part swapan, plastic dyean

 I bought microsister Orga today on a whim, the chrome parts I can do without, probably seems to be the weakest in her line, but she was the only one left for sale so I can't complain. On the plus side though, I was able to successfully dye her clear plastic parts purple, and swap her head out with this gashapon lilith from this last post. Gotta say this looks way better.

It... kinda looks okay in armor mode but i figure i'll leave off the human head for it.  Looks much more henshin cyborg with the original head on in this mode.

now if only i could find time to make a SF III Ibuki body for this.

new custom: Ravage

goodness, has it been that long already?

this simultaneously made my day and made me pissed.

i really don't want to sound like some token weeaboo, but man i wish i lived in japan sometimes.

 just browsing Wonder Festival  to see all the cool figures and garage kits (both licensed and unlicensed )

and to take some home would be pretty cool.

ah well, i'll wait and see if pre-orders for the anarchy sisters will be up. but i just want panty though. :l

finally!

I first saw the modification here a few months back. And I really liked it. so after I did the thigh mods for chun-li I immediately began looking for replacement gashapon heads to use. Came across a few, didn't like most. Finally, today I was able to track down a set of Capcom Gals Collection series 2 at a local toy store,and with the help of a friend I bought it (and now owe him something around 20 bucks but hell I don't care, ALTERNATE HEADS!).

seriously I love this new head for the figure. just the right size, sharper features, sure the expression seems generic, and she could use her trademark eyeshadow but overall i'm happy.also the original statue came with this effect part:

i need more effect parts.

just as well, I did a mod for sakura too, using the other statue of her in the set:

not as enthusiastic about it, but hey it has character!

unexpectedly I also ended up with a lilith figure, (albeit a scoolgirl one)

can you say microcephaly?

man I need to find a smaller body for dat lilith.

Cheap Ass reviews: Microman Devilman (animation version)

hey kiddies! since i'm in a good mood for buying this thing for 350php (roughly 8 bucks) thought i'd give a review  for this, the 2004 Micro Action Series Devilman Figure (Animation version)

i haven't really seen anything about devilman other than the original manga. it left me confused but it had wonderful art by the character's creator, Go Nagai. to be honest i would have wanted to come across that version (which came with selene) as seen here but this one is pretty nice in it's own way. 

sculptwise it's mostly the base body they used for most microman figures in 2004, with only a new headsculpt, new forearms and calves and a new crotch, all done to emulate his anime look.he also comes with some hinged wings on the back. so overall it's mostly smooth and not all that eye catching in detail but the face sculpt i can appreciate. it's simple and fairly accurate to the anime look of devilman, not as disappointing as say, micro action chun-li or sakura.

 there's a lot of visible screws here, it annoys me how they breakup the sculpt on some points, but hey that's what you get for having a mostly ABS plastic construction. i wish there were some filler pads i could stuff in there to hide them. at least i'm thankful he doesn't crumble to bits like other microman figures.

paint-wise there's not much. most of it's already molded in the final colors which i'd have to say is a very nice matte shade of  aqua that's very easy on the eyes. detailed with red to salmon colored stripes on parts of the body which contrast well with the aqua. the head crest and crotch are black and dark blue respectively which stand out from the rest of his colors, but not by much. the wings though which are huge and red, are real eye catchers and break up the dullness a bit. 

articulation is what you'd expect from a microman figure, 32 points of articulation (wings included) that works with a minimalist design aesthetic, that means a range of motion that's not obstructed by things like sculpt or clothing, which is more than i can say for Dr.Strange in the accompanying picture above. 

BUT, it is not without his flaws. for despite being a freshly opened figure with mostly tight joints the ankles are very loose and have difficulty holding some poses well.

 might have to apply some clear acrylic there to tighten it up after this review. it really lets you down because the ankles carry a lot of the weight, and with the addition of the unwieldy wings it makes standing devilman up a fiddly task. pretty frustrating at times.  

in the accessories department there's not much. just some extra hands that are common with other microman figures, and lack any distinct character in themselves(as compared to say, Micro-Action Catwoman and her bonus claw hands), and a stand. that's it. i suppose the wings count as an accessory but they're really essential parts to the body. 

height wise... he seems small. kinda underwhelming if you ask me. the height is not intimidating in the least. 

:|

Overall: for a rummage find it's pretty good, actually. and it's definitely a fun, sturdy figure to play with. i'm glad to have found it at the price i did and i'm pretty satisfied. but if someone offered me the same thing for something like 20 bucks i'd pass. for  that amount i'd expect a lot more. if not in the paint department then at least in the sculpting department. which is why i'm hoping to find the 2-pack manga versions next. i'll be keeping my eyes peeled, but as for the TV version, it's satisfactory but forgettable at best. if you're a fan of Go Nagai  or devilman (or just his looks) you should definitely get it, otherwise, don't bother.

and that's it, pretty much. 

now 'GIT! 

