and again over the years (and I don't really remember all the iterations), but it was Designer in the 90s and Creator in the noughties. Basically these were the 'build anything' sets. However, as today's Creator set shows, Lego has gone a long way from those 'Basic' days!

Creator sets used to be just the models without the minifigs. Well, this one is different then. The front shows the new doorbell pices - something I didn't even realised was inside until I started building the set. I was, of course, sold that this was such a gorgeous looking house. The back of the box shows the other 2 models that is also possible with the pieces in the box.

There are 11 baggies inside the box, none of which are numbered, three instruciton booklets, one for each of the models and five square small baseplates.

There's just this one sold blue and red minifig, but the plus side is that it comes with a rather nice looking open-roof blue car.

The build wasn't too difficult, but it's great that there's some interior details including the stairs and the fireplace. The exterior, of course looks a whole lot better.

Lounge chair and table, barbecue with wieners! These mini models look great and wouldn't be out of place in an Impulse set.

The solar panels on the roof is a nice touch, and I like the randomly placed alternating grey path.

The house fits into my city perfectly and it does build up the residential portion of my city. Lego needs to release more of these in the City theme than just Fire/Police/Planes/Construction sets in that theme.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 14

2011-12-14T12:31:00.000+08:00

It's Day 14 of the month and so far this month, it's been Police related. Would today bring something different?

The picture on the window shows a Space Shuttle/Rocket scene. Would the contents match? Nope, it's a magnifying glass on a table with a table lamp. Hmm....

The build was easy, there isn't much to this... and this would fit well in the Police Station - the proper one, not the one included with the Advent Calendar! Will this run of Police stuff never end? Well, if it doesn't it's good as well as I'm bulking up my Lego Police collection.

#713 of Year 2 Lego 7035 World City Police HQ

2011-12-14T00:23:00.063+08:00

The Lego City theme has gone through quite a bit of transformation over its branding in the past 30 years that I've been collecting. Back when I started drooling at collecting, there was only one minifig theme so they didn't bother to label it anything. When they added the Space theme in the late 70s, the non-Space theme had to be differiented somehow so at the early 80s, Lego decided to call it 'Town'. In the 90s, they took a disasterous step by 'juniorising' all their sets with ugly designs and easy builds. When they realised what a mistake that was, they brought back the Town theme, but renamed it World City instead. World City was less juniorised than 'Junior', but the designs were still a mishmash of 'Junior' and the normal sleek look. Perhaps because of how blocky World City was, they renamed it to City in the noughties (ha!) and moved the design to larger vehicles and better looking models.

The World City logo on the box gives away the age of this box - it's from the 90s. The box looks like a less refined version of the City box with the blue strip. The background images are gorgeous though. The back of the box has alternate models and World City would be the last time this would be done as the City theme moved towards a more action figure approach by showing the action features of the set on the back of the box.

The top also introduced something that was carried into City - pictures of mifigures to scale (hence the 1:1, which is just Lego talk for to scale).

The box contained 8 unnumbered baggies (note that numbered baggies are a 'City' thing), the instructions booklet, a decal sheet and a baseplate.

The instructions shows off some nice trains sets on the back that I wish I got way back then. Alas!

There are four figures in the set - three cops and a crook.

The set also contains two vac metal 'gold' bars. Whoa! Shiny!

The build wasn't too difficult. The pieces aren't too blocky, but the design was a bit convoluted and the instructions could have been better with the breakdown of the steps. Still, nothing that I couldn't handle. The City instructions are a lot better and this shows how far Lego has gone.

The finished product actually looks good. I like the tower, not so much the jail cell. There is only one garage space though or is that actually a gate? It's a bit out of character for the City Police stuff, but it forms a nice bridge between the green and black of the Town Police sets to the blue and white of the City Police sets.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 13

2011-12-13T12:31:00.000+08:00

It's lucky day number 13! What will today bring? A new toy from the Lego City Advent Calendar for sure!

The window shows a building with lots of windows... and the window opens up to reveal... a second cop! Lego Police City, here we come!

It's just another minifig, nothing exceptional here, but now we have a patrol of two cops to man the police booth thingamajig.

#712 of Year 2 Lego 8639 Cars 2 Big Bentley Bust Out

2011-12-13T00:21:00.060+08:00

This is the second of the "next wave" of Lego Cars 2 sets, although I guess they are really just one wave, but separated into two shipments or something. I know my store got them at different times.

The box is huge and it does show off the set on the front. The back seems badly used though - sure the pictures of all the cards on the top is good, but the series of panels showing the action features is a bit too regularly arranged.

The box contains 5 baggies...

... two instruction books and a decal sheet.

Baggie number 1 builds Lightning...

...Axelrod and the Queen. Lightning is his usual self. Axel and the Queen are both unique to this set.

Baggie number 1 also builds the victory podium (or is that the royal podium?).

Baggie number 2 builds a barricade...

... a lamppost and Holley...

... Professor Z and Finn.

The lamppost and barricade is just filler. Professor Z has been seen before with the boat. The other 3 vehicles are variants of their previous versions. Mater has guns and engines, Holley has wings and Finn is the normal version of the vehicle (we've seen the submarine version previously). I think all of them look great.

Baggie number 3 builds the base of the tower.

Baggie number 4 extends the tower higher.

While Baggie number 5 completes the tower.

Overall, it looks great and it plays well. The door at the base of the tower opens to allow the cars to drive into the tower.

There's a crane with a hook to lift up vehicles. There's a switch at the top floor which launches a vehicle through the clockface. OK, so I know I totally dislike the fascades, and this clocktower is a fascade, but it's a rather well designed fascade with great play qualities. Overall, this set is many times better than the one with the jet!

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 12

2011-12-12T12:21:00.007+08:00

Another day, another window from the tree? Well, it seems this year is getting a bit Police-y, and that's not too bad a thing since my first set 30 years ago was a Police Van...

The window shows a police station, and the inside is the fourth wall of the Police station thingamajig! Yay, it matches for a change.

The build was way too easy and the model on its own looks aweful. However, attached to the rest of the struture, it isn't too bad looking. I think that's it for the police station.

#711 of Year 2 Lego 8638 Cars 2 Spy Jet Escape

2011-12-12T00:15:00.028+08:00

The first wave of the Lego Cars 2 sets were well liked by me and when I had the chance to grab the next couple of sets, I took them. This is one of the two sets, and potentially the better of the two according to my tastes since there isn't a fascade to "play" with.

The front of the box shows off everything nicely, including recreating the scene from the movie. The back shows the cars in the box, as well as the features of the jet.

The big box contains only four baggies, a decal sheet and the instruction book. That's quite a letdown.

Baggie number 1 builds Tow and Holly. Holly is missing her glasses. Sadly. Tow is the same as most other sets.

Baggie number 2 builds the two bad guys - Grem and and Acer. I like how Lego took two very similar builds and made them look so different.

Baggie number 3 builds the bottom fuselage of the jet...

... while Baggie number 4 completes it. The jet looks great from the front, but from the sides, there's a "hole" where the ramp meets the jet - not the best of construction design.

Baggie number 4 also includes parts to build the police car version of Finn. He does look... interesting. Most of the car is brand new, but Finn's eyes piece is used on this model.

Overall, the set contains six great characters. The jet plane could have been better and Tow and Holly are obviously redos of previous models, with the Holly being not as well done as the smaller set.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 11

2011-12-11T12:14:00.004+08:00

It's day 11 of the month, and that means another window on the advent calendar!

The picture on the window shows a construction crane and a police van... hmm... the window opens up to reveal... part 3 of the police station thingamajig.

