Voltron: 25th Anniversary Metallic Lion Gift Set Review

[caption id="attachment_141" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Voltron Action Pose!"][/caption]

Just last week I received this fun addition to my collection of junk I could have lived without. It's a Voltron toy, much like the one of way-back-when, but slightly updated to be slightly more poseable. It works pretty well on that, since the elbows and knees are now jointed. It transforms, like the old one. Same five lions are basically as show-accurate as I remember them. Take in mind, it's been a long time since I've watched the cartoon, so it might not be 100% show accurate.

As far as the pose-ability goes, it's nice to have the option to move it around and ATTEMPT to put it in some awesome poses. However, it's really not meant for any of that. For the price range, I suppose it makes sense that it would be limited on this. And I'm glad it has as much mobility as it does considering it transforms. But the jointed knees are a tease. The action pose I have pictured on the left is very unstable. I feel as if it's about to fall over at any moment. And, as fun as this toy is, it doesn't feel like it would survive a fall in the least. I'm also a bit wary of any fall it might take due to the metallic paint. I feel like it could chip off at any moment. I'd never display this anywhere that it might fall. To have it out at all, I put it on the top shelf over my PC--and put it into a more boring/heroic pose.

The pose-ability of each of the lions separate is pretty good, too. There's some slight horizontal give in the joints so the legs can take a wider stance and they look more 'natural' (as far as giant robot lions are concerned...) Each leg has three basic joints. One at the hip, one at the knee, and one at the ankle. You're still pretty limited on how much they move, but the horizontal movement helps a little.

It comes with the sword and shield, which are painted metallic silver. I seem to remember the sword being more of a golden color, but upon further googling, every image I see has a silver sword. It's nice that it came with the shield, but I don't remember them ever using a shield. Makes sense, though, since that's a pretty freakin' big sword. How could this imaginary robot made of robotic lions use such a huge sword that forms from nowhere AND use a shield at the same time?!?

I was a bit disappointed by the fact this is just purely plastic,though. There is a die-cast version, but it's much more expensive. For some reason, I read "Metallic" as "die-cast". Metallic means... metallic paint, obviously. It still looks great, and is very well done, but... it's plastic. It would certainly explain why it was only $50. Honestly, for what it is, I probably had my hopes a bit too high. I was expecting more of a 'modern toy'. Which is to say, I wanted it to be super-pose-able, be super-accurate, and for some reason, made of metal (which isn't very much like modern stuff at all... but anyway). Time for the breakdown.

Pros:

• Affordable option for Voltron fans.


• More pose-able than the old toy.


• Nicely painted.


• Very show accurate.

Cons:

• No metal... at all.


• Not as pose-able as I'd like.


• Not really as impressive as I'd had hoped.

[gallery link="file"]

The Semester is Dead--Long Live the Semester!

So, the semester ends in about a week and a half. That means I have to deal with the fun of finals. Being in computer technology stuff makes me sad, because they actually have finals. Back when I was in graphic design it was final projects. I could spend a week putting together the most slap-dash POS and still get at least a B. With networking, I have to kind of try because it's all stuff I should remember. My problem is that if I'm not actively using this information over and over, then it's forgotten. So, do I remember anything about Cisco routers for my exam? Not particularly--but that's not what worries me. My issue is subnetting a virtual network and getting everything functioning for 20% of my grade.

And once that's all done, I get to turn around and go back a month later to another semester. This semester may be more fun, though. I'm in a network security class that has us doing 'war games'. We try to hack the other teams' while we defend our networks from them. Sounds excellent. And might I say, it sounds like a fitting end to college for now since after this next semester I'll have my Network Admin degree. And then I'll be doubly overqualified for what I do. Wooo.

‘Aerial Team Appendage Add-On’ Kit for Superion

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Superion"][/caption]

Next on my review list is the 'Aerial Team Appendage Add-On' Kit. This add-on is meant for Superion, which was a Target exclusive. Let me just start off by saying, I saw this in stores and laughed at it. It looks so damn stupid as-is. There is literally no reason whatsoever to buy this without the intent of picking up this add-on kit. I have pictures of the original mode of this down at the bottom. It's just... argh. It's angering to see something this 'durpy'.

