Been a while since I wrote one of these, figured I should do another one…


Action figures have never been my thing… unless they were fighting against Cobra, or flew the flag of StarCom. (Had I been born just a few years earlier or later, I could have found myself a dedicated Star Wars collector. Thank God I was born in ’82, amen!) The few deluxe-sized Zords I bought that had figures pre-packaged in them collected dust very quickly in their once-and-forever-fixed stances. I got four Revoltechs, and while I’d like one-or-two more, I’m still not big on them. And I got three figures from Pixar’s 2008 CGI film “WALL•E“, and a SOCSpec EVA Unit-01; but, again, those are not figures as all of them are robots in some form or other despite not being outright transformers.

Well… Josh offered me the chance to cover two- yes, two– fixed-pose figures from “Rebuild of Evangelion“. They weren’t Revoltech, and they weren’t Evangelion Units nor Angels. It was- *gasp*- two characters from the series/movies from a small line by Sega- Misato Katsuragi and Rei Ayanami.

I told Josh, ‘No one covers “Eva” like EVA’, and that seemed to convince him to ship them off after he acquired the paired samples from Angolz.

But, EVA, you just said you don’t collect figures. What, then, are these…?

^^;

Josh: I think it would be cool if some of these smileys actually stuck to the page rather than converting into HTML code…

Will I cover figures again? Eh… depends on what comes my way, but I doubt it.


‘Nuff of that now.

Star Trek” is looming ever closer- the most-recent trailers is solidifying that it will have good material both in the script and post-production. If it isn’t from another movie, then composer Michael Giacchino’s score sounds epic, and for me, music can raise or kill a film just as assuredly as its story and acting can.

Oh, look- another giant, impossible-to-beat heavy starship for the second film in a row that can destroy the world! At least this time, we’ll be able to get better views of it than we did the Scimitar (which was cloaked or in close-up or non-viewable angles most of the time).

Again, the good stuff is always in the trailers, but now I think I’m beginning to think this movie may do well and falling for the hype. …I can feel myself losing objectivity or what little there was for this film!

That new redesign-Enterprise, though… I’m not sure if I like it or not. Don’t get me wrong- the classic Matt Jefferies design was, well, classic, but this reinterpretation is questionable in some ways.

Regretfully, I don’t have any Star Trek(TM) toys. If this turns out well [for me at least], it may be time to bring both CDX and myself up to speed.

. . .

Likewise, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” has me hyped up. Like many, I hope it is refined enough that we don’t all cringe whenever Optimus Prime says “Sorry, my bad” on the big screen.

Speaking of which, I peeked at the images of the new Leader-class OP. (Would he really be completely rebuilt between films??? I don’t think so, Tim!) All I can say is that I am so glad that I didn’t get the one from the first movie! You will definitely be hearing from me on that one when I get it!
I mean [SPOILER ALERT] dual retractable arm blades!? [END SPOILER] F’kin’ awesome! I didn’t see his blaster, though, but that may come with a later reissue with enough demand.

Nothing special as far as Deluxe-class Bumblebee goes- just a reissue of the one from the first movie, but with a new blaster, and a new head sculpt. Other than a few paint redecos to go with, I may skip that one as excessive since I am quite satisfied with the one I have now.

Beyond these two, I want nothing more to do with spoilers! I shall continue avoiding the scoops ’til I see it with my own eyes in theaters!

Oh, and don’t think that I’ve given up on “Transformers Animated” just yet either. I finally got Ultra Magnus (awesomeness) and Blitzwing (blegh!), and have yet to review them; it’ll take a while though before I get to them (see below). I still want Swindle, Swoop, Oil Slick, Shockwave, a few of the Starscream-clones/repaints (or maybe all of ’em!), and some of the new ones like Blackout, Spittor, Arcee (I never owned an Arcee before), and Perceptor. I know there are more that haven’t been revealed yet, so I’ll have to wait like the rest of ya to know if I want ’em or not.
I finally decided that I will not be covering Safeguard [with the Autobot twins Jetfire and Jetstorm]. Even though their Vehicle modes vaguely resemble Viper Mk.IIs, they look too lanky and disproportionate in either Robot or Combo mode. Unless Hasbro sends a sampler, I will not cover them; someone else can do that.