The construction is a lot easy, now that I know what it is. On its own, it isn't much, but it adds nicely to the previous two pieces to form a rather nice facade.

#710 of Year 2 Lego 3367 City Space Shuttle

2011-12-11T00:14:00.034+08:00

The Lego City Space subtheme returned in 2011, and this is the only shuttle in the four non-promo sets. As a Lego Spacephile this is a must-own for me although I do miss proper Lego Space themed sets.

That's the City box, not the Space box. I like the images of the earth and the moon in the background of the front of the box. The placement of the satellite and the non-umbillical spaceman is also a nice touch (but not as accurate as it could be). The back has some facts on the real Space Shuttle (RIP!), and shows off the features of the model.

I like the top of the box too - it's simple, but it shows the Spacemen in his dual modes. The box contains two baggies, a decal sheet, the instruction book and a large plate.

The instruction book may look typical, but the insides open to reveal more facts about the shuttle and space exploration. Way to go for educating youngsters about space!

The decal sheet is nice as well. It shows the logo that is clearly inspired by the Classic Space logo of the Space theme of the late 70s to the mid 80s.

Baggie number 1 builds the spaceman, the satellite and the cab and wings of the shuttle.

Baggie number 2 completes the cargo bays and the engines of the shuttle. The cockpit opens to reveal the pilot's seat. Surprisingly it's meant for a single pilot - despite Lego's attempt for their vehicles to go 6-stud wide, the shuttle cockpit it seems still harkens to the 70s in terms of Lego design.

The cargo bay stores everything nicely, and the Canada arm does a good job of hoisting the satellite out of the cargo bay. I do miss the round technic pegs and connectors build for the arm though - these yellow bricks seems clumsy.

The overall shuttle is just OK - sure it looks great, but it could have been so much grander.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 10

2011-12-10T12:24:00.009+08:00

It's Day 10 - two more weeks to the big day, and the anticipation builds with the daily plastic... except that it's been really bizzare this year.

The window show a couple of rockets and a space shuttle, and it opens to show... A fish on a rod and a wooden fire? Talk about total opposites in terms of technology.

The build was easy, but the fishing rod uses a whip instead of a proper rod. Blegh.

It does go well with Stan from yesterday though - Ice fishing. Yay.

#709 of Year 2 Lego 7991 City Recycle Truck

2011-12-10T00:24:00.023+08:00

Another day, another orange Lego truck? Well, this isn't a tow truck, but it's a garbage truck.

The box looks typical for City on the front with the blue border, and the city skyline background. The back packs a bit more zing than the tow truck with multiple windows of different sizes showing off the features and the look of the truck. This is how it should be.

The box contains the instructions, a decal sheet, two numbered baggies and three long flat bricks that fans refer to as "plates". Not that they look anything like plates here.

Baggie 1 builds the cab and the driver.

Baggie 2 completes the truck. I don't like the fact that it has bricks where the doors should be. I don't like the use of the new hinges for its rear. I don't like the blue and the red technic bits used in the model as it just makes them look ugly - why can't these be black or grey instead? Urgh.

The quibbles aside, it's still a nice little truck with four wheels, but perhaps Lego could have added a second minifig, to, you know, draw the bins from the kerb to the back of the truck? Just saying.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 9

2011-12-09T12:20:00.014+08:00

It's day 9, and it's another toy from the Advent calendar!

The door shows a couple ice skating with another couple watching and a guy fishing. The door open to show Stan from South Park dressed in a green parka?

Wait, why does he come with two axes? This advent calendar is getting a bit creepy.

#708 of Year 2 Lego 7638 City Tow Truck

2011-12-09T00:20:00.011+08:00

It's double the Lego madness today... and the rest of this month really, but instead of just those big sets and those really tiny sets, let's go for something a bit more midrange - a tow truck.

The usual City box, nothing much to see there except the nice picture on the front. The back looks a bit boring, but it does convey the message of the action features and such.

The box contains the instructions, a decal sheet, the chassis and two baggies... out of which the lone minifig can be assembled.

The build wasn't too difficult, and the model is nice overall, but a bit underwhelming for me. Sure, it has a ton of accessories including a winch and all sorts of handtools... and oh, the doors can be opened, so that's a good sign. Still, it seems to lack just that little bit of something...

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 8

2011-12-08T12:20:00.010+08:00

It's another day, and another window on the Lego advent calendar to open!

The window shows part of a bicycle and the front part of the police truck on the road... this isn't going to be promising. The door opens to revea... is that a bed or a desk?

The build was simple. 6 pieces total, with an extra cup.

I have no idea what this is though... hmm... perhaps tomorrow will give me a clue?

#707 of Year 2 Lego 3365 City Space Moon Buggy

2011-12-08T00:20:00.025+08:00

It's always been a Lego oddity that Space does not include Space Shuttles, which are part of the Town and now the City theme. Perhaps that's because Space Shuttles and the City brand sell a lot better than the lesser marketed Space theme? Who knows...

The Moon Buggy is one of the smaller sets in this year's (2011) Space subtheme, yet it still incorporates the usual City design elements into the box. It feels a bit like an Impulse set with no pictures on the back, but it's slightly larger than the Impulse boxes.

I was surprised that the box contained two baggies in addition to the instruction booklet. The instruction booklet also contains intersting space trivia.

The Astronaut is a little too plain for my tastes, but it works well. The build was way too easy, and th resulting vehicle seems a bit incomplete. The construction of the saw on the back of the vehicle is interesting, but I have no idea why a moon buggy would require a saw - a shovel or a Canada arm would have been more appropriate.

Lego did include the pieces for the pilot to drive the vehicle in a terrestrial atmosphere or in an oxygen-poor atmosphere, but other than that, it has close to nothing going for it.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 7

2011-12-07T12:10:00.020+08:00

It's Day 7 of Advent. What will today bring?

Well, the door shows a picture of... the edge of a fishing quay? Hmm... It contains... yay, presents!

The build is easy, and I like the overall look of hte presents as well as the extra skateboard.

There's even a spot on the calendar for the presents... and they fit just nice underneath the tree from yesterday.

Or the presents can fit under the huge Christmas tree in my Winter town. Yay!

#706 of Year 2 Lego 5891 Creator Apple Tree House

2011-12-07T00:09:00.021+08:00

I've been itching to open this, just because it looks like such a great house. The Creator line isn't part of the City line or the Modular houses, but the houses that are part of this line has never stopped being awesome.

The box is big and nice, and it's not the City box, so it doesn't have the blue border on both sides. Instead, it has the sky background and the yellow strip at the bottom of the front framing the picture. The back shows all 3 models with instructions inside the box and a few of the features of these models.

There's a parts count on the top of the box, as is usual for the Creator theme. The box contains three instruction booklets, two base plates and ten unnumbered baggies. What I do like about the baggies is that they are already sorted by colour and size.

The green baseplates are a bit lighter than usual, which was a surprise. The alternate models include a nice bungalow...

... and a two storey tower. The main model is a nice suburban house with a garage.

Building was straightforward, and thanks to the pre-sorting by Lego, it was relatively painless.

The final model is nice - it has a basketball hoop complete with a flat basketball...

and a lawnmower. There are quite a bit of details on the outside including the mailbox and the hanging lamp by the front door. The garage and main doors are openable, and the first storey above the main door can be removed to view the insides. However, the insides consists of the stairs... and nothing else. It was a bit of a disappointment.

The design is nice though, but the odd choice of baseplate means that it doesn't fit in with the rest of my city. Oh well.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 6

2011-12-06T12:20:00.013+08:00

Another day, another window to open. This is better than chocolates!

The picture on the door shows the bridge of the ship, but this should be another police jail ce... wait, that's a Christmas tree! Wow.