Needless to say, there was no hesitation to pass on this because I wasn't as into Transformers as heavily as I am at the moment. I basically just bought the Transformers: Animated toys, and that was it. To buy a toy like Superion would have been a waste of money--not to mention, it's considered a Movie toy. I hate the movie toys. I've never bought one--aside from Superion and Bruticus--when I heard FansProject was making add-ons for these. Kind of a peer pressure buy.

Seeing the pre-order for this on BBTS.com made me think, "Oh, that looks kind of neat. I don't remember it looking nearly that... Oh. my. gawd... That thing is hideous." Maybe it was my reaction to how much of a difference this add-on makes that made me want it. It's like Extreme Robot Makeover. HOWEVER, I'm not too keen on how much this set cost. Supposedly it's a very limited run, but I find it hard to believe this should have cost $45.

It basically fits together the same way the durpy version goes. The durpy version is supposed to have the limbs alternated. One jet for a leg, one for an arm. One plane for an arm, and one for a leg. It's able to stand up better like that since the planes are a bit too wide to stand up without the 'knees' rubbing, but the way it does the hands and feet looks dumb. This version keeps some semblance of symmetry and has the jets be the arms and the planes be the legs. It can take a much wider stance with the add-on feet, so the 'knees' aren't rubbing together.

What would normally be part of the arms is now the shoulder--which looks great. He's an all-aeronautical Transformer combiner, so to have jets as shoulders makes sense. What's normally an arm for the stand-alone flips down and you're using that ball joint to give him more mobility of the limbs. A 'forearm' is placed over that stand-alone, and then a fist is attached at the end into a peg. It works surprisingly well. He also comes with a visor, which helps him looks more like the G1 counterpart. It stands at about 10.5 inches tall--to the topmost point of the shoulders.

I wish I'd have thought to take some pictures of the stand-alone figures with the accessories, but to me that wasn't the appeal of this. It's great they made everything fit together and work as one cohesive unit, but the only reason I got this was because it was a combiner that was getting the FansProject treatment.

For those that may have picked up Superion directly from Target, I'm sorry. I feel your pain indirectly--since I basically paid the retail price for it, but on eBay. So, that was $35 spent on the durpy toy. And then $45 to make him look cool. Why does this math not make sense? Don't get me wrong--It looks so cool. On a scale of 1 to 10, Ultra Magnus would be a 9.5. The Superion add-on would be about a 6--drunk 7--so to speak. The price tag is just too high for this considering how much Ultra Magnus is. I'd have paid $30 tops for this. If it goes on sale on tfsource, or bbts, then go for it. You won't be disappointed FOR THAT PRICE. If you're going out to specifically get this toy just to get the add-on (like I did), then you should save your money. Not worth the price unless you're very into Superion. What's sad is that when they come out with the add-on kit for Bruticus Maximus, I'll probably buy that as well. Blargh.

Pros:

• Figure looks awesome with the add-on. Very much so accented by the fact that it looks DUMB AS SHIT otherwise.


• More G1 accurate... If you're into that kind of thing.


• Fits in amazingly well with the single-vehicle mode as accessories.

Cons:

• Price. $45 is a lot to pay for some appendages, a gun, and a visor.


• The figure is worthless without this add-on.

[gallery link="file"]

'City Commander' Ultra Magnus Add-On

I got my 'Pile of Loot' from "Big Bad Toy Store" yesterday. It was a happy day, so I'll be posting some pictures and my opinions on each of the things I got.


First on the agenda is 'City Commander' Ultra Magnus. As I said in my preview, I was really stoked to see this. All of the previews I watched made this seem very cool. It did not disappoint. Well, maybe it did disappoint some. I kind of imagined it would be a little bigger. With all the armor, it comes to 8.5 inches tall--to the top of the shoulders. It's about the size of a normal 'Leader' Class figure. Really not all that big of an issue to me, but I was expecting something more of the size of the original Ultra Magnus trailer.