Optimus Prime playing Clint Eastwood as portrayed by Peter Cullen: a review of Transformers: Dark of the Moon

when i watched the First Bay & Spielberg Transformers movie, i was in awe of what it could  promise for the sequels.  when i watched Revenge of the Fallen i was Dissappointed at the delivery but welcoming of the scope of it's mythology and macguffin. and when i watched Dark of the Moon i was pleasantly surprised and amused. but not impressed.

that being said i shall now try to distance the fan in me when making this review of Paramount Pictures' Transformers: Dark of the Moon.  there will be no major spoilers in this review, only my take on the entire thing.

this movie is actually very fitting of an action film and (western) summer blockbuster. it delivers all the things that ROTF failed to, in terms of action, length and epic feel. the entire film plays out like a war film in its final stretch and doesn't play out too much with the plot. this film is a visual treat, with stellar effects and eyecatching sequences. i'm glad i went in not expecting a moving story. all it had to rely on was the premise: freedom comes at the cost of betrayal. indeed there are several parties and characters here all on each other's throats, fighting for the freedom of something, be it cybertronians, people or tradition, and they all betray the same three things i just listed down. 

this whole movie is traitors traitoring traitorers traitoring everyone else.

the ever-moist Shia LaBeouf reprises his role as Sam, who is now struggling for meaning in a world that he feels no longer needs his specialized expertise- alien robots. and the alien robots have a job now working alongside the US military yet again acting as the world's police force. Sam on the other hand can't get a job, until his new girlfriend Carly, (played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) gets him one as a mailboy in Bruce Brazos(John Malkovich)'s company, Accura--something or other, i didn't really care to remember. thanks to Carly pulling some strings with her rich boss, Dylan(Patrick Dempsey) who Sam is jealous of.

that's the first half of the movie. Sam's growing pains. the other half of the story is the sci-fi epic, where prime and crew are alarmed to find their long lost leader Sentinel Prime (sci-fi legend Leonard Nimoy providing the voice) has been found on the moon. how the hell they missed him on their way to earth is anybody's guess. when they wake him up,at first things seem to be tense between the robots and the humans, but later on it all escalates into what Brains (Reno Wilson's character) later calls, a clusterfuck. mind you the transitions between both were jarring, but when the battle for Chicago became the focus,it was smoother.

the autobots still win in the end though, guys wearing primary colors often do. and the autobots in this movie are extremely different from the autobots of the previous movies. they are intimidating, agressive and angry. Prime in particular. there is no vestige of the calm and composed, heroic autobot leader. instead what we see is a man who is tired of the fighting, tired of seeing his comrades fall before him and tired of being betrayed by the people he sought to protect and fight for/with. And he resolves to end it once and for all by murdering everyone standing in his way. it is after all a war. and there are casualties on all sides. 

in a scene reminiscent to the confrontation between prime and megatron in the 1986 movie, prime makes a killing line towards one of the major villains and proceeds to maim him as graphically as possible in slow motion, while angrily blurting out the obvious: you die. 

he is an unstoppable machine of kill and hate up to the end and it scares me that these are the good guys. 

the villains on the other hand were almost nowhere to be seen until the climax, manipulating all the other characters from behind the scenes. Megatron (Hugo Weaving) gives a feeble performance in this film which deflates his status in myth as Megatron, the Decepticon supreme leader and brutal tyrant, almost close to being senile and useless (not hard for someone missing part of their skull) and died a meaningless death. he deserved more in this film.

Starscream (Charlie Adler AKA 80% of the vocal cast of Cow and Chicken) on the other hand was dead on. conniving, patronizing and cowardly, he still gave out more than megatron in terms of performance in the film.

which isn't to say was a lot. i didn't like the acting of all the human characters, they bored me, and i as an audience member was supposed to relate to them more than i should the transforming cars. no,i was supposed to be distracted by everything blowing up, everyone getting shot/killed and Shia losing his shit all of the time. 

and a lot of the robot characters were introduced but underplayed. we really didn't get anything else character-wise to go by other than:

Soundwave=spy.

Laserbeak=spy/assassin.

Brains & Wheelie= comedy relief (but i like them better than the chevy twins).

Dino= italian.

Wreckers= highland laddies(?)

The Professor= the professor

Sentinel Prime= Galvatron (i'm sorry, that's all i could think of him whenever i heard his voice)
Shockwave= who?

aaand that's it, nothing else is to be known or expected of these hi-bye characters.

characters and plot done with, i loved the special effects. They were disorienting,  visceral and engaging, the fight scenes were lively and if i may use the term, beautifully executed. and that, i think is what wins me over with this film. it's your typical popcorn flick. you will enjoy watching it and not thinking, really. 

and since i tend to deny ROTF existed, i can say with confidence that this film is the sequel fans of the movie franchise have wanted, and yes, it is worth your time if you like action, adventure, and the opportunity to look up Rosey Whiteley's skirt. 

this film, it resisted being an hour-long toy commercial for a change (even though mech-tech was alsmost thrown around everywhere),and was actually a decent sci-fi action flick and that, i think is what surprised me. i enjoyed this movie and would love to watch it again when i feel tired of overthinking my everyday life....on torrent of course.

quick Q& A:

was the movie good? yes.

was the story great? no.

is it visually appealing? definitely.

should i watch it? yes, especially if you're a  fan.

did it have a nice soundtrack? meh. to be honest i was annoyed at the parts that had spoken lyrics shoehorned in the scene.

are skids and mudflap back? no, it's like they never existed in this flick. (yay!)

should i have high hopes when i watch it? don't. you'll be a bit more surprised by the end of it all.

should i buy the toys? no, you should buy me the toys.