Hot Toys Dawn of Justice Armored Batman ... ...

Ben Affleck as Batman isn't something I was quite prepared for and I was ready to just let the whole Hot Toys franchise on Dawn of Justice to go pass me until I saw Armored Batman. I kinda hear Hot Toys asking my wallet 'Do you bleed?'

I guess it's that pairs of LED lit eyes that had me sold.

King Arts Iron Man House Party Protocol's Mark XXII Hot Rod ... ...

Iron Man 3 has unleashed a frenzy release of all the 42 armors of Iron Man. However, Hot Toys's price has been going up north and I believe Mark XXII is an exclusive event item. Thank goodness, there is King Arts.

Everything is fine with this fella except for 2 issues, 1, the right shoulder of my piece seems off with the pegs sticking out too much and 2, King Arts got the forearm weapons wrong.

3rd Party Scorponok by Iron Factory (Lord Scorpion) ... ...

My first contact with Iron Factory, a 3rd Party Transformers maker. Reason why I got this is it reminds me of the G1 Headmaster Scorponok which I sold away years ago.

However, this in terms of size is pale in comparison to the original G1 toy which towers at around 13".

Hot Toys Mark XLV Age of Ultron ... ...

Frankly speaking, I am growing tired of collecting all the suits Hot Toys or Marvel Iron Man has to offer. They are generally the same but somehow different. This is Mark XLV from Age of Ultron.

The escalating pricing of the Hot Toys product is also any deterring factor for my Iron Man suits fatigue.

Hot Toys Captain Phasma ... ...

When I first saw the character in the trailer, it didn't occur to me that this Captain is a she. However, her screen play was limited and she didn't quite impress in anyway except for her shiny chrome armor.

She is so shiny that my reflection is in every picture. This figure could have easily been mistaken for a diecast one. Hot Toys did a fantastic job with the chrome paint and now it will stand the test of time.

No one cared who I was until I put on the mask ... ...

The Dark Knight Rises Bane is one villain that caught my attention and Chris Nolan's version did it for me, however, the price tag offered by Hot Toys didn't.

What we have here is a custom-made version of Bane. Thanks to Alex of Toyhaven for pointing to the right direction to 'The Little Box' (order@the-littlebox.com) at International Plaza.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 6 (Kamen Rider Drive Type Dead Heat) ... ...

On National Day, 9 August 2016, I again dropped by Takashimaya to see what cheap bargain can I get on the last day of the Craziest Toy Sale. I must say it has been quite a harvest for me to pick up 4 toys and adding on, my son's 7 Gundam model kits.

On the last day of the sale, I was pleasantly surprised that they added Type Dead Heat of Kamen Rider Drive.

It happened to be in the same color scheme with our state flag and this being National Day, I'm employing Type Dead Heat to be the flag bearer for Singapore's 51st Birthday.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 5 (Super Robot Chogokin Gunbuster) ... ...

This is a free item. It was a nice surprise at the cashier when I was given a $50 voucher for spending at least $200 at the sale which I did. However, it became a problem as I have no idea what to get with the $50 and it can only be redeemed at the toy sale.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 4 (Masked Rider 2 with Cyclone-go Modified Version) ... ...

Following from the previous post, I also bought Masked Rider 2 with Cyclone and this indeed brings back memories as this is the first Masked Rider I watched as a kid.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 3 (Kamen Rider Drive Type Wild) ... ...

As mentioned in the last post that I will drop by if I ever was at Takashimaya and Singapore being so small, I was there and this time with my son.

He was all crazy about Gundam kits after watching Iron Blooded Orphans and he picked up 4 kits. 1 1/100 kit at $50 and 4 HG which were only going for $10 per kit.

Anyway, this isn't about his Gundam kits. It's about my first Kamen Rider Drive figure by SHFiguarts; Type Wild.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 2 (Robot Spirits Geminass 01 with Assault Booster) ... ...

Continuing from earlier post, I bought my second Gundam at the sale. It is the Geminass 01 with Assault Boosters.

This cost $45 and so you see, it's not as crazily priced as Takashimaya would like us to believe.

Takashimaya 20th Craziest Toy Sale Part 1 (Robot Spirits GMSniperII) ... ...

I have long given up any hopes on getting good deals at Takashimaya's Craziest Toy Sale. I remember those days I actually took leave to be one of the earliest few when the barriers opened.

