SAD Figure(d) Out ... ...

Week 3 and 1:6 military men no.3. 

Soldier Story - CIA SAD (Special Activities Division) Night Ops Version 2 (2.1)

This one came as a surprise. This product was released sometime last October and it's clearly "sold out". This piece is again from the secondary market and a fellow collector was kind enough to let it go (perhaps its you).

Figure to Play for ... ...

and I have just within a span of 1 week score myself another 1:6 scale military figure. I did mentioned that I would have stopped at Sniper PMC Mark from ZC World in the previous entry but I may have entered a realm which may not see the end of this genre of collection.

Mark II ... ...

This guy is too cool to just deserve a single entry. Took him out again for a few more shots.

Arrival at the hit zone... ...

Mark ... ...

who? Saw the pre-order for this item on Falcon's email but hesitated on the purchase as this is totally out of my line of collection. 

Another first purchase from ZC World and the packaging is really erm.... minimal effort. 

Sir Rex ... ...

not quite....but Captain Rex (CC-7567) to be exact. Finally received this 1:6 scale from Sideshow and this is my first Sideshow product. Here's a review on this collectible.

Let's begin with the packaging.

Similar to Hot Toys; flip style with magnetic clipping flap. Nice box art featuring the actual figure in all four angle shots.

Flip open the flap to reveal the packaging of accessories and the figure. Head of Rex is provided and no the head does not fit into the helmet, unlike the 3.75" figures. The DC-17 pistols and a set of closed fist are packed with the figure.

While the rest of the hands, DC-15 Blaster Rifle and DC-15A Blaster, Jetpack and set of extra feet feet are packed separately.

The Figure
Disappointed was the initial feeling as the figure was very light without any heft. The inner black suit was fabric instead of perhaps rubber or wetsuit like material. CG of the figure is horrible and every shot was a nightmare as the figure may fall anytime.

Articulation wise seems better than Hot Toys but getting it into the right pose and maintaining it was really a torture.

The Rex head sculpt should be movie accurate but I'm not confirming that it is 100% accurate.

The various hands provided does add more possibilities to various poses.

The jetpack is magnetically fitted to the back of the figure. Nice touch.

I'm not impressed on the whole about this figure and am glad I did not give in to the 'dark side' to collect other Star Wars troopers under this line. However, I have Commander Cody on the waiting list. Well, I'm compelled to have them together.

My verdict on Sideshow figures - like the name, they are just sideshows.....

A Few Cheap Iron Men ... ...

were the last thing on my shopping list. I feel like breaking into a song...(to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas).

On the 3rd day of Lunar New Year, my TRU sold to me, 2 Iron Men.....(ok, that's about it)

Anyway, these 2 were going for $9.90 each; a whopping 60% off from the usual retail price. 

Articulation is limited to only shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees with minimum joint movements as well. It's more of a static display item or rather simply a toy for kids above 3+.

Great thing they came with stands as the weapon packs are really throwing the figures backwards.

Erm.....I do not have much to say about them as they were never in my scope of purchase but I figured they are perfect for picture snapping.

Red Hot ... ...

is TakaraTomy's Masterpiece 09 Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime)

Saw promo pics of this months ago but did not occur to me that I will purchase this. Nonetheless, it's stacked with the rest of my collection.

Packaging is moulded plastic tray that houses everything neatly and thank goodness; it's without twist ties.

Out of the box, Hot Rod stands at about 10 inches tall with 95% plastic and the only diecast are shoulder joints and feet. A far cry from MP-01.

Articulation wise, this is much better which allows for more poseabilities and with the heft at the feet, it gives the figure good CG.

Ok, this part I'm not too familiar where and when Hot Rod has this disc-like weapon.

The twin blaster is something that I have seen before and it's a bit tricky to put them on.

Hot Rod becomes Rodimus Prime after obtaining the Matrix of Leadership when Optimus Prime 'died' to lead the Autobots in the battle against the Decepticons.

Rodimus Prime!! But seriously. what's the difference?
1. Different Face
2. Extended hip joint to make the leg slighly longer (2 cm)
3. Wing at the back slightly higher (0.5 cm)
4. Twin blasters joined together to become a rifle

Rodimus comes with a trailer like Optimus which transformed into a battle station. Rodimus is installing his rifle to get things ready.

Transformation

It's a pain (my fingers) to get this done. The legs gave me a hard time and I took a good 30 minutes to figure out the whole thing. The Japanese instructions did not offer much assistance and I guess the instructions did not give more information about it as well.

The vehicle mode is really authentic but I fear the chrome on the exhaust will start to show signs of oxidization in years if not months to come. 

Combining with the trailer is another heart-aching process and a great disappointment as well. Firstly, due to poor manufacturing standards and QC, the slot in the trailer for the fins of the spoiler is too tight and it takes a lot of strength to squeeze it in.

It is really puzzling for the design to be passed through when there is a gaping hole on the top part of the roof of the vehicle. Something could have been done to avoid this and it should not take too much of an effort to fill it up.

Here's the aftermath of squeezing the fins into the trailer. It left multiple scratches on the fins with red paint stain from the trailer. Well, I would not be doing much to 'clean' it up but I will never transform it to that mode again.

Bottom Line

If you are not a Rodimus fan, you can forget about this. It's simply a joke for TakaraTomy to produce and sell it. If not for the intricate design, it looks cheapskate. It looks like one of the those bootleg item you can find in the market that goes for $19.90.

Evactually another Eva ... ...

I have no idea how many times I mentioned in this blog that I do not want to get another Eva. Especially another Test Type-01. 

However, here we are with another Revoltech Yamaguchi release of the Test Type-01. 

Why did I get this? Well, let's start off with LED lights which I'm obsess with things with lights. The next attraction point is the glow in the dark paint feature which unfortunately, my lens cannot do low light photography to show.

I suspect this is going to be a whole new series of LED and glow in the dark series starting with this item with the serial number 100.

There's a slight twist in the packaging different from the other Revoltech releases; twist ties to hold the figure in place which is really a drag. The generous offering for interchangeable hands kind of makes up for this inconvenience.

An Eva figure is one of the most tacky display toys as this bio-mechanical beast stands in a rather unique pose which I am skipping for now.

Poseability for Revoltech is never a problem but some adjustment is required if you want to achieve certain poses.

Weapons given for this are limited to progressive knife and rifle. Anyway, like I mentioned before, this guy just need his fists.

I talked about the LED light and it's actually on the heart of the angel that Eva 01 has to battle and I happened to have the angel from one of those capsule toys lying around at home. Perfect for the series of shots that follows.

Here's the LED light in action with Eva 01 pounding the life out of the angel when it went berserk.

Seriously, I hope this is my last Eva purchase and hopefully they stop making great releases like this!! It's really a must get for all Evangelion fans.