Cute little bounty hunters - Does it get any better?

As has been shown previously, I have an unnatural love of 4-LOM. That insectoid bounty hunter who gets only .002 second of screen time but has lasted a lifetime in my heart. You can take your C-3P0, your EV-9D9 - Give me 4-LOM.

This little bugger came out as part of Medicom's Star Wars Series 1 Kubrick Line.

4-LOM even comes with a cute little blaster rifle.

Not too much else to say about this guy - what an adorable robotic death messenger!

In 2005, Coca-Cola challenged 5 magnificent design groups from 5 continents to create and share interpretations and visions of optimism through music video short stories.

We’ve had American Toys, Japanese Toys, and even Korean Toys on CollectionDX but this one is a new one – a South African Toy.

In 2005, Coca-Cola challenged 5 magnificent design groups from 5 continents to create and share interpretations and visions of optimism through music video short stories. One such design group was Rex&Tennant from South Africa.

Each group was able to create several different items for the M5 (Magnificent 5) Promotion, including a bottle design, shirts, and yes, even a toy.

I like to think that you are either a Coke person or a Pepsi person. Pepsi people aren’t allowed on my property, BTW ;-) In order to lessen our sugar impact we switched to Diet Coke, but that tasted like ass. Finally we found Coke Zero, and we were hooked. We drink a TON of that stuff, and we will likely get cancer from it at some point. But with each can we drank we acquired something called Coke Points. You can redeem these points on the Coke website for all kinds of junk. My wife is largely in charge of the points, and gets bags and such, but one day she had some left over points and asked me to look through the store. Lo and behold! They had TOYS in the Coke Points store!

Huzzah! Now I can combine two of my passions together – Caffeine and Toys!

We ordered the Rex/Tennant figure from the store and it arrived a few days later. The toy comes in a nicely designed window box. The box had been banged up a little in shipping due to them just placing it in a padded envelope.

The toy is surprisingly nice. It feels like a designer toy, but without all the pretentiousness. The toy is cast in white and is covered in a wonderful color scheme. It is articulated at the neck, arms and legs, and is about 5 inches tall.

The figure at this time has no name. There are several different toys available at the Coke Points store, so next time you have a Coke, save that cap and maybe you can turn in your points and get a toy. If that doesn’t symbolize optimism, I don’t know what does.

Getto? Getta!

Robo Kindergarten is a sub-line of CiBoys trading figures. Each figure is blind boxed, so you never know which one you are going to get.

Getto-7 is based off of the classic Getter Robo design.

The figures in the line are all designs derivative of classic super robots:

• Getto-7 – Getter Robo (2/24)
• Hiroking – Gaiking (3/24)
• Koutetsu Xcite – Jeeg (2/24)
• Combatto Deri – Combattler V (2/24)
• Migunius – Daltanious (2/24)
• Derimos – Daimos (2/24)
• Nomi Sigma – GodSigma (3/24)
• Deridizer – Grendizer (3/24)
• Derimus Prime – Optimus Prime (4/24)
• Chase figure – Robocon (1/24)

The figures have no articulation, but you can’t deny their cuteness.

Artist Junko Mizuno of Japan has many underground fans all over the world. Her art is well-known for her cute yet sexy characters and unique use of colors.

Chika Mint Night ( 血香・ミントナイト)

"Artist Junko Mizuno of Japan has many underground fans all over the world. Her art is well-known for her cute yet sexy characters and unique use of colors.

Some of her favorite characters, the girls of Miznotic Fantasy each display Junko's unique style. Each doll comes with it's own sexy costume and various original accessories.

A cute display stand and Junko Mizuno's mini comic book is featured with your doll. Watch for the Miznotic Fantasy Doll coming soon to a store near you!

Suggested Retail $38.95 This is not a Toy. For collectors only."

I've been a fan of Junko's work since I saw her short story in the comics anthology Secret Comics Japan. She has a style that is both unbearably cute and evil with a little sexy thrown in for good measure. This figure is from her Miznotic Fantasy line. There are three main characters in the line:

• Shiori
• Fumi
• Chika

Normally, Chika is clad in red with a vinyl coat , like a bizzare nurse. Fewture also released 3 variations of the Chika figure:

• Chika Grape Night
• Chika Mint Night
• Chika Peach Night

This version of Chika features a skimpier outfit and a different color scheme, but thats about it.

Poseability is limited to the head and arms. The syringe is removable - its held in place by pegs in the hands.

The paint and detail are amazing - this is such a beautiful piece. It is more like a work of art than a toy.