For the price of right at $90, it's kind of worth it if you're really really into Transformers, and already have an Ultra Magnus sitting around. With the re-release of this add-on, the eBay market is now averaging around $40+ for just the figure. So, all-in-all, it makes this figure ~$130. So, honestly, you're not going to get this figure unless you're really into Transformers to begin with.

It's kind of a shame that Hasbro didn't make some kind of add-on like this themselves. It would be much cheaper if it wasn't being made by a third-party, but at the same time, I don't think Hasbro would listen to the fans as much, or at all. The original add-on didn't include the missiles for the shoulders, or the white, transforming gun for both modes. Fans pointed out it would be much more G1-accurate if he could have missiles and a gun, so FansProject did an addition to their add-on that updated their original.  Pretty fancy, and shows that they listen to what people say. After all, they are getting $$$ from us, so it only makes sense they should listen. Good for them. So, to break it down... even though my cons will outnumber the pros, the pros are far greater if you're a Transformer fan.

Pros:

• A very cool re-imagining of the G1 version.
• Collectible third-party add-on.

Cons:

• You have to have an Ultra Magnus to start with.
• The price is a bit steep at $90.
• Not as big as I'd hope for the price tag.

 

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE, ALTERED BLOG!

I've seriously got nothing new to talk about here. I haven't drawn anything. I've finished my workbench. That's about it. Oh, and I put up some shelves the other day.

Recent obsession of collection is Transformers. Not the old ones, cause I can't afford those. I've been getting the newer ones, which are still ridiculously expensive. I think it all started when I saw good ol' City Commander Ultra Magnus. I had no intent on getting caught up on toys again after I finished getting through a GI Joe phase. But, damn... come on. This toy looks amazing! So, naturally, I checked into it. Apparently, you need to have Classics Ultra Magnus, which was a repaint of Optimus Prime, and was exclusive to Target. I thought to myself, "Hey... I saw these all over the place. No one wanted that crap..."

And, no one did--until Fansprojects made this add-on trailer. Now, Ultra Magnus goes for $40+. The toy itself is freakin' gorgeous when you get this add-on. I have to give them props for making something that should have come with the figure to begin with. Even at $90, I feel like it's completely worth it. The only downside being, you need to have Ultra Magnus (or one of the other Optimus Prime molds) for this to work. There are various armors available. They have one for Prime, and it's in red and blue. One for Nemesis Prime, that's grey and black, and green-ish. And then this one, which is the original.. for Ultra Magnus. I've seen pictures of people who have all three of them, but to me that just seems like a waste to triple-dip on the same figure.

BBTS.com is having an anniversary sale on anything that's not a pre-order, or new. The 'Powered Commander' armor is on sale for $100, which is a good price. BUT, after looking at various reviews on youtube, it just doesn't look as good. None of them look as good as the City Commander armor. So, grats to me, I just saved $100.

Now, they just need to come out with Rodimus' Protect armor, and Springer. I think the guys at fansprojects enjoy teasing Transformer fans with info way before these things ever come out.

Workbench... and stuff.

So, I actually started something and may finish it.



Since I'm slowly but surely trying my hand at carpentry/woodworking stuff, I decided to take the plunge and try to make a workbench. So far, so good! I have a frame done. I'd have the whole thing done, but all I have is a miter saw right now. So, I had to get the friendly people at Lowe's to cut the MDF board I wanted as the top. MDF board is pretty rough on blades as is, and I'm sure the Lowe's saw gets used like a dirty whore, so it was really no surprise that halfway through cutting that it died. So, no workbench top for me last week. I did go back on Monday to pick up the tops, though.

So, today after work, I get to glue the two 3/4" boards together and let that sit overnight, and hopefully, if all goes according to plan, I'll have an awesome indestructible (not really) top for my workbench. What's going to suck is screwing it into place. MDF isn't known for its screw holding abilities, but I'm fairly certain if I predrill my holes, I'll be fine. We'll see.

