Kitbashing - Metal Club Red Astray wtih Daban Flight Pack... ...

The hunt for Metal Build Red Astray that was released in 2016 has led me to search all available sources for it. I thought I hit the jackpot when I saw a bootleg version of Metal Build known as Metal Club and placed my order. To my dismay, the seller decided to pull the product off the shelf and cancelled my order. Then the search went on and I found Metal Club Red Astray but it is without the flight pack.

Daban 8814 Red Astray with Powered Red & Gerbera Straight Kit Build Part 3... ...

Finale of the build...

Day 7 and Day 8 were spent on panel lining and applying the water slide stickers.

I had purchased the water slide from a third party source. Interestingly all the products and the review of this kit are mostly done in Chinese. I followed as closely to what I find online and realised some mistakes along the way. However, I could rectify them since I had the water slide provided by Daban as back up.

Daban 8814 Red Astray with Powered Red & Gerbera Straight Kit Build Part 2... ...

Continuing from the earlier post.

More problems with the diagram being inaccurate and I have to put out the parts to correct it. I have broken some parts having to do that a couple of times and glue is my best friend when that happens. Good thing that I have a drill set handy too.

Another example above that the suggested build sequence may not make sense. I had to open up the snapped in parts as the thrusters would not snap in.

Daban 8814 Red Astray with Powered Red & Gerbera Straight Kit Build Part 1... ...

I was introduced to this only recently when Youtube surfing. This is a bootleg product of the 2017 Metal Build version which I did not know of at all. I would have purchased it and not go through the torture of building this kit. This is at 1/100 scale and it's equivalent to Bandai's Master Grade.

Daban supposedly had been sued by Bandai in 2018 and had an injunction to stop it from producing any more Gundam kits. However, Daban products are still widely available online. Prices varied and you need to be discerning about where and what you buy. This model's first run had wrong colour issue with the parts on the Powered Red arms and I had to make sure I get the right ones before making the purchase.

BSL Toys KO Version of Peru Kill aka Lockdown ... ...

Lockdown, a rouge mercenary transformer wowed the audience with a huge sniper rifle on his head in the Age of Extinction. Hasbro released a couple of Lockdown but nothing can compare with Unique Toys's Peru Kill. The name given by Unique Toys had me to believe Lockdown killed Ratchet in Peru. No, that was Mexico City.

Anyway, let's move on to today's star, Lockdown with Steeljaws. However, this is not from Unique Toys (UT) as they are completely out of stock. However, there are 2 other knock-off versions from two other toy companies; namely BSL and Visual Toys (VT). Did a bit of research online and BSL's version is closer to UT while VT's version is the cheapest.

Maketoys MTCD-01P Striker Manus and MTCD-05SP Buster Stealthwing ... ...

My patience paid out when Maketoys launched Striker Manus in metallic colour coating and Buster Wing in black. The combined mode is the main reason why I bought them and the review needs to be done together naturally.

 

Wei Jiang Hide Shadow aka Blackout ... ...

Other than Black Mamba, I have been acquainted to Wei Jiang, another 3rd party making very detailed Transformers figures. I was greatly impressed with what I saw and I had to purchase this upscale Studio Series Blackout.

Black Mamba Star Adjutant and Corvette Assassin aka Starscream and Sideswipe ... ...

Following on the previous post, my other Black Mamba purchases arrived.

I was initially just interested in Sideswipe but then the search brought me to see other Decepticons and led to the multiple purchases.

Black Mamba Bottleneck and Dino-Troops ... ...

During the circuit breaker period, I have been lured to the dark side and this time it's Black Mamba mayhem!

I was just youtubing and saw reviews on very well made 3rd party transformers and then learned that there's indeed more than meets the eye with what's available out there. Although I have been initiated to this breed 1 or 2 years too late, I was able to find abundance of ready stocks on Taobao.

Today, the package came to the door and I had to open them to ensure they are as legit as what I saw.

Above, we have Bottleneck and below, Dino-troops in combiner mode!

 

Threezero's Honor of Kings 王者荣耀 1/12 Action FIgures - Zhang Fei 張飛, Zhao Yun 趙雲 and Guan Yu 關羽 ... ...

王者荣耀 (Wang Zhe Rong Yao) is a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studios and published by Tencent Games for the iOS and Android mobile platforms, exclusively for the Chinese market. I don't play the game but am intrigue by the characters in the original 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 三國演義' literature. My favorite character is Guan Yu and Zhao Yun which I have 1/6 scale of both figures.

Today, we look at game versions of the characters.

Gundam Universe RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee ... ...

It's been a while since I purchased action figure types toys and I gave Bandai's new line, Gundam Universe a try. This line focused on popular Gundams and the Banshee is one such figure missing from my Unicorn collection.

Hot Toys Neo from The Matrix ... ...

'He is the One'

1999, the year The Matrix wowed the audience with its intriguing story line and out of this world cinematography. The then Wachowski brothers (sisters now) introduced Bullet Time to the world.

Hot Toys War Machine Mark IV from Infinity War ... ...

Ten years of War Machine and today we have the Mark IV from the Infinity War.

My collection of Mark I, Mark II and Mark III. This is probably my final War Machine and will skip Mark VI but I do own the Marvel Legends but since it stays in the packaging, it will not find its way here.

Mark V did not make it to the cinematic universe and I look forward to Iron Patriot II.

Hot Toys Darth Maul with Sith Speeder from The Phantom Menace ... ...

I like Darth Maul and had been waiting for Hot Toys to make a fanboy happy. They did that and included the Sith Speeder; woohoo!

Hot Toys Black Panther from Black Panter ... ...

Not exactly a Black Panther fan but Hot Toy's creative idea to relive the cinematic marvel had me sold. The gimmicks are ultraviolet lights and paint applications to allow the below display effect which is exactly how the new Panther Habit suit behaves when it charges up with kinetic energy.

Hot Toys Iron Man Mark L and Accessories Set ... ...

Infinity War Iron Man Mark L and its weapons set has been sitting in my toy store for a long time. Time to do a review on it.

It's been quite a while since I was wowed by a Hot Toys product and with Iron Man, there is little Hot Toys can do wrong with it.

Metal Build Evangelion Test Type EVA 01 and Production Model EVA 02

Bandai collaborated with Kanetake Ebikawa and produced the reimagined Eva 01 and 02 under the Metal Build toy line. Eva 01 was snapped up within minutes on the first day of online pre-order. I have to say I am lucky to get my hands on them.

Star Ace Ninja Batman Deluxe Edition ... ...

Ninja Batman is a 2018 animation film which sees Batman and whole host of Arkham Asylum folks being teleported to feudal Japan. It was quite an entertaining animation and for Batman fans, getting the Ninja Batman figure is necessary.

Joy Toy 1/18 Scale U.S Special Forces Group... ...

Joy Toy, another Mainland entrant into the action figures market. They have released a whole line of different military outfits at 1/25 and 1/18 scale. They have all types of soldiers and Titanfall types Mechs. Today, we look at the 1/18 scale U.S Special Forces Group.

Jet Set Go... ...

It's been close to a year since my last post and I have been really caught up with work again until recently. Was out and about before the commencement of the Circuit Breaker and I'm glad I managed to pick up these 2 jet related items.

Above, the Takara Tomy Transformers Studio Series KSI Boss aka Nitro Zeus and below Jet Trooper from The Last Jedi from Hasbro.