S.H. Figuarts Iron Man 3 Iron Patriot

I've been meaning to write about this figure for a while seeing as I've had it for several months now!

SH Figuarts do great work and are well worth the money to have imported from Japan. The articulation, accessories, paint application and sculpt are all top drawer on SH Figuarts figures and this Iron Patriot is no different.

Firstly, Iron Patriot comes with six repulsor effects that can all be attached to his palms or bottom of his feet.

He also comes with his minigun that attaches to his back, which also comes with a blast effect that attaches to it.

And as far as hands go, we get 4 different pairs. There are closed fists, blaster hands with pegs to attach the repulsor blasts to, blaster hands without pegs, and flat palms.

Iron Patriot himself is just a class act.

The paint is gorgeous and metallic, with flecks throughout adding to the realism. This figure looks metallic though it's not - the feet are die cast metal though to keep the figure balanced and to stop it from falling over.

The paint is also incredibly clean and neatly applied.

Iron Patriot's minigun fits nicely into one of two slots on his back. The gun is also articulated so it can sit flat against his back or angle it over his shoulder ready to fire.

The articulation on Iron Patriot is great. The head looks up and down and left and right. His shoulder armour is articulated so the shoulders aren't hindered at all. The shoulders have a ball joint inside and out so it's almost like a butterfly joint giving his arm a great range of motion. Elbows are double jointed and the wrists are articulated. There is an ab crunch and waist swivel.

There are articulated flaps at his hips so that his legs aren't hindered when moving. His hips have double joints, again almost like a butterfly joint so there's a great range of motion forward, back, and outwards. There's a thigh swivel, double jointed knees, articulated flaps at the front and back of the feet, ankle pivot and hinge and toe articulation.

This figure is one of the jewels in my collection, I absolutely love it. It's almost flawless as far as I can see - the only 2 things that are missing for me are: the eyes and arc reactor look as though they should light up, but I guess if they did this figure would cost even more! And secondly, I wish it came with it's own flight stand - that would make it.

If you can afford this figure, I'd say it's well worth picking up. Of course you can get about 3 Marvel Legends for the price of this one figure, but I'd recommend this over those all day - especially with the prices that some of the rarer Marvel Legends can hit.

Go Figure!

The Simpsons Lego Series 2 Blind Bag Minifigures

I picked up 2 new blind bags on a whim the other day hoping I wouldn't pick up any other doubles.

Let's get these cracked open and see what we get.

First up...

Groundskeeper Willie! Very happy with this minifig, he's a great sculpt and the plunger accessory is so much fun.

Secondly...

Patty Bouvier! Again a nice figure, shame I'm missing Selma of course. And I kind of wish she came with a cigarette as an accessory, but I know they couldn't do that!

Just a quick post guys, stay tuned for more real soon!

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Halo Megabloks Bravo Series Blind Bags Minifigures

I picked up 3 blind bags of the Halo Bravo Series Megabloks minifigs, even though I think I have all of these.

So I cracked them open.

First up, a double!

NMPD Trooper with assault rifle! A pretty sweet figure for sure.

Secondly, another double!

A very cool HazOp Spartan with energy sword.

But thirdly, something I've never had before. A very cool red translucent active camo Elite Guard

The added bonus is that he comes with a UNSC Marine with assault rifle

Very happy with that bad ass red Elite!! He looks so cool!

Go Figure!

Halo 4 Series 3 Jul 'Mdama McFarlane Toys

Jul 'Mdama is the last figure in this most recent wave of Halo figures from McFarlane toys. 'Mdama, as far as I can tell, is the most hard to find figure in this wave and I had to go to eBay to pick mine up. It was still a reasonable price though being only a pound more expensive than what I would have paid for it in store.

'Mdama comes with his energy sword as his only accessory and it's a nice solid piece. The blades are cast in translucent blue plastic with electrical effects added on top and the grip fits well in 'Mdama's hand.

Out of packaging and 'Mdama is a big chunky and imposing figure. His armour is a very dark purple which is sculpted brilliantly. It's very detailed and has some lighter colour in some of the line work to bring them out. His head dress is sculpted in that same translucent blue plastic and is attached to his helmet, which is removable.

The paint work on 'Mdama's arms and especially the hand motif on his chest and shoulders look excellent. Like the Spartans, 'Mdama's weapon has a peg and there's a hole on each hip that the sword can be held on.

And as mentioned, his helmet is removable showing off that pretty Sangheili face of his. Which is again, really well sculpted and detailed.

The articulation in Mdama's head is on a peg which is attached to his long neck - the neck itself, at least on my figure, has a limited range of motion. The shoulders are on a ball and hinge joint as are the elbows and wrists. There are even articulated fingers which is nice.

There's a torso swivel but no crunch forward or back.

The hips are just as poor on the Elite's as on the Spartan's which is still a bone of contention. The knees and ankles are on ball and hinge joints but because of the way the legs are sculpted, the legs can't really doo too much and you can't get him into super exciting poses - he's still great for posing though.

I'm glad to have 'Mdama on my shelf to have an Elite for my Spartans to go up against, but honestly, I'm just not too sure about picking up any more Covenant figures. I have a real love for the Spartan armour so I'd rather spend my money on beefing up the ranks of the UNSC rather than the Covenant.