The build was easy. They cut cost and didn't provide enough red and yellow plates to go on to all the "hole" on the tree, but I do have sufficient spares to make those up.

It even has a spot reserved for it on the box, but it's not getting displayed there of course, it's going to my Winter town, just outside the bakery would be fine.

#705 of Year 2 Lego 7567 City Traveller

2011-12-06T00:26:00.011+08:00

Another day in December, another Lego set. This is a small Impulse set just because it's time consuming assembling all those bigger sets together!

The impulse box is small, but that doesn't mean it can't be filled with the usual Lego goodness. The front still has a picture of the set on the usual blue background, the top has a picture of the minifig to scale.

The back of the box though is a bit lacking and it's seriously missing the other views of the set. The box contains the instruction sheet and a baggie.

Construction was simple. The overall figure is a bit underwhelming. What I do like is the Classic Space logo on his jacket and the two suitcases.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 5

2011-12-05T12:04:00.000+08:00

Another day, another door on the advent calendar to open... after two days of Police-related builds, I hope today will bring something else.

The picture ont he front shows a truck hauling a boat. Will it be boat related? Erm... nope. It's side number two for the jail cell that started yesterday.

The build was easier, especially after yesterday. There are two leftover pieces though... does that mean that the next two days, I'll get more pieces for the jail cell? Oh no :(

#704 of Year 2 Lego 10213 Winter Bakery

2011-12-05T00:25:00.028+08:00

It's another day, and as promised yesterday, it's time for another Winter set, this time it's the Winter Bakery!

I think this has the best box yet and the scenes it shows are just so joyful. The layout is similar to the Post Office from yesterday, despite the fact that these are released a year apart. I wonder what next year will bring...

Well, at least the top of the box shows the baker and a lady with a gift. It looks good. There are eight baggies in the box...

... as well as the decal sheet and instruction booklet. What a difference a year makes though, because last year when this set was released, the instructions were not protected by a hard cardboard and baggie. Oh well.

There are only seven minifigs here, including the guy selling the evergreen trees.

The ice skating rink is interesting, but I don't really like the lights. There's also a pair of legs sticking out from the side.

The bakery itself is nice but took a while to build. It looks great from the outside with the huge display window, and has a nice flame fired oven inside with a chimney reaching all the way up to the roof.

My Winter town is building up nicely this month! Hooray!

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 4

2011-12-04T12:13:00.000+08:00

What will day 4 bring? If yesterdays' policeman is any indication, it'll be something related...

The front shows snow falling with buildings in the background. Somehow I think that's gonna be deceiving as the content will probably be a gun or something violent. Wait, what's that thing? A wall?

The build isn't too difficult, but it was a bit weird figuring that the wall is six across. It looks like 4 across from the picture. There's also a spare 1x1 brown brick.

I've no ideawhat the wall is for especially since it looks weird with the brown and blue and white. It's the oddest piece so far this year that's for sure!

#703 of Year 2 Lego 10222 Winter Post Office

2011-12-04T00:25:00.027+08:00

This is still Lego week, and it might turn out to be Lego month after all at the rate that things are going. I thought that since this is December, what better way to celebrate winter than to open up a couple of Lego Winter sets? Well, today it's the Winter Post Office.

The box isn't the standard City box, but I think it's the Lego exclusive box. The picture ont he front shows all the contents rather well, albeit dressed up by Lego. The back shows scenes of what the toys can look like, and the number of figures and animals in the set.

The top of the box shows a minifig shovelling snow. That's rather unglamourous. There are seven baggies in the box...

... as well as a decal sheet and an instruction booklet. I like the fact that they protected the booklet with a cardboard inside another plastic baggie. It is nice as it means the booklet doesn't get squashed in transit.

There are seven minifigs in the box and it's a nice mixture of males and females, adults and children. The first part of the build was to build the bench and the (un?)glamourous snow shovelling green parka Stan.

The old school delivery van is next, followed by the gazebo.

The best is saved for last - the twin peaks of the post office. The overall look is great, and surprisingly the build isn't too difficult despite not having numbered baggies.

This set will just fit right into my Christmas scene with the Winter Toy Shop and the Christmas Train.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 3

2011-12-03T12:54:00.001+08:00

Another day, another "window" to open...

The door for today shows the roof of an apartment block. It opens up to show... a policeman? *sigh* I guess that mischievious guy on Day 1 is a thief after all...

Another minifig, another easy build. He does come with two handscuffs instead of just one as pictured on the door though.

He's smirking too. I'm not sure I like the asymetrical mouth. A bit of a letdown today. I expected something more Christmassy...

#702 of Year 2 Lego 8403 City House

2011-12-03T00:19:00.015+08:00

So far it seems to be a Lego week, let's rip this baby up and build fromthe ground up this three story house.

This is the standard Lego City box with the blue strip on the side. The blue strip on the bottom have been reduced to a rather thin strip. The back shows the interiors and the modularity of the set. Hmm...

The box contains four numbered baggies, some base plates and large plates, the instruction booklet and a decal sheet.

The instruction book is nice, and doesn't stray from the standard Lego City format. It includes the other sets near the back of the booklet.

Baggie number 1 builds the ground floor...

... It includes a kitchen and small table and comes with three minifigs, a skateboard and a one piece dog.

Baggie number 2 builds the exterior of the house.

Details includes a nice firehydrant, a tree... house?...

... and a barbecue pit.

Baggie number 3 builds the middle storey of the house. There's even a computer inside and a nice couch.

The final baggie builds the attic level of the house and completes it. There's just one bed with a lamp on a bedside table beside on this level, but then again, there isn't much space to fit in much anyways.

Overall, it's a nice little house, and the modularity is a nice touch.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 2

2011-12-02T12:28:00.000+08:00

It's another day and another door on the advent calendar to open. What will I get today?

The door shows a Christmas tree? Perhaps a present? I need some to put under the tree in the Winter Village. Nope, it's a... catapault? Wait, why is there one of these in a City set? They are ubiquitious in the Castle advent calendars... but City?

The build wasn't too complicated, but neither is the whole contraption. It does fling the white "snowballs" rather far. And I was correct, that guy yesterday isn't a thief, but a prankster.

Well, he's not aiming the snowballs at the carollers, thankfully. Hopefully, he won't try to launch the cat from the contraption to see how far fur flies!

#701 of Year 2 Lego 852742 Holiday Magnet

2011-12-02T00:01:00.011+08:00

December is traditionally a Lego month for me and I did that last year on the blog. I'm not sure if I'm gonna go all Lego this year for the blog, but I'm definitely going with it this week at least!

The Lego Holiday Magnet isn't a real City Set. It's a decorative accessory of sorts and it does have a rather nice "scene". The box is yellow and it does look good as a backdrop for the mainly green and red set. The box contains a baggie of bricks, the instructions and a whole sheet of decals with Merry Christmas in various languages printed on it. It's a bit odd because the Happy Holidays brick is included inside the baggie.

The build was easy, but a bit tedious because there are so many small parts. I'm glad though that Lego did not use the cheap way out and just plopped a one piece tree there - I'm sure there are more than 20 pieces to that tree. At the end of the day it's a nice little set, and can be used with or without the magnet. I'm thinking without the magnet at the moment to add to my Winter Village.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T00:28:00.000+08:00

It's a new month and like last year, I'll start the month with an advent calendar! For a change I'm gonna be up to date and open a calender that's actually sold this year!

The box is nicely decorated, and the back shows the action feature of the box... which acts as the backdrop. The front flap can be opened downwards to form the base, while the actual Advent calendar box forms the backdrop. My only comment is that this means the box is upside down!

