Pic of the Day 159

Jade, Women of the DC Universe, Series 2 - Terry Dodson, by DC Direct.

For more info visit Women of the DC Universe Jade or the complete Women of the DC Universe Checklist at my collecting wiki.

Pics of New Stuff, Finally

Well, it's been ages since I posted anything about my collection, so I'll make up for it with a deluge of pictures. This is some of the stuff I've acquired over the past few months, starting with the more random items.

I finally got around to buying the Collector's Editions of all Depeche Modes albums from Speak & Spell (1981) to Exciter (2001), and the Best of Depeche Mode dvd set, all for the documentaries, which have been absolutely fascinating. Also picked up a bunch of DVD singles I was missing from the Playing the Angel album. Apparently I forgot to put A Broken Frame and Best Of in the picture, and Exciter hasn't arrived yet.

The best part is that via VideoLAN my laptop can actually play the PAL format DVD singles, so that was an added bonus to buying them. Still missing three live DVDs, or perhaps it would be easier to say of the four released I only have one. New live DVD set comes out in November, I'm totally buying it, since I didn't make it to the concert when they were here.

Firefly Companions vols 1 & 2. Finally was able to pick these up on eBay for cheap ($15 shipped for both and the DVD set). Good to have them along side the Serenity Companion. Nathan Fillion is sexy enough that I can overcome my homophobia enough to say that I have a man-crush on him.

I loved How to Train Your Dragon, almost as much as I love The Incredibles and Toy Story 2. Had to pick up the second version of this figure when the reviews I saw said it wasn't too bad.

I also loved Predators, and so was unable to resist picking up the figures when I came across them. Hope I can find the others.

I stopped buying Halo figures a loooong time ago, but a review of the Halo Reach preview set convinced me to pick them up, and they do look good, so I'm happy with them.

And I'm still buying GI Joes with the Pursuit of Cobra line. I thought I had pictures of all the wave one figures I bought, and wave two, but all I can find right now are the two hardest to find from wave one.

And misc Joes from discount stores.

I caved in and bought the DCUC Green Lantern 5 pack, when I heard Guy Gardner was selling for over $30 on eBay. It looks like he's dropped a bit, and I wonder if I could buy them individually for cheaper than the retail price. But I'm probably too lazy to do it.

And finally on to Transformers, which have been a much bigger focus lately than perhaps they should have been. Oh well.

ROTF Fracture (Classics Mirage repaint)

Custom ROTF Voyager Ultra Magnus

KO Classics deluxe Magnus

Generations wave 1, 2 and 3

Hunt for the Decepticons Voyagers: Battle Blades Prime, Banzaitron, Sea Spray

ROTF Mail Away Recon Ravage

FansProject Munitioner and Explorer

iGear Nemesis Leader and Masterpiece Ultra Magnus

Henkei Dark Skyfire

Animated Prime, Classics Storm Cloud

Classics Cliffjumper, Sunstreaker and Astrotrain

Classics Mirage, Sideswipe, Hound and Ravage

Classics Hot Rod and Cyclonus

ROTF Bruticus and Classics Devastator

More New Stuff

Who knows if I'll ever post all the pictures I've taken over the last several months of things I've purchased or traded for. But here's some stuff to point out.

Iron Man 2. These are 4 inch scale figures, which hasn't been my thing for a couple of years now, but these are really great figures, both in look and in execution, and they weren't too expensive, so I couldn't pass them up.

Some Green Lantern books I've been trying to get for a while, finally got a good enough deal on. Also 52, which I've been trying to get for a long time, for under $10, this one significantly under.

I finally got my hands on the Batman: War Games series, to go along with the prelude, Batman: War Drums, which I've had for a long time now. Picked up War Crimes cheap to finish off the tale. Good reading, I really liked it, Stephanie Brown/Spoiler/Robin is one of my favorite characters. Pity she dies at the end. :(

A few weeks ago I found the last two figures I needed to complete the Public Enemies mini-line, which I mostly bought for the Collect & Connect figure, Brimstone, but I don't have as much issue with these figures as do others. The new animated movie,Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, is awesome, by the way.