20 years into the event and I'm not that crazy about it anymore. Orchard Road is the usual weekend haunt and so, my wife and I were there after dinner when we walked into Ngee Ann City and she asked "Do you wana go take a look?"

I did more than a look.

I bought 2 Robot Spirits Side MS Gundams. So, here's the first one. GM Sniper II.

House Party is still on with Hot Toys Mark XL Shotgun from Iron Man 3 ... ...

The movie is 3 years ago and Hot Toys is still milking the collectors with the House Party Protocol suits. I am a willing milk cow.

However, I am still rather selective in terms of which suits I get. The Shotgun is one of the those unique suits that I like unlike those mixed and match ones.

Flaming Hot Toys's Star Wars TFA Flame Trooper ... ...

It's really been quite a while and today we have with us the Flametrooper from the Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

This guy was featured early in the movie when Kylo seeked BB8 in the village of Tuannul on Jakku. They toasted everyone and everything that's in their path.

Hot Toys Kylo Ren ... ...

I like to start by saying this is not mine. This is my son's first Hot Toys figure. My son has a strange (at least to me) liking for Kylo Ren. He is not a Sith but one of the Knights from the Knights of Ren. Trained under Luke Skywalker before he went all obsessed with idolizing Darth Vader.

There are many reasons I do not like Kylo Ren and it starts from his attire to his helmet to his face. Ok, I know there are among us many fans of Kylo and I shall not badmouth him anymore. Maybe there is 2 redeeming factors about Kylo and those are his powerful strength in the force and his lightsaber.

Reformatted Nero Rex Part 2 ... ...

Who wants to show off some amazing articulation?

Yup... anyone else?

Mastermind Creations Nero Rex R20N Moritorus Enforcer ... ...

Another one of my childhood fantasy is to own the Predaking from the Transformers ever since I watched it on TV in 1986. 30 years later, I have the Predaking, sort of ...

This is Nero Rex the Moritorus Enforcer by Mastermind Creations which is a 3rd party interpretation of the Predaking. There are 2 other 3rd Party versions of Predaking but I find this most appealing. The main reason is the color scheme and a true fan will tell you this is not the original color.

Mastermind Creations did the original color scheme of Predaking which they named as Feral Rex and it is formed by the Feralcons (instead of Predacons) Leo Dux, Talon, Tigris, Bovis and Fortis. I had noticed this in 2014 but it was released one at a time and with priorities on other purchases, I had given these original color a miss.

Transformers Legends Ultra Magnus, Arcee and Windblade ... ...

These 3 were bought in 2015 but my schedule did not allow me to open them earlier and well, they weren't my top priority due to my many collectibles pursuits.

These are from Takara Tomy and under the Legends line celebrating 30 years of Transformers.

The packaging is actually good enough for the items to be clearly displayed and for someone who is as busy, leaving them in this state and just seeing the items through the window is somewhat therapeutic.

Transform Back on Tracks with Masterpiece 25 ... ...

It's been a while after my last Masterpiece 24, Star Saber. This was actually purchased for a while but I really am so tied down with work, I had shelved it for months.

Tracks is a G1 classic Transformer and its alterego is a GM Corvette Stingray. 

The First Order of Hot Toys Stormtroopers set ... ...

arrived! I was rather excited as this is my first Stormtroopers by Hot Toys and I had high expectations especially after so many frustrated experience with Sideshow's Prometheus body.

I have gone ahead with my first order with the set which comes with the regular Stormtrooper and Heavy Gunner Stormtrooper.

The Party Goes On with Hot Toys Mark XXV; Striker ... ...

The 'House Party' Protocol fever is still going on strong and with Hot Toys, things aren't cooling down any further. Not even if the Singapore government implements any cooling measures on this.

Today, we take a look at Mark XXV, codename Striker. In it's brief moment of feature in Iron Man 3, Striker used its only weapon, the jackhammer on his arms.

Hot Toys 1/4 Scale XLIII (They just get bigger) ... ...

Although this isn't my first 1/4 scale but this is definitely my first Hot Toys at this scale.

I had resisted the 1/6 scale Mark XLIII as it is simply a recolored XLII. This suit, however, is fully functional and is in the opening scene of the Avengers: Age of Ultron.