Door number 1 has a picture of a streetlamp. It sounds boring, but the actual content isn't too bad. It's a robber? Wait, why is there a robber on an advent calender? Oooh, is that white tube brick supposed to be a snowball? Perhaps he's a mischievious little fellow!

This is just a minifig, it doesn't take rocket science to put him together. I like the bandana that he wears though.

He seems a bit out of place in my Lego winter town, but perhaps if last year's calendar is any indication, he'll come with more goodies?

#699 of Year 2 Revoltech Jack Skellington

2011-11-30T00:52:00.032+08:00

It's almost December, and I guess I should go into something a bit more festive... from the Nightmare before Christmas, Mr. Jack Skellington courtesy of Revoltech!

I like the box. The black and red covers all that is true about the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. There's a nice picture of Jack on the front and the back just shows off all of his many poses. Text is kep to a minimum on the outside of the package, but there is a piee of tape running on the bottom of the packaging.

Of course, the front flap opens up to give the full story and scenes from the movie. Nothing new there for Revoltech, but it's just a nice touch. What's also nice is that most of what's in the box is visible when the flap is opened.

There's so much going on inside the box that I can't even manage to describe everything. Wait, I'll have to...

There's Jack's pet dog... or ghost dog... or whatever it is, and there's also a snowman. No articulation on either, but the sculpts are nice and the paint is good.

Then there's the usual nameplate, coil and box and a whole bunch of connectors and stands. The extra connectors is something new here - I've not seen them in the other Revoltech boxes before. There's also two extra heads and three hands.

There's a stand with a Christmas tree for Jack to stand which I thought was interesting. There are no pegs to plug Jack into, but there's a hole for his feet and another hole in the wall which grips his feet rather tightly and allows him to stand. Jack himself comes with a one-piece hat and beard, a bag and a small boxed gift tied with a ribbon. The sculpt on all three are excellent and the paintwork on them is also well done despite the presence of the intricate details on the gift. There's nothing special about Jack himself though.

This Jack isn't really a repaint of the original Halloween Jack, but seems to be a completely new sculpt. I think Kaiyodo really improved for this version of Jack. Now, why can't we get more characters from Jack's "universe"?

#698 of Year 2 Playmobil 3997 Three Wise Men

2011-11-29T00:51:00.021+08:00

I have always looked at Playmobil toys in wonder, but as a Lego fan, I really can't afford two expensive hobbies. Still, when I saw this box on the shelves in the toystore, I knew I just have to have it. Playmobil does a lot of religious themes - Noah's ark comes to mind, but the Nativity scene must be its most popular religious theme - I believe there are even Playmobil advent calendars!

The box has that Playmobil feel - a picture of the toy in front of an interesting painted background. The back of the box shows the individual pieces in the box.

The top shows a number of Nativity scenes includin the manger scene which can be made when combined with another set. Inside the box, there are three baggies, a camel and a whole booklet showing the other sets.

I like the camel It's articulate at the hips and the necks giving it 5 points of articulation.

Assembly is easy, and since the pieces are swappable, the figures can be easily customised. This set would definitely make a great addition to my Christmas decorations this year.

#697 of Year 2 Food Fighters Fry Chopper

2011-11-28T00:51:00.024+08:00

As I said, good things always comes in twos, except that I'm not sure if these Food Fighter vehicles can be considered to be good. They are a throwback to a time when any and all household items were converted into toys - Computer Warriors from Mattel also comes to mind - but does that make them good?

The Fry Chopper comes in a bigger box than the BBQ Bomber yesterday, but the elements are more or less the same with the weird green background on the packaging and the nice artwork on the front of the box. The back of the box contains similar things, which means that it doubles as the assembly instructions as well.

The top of the box features a picture of a kid playing with the toy, something that is sadly missing from toy packaging these days. Perhaps new laws require the disclaimer that "Child Not Included" be printed on the box if such a picture is shown. The box contains a baggie, the main saucepan, a decal sheet and a warranty sheet.

The decal sheet is interesting as it is colourful. It includes the decals for the included cans and at a cursory glance appears to be real canfood packaging.

Assemby isn't too difficult, but the vehicle does look rather naked without the stickers. There is a button underneath the handle of the pan which when pressed rotates the spatula propellers. The guns in front can be swivelled and the cans can be dropped when the red button on the rim of the saucepan is pressed. Quite a lot going for this vehicle.

Well, two wacky vehicles from the 80s. I doubt toys like these would even hit the radar of toy companies these days.

#696 of Year 2 Food Fighters BBQ Bomber

2011-11-27T00:50:00.026+08:00

Another 80s line today, this time it's the Food Fighters. I don't have any recollection of the line, but it's anthromophic food battling each other out with kitchen appliances and such. Hmmm....

The box is a weird pastel green, and there's a nice illustration on the front. The back has lots of text and it also shows the action features as well as two other vehicles in the line.

Inside the box there's a baggie, the vehicle base and a small sheet of decal.

The vehicle looks good with some paint details and quite a bit of sculpted details. The baggie includes the food and the spatula.

Assembly isn't too difficult, but it took me a while as there was no instructions in the box - the back of the box was all there is. Either the skewer or the spatula can be attached to the cannon thing in front, but that unbalances the whole vehicle. The vehicle is a nice size and since I don't have any Food Fighter figures, I guess, an anthromophic cat with an angry ring could have to do...

#695 of Year 2 Space Strikers Master Phantom

2011-11-26T00:50:00.024+08:00

I still remember watching Space Strikers. It was one of those cartoons which I was really interested in, but could never remember when it is on. I never knew there were toys for the series until I was picking at a clearance bin and saw this. I guess I bought it just because.

The card is really discoloured, but it does reminds me of the standard of the time. The artwork on the front isn't from the cartoon though. The bubble is nice and boring and the title card has the name of the character nicely. The back is busy and has a bio as well as what seems to be every toy in the line.

I was surprised that there was a pair of 3D glasses inside. The old paper type. The figure comes with a two piece flying platform, a missile launcher and a missile.

The figure has the usual points of articulation and stands three inches tall. The sculpt has quite a lot of details. Unfortunately, it's hidden beneath the thick layer of paint, some of which goes "over the line". The figure stands on his flying platform OK, but there isn't a peg to hold him in place, despite the fact that there is a hole in his foot. The "canada arm" also seems a bit odd, but it does add three points of articulation.

This is a nice nineties toy despite the paintjob. It was a pity that the cartoon tanked, and with it the entire toyline.

#693 and #694 of Year 2 MotUC Flipshot/Icarius

2011-11-25T00:49:00.035+08:00

It's still Macho man week, and I continue with two Flipshots... or Icarius as Mattel has decided to name him due to some copyright issue.

Icarius comes on the standard MotUC card, so there's nothing there that we haven't seen before...

... except for the Galactic Protectors sticker on the front. That's new. That's also the NA He-Man logo, but with the Galactic Protectors text instead. I also like how they used the vintage card art for the figure instead of the cartoon depiction of the figure.

Flipshot comes with a jetpack, a bracer, a set of missiles and an extra head. Now, because I've got two of him, I can dressed him up to the nines! The sculpt looks great and the wings really make him take up the space of two figures. He definitely looks big. There are two detachable missiles on his wings which can be fired by pushing them out of the slots - it's not spring powered and it doesn't fly far, but still, that's a nice action feature. The sculpt of his shirt, pants and 60s boots is excellent and there's a ton of details there from the design elements on his shirt to the fins on his boots. His visor has a transparent red window which is nice, but doesn't clip very tightly to the helmet which results in it falling out even during normal handling.

What I don't like is the fact that his boots seems glued to his lower legs, resulting in the loss of two points of articulation.