Going along with the Green Lantern books above, I finally bought some of the Blackest Night figures from DC Direct (Blackest Night being the story line that the GL books have been leading up to for several years). Got the wave 2 Black Lantern Martian Manhunter, and wave 3 (Star Sapphire, Black Lantern Aquaman, Orange Lantern Larfleeze, and Green Lantern Arisia). Probably won't be keeping all of these, Aquaman isn't as cool as I'd hoped, though I hear the Black Lanterns look better in big groups, so one solution would be to buy more (and wave 4 is ALL Black Lanterns). Also got most of JLA Classified Classics wave 2, which I am definitely keeping, because I LOVE the Ed McGuinness style figures. Batgirl, Green Lantern and beard/hook hand Aquaman will join the rest of the Ed McG figs proudly on the shelf that will be set aside for them one of these days. Can't wait for wave 3.

I can't recall if I've posted about the World of Warcraft figures here or not. If not, they're gorgeously sculpted plastic statues, and I've followed the line with interest since it began, only taking the plunge to buy a few in the last few months, so I've missed a few really good ones, but great people on the Fwoosh helped me get some I'd missed for good prices. One of the Deluxe figures I've been eyeing has been sitting at the overpriced FYE for a while, starting at $49.99, msrp is $39.99 I think, but with shipping it was about the same on eBay as FYE. I told myself when I saw it at FYE for $30 I'd buy it. A couple of weeks ago, there it was, marked for $29.99, so I took it to the register. However, it didn't ring up at the marked price, but lo and behold, it rang up for $14.99. So I win. She's awesome. And a large figure, takes up too much room, but awesome anyway.

I finally surrendered to something I've been fighting for years, and bought myself a Transformer I intended to keep. Of all the toys I had as a kid, I think Transformers hold the most nostalgia for me. ALthough in analyzing my likes for them, I find I generally don't care for the robot mode much, just the vehicle mode. But I don't really want to buy a toy vehicle, but one that can turn into a giant robot. Even if I don't ever intend to change it. Strange.

Anyway, I've always had a thing for the Aircraft Transformers, I had the Generation 1 Ramjet, and the used and abused remains of it's carcass still resides at my parents house, quite the worse for the wear. When the Masterpiece Skywarp hit Walmart last year I really wanted it, but the $60 price was quite outside my range. Around here they're now clearanced to $25-$30, but that still seemed a bit much for my budget, so I strengthened my resolve not to get into Transformers, because I was afraid of where it would end up (and rightly so, I've started looking through checklists of what's available, and my want list is not small), but when I found them for $15 on the way to Las Vegas last month, I had to buy one. Actually, I bought two, and I'm toying with keeping both, to display both modes, because the Decepticon Jets have always had cool robot modes. Am I talking too much?

I've been watching this 2 pack at Walmart for a while now. It started out at $19.98. Then it was clearanced all the way down to $19.86, but I made myself hold out for the next round of clearances. It finally dropped to $11, which is comparable to the single carded figures, and it has a ton of accessories, so it was definitely worth the wait.

Some misc stuff I've had for a while, or picked up in Las Vegas my recent trip there.

And that's enough for now.

San Diego Comic Con 2009 Part 4 - DC Direct part 2

Once again, all pics below are shamelessly borrowed from Michael Crawford's Review of the Week's SDCC 09 coverage. Here is the entire DC Direct Gallery. Big thanks to Michael for the great pictures he took at SDCC, and for the great reviews he posts each week.