If you're a fan of Halo and the Covenant though, then this is a top notch figure, really great looking and absolutely worth the money.

Go Figure!

Halo 4 Series 3 Spartan Soldier McFarlane Toys

The last Spartan in the most recent Halo wave from McFarlane is the female Spartan Soldier in red - which is an exclusive in the States but is available at retail here in the UK.

The soldier comes with a battle rifle which is painted nicely in dark and light metallic greys with a neat yellow detail.

I think this is my favourite Spartan in this wave, the colour really pops and the white highlights and decals that have been applied look brilliant.

The articulation is standard across the Spartan's in this line. The head is on a ball and hinge joint which supplies a good range of motion, the shoulders, elbows and wrists all have ball and hinge joints that rotate - the hinges are ratcheted which makes the joints nice and tight.

The ball joint on my figure is a little small so the torso keeps popping off of the legs. The torso rocks back and forth and rotates replacing a waist joint.

The hips are, as standard, poor or the Spartans. They allow the leg to kick forwards and back a little at a pretty obtuse angle. The knees swivel and end on a ratchet joint, the ankles are also on a ball and hinge and the toes have articulation.

Like I mentioned before, the white accents on the red armour really make this figure pop - especially the UNSC insignia and logo. The pouches on the soldiers legs and add to the overall feel of this figure, really making it seem like she's ready to go up against the Covenant.

I, again, absolutely recommend these figures if you're into Halo or just bad ass space soldiers. For the price, these guys look great.

Go Figure!

Halo 4 Series 3 Commander Palmer McFarlane Toys

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted - aiming to get back on track starting with a look at the new Commander Palmer figure from McFarlane.

I picked her up a couple of weeks ago (expect to see the remaining two figures get reviewed soon!) and I'm glad I did. I often feel hesitant when picking up the McFarlane Halo figures, and I think it's because of their size (they normally stand at around 5.5") but once I have them in my hand I'm instantly in love. These figures really are excellent and look amazing.

Palmer comes with 2 handguns as her accessories which are in a nice grey metallic paint and have some really nice sculpted details.

Out of the packaging and the first complaint I have is that she doesn't look particularly feminine. In fact it looks like a repaint of a male Spartan which is a real shame. Paint wise though, and Palmer's armour looks fantastic! It looks nicely weathered, the fine details in red look really good, and all of the sculpted detail is excellent. I especially like that Scout helmet - very cool looking with the blue visor.

The articulation is pretty excellent throughout this figure with one glaring omission: the hips.

The hips appear to be on a peg which gives a minimal range of motion there. The head turns and looks up and down, the shoulders are on a nice ratcheted ball and hinge joint, as are the elbow and wrists. There's a ball joint in the torso allowing nice movement back and forward and replaces a waist rotation.

The hips... Well, those are poor as I mentioned. The knees rotate and hinge, as do the ankles, and there is toe articulation.

As is standard in the McFarlane Halo figures, the guns connect to the armour via pegs and there are holes for her pistols on Palmer's upper legs and back.

Palmer holds her guns well but as she doesn't have a trigger figure sculpted in either hand, if you put the pistols in her hands you will bend the triggers. This hasn't bothered me as it's barely noticeable and Palmer does look very cool rocking bother her pistols.

If you're a fan of Halo I'd completely recommend this figure, the armour is great, I love the weathered grey and red, and as a Spartan, Palmer just looks completely bad ass. The wave (other than Jul 'Mdama) were all still available at my local Forbidden Planet and you should be able to pick them all up for less than £15 each, which I still think is a great price even though it has gone up.

Go Figure!

Halo MegaBloks Series 7 Blind Bag Minifigures

Out shopping today, I found a box of series 7 Halo Megabloks minifigs. I grabbed 5 bags.

In this wave, the character sheet tells us that we can get:

UNSC Spartan Mark VI (common)
Covenant Grunt (common)
Flood Combat Form (common)
Covenant Grunt (common)
Covenant Grunt Spec Ops (common)
UNSC Marine - 2 different styles, both common
Covenant Elite Zealot (common)
Covenant Elite Commando (common)
UNSC ODST (common)
UNSC Spartan CQB (rare)
UNSC Mark VI (rare)
UNSC Spartan Scout (rare)
Covenant Brute Jump Pack (rare)
UNSC Spartan EOD (rare)
UNSC Spartan Security (ultra rare)

So let's go ahead and start with the bad, which is this guy

I was delighted to pull the ultra rare UNSC Spartan Security figure. Except it came minus an arm. And when I tried to put the one arm on that I did get the joint was brittle and snapped (sadly not the first time this has happened with a Halo Megabloks figure for me).

So I was down to 4 figures instead of 5. Damn.

But on we go, and next up, I pulled 2 common figures

The covenant grunt and UNSC Marine. Both solid little figures and good for army building.

And the next 2 figures I pulled were both rare, so that was a nice surprise

The Covenant Brute Jump Pack in that nice red colour which I think is very cool, and the UNSC Spartan CQB in the dark and light grey - both great looking figures.

Disappointed in the Spartan Security fig, but happy with the other 4!

Go Figure!