He compares well with his vintage version - and it seems most of the design elements is just lifted off the vintage figure and exagerrated. The only thing that's vastly different? His head - the vintage figure has a "flyboy" look with flowy hair. The MotUC version has a military flattop.

Overall, it's still a nice figure and it feels big and expensive despite the fact that it costs the same as the other figures of the line. Now, I got two, not to display him in both modes, but to make "Wind Raider Pilot" with an extra Palace Guard head. Booyah. Also, the jetpack makes a good jet sled too...

#691 - #692 of Year 2 American Gladiators Turbo and Nitro

2011-11-23T00:48:00.042+08:00

It's another double today - a pair of testosterone filled brutes from a franchise that was popular in the nineties - American Gladiators. Yup, you remembered it correctly. People hanging on giant balls or fighting with giant cue-tips!

The duo that I have are Nitro and Turbo. The cards seems to be in pristine condition. Oh well, too bad they are being opened.

Turbo comes on what seems to be the standard American Gladiator card. The front has a photo of him in combat. The toys are packaged in three blisters. The back shows his bio, but most of it is dedicated to the rest of the toys in the line, and there's a whole lot of them.

Turbo comes with his helmet and flying fox accessory. The figure is sculpted rather nicely and is painted well. However it only has four points of articulation - twist neck, waist and both shoulders. It does remind me of one of those Gormiti figures though.

Nitro comes on a similar card, but has a different battle photo on the front. And I never knew that he was Japanese, I always thought he was Native American. Go figure.

It's a completely different sculpt which looks great. The paint is done nicely, but the limited articulation make this more a statue than an action figure. He comes with the same accessories as Turbo, but in a different colour.

Here's the pair of them. They aren't too tall either, about three inches tall, and they don't really look like the characters that they are supposed to be, but oh well. Back to the box they go!

#686 and #687 of Year 2 MotUC Goddess and Captain Glenn

2011-11-20T00:47:00.014+08:00

I thought I'd just close out Girl Toys week (aka Girls Just Wanna Have Fun week) with a pair of MotUC ladies...

I got a second Glenn to paint her white or silver to be displayed in her spacesuit (the other one is displayed as Marlena). My second Goddess' crotch exploded. My first Goddess has 2 left legs. So this is my third Goddess. I've got a 4th one as a spare just in case.

Both of these needs some work though - the paint has to go on Glenn. I also have to switch Goddess' bracers again and this one has really badly painted bracers, so I'm gonna swap them with my exploding crotch Goddess.

#687 of Year 2 My Little Pony Rainbow Dash

2011-11-18T00:46:00.026+08:00

I guess this is shaping out to be Toys for Girls week? I've heard lots of talk from Bronies about how awesome the MLP line is, and I'm not really a fan of the whole pony thing, but I did get one of these to try out.

The packaging looks fun - a nice bubble to display the content. Lots of pink and purple to attract attention. The logo is splashed on the top and the title card is individualised. The back though seems a bit boring... and there isn't any other figures of the line displayed there.

Besides Rainbow Dash, the pony, there's also a comb, a cart and his little friend, a little squirrel. The squirrel is sculpted very nicely and is painted without any blemishes. My only complaint? It has no articulation.

The pony itself has one point of articulation. The sculpt has the wings upright, which tends to get in the way of the head articulation. The paintwork is tampographed onto the pony and looks absolutely fabulous (heh!). Rainbow dash can pull the cart with one of her rear legs. The squirrel thing can be plugged into the cart.

Overall, this is a bit underwhelming. Sure, if I wan't to comb her hair or braid it I'll have lots of fun. It also displays well thanks to the rainbow hair. But as a toy? It makes me wonder what one actually does with these. I guess they aren't for me.

#685 and #686 of Year 2 Mega Bloks Smurfs Lazy and Harmony

2011-11-17T00:35:00.027+08:00

It was Hello Kitty two days ago, and today I open another couple of Mega Bloks sets, this time from their Smurfs theme.

Mega Bloks seems to get all the interesting themes. Smurfs Lego would have been great, but this is just as good as they are compatible!

Lazy comes on a rather interesting box. Sure the front shows the set, but they've got it placed on a rather nice animated background. The back of the box shows the other sets in the line and there are some big mushroom houses there.

The instruction sheet doesn't even look like an instruction sheet. The instructions have custom drawings of Lazy next to the illustration. The reverse has the parts count, as well as a colouring area and the names for Smurfs in about a score of languages.

There is only one bag of bricks in the box besides the instructions. The big bag does contain two smaller bags which seal in Lazy and the mushrooms respectively. The build wasn't too difficult - this is a small set after all and there isn't much going on. Well, this is aptly named Lazy.

The minifigure may seem to have only five points of articulation - heck, hips and shoulders, but he has three additional hidden points of articulation at the waist and wrists! This is a great representation of a Smurf.

Harmony also comes in a rather attractive box, and has a picture of the contents on a very Smurfy background. The sides and back are the same as Lazy - what I do like is that all the names for Smurf is printed on the side of the box as well.

The instruction sheet agains looks great. There are a whole bunch of customised graphics on the instructions and a different colouring picture on the back. My only complain is that it's too wordy on the back.

The contents are well protected, but the instruction sheet is a bit deformed somewhat. The bag of bricks contains a smaller baggie containing Harmony and the same small baggie with the mushrooms as Lazy.

The build was easy and the set... seems to be a collection of parts. Nevertheless when placed next to Lazy, it does look all sorts of awesome!

#683 and #684 of Year 2 Mega Bloks Hello Kitty Sailor and Birthday

2011-11-15T00:28:00.037+08:00

Hello? Is it me you're looking for? Probably not. Hello Kitty is one of those fads that won't die... and Sanrio has got Mega Bloks to actually make Hello Kitty sets. Whoa!

I got two of the smaller sets just because they have Lego compatible bricks. I can't afford another expensive toyline though...

The Daniel figure, or Sailor as is printed on the title card comes in a squarish bubble on a small greeting card sized card. The back is full of text, but it also shows the three other sets in the series.

There's also a folded leaflet inside which shows more of the other sets and a comic strip... but there are no instructions as to how the whole thing should be put together. It's just as well that it's easy to put this together!

Daniel comes with a base, a background diorama, some roof pieces and a sailboat.

Hello Kitty, or Birthday as is printed on her title card, comes in the same style of packaging as Daniel. The bubble does show off most of the contents, which isn't much.

She comes with most of the same thing as Daniel, but has a balloon instead of a sailboat. The balloon though isn't an oval, but someone in their infinite wisdom decided to chop it into half, so it's just a hemi-ovoid shape with a handle.

I think the figures are nice - a good plus is that they can be compatible with any Lego brick as well, Mega Bloks is a Lego-clone. They are almost the same height as a minifig too. Perhaps one of these days I shall have to get my Lego Toy Story together with these Mega Bloks Hello Kitties...

#681 and #682 of Year 2 Super Mario Bros 1UP and WARP

2011-11-13T00:54:00.019+08:00

The Japanese have funny toys sometimes. I picked these two up on impulse just because they look cool.

I mean I can't even read most of the packaging, but it's Mario and it does look cool, what with the individualised boxes and the clear window to look into the box. I have no idea what to call them, so I'm just gonna pretend the speech bubbles on the boxes are their names...

1UP, as I'm calling this has a running Mario going up stairs with a turtle shell thing on the steps. The box is striking red with a running Mario on the front. The back is boring white and black with some illustration and way too much text... in Japanese script.

It has batteries and it does make a sound each time you press Mario, until you hit the jackpot, I presume.