Being a pretty big fan of DC Comics, and Batman, in particular, I like DC Direct. Their figures aren't nearly as articulated as DCUC, the scale across different lines is usually out of whack, but the sculpts are usually really great, and often based on a specific artist's style, which as long as it's a good artist, I really love it. For example, I've gotten to really like Ed McGuinness' art, and the toys based thereon. I have several of the figures from the Superman/Batman line, and a couple from the JLA Classified line of a couple years back. It would seem that DCD decided to continue the JLA Classified line, and a three more waves have been announced, chock full of characters I like, and I think my current plan is to get them all, someday.

So, who have we? I don't recall off the top of my head who is in the first wave, the second will have my favorite Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner, in his original costume), Superman Blue, beard/hook hand Aquaman, and Batgirl (Cassie Cain). The third wave was shown at SDCC to consist of Superman Red, the most popular Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, in his modern costume), the Atom and a new villain Zoom. (Pics by Toy News International)

Next up is a set of the big four DC characters, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and Green Lantern. I'm pretty sure they're all repaints of various Justice League and Superman/Batman lines, though I'm reasonably certain the Wonder Woman has a new head, and I like it enough that I'm tempted to get it someday. The others I have enough versions of, since these don't really add anything new or interesting to me.

More repaints! But these are more interesting repaints. There's the Joker figure from The Dark Knight Returns line, which I have and have always liked. Instead of the brilliant white suit of the original release, he's now got nice purple pants and a purple pattern on the white jacket. There's also The Penguin from a line who's name I don't recall, instead of the black suit he had before, he now has a white suit and black shirt, and I think it looks fantastic. It's still got the nastiest looking Penguin head ever, but it looks JUST like the the art, so I'm fine with it. There's also a Killer Croc repaint, I think from the same line as Penguin, this time around with a much lighter, more green deco, and orange shorts. I've been wanting the other figure, since it's a really good sculpt, and this one looks really good too, I wouldn't mind having both. I'm rather interested in getting all of those pictured here. There were, of course, other repaints, of other figures I didn't like before, and still don't, that I didn't bother re-posting.

Still more repaints! But I like these. First up is the Hush Harley, or possibly a somewhat retooled Hush Harley Quinn. I'm all over this figure, as the original was selling for around $40-$50 last time I checked it out on eBay. Another figure that's pricey on eBay is the Alex Ross Joker, from the Justice line, and he'll be getting a more classic purple suit deco. Harley and Joker come together in a Mad Love two pack, and I'll be looking to get it. Mad Love was the great episode in Batman: The Animated Series that told Harley's origin, and was later adapted in comics by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.

And now the really important figures, the Blackest Night line. This is shaping up to be one of the best events DC has done in ages, I'm really excited about it, and that definitely bleeds over into the figures, which also happen to look really good. Each wave has a Green Lantern and a Black Lantern, and two other lantern figures, so we get to slowly build up the other Lantern corps. Wave one consists of Green Lantern (Alpha Lantern) Boodikka, Blue Lantern Saint Walker, Red Lantern Atrocitus, and the first member of the zombie Black Lanterns, Earth 2 Superman. This wave is pretty cool. Atrocitus in particular, looks really neat. The story also sounds cool, and I'm going to have to save my money so I can buy the trade paperbacks as they come out. All pics by Michael Crawford.

The second wave has GL John Stewart, Sinestro Corps (Yellow) Kryb, Indigo of the Indigo corps, and the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter (who recently died in Final Crisis). Martian Manhunter looks pretty good, and is my favorite of this wave. All pics by Michael Crawford except Kryb, by Toy News International.

The third wave gives us GL Arisia, Star Sapphire (I'm guessing it's a repaint of last year's Star Sapphire, although this one looks like it's been cast in translucent sparkly pink plastic with the flesh, hair and detailing painted on, it looks really cool), it appears that she was not on display at SDCC though. The only Orange Lantern is also in this wave, Larfleeze, and finally, Black Lantern Aquaman, who's pretty gross looking. Again, all pics by Michael Crawford, except Star Sapphire, official pre-sale photo, and Arisia, by Action Figure Pics.