Additionally, I am continuing to cover a bit of Transformers Universe (aka Classics 2.0) with Powerglide and Tread Bolt. Neither have been opened yet, but I missed my chance with Jetfire in the Classics line, and considering the reviews I got from everyone else, the Blue Angels-livery-inspired Tread Bold was my last chance to own the toy even if not in the same colors.

. . .

Alas, I did not get to see “Watchmen” in theaters. Damn.

There are only three films I wanna see in the theaters this year that I am aware of… and these three above are it.


I am deep into my reviews for Bandai’s four 1/55-scale Origin of Valkyrie reissue line.

I had really hoped that my 1990-reissue review would have gotten more positive results than it did, but I suppose my expectations for such peaked only because I was too attached to it. Not a single person said it was a good review, and considering it was my break-out on CDX for Macross, I figured I’d get a better reception than I did. My mistake. I guess you just can’t project or trigger nostalgia on CDX unless it’s from 1960s Japan and aired late-nite.

Anyways, expect the four OoV reviews next from me.

. . .

Yes, I did finally get Engine Jumbwhale in January- straight from the shelves of a Japanese toy store, no less! (Jose from Kicks-Hobby Japan hooked me up with that one.) I had to delay in order to get going with the Eva figures first, and then the OoV reviews.
But I am amazed at how many requests for that review I am getting both from CDXers and on YouTube. I mean, I’m even getting private e-mails from people on the matter! Have patience- you will get the review, even if late.

. . .

However, after the OoV reviews are done, I need to push forward next with “Power Ranger RPM“. Yes- I said “Power Rangers”. There are actually several lines that BA has produced that I am interested in.

For the record, I intend to review all four redesigned Deluxe-sized Megazords for CDX; I already have the Dlx. High Octane Megazord sitting in a box from BA on my floor upstairs.
As I have stated before, I will not be covering the DX Kyouretsu-Oh from “Go-Onger“; the three Ancient Engines do absolutely nothing for me alone, combined, or as part of the final Engine-Oh G12 ‘kyuukyoku gattai‘. However, because they are far smaller and cheaper, I will be covering the yet-to-be-named Megazord along with the other three Dlx. sets.

Also, surprisingly, I will be covering some figures from PR-RPM. The Retrofire line is bringing back Megazords from past series and rebuilding them as poseable 3″ figures with anime-styled proportions. They seem inspired by Gundam’s MSiA line, and so far there are three [which in arrived in the same box as my Dlx. High Octane Megazord]:

  • Mighty Morphin’ Megazord (from MMPR-1)
  • Wild Force Megazord
  • High Octane Megazord

Each can be posed in limited ways and cannot transform, but the style of the figures and their poseability is what draws me to them most. Besides, we never really got poseable Megazords before at small-scale, and these are genuine action figures! So, I’m looking forward into digging into that line.
There’s another PR-RPM line that is equally inspired by the Transformers Alternators series, which uses real car shells for their disguised forms- the Transforming Beast Zords series:

  • Chrome Prowler Tiger Zord (a Toyota Prius)
  • Engine King Eagle Zord (a Toyota Camry)

(Oh, BTW, in “Go-Onger“, the Engine-Oh’s name means “Engine-King”…)

Like when Transformers invaded McDonald’s Happy Meals and the food actually changed into little animals, so too do the two sets in this line look the same in animal mode. Looks promising even if they don’t pose great.
I plan to cover at least these two.

And since I already have the MantanGun blaster/sword from “Go-Onger“, I’m considering covering the Nitro Blaster, which has an extendable day glo-orange blade like a lightsaber, and seems to be of equal size!

. . .