The sculpt is amazing - the look and feel of the blocks, the cactus, even Mario and the shell looks great. There is a switch at one side and holes for the speaker on the sides of the steps though. It's a small little playset and everything is connected together, but it's a good little piece that could be displayed and that will probably start conversations.

Warp on the other hand has a slightly different box. It's still red, but it has those green vertical sewer pipes as the motif on the front. Both boxes actually does have a retractable flap with the hanger which is sorta cool. It's not part of the box per se, but it's designed so that it holds the box on a peg rather well.

The toy is another one piece, but this one has two Marios - one at each end of the pipe. Like the 1UP, it makes a sound when either of the Marios are pressed into the pipe.

Overall, I like both of these. Sure, they aren't really action figures, but as display pieces for a popular video game franchise, they are great.

#680 of Year 2 Mario Bros Donkey Kong

2011-11-11T00:44:00.008+08:00

It's day 4 of the Super Mario Brothers week, and today it's the huge ape which started the whole franchise, Donkey Kong himself!

Donkey Kong comes on the same cards as Mario, Luigi and Toad, but he's packaged in a rather odd way inside the bubble. That's probably to make him fit inside the bubble, because otherwise, he'd have required a bigger card.

Donkey Kong has four points of articulation, which means he wins on that front. His shoulders and hips are articulated. Sadly, his head is not, which results in an upward looking gaze when he's standing upright. He's also the first figure in the line that I have to have an accessory - his tie. The sculpt has fur details on his limbs and back and the paint is excellent. He'd be a good figure, if only he had more articulation.

#679 of Year 2 Mario Bros Toad

2011-11-10T00:41:00.013+08:00

It's day 3 and today, I'm opening Toad.

I always thought his name was Toadstool, but oh well, according to the back of the card, his name is Toad.

Toad has a great sculpt and the paintwork is excellent. Unlike Mario and Luigi, he does have a twist neck articulation, which gives him an extra point of articulation than the Mario Bros. Sadly, there's no toy of the princess in the line. Perhaps she is in another castle after all...

#678 of Year 2 Super Mario Bros Luigi

2011-11-09T00:33:00.018+08:00

It's day 2 of the Super Mario Brothers week, and we have the other brother today, Mr. Luigi!

Luigi comes on the exact same card as Mario, so instead of showing the card back here, I thought I'll just show what could be expected for the rest of the week. Yes, there's Kong coming up this week.

Luigi is more or less similar to Mario in many ways. The sculpt is great and looks like Luigi, the paint is great without any sloppiness, he only has articulation on the shoulders. I like how the pair of them look next to each other though.

#677 of Year 2 Super Mario Mario

2011-11-08T00:26:00.009+08:00

It's the second day of the week, and I think it's a good time to start the Super Mario Brothers week!

The card is simple and has way too much red. There is a nice picture of a jubilant Mario on the front of the card, and another one in the lower right corner on the back. The other figures of the line are also shown on the back.

Mario does look like his game character. However, this is almost a lump of plastic. He only has two points of articulation at the shoulders. Articulation aside, the sculpt looks great and even has the details on his coveralls with the raised buttons and the waist "bulge". The paint is excellent as can be expected from a Japanese toy. All in all, this is a good display piece, but not really a great toy.

#676 extra of Year 2 Extra Spiral Zone Accessories

2011-11-07T00:09:00.046+08:00

Well, four accessory packs... and since they are accessories, they don't count towards the Toy a Day limit!

The Snapper Claws come on a rather nice Spiral Zone card, and the back fo the card shows the accessory on the back of Razorback - the rear view of course. It's sorta humourous...

There's the instruction sheet inside, the backpack with the attached claws and the soft rubbery harness.

It fits nicely on Razorback too... well, that's because he's the only Black Widow figure that I have. A point to note is that the backpack fits on the harness that originally came with Razorback as well.

The claws can be stored ont he backpack when they aren't being held by the Black widow. The colour seems a bit off, but that could be because of age. Besides the whole Barbie thing, the claws do have an action feature - they are spring-loaded and will snap shut when opened. It's a nice little backpack.

The spin shot comes on a similar box, but the bubble is different. The back of the card shows the back of the figure again, this time with a fully loaded backpack.

There are five missiles included here, together with the pentagon-ish backpack and the same rubbery harness as the claws. The backpack stores all 5 missiles but only launches the top most missle when the centre button is pressed.

It hooks on nicely to any harness, but due to its size, it tends to cause the figure to be top heavy which causes it to fall over backwards. It's a cool idea, and a great toy, but I'm not sure if it's a good display piece.

The good guys get... well, this Barbie fashion accessory... It comes on a similar card, but has a unique bubble. Unlike the other two, this one shows a generic figure in the profile on the back of the card. The card though is in greyscale and not coloured.

I dunno. This definitely looks a bit Barbie-esque to me. Boots, cap, harness, canteen, pistol, shovel, jumpsuit and harness. Undress him, dress him up. Blegh. Not something that I actually like. This is the reason that I avoided the line when I was a kid. It was too much like Barbie.

The last accessory is actually for the Zone Riders - it's a Zone Blaster and I think I actually remember this being used in the cartoon series. The card is similar to what we've seen before, and the back has the backside of the figure wearing the backpack.

There's the Zone Rider coloured harness, complete with shoulder pads, the backpack with an attached gun, and the bomb thing.

The bomb isn't held in place on the backpack and consequently it drops easily when played with. The backpack does launch the bomb rather far when the lever is pressed though.

I like the overall look of the harness as well. The gun is a definite bonus, and the fact that it's connected to the backpack means that there's less chance of it getting lost. Well, since my three Spiral Zone figures are on a permanent display, I guess I'll have to rotate some of these backpacks in and out occassionally...

#676 of Year 2 Spiral Zone Razorback

2011-11-07T00:05:00.019+08:00

I dug this figure out a while back and realised that wow, I do have another Spiral Zone figure. There were also four ~~fashions~~ accessory packs next to him in my huge storage box.

The box looks nice - the Spiral Zone logo on the camoflage background. The cutout shows the content of the box a lot better. The back has a bio of sorts and details the bits and pieces of his armour.

This is a huge 8-inch figure, and he does come with a whole load of accessories including the red and black tiger-striped jump suit.

He can be kitted out from head to toe and armed to the teeth. He is a razorback after all. The paints on the head and arms are good. I like the facesculpt - he resembles his cartoon version so much, a rarity for an 80s toy.

He's got a whole arsenel on his back, and yes, each of those weapons is removable. There's even a pistol holder on his boot!

OK, back in the day I had disdain for the figures because they had cloth clothes (or maybe because they were expensive?). My loss then. This is a really great line of figures and Razorback just proves how awesome this line is. Definitely display material on my shelf!

#675 of Year 2 Acroyear Exo Acrooptom

2011-11-06T00:40:00.019+08:00

As I always say, good things comes in two. Or at least that's my hope. I picked up half of the team of Acroyear Exo and Acrooptom was the other figure besides Acrostera.

The packaging is busy, but that's typical of Japanese packaging. It's similar to Acrostera's from yesterday including the details of the action feature and the combining features of the accessories.

The packaging is well thought out to show off all the contents, and yes, there's all the Japanese hallmarks - spare hands and catalogue leaflet inside.

Three pages of the fold out leaflet are dedicated to Acroyear Exo and it seems that they each have an elemental theme - earth, water, fire, earth.

The figure is more or less similar to Acrostera, except he's male and maroon here. His paint is good but boring. His joints are a bit loose as well. He comes with a removable vacmetal helmet, with a vacmetal face inside. It's more robotic than human though. The octopus accessory is cute and has both gold and silver vacmetal parts. He also sits on a roller so that he can be pushed along the ground.

