The Enthusiast's blog

The Rogun family in all of its glory. The only major piece I'm missing is the ubiquitous Shotgun model (big red shotgun with blue legs). I'm just waiting for the right box to come along. Gobots also licensed a handful of non-gun Arco molds.

The two smaller guns at front middle and just to our right are very common in many colors.

The cap gun is very well made. High quality, sturdy plastics.

The fella on the left is a strange duck. This is the only one I've ever seen. He's not a Rogun, but he might as well be. The box says "Androform Water Pistol."

The cap rifle is the best of the best imho. He deserves his own review.

So like any good obsessive, I've long harbored a desire to create my own bot. I've been sketching on the Praetorian model for awhile, and have recently attempted to get the nuts and bolts worked out in CAD.

Check out this vague image!

Perhaps you can tell that I am a Syd Mead fan.

I have no idea what those legs are doing as of yet.

I'm keeping it blocky, at least initially, to make sure the mech actually works physically. No anime magic for me.

I'll keep the blog updated as I make progress. I'm thinking of chip-board next.

Update: Now with better legs!

So a friend of mine was kind enough to pick me up my very own Turbo Teen.

From what I can tell, it's a scaled-up Gobot with the head of an adolescent boy.

I'm thinking of going all out with the build, considering it's a pretty simple model. I haven't yet commited to airbrushing a project, but this could be the perfect opportunity.

Update

Thanks to Diakron for letting me know that this comes from a proper, terrible cartoon from the eighties!

I give you Mantech! I'm still working out the proper limb configurations, but I do like.

I will be covering these in the future. Really fun figures with soft rubber heads and giant goofy masks. And interchangeable limbs and weapons and such.

What else has Remco done?

This is a teaser for my next review: Straight from Hong Kong, the Thomas the Tank Engine Gattai!

So I'm never very happy with my photos. I recently picked up an older DSLR to hopefully improve them. Results have been mixed (see my previous blog entry on Tork for some middling shots).

My favorite toy photographer, TBDX's Chogoman, has been kind enough to give me a few tips. I've switched from full manual mode to "AV", and just now added a five dollar 4x closeup filter to my kit lens in lieu of an expensive macro lens. This shot is straight from the camera with only Auto Levels applied in Photoshop.

It's progess. Thanks Chogoman!

What tips do you guys have?

Tork here completes my Power Lords collection, at least as far as the action figures go. Tark was released as part of the second wave of villains. All of the series two figures are rare, but Tork especially.

The middle torso segment is spring-loaded, and spins! He has two creepy faces.

So ugly, so beautiful. The design may not appeal to everyone, but you have to admire the pure originality. For more background on the Power Lords, check out my review of Trigore.

So I figured that since I contribute to a site called collectionDX, I should probably add my collection or something?

The toy room is in a state of transition right now. I'm re-organizing the whole concept. Because of limited space, I'm deciding what to bury in the crawlspace, so tough decisions are being made.

My G1/Diaclone cars are being temporarily retired. V1 1/60 Macross? Sorry, fellas. SOC Mazinger Ladies? I love you, but you are taking a nap for awhile.

Sometime in the far-flung future, I will have a museum-like addition to my home to store every piece in its own spacious well-lit glass case. In the meantime, the display is just a reflection of my current taste and values.

My secret shame revealed! Shelf upon shelf of, gasp, Sentai! My wallet is very thankful that the toys have mostly sucked since SPD. (I did purchase one of these from Sanjeev, though)

So I just had my second Yamato 1/72 VF-11B break apart in my hands after removing it from its box. I know that the hips are terrible on these. I am well aware that one should never even look in the direction of a 1/72 thunderbolt, let alone buy and handle one. I am stupid and have learned my lesson. This is officially my least favorite toy ever*. What is the crappiest toy you've owned?

*second place is the 1901 steampunk Maz by Fewture, whose sticky pvc joints broke off while posing out of the box