Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video games. Show all posts

Saturday, 25 July 2015

Nintendo Amiibo No 13 Zelda Super Smash Bros Collection


Back to it with a look at the Princess Zelda Amiibo from Nintendo. This is number 13 in the Super Smash Brothers line of Amiibo figures and these guys continue to impress.


As is the norm with the Amiibo figurines, there is no articulation. But considering the 2 - 3" size of these things, the detail and moulding makes up for that in a big way.


The paintwork throughout the figure is, for the most part, clean and crisp. There are one or two minor blemishes on my Zelda, though nothing you can notice when she's sat on your shelf.


And check it out Hasbro - painting eyes is possible even when the figure is small!!

The gold used on Zelda really works and looks great when used with the more mat colour of her dress.

If you're a Zelda fan, Nintendo fan, or Amiibo collector, you don't want to miss out on this one!


Go Figure!

Tuesday, 12 May 2015

Batman Arkham Knight Scarecrow


I spotted this Scarecrow figure in Forbidden Planet, passed on it, but eventually caved and returned to pick him up. This is from DC Collectibles and is sculpted by Gentle Giant. The others in this first wave are Batman, Harley Quinn, Arkham Knight (who is released later this year) and, if you live in the USA you're lucky enough to also be able to pick up Red Hood from GameStop.

I loved Arkham Asylum (apart from the final Joker battle. It was fine, but a bit weird). I really didn't enjoy Arkham City, for me the open world took a lot away from what made Asylum so good.

Funny story about City: I traded in City as I, foolishly, bought it brand new. The guy at the store said (without a hint of humour or sarcasm) "didn't you love this game?! Swinging through city made you feel just like Spider-Man!" I just looked at him for a few long seconds and said "I bought it to feel like Batman though". He stared at me and said nothing. I don't think he fully understood what had just happened.

I didn't even buy Origins. But Knight is looking pretty good, and if these figures are anything to go by, I have higher hopes.

In packaging I loved the look of this figure. I loved the detailing, the sculpt work, and the overall look of Scarecrow - I was ready to be disappointed when he was out the box.


The only problem I initially had with this figure was the fact that I couldn't get this guy to stand! But after a while I got him to stand on his own wch, for me, made this figure even better.


Scarecrow comes with a brilliantly creepy mask which, I'm going to assume, is what his goons will wear in game. Pure speculation on my part though.

Articulation on Scarecrow is really pretty good. Firstly (and this is great!) Scarecrow's hood is attached to his head so it doesn't really hinder the neck movement which includes side to side and a little bit of tilt. The shoulders move up a little, my Scarecrow can't get his arms to 90 degrees, there's a bicep swivel, elbow bend and his hands turn 360 degrees.


Scarecrow has waist rotation, his hips move out, there's a thigh cut that rotates, single jointed knees and the feet move up and down at the ankles.

So there's not bucket loads of articulation but there's a good amount and the sculpted details and paint work really make this guy worth your money.

From the front, Scarecrow has fingerless gloves on both hands, and his right hand has his fear toxin injecting needles on the back. The detailing in the wrist piece is excellent too and painted with a nice metallic dirty grey. He's also wearing a knee brace - either he loves Stone Cold Steve Austin or he had a bad time being left alone with Killer Croc.


You can also see all of his extra vials of fear toxin (or blood?) on his chest and shoulders with pipes leading all around his torso, along with stitches, belts, buckles and pouches. And a personal favourite of mine: his boots are untied and the tongue of his right boot is hanging down.


From behind there's not quite as much going on, but it's still very cool. There are oxygen tanks which feed a pipe under his left shoulder and go straight into his mask. The tanks are nicely detailed and pained with very neat silvers and greys, you can see all the stitches in his hood and down his coat and you can see the split in his coat too.


Lastly, I just want to pint out how absolutely great Scarecrow's mask is. It's creepy, brilliantly sculpted and painted, and conveys a lot of character.


I would highly recommend this figure if you're into the games or you just collect figures from the Bat books. Here in the UK you should be able to get him sub £20 and I really do think he's worth every penny. He's creepy and sinister looking and I'm really happy to have him added to my Bat collection.


Go Figure!

Thursday, 19 February 2015

S H Figuarts Injustice: Gods Among Us Batman


Bandai Tamashii Nations have started to produce figures for the videogame Injustice: Gods Among Us through their S H Figuarts line. And when I saw just how cool these things looked, I found it very hard to turn down Batman.

Batman is one of my favourite superheroes (isn't that the same for EVERYONE?!) but I like getting him in some different costumes, and a new armoured up suit, complete with die cast pieces, had to become part of my collection.

Batman comes in a nice window display box, which shows the figure inside off nicely and displays the accessories. And Batman comes with a few.