There are two combined forms - split the octopus in half and place it on both shoulders mode which is boring, or the transform half the octopus into a giant gow and place it on his arm. I like the latter a lot more than the former.

The figure stands slightly taller than Acrostera, but the octopus shoulder pads increases the overall height by quite a bit. Both these would look great on any display shelf, but since I don't have any attachment to them, they are going back into the box.

#674 of Year 2 Acroyear Exo Acrostera

2011-11-05T00:09:00.033+08:00

Toy hunting in a foreign country is always fun. Especially when that country happens to be Japan, the home of some of the most exciting toys since... well, forever. While I was there a couple of years ago I picked up this pair of figures, one of which was Acrostera. No, I don't read Japanese, but it's written there on the fron of her bubble in Latin letters, or romanji as the Japanese call it.

The card is squarish and the bubble takes up most of the real estate on the front. That's good because it encloses quite a lot of pieces inside. I like the aesthetics of the front of the card, and the pack out seems orderly inside the bubble. I also like how the title card only takes up space in the lower quarter of the bubble. The back feels very Japanese, with images in boxes explained with text. What's missing are the other figures of the line, but that's not a Japanese "thing"...

... because there is usually a whole leaflet or even a catalogue within the packaging showing all the other figures in the line. And look there's also that other Japanese thing - extra hands, in this case a dozen of them!

There's a whole bunch of stuff inside besides the spare hands. There's a stand and two sabres, but most of the accessory is the creature/armour.

The basic figure stands about 4-inches tall, but it has more articulation points than I can shake a stick at. I was worried that it might not stand properly, but my fears were baseless as the joints were tight. The numbers of poses are amazing - the instructions even show some of the poses possible. The paintwork is good, but the design of the base figure seems a bit boring. Then again, they are probably taking this off some cartoon or manga or something, so there's not much they could do.

The instructions are also a tad complicated, but everything is numbered so it isn't to difficult to convert the creature into her armour and transform her into her various modes.

My favourite is probably the winged warrior. The translucent plastic from the creature and the vac metal bits really give her a very good look. In addition, the "tail" at the back helps keep her upright. This is a nice little figure at the end of the day.

#673 of Year 2 Beetlejuice Gross Out Meter

2011-11-04T00:24:00.019+08:00

Yes, it's only Friday, but this is the last of the Beetlejuice week. I have been trying for a year to get a couple more figures, but sadly I never could get any.

The gross out meter isn't really an action figure toy. It's more a prop than anything else. The box has the typical green black and white, but there's also that Beetlejuice pink as well. The insets aren't square and the pictures are very attractive and interesting, but I guess that's the only thing that's interesting.

The toy is just a huge bony arm with a dial and a small chamber, and an orange one-piece bug. The bug has very nice sculpting, but it's one piece. It sits in the chamber and when a button is pressed, the door flies open and the bug flies out. Supposedly. It doesn't work on mine though because the engineering of the toy doesn't really allow it - the lever that's suppose to retract when the button is pressed is too long, so it never does releases the spring-loaded flick. Ah well.

There are two more features - two rolling tumblers with adjectives on a colourful background, and the "thumb" of the skeletal hand which is articulated. The latter can be used to latch on to someone's appendage and it will activate the tumblers which will settle on the two words. Yawn. Oh well, I'm sure this was great in its day, but I was totally bored with it. Back into the box this goes!

#672 of Year 2 Beetlejuice Phantom Flyer

2011-11-03T00:22:00.029+08:00

Another day, another Beetlejuice toy for Beetlejuice week here on Toy a Day. It's not another Beetlejuice figure today, but it's something that's a lot more awesome - a vehicle from the line. That's right, it's the Phantom Flyer!

The box is all sorts of crazy but great. The black white green colours of the theme plus the pink of the vehicle seems to give the box that weird look as if a colour blind person painted the box. Nevertheless, it is catchy and does stand out. The sides and back aren't too shabby either, with pictures and inserts to amp up the packaging. The text is not intrusive and it's well done.

I do miss Kenner's cardboard packaging. It seems so secure inside.

And there's the pledge that "We really do care!". I wonder if that is still enforcable today by Hasbro. The Action Toy Guide is Kenner's catalogue and it does feature some of the lines at about that time including Robocop and Police Academy. No Star Wars then though.

There is some assembly - the gear for the front wheel has to be pushed into place. It's also a feature though - by pressing the handlebars together, the wheel can be released. Otherwise, it's just a vehicle with a huge carriage and fold-up wing.

And a skull with goggles on the front. I like how the wing were made - upright, the vehicle turns into a chariot of sorts, and extended, the microlight jet looks streamline.

I was a bit worried that the preposed Beetlejuice figures will not be able to sit on the vehicle, but my fears were unfounded. He fits well in the huge carriage - in fact there's even sufficient space to place a second figure back there. Overall, this is a good vehicle for the line. Kenner did great vehicles back then. How I wish they are still around now.

#671 of Year 2 Beetlejuice Shish Kebab Beetlejuice

2011-11-02T00:19:00.021+08:00

It's day 3 of Beetlejuice week, and it's yet another Beetlejuice character. Yay?

The packaging looks the same. I do like the art on the front and the inset on the side, which differientiates the packaging of the different Beetlejuices.

And what a lot of accessories! The skewers are moulded in a rubbery (duh!) grey plastic and is painted, very nicely at the ends. The sculpt is magnificient, and despite the small size of some of these items, the detail is amazing. Look at the teeth on the skull, for instance, or the folds of the bat's wings.

The action feature is that the skewers can "pierce" through Beetlejuice. He actually does come with holes in his torso for this action feature to work. This Beetlejuice has 5 points of articulation. I don't like how his coat is broken with the tails connected to the thighs, but it is a nice design in that it's practical - it allows the figure to sit.

The pose is fixed thanks to the lack of elbow and knee joints, and this one I have an issue with somewhat as he seems rather weird standing there like that with his arms posed as if he's ready to play a piano. The big head is removable, and there's a cyclop's eye underneath there. The head also fits on the other Beetlejuice figures too. Overall, I like the action feature and the bright colours, but I'm not too happy about the sculpt.

#670 of Year 2 Beetlejuice Showtime Beetlejuice

2011-11-01T00:16:00.015+08:00

Day 2 of Beetlejuice week, as we start the month of November. No themed month this month, but it's the penultimate month that I'm doing this so yay!

The packaging is similar to yesterday's Beetlejuice. I do have to point out that there are other characters besides Beetlejuice, but this, being a Kenner line at around the time of Batman means that there's a large number of the main character variant and there are no female characters.

Showtime comes with a snake accessory that has a Beetlejuice at the end. Like all the other figures of the line, the big head on the figure can be removed to reveal the smaller head. The action feature on the figure consists of a lever on his back which raises and lowers the smaller head (or the bigger head which is attached to the smaller head) from the body.

The action feature doesn't hinder the neck articulation of the big head, but the small head is pretty much fixed in place. The limbs feature a point of articulation each. The feet and arms are pre-posed, but it's a rather pleasant looking pose surprisingly without any balance issues. And as that last picture shows, the big heads are swappable. Yay.
dafs

#669 of Year 2 Beetlejuice Spinhead Beetlejuice

2011-10-31T00:12:00.043+08:00

It's Halloween. And the start of a new week too. I christen this Beetlejuice week. And I open the week with Beetlejuice himself, of course.

The card is colourful despite containing just the colours white, black and green. That's probably due to the logo and the art on the front. The bubble is clear and allows everything to be visible. That's because there is no title card - the title is on the actual card itself.