One complaint I have is the stand - the base is nice, and custom painted, but the stand itself is your generic figure holder. It is not molded to fit this particular figure, and the clips of the stand really get in the way of the aesthetics.

If you are a fan of Junko Mizuno, you need to get this figure.

This is one of 4 sets made by Medicom in 2002. Each set featured a Lightcycle, a figure, and some third item.

Have I mentioned that I am a total TRON nerd? Oh man, I love that movie, and because I am an obsessive collector, I have to buy all TRON merchandise I can get my hands on.

This is one of 4 sets made by Medicom in 2002. Each set featured a Lightcycle, a figure, and some third item. This set (Set C) contains:

• Warrior with staff
  
  
• Recognizer
  
  
• Yellow Lightcycle
  
  

Yes, that’s right, a RECOGNIZER toy! How cool is that? The recognizer actually has two modes; flight mode and attack mode, where the legs come together to smash opponents. Medicom really pulled this off well. They even managed to make the parts of the toy look like they were floating by using a piece of clear acrylic to hold it all together. Genius.

The Lightcycle is equally cool. While smaller than the TOMY version, this Lightcycle still looks just like it did in the movie. The canopy is removable, but there is no seat for a figure. One cool addition is the addition of a motion trail. It’s a plastic piece that replicates the trail left behind the Lightcycles as they raced around the game grid.

The warrior figure is your average Kubrick. The sculpt and paint are great, and it comes with a staff.

I got lucky with this set. I stumbled upon it on a clearance shelf in a Tokyo Toy store for a measly 500 yen. Now I have to hunt down the other sets….

Falcon Z1 is the first Zero Metal armor to go airborne. It uses the magnetic repulsion enabled for the Z1 to keep airborne for a long period of time. Falcon Z1 is armed with thermo-optical camoflague, and auto-tracking missiles. The Falcon Unit is made of only female pilots specailizing in solo reconnaissance and assassination mission.

“Falcon Z1 is the first Zero Metal armor to go airborne. It uses the magnetic repulsion enable for the Z1 to sustain airborne for long period of time. Falcon Z1 is armed with thermo-optical camoflague, and auto-tracking missiles. The Falcon Unit is made of only female pilots specailizing in solo reconnaissance and assassination mission.”

The Falcon Z1 armor comes from the Z.M.D.C. line. Z.M.D.C. stands for Zero Metal Defence Capsule. The toy is from a Chinese comic called Jiu Gang. You can sample the comic here. The Falcon F1 is designed by Da Joint, manufactured by Sea International and the ultimately distributed by Merit International.

Caught somewhere between Designer Toy and Action Figure, the Z1 is really spectacular looking. It’s equally influenced by urban designers such as Brothersfree as it is by G.I. Joe. Distributed by Merit International, this Hong Kong figure is easily accessible to collectors in the United States through online stores such as UniToyZone.

The figure comes packed in a large box measuring 15 x 11 x 4. It features a book-like cover held in place with a velcro tab. Opening the cover reveals a nice window box. The box is decorated with artwork from the comic. Inside, all the parts are securely stored in a clear plastic tray. No tape or twist-ties are used. Included in the box is:

• Figure
• Helmet
• Armor
• Weapon
• Shield

The box does not include any instructions.

The Figure.

The figure itself, without armor, is about 12” tall. It is very well articulated, with double jointed elbows and knees, and clicky shoulder and hip joints. The hands and lower legs have the armor permanently attached and there are no “normal” hands or legs to swap out. The fingers on the hands appear bendable, but I don’t know if they are actually filled with wire to hold poses.  The cloth bodysuit is actually three pieces, and appears to be removeable.

The proportions of the figure are a little odd, with long lower legs and a small-ish head, but if you view the comic, you will see that the characters are all styled this way. Once the armor is on, you don’t really notice a difference.

The Armor

The body armor is half hard plastic, half rubber. It has a great weathered paintjob, and has some cool features, like movable shoulder armor, and exhaust vents that open on the back. The armor slips over the head and is attached via two straps that connect in the back. You have to push two white pegs in to release the straps. It takes a bit of work to get them in and out.

The helmet fits the head perfectly, and has a nice translucent visor that enables you to see the face through the helmet.

Weaponry

The only weapon that this toy comes with is a rifle, and it’s not that great. The gun itself is nice, but the hands can barely hold it. The spread of the hand isn’t great enough to securely hold the rifle.