I have been carefully watching newcomer “Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” on The CW4Kids, and I have to say that it isn’t doing too badly. Even though the original “Kamen Rider Ryuuki” (2002) may be wider in scope and drama (I never wanted to see it anyways, so I’m just guessing), I think Adness Entertainment’s transition of the series to the US has been quite appropriate.
Even if you may not get the same satisfaction out of watching “…Dragon Knight” as you would from “…Ryuuki“, I would suggest that it is not “painful” to watch like Power Rangers usually is compared to Super Sentai.

Even though I am promoting the show “Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” here (okay- the opening theme’s lyrics are perhaps its weakest point so far), I am still wary of the toys that will be coming; nothing is striking me enough to get any them, so you may not hear from me on [them] unless I am offered up samplers from BA.


One last thing- I am totally taken right now with this online-only game: Korean-developer NCsoft’s “Exteel” (which, coincidentally, I found out about through another CDXer!). It’s a fast-paced 3-D third-person shooter which requires only your mouse and keyboard to play. (It will not accept joysticks, BTW.)

Basically, you play a mercenary on a distant colony planet in the distant future, which has become completely pacifist and where conflict is near-unheard-of. When settlers from other worlds begin immigrating to the already-settled planet, they bring conflict with them, and it leads to border skirmishes until the mercenaries are called in. You’ve been hired by the local planet-side government(s) to wage war against their neighbors and their own line(s) of mercenaries. (Extraterrestrial aliens are not part of this game, and probably won’t be either.

Your combat vehicle of choice? 30m-tall robots called Mechanaughts. Fully customizable to your personal playing style, you can participate in four player-VS-player modes (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Territory Control, Capture The Flag), or the only player-VS-computer mode (Last Stand).

You also have a wide variety of scaled-up weapons to choose from as well- Melee (Swords, Spears, Shields), Ranged (Sub-Machine Guns, Shotguns, Rifles), mechanaught-healing Rectifiers, and the long-reaching & devastating Siege (Cannons) and Rocket (um… Rocket) classes. Mix-and-match these as you see fit; same with the body parts of your mechanaught for speed, firepower, cooldown, weight, EN Regeneration, etc. All you have to do is play to earn credits. Or if you want items faster, you can use real-world money to pay for NC Coins to get exclusive-use hardware. With 20 mechanaught sets to start with, more are being added every few months; each with unique balances in speed, health, sensor range, etc. Each is capable of using its equally-customizable backpack booster to hover quickly across the ground or short-jump.

The twelve maps available to play in (or, more like the backgrounds) are equally Star Wars-esque in their massive scale and fine detail. (At least two of them are low-gravity, which makes jumping and being hit really interesting!)

Yeah, most of the mechanaughts look like Gundam rip-offs (three of the computer-controlled Drones look like outright Zaku mobile suits!), but you’ll be too busy to notice- trying to dodge incoming fire while squeezing off your own shots. (Should I mention that, with the exception of the head and legs, the Aerobolt looks an awful lot like an EVA Unit…?)

And ya know what the best part is? Exteel is completely free to download and play!
(If you want to, you can buy NC Coins with real money at 7-Eleven, Best Buy, and Target stores nationwide, or use your credit card at home to the same effect.)

I have passed 590hrs of play on the game (I started June ’08), and have attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Lvl62). Most of my career, however, is based more on playing Last Stand games (a great place to “farm for credits”) against the computer rather than in player-VS-player games. (I don’t think my brain is fast enough!)
I recently joined the currently-9th-ranked Clan Okami, and have participated in over 20 Clan Battles. (Although, by both Okami and my account, I am certainly not “A” team material when they go up against more-challenging clans. That’s fine by me- so long as I still get some CB action once in a while!)

If you’re interested in starting an “Exteel” profile, let me know, and I’ll lead you through it step-by-step, and offer up tips and hints. (I’m an unofficial tutor in-game for newbs by my own choice, and have successfully helped at least 12 players.)