The final wave so far announced will have an as yet unshown Wonder Woman, Black Hand complete with Batman skull (Batman apparently also died in Final Crisis, and since Black Hand is the leader of the Black Lanterns, and they're are comprised of dead Heroes, I wonder how long until Batman is zombie-fied and given a Black Ring), my favorite GL Kyle Rayner in his current costume, and then
the coolest looking of all so far, Black Lantern Firestorm. His costume looks awesome in the black/silver deco, and the evil blue flames springing from his head is super cool.

And it would be remiss of me to discuss the Blackest Night figures without mentioning the San Diego Comic Con 2009 exclusive Hal Jordan figures. I'm guessing that somebody at DC thought it would be a good cash-in idea to have Hal Jordan to appear in every other Lantern Corps' uniform, and so far, he's gotten into four (aside from his usual Green uniform). Once they drew him in all the uniforms, it was time to make action figures, and charge $20 a pop, and release them in a very limited manner at SDCC. And it's that last part that I don't understand. Why only make 1500 of these, when they could have easily sold 3000, or probably even 10000, had they seen general release. Especially since it's one body repainted 5 times, and two heads, one for the green and blue, and one for the red, yellow and orange. But anyway, each day at SDCC a different colored Hal Jordan was available, collect all five to have a rainbow cornucopia of Hal Jordans - Green, Blue, Red, Orange, and Yellow. My cousin attempted to get me the Orange one, but the lines were bloody ridiculous, and everything was sold out by the time the doors even opened (because other exhibitors are allowed to get in line before the actually attendees of SDCC - what a crock of...) so he didn't even bother standing in line the other days. They are currently selling for $80 and up, so I won't be getting any, and honestly, possibly the main reason I wanted them, was for rings - each comes with a wearable ring of the appropriate logo and color. Pics by Action Figure Pics.

And finally, a line that I've been watching for the last couple of years, ever since it began, but haven't yet gotten into, World of Warcraft. I've never played the game, but I played Warcraft II and III, and really enjoyed both of them. I still play III from time to time, and it's from that perspective that my interest in the figures arises. The figures are very well sculpted and extremely detailed, the character selection has been quite varied, the main drawbacks are price and familiarity. I've seen WoW figures at TRU for around $15, and at specialty stores like FYE and Hot Topic for more like $18, and that obviously adds up really quick. But truely, the primary reason I haven't purchased any, is that they are of characters from World of Warcraft, and not Warcraft III, so I don't know who they are, they aren't special to me (other than looking cool, and excluding Illidan, who was the Deluxe figure from the very first wave, he was just way too expensive). But no longer. With wave 6 there are two characters that we met in the very first campaigns of Warcraft III for their respective races - Thrall the Warchief and Sylvannas Windrunner the elf, then the undead elf, as she is presented in this figure. I'm definitely going to watch out for these two figures, and chances are, if I have any money at all when I see them, I'll buy them, for not only are they characters I know, they're also two of the better characters to play as, and I really liked them both.

Alright, one final, final thing for this post, that has been in the works for over a week now. Sheesh, it sure takes me a long time to get a blog post done, no wonder I still haven't done a new BTAS post. Anyhows, Michael Crawford has posted his Best and Worst of San Diego Comic Con 2009 and I recommend reading it. I'll point out his number one was also a high point on my own list, until I read his. My previous post had pictures of Toynami's Batmobile and Batwing from the 1989 Batman film, and I mentioned that I had no idea on the size or price. Well, I do now, and bugger all, it's so far out of my range, I can't even see it from down here. Approximately 1/8th-1/9th scale (so for a 10 ft long car (not saying the Batmobile is only 10 ft long, I don't know how long it is) it would be about 15 inches long), only 500 will be made, and Michael guess you could buy a real car for the same price. And the Christopher Reeve Superman? Between 1 and 2 THOUSAND dollars. Some people have way too much money, and why can't I be one of them?