Nova

It's highly unusual these days for me to be reviewing western superhero figures, but I really dig Nova's design. Let me start off though by saying I won't pretend to be a devoted follower of this guy's comic history,or bore you with facts that I pulled from Nova (Richard Rider)'s Wikipedia entry.

Nope.

Instead, I want to get to the bare bones of why I like this figure and things that I don't like too much.

Let's start out with the paint job. Nova sports an almost all black ensemble with some gold details thrown in,  that contrasts very well. There are some traces of highlighting with metallic blue but it's too faint to really stand out. It is visible on the abs and the back though, then there are the cloudy blue spots on the chest and gauntlet, as well as the bright red crest on the helmet which stands out even more from the black and the gold but does it well. 

With the usual "mold (almost) everything in their required color so we can save on paint money" route that Hasbro does. Which actually works in this case because there are minimal errors, though some might be glaring in extreme cases. 

There is some slight scuffing on the gold on the chest on the right side of the image, probably the only real flaw on this specimen. 

Now let's talk about the sculpt. It's common knowledge these days that companies save a lot of money by using template bodies, and Nova is no exception. With an excellent core body being used, they sculpted the armored parts and molded them in soft gold plastic/pvc which allows for some decent flexibility though the fit can be rather loose or awkward.

The chest details are excellent, with the entire armor being glued onto the pectorals and the shoulderpads being part of that chest armor they sorta float over the shoulders themselves and hardly get in the way when posing, which was a very good idea. The helmet is slightly small for the body giving the impression that Richard Rider has a really tiny noggin under there.

Then the crest of the helmet itself obscures the eyes too much, covering up the cloudy blue eyes  underneath.

The gauntlet/bracelets and belts simply loop onto the wrists and torso respectively, and freely move around, though the belt is rather loose. 

Same goes for the leg armor, which wraps around the ankles. 

aside from the chest piece almost all of the armor pieces come off of this figure, and can loosely flop around (or worse get deformed during packing) due to how they attach. 

In the articulation department he' pretty poseable, considering he's a 3 3/4" figure, though not as stellar as microman/microforce or Toybiz shs, it works, 

He has joints where it matters and thus has an amazing range of motion.

Not really surprising since this is one of the line's better bodytypes. 

Though it does fudge a lot with some loose joints here and  there or some joints getting stuck due to friction and being 80% soft pvc.

As seen in the pic above, that's what I meant about some parts of the armor being awkwardly positioned due to both how they attach or the type of plastic used. it's too soft a plastic to actually hold itself in position, though I assume this was a decision made to abide by toy safety standards (which, in my opinion assumes the consumer is a dumbass but hey, their rules, not mine.)

Do I have any complaints about the figure aside from the stuff I already talked about above? Well yes.

There's this little situation about how available this figure is. As usual stores take advantage of the perceived rarity and "collector's value"  of this figure and place really terrible prices for figures like Nova.

I paid roughly 850PHP ($20.88) for something that retails for (to my recollection) 550PHP ($13.51)

No matter how fun of a toy this figure is, I discourage you (unless you're filthy rich, or really like Nova) from getting him for the price I got him. 600 PHP($14.74), sure, 650PHP ($16) pushing it, but manageable.

But 850?

For that price I expect alternate hands, or an effect part, or even a stand, but for a barebones figure made of soft pvc, with a design mindset emphasizing cost cutting?





I paid for it but only because I had money to spend. Otherwise, save it for something better or wait for the demand to wane. 

Spider-man, A process.

Just finished painting this guy tonight while fighting illness.

It was supposed to be done last year but stuff happened and I found the process easier when I used my rotary tool on it.

Anyway the main mods I did to this was a change in the overall wideness of the torso, as well as adding a revoljoint in the neck and adding thigh swivels to the legs. I think i did pretty well. I'll get a proper pictorial up soon.

Admittedly though the paintjob could have been better, I ended up with a sort of old toybiz look.

I posted the WIP pics below.

                         




                          

Thanos the Mad Titan (500th post! Woo)

Whew! Done. Took me the entire morning (having no access to the internet helped me concentrate) to finish this guy, with the help of the paint guide I made last night so I wouldn't forget the exact mix of colors I did while I worked on the head last night. 

Anyway this is a straight-up repaint with slight resculpting around the torso area of the comic pack Thanos I bought last weekend.

Seeing him now, I'll need the single card version for the non-gauntlet fist, open gauntlet hand and scowling face to probably complete my version of the Mad titan.

Here's the close-up detail of the head

...And the stuff I resculpted (chest seam+ straps, Infinity gems)

A modern figure(left) and a figure made almost a decade earlier (right)

Bought MU she-hulk recently and thought the figure was a good step forward for the line. The range of motion is a bit better than previous waves and they removed those indecisive open palm-closed fist types of hands and going with hand types that fit the character, only alternate hands and better torso motion would make it very good.

In comparison though this 2012 figure still pales in comparison to a figure made in 2003, but the MU figure is much more resilient to play wear. 

Meanwhile, 

Still working on the chest of Kabuto here,  planning to refine the head a bit more after that. 

Jubilee Repairs

I got a Marvel Universe Jubilee as a birthday gift from a friend (thanks Kyle! ), and I was pretty stoked. But as with any Hasbro toy you'll never get everything you want in a figure. The flaws this one had were the ludicrously long legs, and the derpy wall-eyed head. So I decided to fix the legs first. 