It's just one more step toward doing something fun with my life that still nets me money. I figure I'll start off small on the projects, then work my way to bigger projects--like furniture, and hopefully that whole prop business I wanted to get into, which apparently someone is already doing, and is really good at it. Go figure!

So... We meet again...

I started playing Warcraft again. Blaaarrrghhhh. I was actually doing kinda well with not playing it at all. But then I kinda got the flu. And my options were to lay in bed and sleep all damn day, or prop my head up with my arm and mindlessly click away. Granted, this was a few weeks back now. So I've been back in the fray of WoW for far too long. And the sad thing is, I've nothing better to do at all. It's either watch Battlestar Galactica and play WoW, or do something constructive. Usually WoW wins.

But, on the rare occassion I want to be creative, I kind of end up playing with Legos. That's right, my collecting obsession has led me to a very old, very distant friend. I never got a whole lot of Legos cause I was more into action figures--not to mention Legos have always cost an arm and a leg. But, when I was smooth enough to get my parents to get Legos, they were the awesome, huge sets that could be used for any myriad of different creations. Anyway, point being--after pulling out the Legos to sort through them, I felt the need to buy a new set. All's well and good, cause, ya know, I buy a set like... once a year, just for kicks. Well, this time when I bought one, it made me want to buy another. And that's when I realized I had no addicition at the time. I wasn't playing WoW, I wasn't throwing money at DVDs, and I wasn't saving for anything except bills. So, I think that's when my brain decided it was time to buy Legos.

The good news is, at least they're somewhat more useful than an action figure. I guess I should get back to working on my portfolio sometime. Blah. Of course, I do have 4 days off in a row--every week. So, even being a complete slacker, I should be able to slowly but surely make some things. Or something.

Blink Sketch

Blink, from Marvel Comic's 'Exiles', or 'Age of Apocalypse'--whichever you prefer. Been trying to think of what I want to draw next, and this came out while I was sketching around. Decided to color it and post it since I generally don't get anything done.

Ophelia... Freakin' Finished!

Ok, finally completed this picture. I like how it turned out, but I'm still not completely happy with how I did the shading. But I can only mess with something like this for so long until I just get tired of it. So, it's done.Woo.

Ophelia ...again

[caption id="attachment_72" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Ophelia WIP"][/caption]

A little closer to done than it was, but that's not saying much. =X

Yeargh. Still alive.

Ok, it's a new year. I haven't posted shit in ages. Why? Because ...I haven't done anything. Surprise! =D

Sad truth is, I'm still playing WoW, working full time, and doing school in my spare time as a hobby. So, between all of that, I sort of read comics, and... think about artsy stuff. That's right. I only think about it. I think "Hey, I should work on that drawing... ...Oh, wait. Nevermind. That requires me to open Photoshop... Well, WoW's open already. Guess I'll keep doing that!"

That's not EXACTLY how it goes, but it's close enough. I have worked on cleaning up the Ophelia drawing some, and I'm about... 40% done on the line work. No real ETA on that.

I wish I had more boring, less addictive hobbies. I also wish Frappuccino didn't leave some god-awful after -taste in my mouth. Seriously.

So, I'd post what I've got done just so I can show you (me--since I'm the only one reading this, and only as a proofread before posting) that I can draw lips that don't look completely wrong and horrible!

In other news, Christmas was kinda boring, but good since I did get Transformers: Animated Ultra Magnus. It's what I asked for, and it's what I got. Can't complain! However, I can complain about how bad the economic times are that random, homeless people who are probably on drugs think it's ok to hang out where I work because it's open 24/7. Let me tell you--it's fucking stressful to know someone is there for the hell of it because it's cold outside, and not because they want anything. I normally ask them to leave after a while, and they're on their way, and it's all good. But the dude I asked to leave last night was fucking out of his god damn mind. Listening to him mummble to himself when he thought no one was listening was kind of frightening--mainly because I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I'm pretty sure I heard something about cutting off arms and legs, and then some random something about a penis. All I know is, if the guy shows up again tonight, I'm calling the cops. Fucking loiterers.