The figure is sculpted and painted nicely. The flamboyant magenta suit gives it a lot of colour and really does make him pop. The yellow hair also helps in this regard. He has five points of articulation at the shoulders, hips and neck. He's proposed though, but despite that, he stands rather well.

The head can actually be removed to show a smaller head inside. Both heads work with the action feature. There's a wheel on his back when when turned, rotates the head. It's a boring action feature but it's better than none. This is a nice toy for that era, but it has me wishing that it'd get remade with today's technology...

#668 of Year 2 Muppets The Great Gonzo

2011-10-30T00:41:00.028+08:00

It's Halloween tomorrow and I thought I'd celebrate today with a bit of weirdness. Or rather a Muppets Weirdo by the name of Gonzo!

The 2000s clamshell has clear plastic all around and it does show off the contents rather well, except where it's obstructed by the title card. Actually card is a misnomer. Because the structural strength of the packaging is now provided by the bubble, the contents are just pieces of flimsy paper. Still, it shows off the other figures in the wave and line rather well on the back of the packaging.

Gonzo comes with a chicken, a stand, a two piece valentine chocolate box and a trumpet.

The stand has the Palisades logo subtly incorporated into it. The horn is vac metal gold and I hope it doesn't peel off. The box of chocolate has quite a lot of details, and the paintwork in the lid is exceptionally well done.

Gonzo's sculpt looks good as well and there's lots of details all over his suit. His face looks animated and lifelike, as if he was a real muppet instead of the toy. The paintwork is well done and the darm plum maroon of the suit camoflagues most of his joints, of which there are 11 - neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees.

The chicken seems to be a brick on first glance but actually consists of three pieces, the head, body and feet. The head is articulated and can be twisted. The sculp has all the individual lines of the feathers etched realistically, while the paint on the eyes and comb brings it to life.

I like the overall contents here... and I do wonder why did the Muppets die out. Hopefully, we'll get another line of Muppets in future.

#667 of Year 2 Bone Age Hammer Hook

2011-10-29T00:37:00.022+08:00

I know it's Saturday, but it's the final day of Bone Age week as this is my last unopened Bone Age toy.

The box is a bit bland. However the front of the box isn't too busy. The image of the toy isn't too bad, but the good thing is that it's not obstructed by an inset. The back fo the box has a bio, and shows off the action features of the toy.

This is a two-piece toy, and the two pieces are connected by a strong. The leaflet shows the complicated mechanism that is required to fire the projectile. It does include a hole so that it could be attached to the other vehicles as shown on the back of the box, but other than that it's pretty much it's own toy.

The sculpt is good, and the wood grain actually does look organic. The wheels do rotate so that it can be rolled along the ground. To fire the skull projectile, the brown lever in the middle is pressed down, which swings the club to press on the tan lever near the wheel. This fires the projectile. The prime the whole thing, the club has to be reset before the missile can be reinserted into the launcher.

I thought this would look a bit out of character for the line, but it's actually not too bad. Overall the whole line looks good, and is a draw for Dinosaur action figure lovers out there. But it's not a line for me sadly. Back to the box they go!

#666 of Year 2 Bone Age Dynacus

2011-10-28T00:30:00.029+08:00

Dynacus is the first "vehicle" of the line. It's a vehicle in the sense that it's not a creature, although it's arguable. Welcome to the fifth day of Bone Age week.

The first thing I noticed on the box was that the name was in a big font, so that's good. The bad thing is that the artwork on the front of the box is so uninteresting that my attention skipped over it. The inserts on the front seems a bit of an overkill, but it's there to "fill space". The back shows the bios and the action features, but does not have a picture of the other figures in the line.

Dynacus comes in a number of parts that has to be assembled. Thankfully there's an instruction sheet. The parts can also be assembled Lego-like on its own or with other vehicles to form other vehicles as shown on the back of the box. There's also a figure included - Zur of the Ice Clan. He's similar in the other figures of the line - nicely painted and sculpted, five points of articulation and falls down if he holds a weapon, but in this case

The sculpt is good, and there's no paintwork. Thanks to the peg and holes, there's a lot of articulation on Dynacus. However, he's a two-legged thing and tend to fall over very easily. I use his tail as a balance though, but that won't work after the tail is "fired" as a projectile, which is the action feature. The jaw doesn't open, which is a pity. Still it's a nice toy on its own.

#665 of Year 2 Bone Age Bull

2011-10-27T00:28:00.016+08:00

Another day, and no, it's not another member from a new clan. There's only three clans in Bone Age, at least in this wave. We're midway through Bone Age week though!

Bull has the standard (yawn!) card with the standard layout. Here's a close-up of Vorc on the front of the card.

Bull comes with a whole lot of weapons - a coccyx-tipped spear, a shield, a ribcage club, the same bone hook thing as Vorc, but no helmet. The sculpt is well done and the paint is well done and he has the same five points of articulation (yadda yadda). He does stand upright with the help of the spear, although he can't hold all his accessories. Another mediocre figure after Vorc. Perhaps he needed a helmet to make him stand out.

#664 of Year 2 Bone Age Vorc the Voracious

2011-10-26T00:26:00.013+08:00

It's Day 3 of Bone Age week, and we continue with the third of the three clans, the Lava Clan.

The card looks remarkably similar to the other two, the only exception being the Lava Clan text and the image of Vorc on the front. There's only three bubbles here to fit in the helmet, but everything is nicely on display so it's all good. The back of the card is exactly the same as the others.

Vorc comes with his trademark helmet, a club, a stick sword and a bone hook thing. He actually stands very well while wearing the helmet thanks to the tail on it acting as a support. The sculpt looks non-descript, but it's detailed and the paint is applied on spot on, especially on the face. I like the contrast of the orange and the tan. He has the usual five points of articulation, yet despite sharing many similarities with the other two figures, I think he's my favourite yet!

#663 of Year 2 Bone Age Tund the Thunderous

2011-10-25T00:24:00.014+08:00

It's Day 2 of Bone Age week and it's an Ice Clan figure today... and I think he's the leader of the Ice Clan since his image is the one that's illustrated on the front of the card.

The card layout is the same as Kos from yesterday. The only exception is the huge Ice Clan text (which is even bigger than his name for some odd reason) and his image on the card. The back of the card is exactly the same as Kos.

Tund comes with a wooden staff, a club, a weird bone thing and a (baby) stegosauraus. He looks like a repainted Kos though, but his body sculpt is slightly different. The paint is good as well and the sculpt is actually very detailed despite the size. The five points of articulation is standard for his era. He falls over when he wears his mask, but can be made to stand with the help of his staff. This is a better figure than Kos, and somehow feels more like a figure than an afterthought.

#662 of Year 2 Bone Age Kos

2011-10-24T00:21:00.020+08:00

It's a brand new week here on Toy a Day. Yes, it's Bone Age week. This is probably one of the few weeks that I'd dedicate to an 80s toyline. I don't have much of them left unopened after almost two years of doing this!

Kos is a member of the stone clan or so it says on the card. It's a nice, almost square card with clear bubbles on the front and the other figures and "vehicles" on the back. The name of the character is printed in such a small font that it's almost unreadable, but oh well, that isn't important to little kids I suppose.

What is nice is the artwork on the card. The barbarian with the dinosaur parts looks a lot interesting than the actual toy that we get!

Kos comes with a bone club, an ivory sword, some criss-cross shield that reminds me of fried potatoes, and I'm gonna guess a bola weapon because of the strings. He can't hold everything, and when he does hold any weapons he can't stand. He has the standard five points of articulation. The paint is almost non-existant, but well applied where it's present. The sculpt is good for such a small figure - he only stands two inch. He's not quite a toy by himself, but feels more like an accessory pack for a vehicle or something similar.