You need to cut below the knee/boot swivels first, and this is mostly guesswork but do try to leave some space when you cut so you won't risk damaging the leg or ankle joint. 

Next take a pin vise (2.5mm) and drill in the middle of the cut calf stump, be careful as again this is the spot right below the boot cut joint's peg is located. 

Then drill into the middle of the cut ankle/foot, be mindful of the ankle rocker joint when you drill.

Next, cut a length of plastic tube (from a sprue), making sure it's the exact diameter as the holes you drilled. 

 Glue the new peg into the leg. This will serve as structural support when you glue the other half back on.

When you glue both parts together you will end up with this.  At this point you have two options: you can carve away at the upper calf until it matches the lower part then sand smooth, or you can choose to be more careful and progressively wetsand (100-300-600-1200 grit) the parts until they are even. 

Either way you will end up sanding down the leg part until it all results to a smooth shape

At this point you should just smooth it all out with 1200-2000 grit sandpaper to bring back the even, factory texture and lightly paint the parts in flat black. And you're done!

The new modifications are immediately apperent. 

now her height is much better.

minor fixes.

I never thought I'd have to buy this figure twice, but the bright colors drew me in.

Besides, now that I place it next to the first release of the Extremis armor, I'm beginning to like the new release even more. It just needed some minor fixing to really work (remove the gold on the chin, add more white to the triangular unibeam and palm repulsors).

It also came with this nice unmasked head. Unfortunately the stock color was gray and not gold like the undersheath appeared in the comics. 5 minutes under the airbrush fixed that little nitpick.

Although really, I think I'm just about the only one who even cares for that sort of minor detail.

Commissioned Figure Report: Marvel Universe A-Bomb

Status: Unfinished.
 (Click to enlarge pics)

Timetable:

7/24/2011- Started laying down body sculpt.

10/21/2011- Started working on the face.

10/31/2011- Continued work on A-bomb's Face (detailing).

Estimated time for completion: End of December.

Details:

Marvel Universe Hulk base body, epoxy putty resculpt, new scratch-sculpted  head.

monster faces

Found time to start sculpting the head of the  Marvel Universe A-bomb commission I have going:

Gonna clean it up a bit more but it was pretty fun. sculpted from epoxy putty. 

bleep bloop.

more NEXTWAVE customs to come? yes? no?maybe? eh. we'll see. 

Maria Hill: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

and here she is,

Recipe: 

head- 25A arctic gear scarlett with resculpted hair

Body: ROC scarlett

forearms: ROC baroness

belt and holster: ROC scarlet with bandolier from a figure i forgot

Beware the Bee-keepers! (Hammerfiles AIM agent)

hey it's those guys! 

Hasbro graces us with another army builder, this time it's from A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) from wave three of their Marvel Universe Hammerfiles series figures. The AIM agent is one of the more obscure expendable characters, but perhaps the most visually...striking(?) ones ever designed! Often ridiculed with the nickname "Bee Keepers" (let's face it they DO look like they work in a bee farm) but don't be fooled, each one of these guys have at least one Ph.D and are trained to fight competently however well "competently" goes in the marvel universe is up to you to judge.Basically,each of them went to the chess club in high school and got bullied for it,  and used that pent-up rage to work for an organization that covertly schemes to rule the world in one way or the other. Gotta say I'm really warming up to the design.

First off, this guy has a new body design (at least to my eyes) though one can get some mileage with this type. A fellow collector suggested he would make a good Ghost Rider (and he did). Though part of me still wishes ol' Vengance head was a new mold. 

He's molded in yellow plastic with a sepia(?) paint wash and black details like the boots  and collar, both of which are painted.  the other stuff that breaks the monotony are the eye visors/screens and the somewhat gold belt. His weapons and bandolier are molded in black, and the weapons have neon green wash and detailing. 

 I applaud the special attention with the details, the drybrushing and highlighting in particular. Paint quality is top notch since he's pretty much molded into his color scheme to begin with, but watch out for splotches or scuffs, primarily in the head area and the boots.

As mentioned before his accessories include his bandolier, his SCIENCE GUN! And his SCIENCE CANNON! As well as his stand labeled with his name and wave number.

Articulation wise he has a pretty wide range of movement, sporting 26 points of articulation, though some of them are hindered by the sculpt and accessories. his belt for example blocks his waist twisting and his biceps keep his free arm from supporting the other arm holding his SCIENCE! cannon.

Though he can sport other poses that are very suave for secret agent-types:

What's more is the joints on mine are tight and can hold poses like so:

Though his legs tend to pop off at the hips (this has become one of the defining traits of the line), it's not as bad as some figures.

All in all I give this figure a 7 out of 10.

He's not very known or wanted (unless you army build) so you have a good chance of nabbing him. Though not as detailed as some figures, his simple design is part of his charm. Plus he comes with cool looking weapons and not the so-and-so (read: unconvincing) blast effects or doo-dads. Though I'd put him below the figures who come with pets. He's the first use of his sculpt so he's pretty fresh.

And he keeps Deadpool very happy. I'm game to buy more of these guys.

cheers!

Eisen/ Miko Tizon 

2010