The artwork on the box shows the gun stashed under the back of the armor. However, this toy has no way for the gun to connect there. The gun has a peg on one side of it, but there is no slot for it to fit into. I don’t know if it is a manufacturing defect, or if the design changed before the toy went into production. A manual would have been helpful, but none was included. As a matter of fact, if you look at the official image on Sea Figures' website, you can see that there is a clip mechanism shown here that is not on the toy I received.

There’s no denying that this toy looks fantastic, but it is definitely more of a display piece than something you actually play with. If you do get one of these, make sure to pick up a stand for 1:6 scale figures, as this figure does not like to stand on its own. This is due to the large armor, and the non-articulate feet. Still, it will look great on your shelf.

You can find the Falcon Z1 at UniToyZone.

Mechabot was a new vinyl robot created in 2004 and released by Go Hero.

Mechabot was a new vinyl robot created in 2004 and released by Go Hero. It stands approximately 8.5" tall and has 12 points of articulation (ankles, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, neck and waist).

The design is very shark-like with a big fin on the back and two smaller ones on the backs of the calves. Also the hands don't feature any fingers, but instead have the shapes of a sharks mouth. Several versions of the toy were sold.

The one I have here is black and grey with a glow in the dark collar. It was sold as an exclusive through Super 7 magazine and came bagged with a header card.

As with most vinyl toys, your appreciation of it will depend on whether or not you like the design. Personally, although it's not really bad, it doesn't excite me much. In fact, I've had the toy over a year and just now took it out of the bag for this review. In so doing, I've noticed that the left foot doesn't line up properly and lay flat against the surface he's standing on. I'm not sure if this is exclusive to this specimen or if it's a common problem.

Oh man do I love this toy.

The Chogokin Panda-Z is like a dream fully realized. When the vinyls were first released in 2003, the first thing everyone said was "These are cool, but where are the die cast?"

Well, here it is.

Panda Z is about 5 inches tall, and made out of die cast and plastic. The head, wings, arms and firing fists are plastic. The rest is all die cast metal. The head swivels and you can place a little pan-taro in the cockpit. Shoulders can swivel out to the sides and have detented joints for forward and back motion. Both fists fire, and the fists can be turned in 2 positions like most classic chogoin. The chest missile is activated by a small button on the back underneath the jetpack. The button just pushes the missile assembly out, you have to open the missile bay doors. The missile does not fire.

The jet wings are attached to the back by a weak magnet. If you just bump the wings they will fall off. The wings are made of a sturdy plastic, and the metallic red paintjob is stunning.

The legs have a swivel joint at the hips but there is a limited range of motion. The knees are another detented joint, while the feet are on ball joints. The bottom of the feet have amazing molded and painted detail.

The box brings you back to the days of classic chogokin - styrofoam tray, instruction booklet, even the classic chogokin logo are represented. All it needs is a GA number.

So what's not to like about Panda-Z? Well. the toy has a couple of minor flaws. Firstly, the pilot does not stay in his seat. Megahouse could have made him magnetized, or at least put a peg in him to keep him in place. Second, the magnet on the back to hold the wing assembly is not strong enough. I'm also disappointed that the chest missile does not shoot, or even pop out with force. The button placement under the wing is unfortunate. I would have also liked to have seen a wider range of motion in the legs.

Still, Panda-Z fits right in with your classic ST chogokins. If you are a fan of that line, you can't pass this up.

Panda-Z originally sold for a retail price of 5510 yen, and was released November 20, 2004.
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Maximillian comes from the Disney live action movie The Black Hole. It is part of Medicom's Disney Characters Series 6 Kubricks.

Kubricks are small toys based around a common block frame. Maximillian doesn't look like a Kubrick at first, but separate the halves and you will notice a Kubrick upper torso inside. He's about 3" tall, and comes with a clear stand.

Maximillian's head and arms rotate, and the legs pivot on hinges. Some assembly is required.

Takashi Murakami created this exclusive "Strange Melting DOB" figure for issue 71 of the Japanese Hobby Magazine "Figure Oh". It was limited to 50,000 pieces, this particular piece being number 25,595.

Murakami is a world famous artist, with shows in Tokyo, New York and Boston, as well as curating the "Super Flat" exhibit of contemporary Japanese artists. his work appears on t-shirts, posters, key-chains, and toys worldwide.

DOB is made out of vinyl, 2 inches tall, and manufactured by Kaiyodo. The base is a separate piece, and DOB just rests on it.

Strange Melting DOB is part of the Superflat Museum Series.

For more information on Takashi Murakami, visit his official website at http://www.takashimurakami.com/