Batman comes with several interchangeable hands (one of which kind of holds his grapple gun)


The grapple gun is surprisingly over sized. I really would have thought it would fit nicely into Batman's hands, but nope, it's sadly too big to fit well.


The grapple gun also comes with 2 attachments. A grappling hook and a grappling hook on a bendy wire


There are 2 batarangs which re nicely sculpted


Batman also has an interchangeable head. It really adds to Batman's overall look I think. It gives him this fantastic armoured up, ready to do battle look


And lastly, this isn't so much an accessory, but you also get Batman's cape which comes in 3 sections. Unfortunately the cape is a hard plastic mould which means you can't really pose it. In saying that though, it does look really nice. It's got a nice blue tinge to the blackness and the tears and tatters on the bottom are sculpted really nicely.


You can put Batman's 'middle' cape on separately but he looks much better with all 3 pieces clipped into place.


The work that's gone into this figure is just great. The details and paint work is just absolutely brilliant, and those details go right through the figure.


The gauntlets on Batman are incredibly sharp, as are the points of his ears but they look amazing!


Batman is super poseable too which should be expected from SH Figuarts. His head rotates and there's a joint at the base of his neck, his shoulders have a ball hinge joint, there's a bicep swivel, elbow joint and swivel, and his hands rotate round, up and down.


There's an ab crunch, swivel, hips swivel, double jointed knees, his ankles swivel rotate and pivot. And his cape swings out. In 3 places. Really, there's no lack of articulation in this guy!!


But for me, as much as I love the articulation, the best thing for me about Batman is the look. The gorgeous silvers, greys and blacks used on this figure look amazing, and the metallic blue on his armoured mask really pops.


There are a few die cast metal pieces on this figure too - the thigh guards and the ankle bracers. These help give the figure some nice weight and help him stand nice and steadily.


DC heroes, Marvel heroes, Star Wars and more coming your way soon! Go Figure!

Monday, 1 September 2014

K'Nex Super Mario Mystery Figure Blind Bag Series 4


I love the Mario series, it's possibly my favourite videogame series of all time what with the amazing Mario Kart entries and the like. Super Mario Bros 3 was my first gaming love on the NES. I still remember getting it for Christmas. Hot damn that was a good time!

I knew these K'Nex mini figures existed but I'd never seen them before, but when I was out today I spotted a peg of the bags in Forbidden Planet so I had to check them out. There were more K'Nex Mario toys, but it's these blind bags that really got my interest. All of the bags on the peg were the same figure, all feeling very round. If you use your eyes, you'll see that the roundest character on the front of the bag is Bo-bomb. So no prizes for guessing who I got.


Still don't know? Well, it comes with a little paper insert too


Yep, I got Bo-bomb! Which is great, as that's really the only character in this wave that I wanted.


As you can see, there's some very minor assembly required with this guy. There are three peg holes on his body - two for his feet and one for his key.


These all just pop in easily, leaving you with a super sweet looking Bo-bomb!


I love this little guy! Such a simple little toy but it looks like it's been lifted straight from Super Mario! Very neat paint and the sculpting is great, with sculpted on eyes and a neat little fuse. If I can find the series that has Shy Guy, Dry Bones and the Para Koopa Trooper I'll definitely be trying to get those!


Go Figure!

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

NECA NES Jason Voorhees


Ever since I saw this guy I knew I had to have him. I'm a fan of the Friday the 13th franchise and a videogame fan, so really it was a no brainer to pick this guy up when I could. Thankfully Amazon had him at a very reasonable price so he quickly became mine!

And look at him! Isn't he awesome?!


The packaging made to look like the NES videogame box art is great and it's even better that it's a hinged door to a window display of the toy, so cool. The colour scheme of this guy is crazy, but nails the in game look of Jason with his wacky purple and light blue colours.


The light blue of his mask (which is removable), shoes, hands, and blades of his machete and hatchet all glow in the dark which is a nice touch. This figure is from NECA so is just the same model of Jason that we've seen in the past, but that's no bad thing as he's a great figure. Here he is with my battle damaged Friday the 13th Part 3 Jason


As you can see (other than the battle damage of Jason's face) they're the same sculpt and figure, just updated paint jobs.

This NES Jason is excellent though, it appeals to the old school video game nerd, toy nerd and horror nerd inside of me all at the same time, which is just great!


Articulation wise, his head moves side to side and up and down just a tiny bit. His arms move out and up and down at the shoulders, a single elbow bend and his hands can spin right round and pivot a little. He has a bit of a diaphragm crunch, his legs move forward at the hips but not back really, his knees bend and his ankles move a little. It's not a ton of movement but enough to get him standing with no issues holding one of his weapons and looking menacing!


Keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts on the rest of the NECA 8-bit inspired figures, coming this way soon! Go Figure!

My man Fezbongo was good enough to take these shots for me so in turn you should go look at his tumblr, I'm hidden in there!