Marvel Legends Rachel Grey - Phoenix

Presenting Rachel Grey AKA Phoenix AKA Marvel Girl AKA Baby Phoenix from the Marvel Legends Toyline.

This is actually an old shoot, but this week's release of Wolverine and the X-Men # 12 focused more on the internal conflict of Rachel Grey rather than focusing on Kid-Gladiator as the cover suggested, so I thought I'd release it.

The current Avengers vs. X-Men crisis now has the Avengers on the run from the newly (mostly) reunited X-Men who are following the miraculous acts and leadership of the Phoenix Five (Apparently not a Basketball team and more of a trademark infringement case as Cyclops ripped off Nightwing's costume).

Rachel Grey who for years fought the shackles of being a hound, is now ironically being used by Cyclops to hunt down the Avengers and recover Hope, the Mutant Messiah who now doesn't want to have anything to do with the X-Men.

(Spoiler Alert) Rachel sends Captain America flying back with his own shield, dispatches the Black Widow and actually is able to knock-down Thor (Though to be fair, the Thunder-god has been fighting the Phoenix all the way from Kree space so he's nowhere near his best). Wolverine of course sends her flying out of a bar (It's his comic book afterall). She corners Hope and readies for a showdown but suddenly decides to stand down and let her go. She lies to Cyclops and says that she never encountered Hope but Cyclops does not believe her. What could have ended in a psionic interrogation is interrupted by the arrival of Gladiator and the Shi'Ar. Whether she felt kinship for the rightful vessel of the Phoenix, or lost a battle of conscience at being used as a hound is not really covered by the comic book.

Star Wars: Dash Rendar's Outrider

Presenting Dash Rendar's Outrider from the Star Wars Shadows of the Empire Toy line.

The Outrider is a heavily modified Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-2400 Light Freighter. It is a smaller - roughly by half - version of the YT-1300 Light Freighter. To be more blunt about it, it's a smaller version of the Millennium Falcon. And you can obviously see the similarities - round hull; side-cockpit; dorsal and ventral mounted weapons.

Because of this, a lot of people actually hate the Outrider. Dismissing it as a poor-man's Millennium Falcon. But we have to realize that in the Star Wars Universe, the Millennium Falcon is not the only YT-1300 flying around. And we really shouldn't be surprised that Corellian Engineering Corporation would try to improve on such a successful - infamous - design.

Zoids Blade Liger

Presenting Van Flyheight's Zoids Blade Liger from Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force.

People have been posting photos of various Zoids on the Facebook pages that I hang out in so I thought that I would take out some of my Zoids from storage and present them.

I'm honestly not a fan of Zoids. I just enjoyed how they looked, the fact that they could move and the fact that you had to assemble them by hand.

My greatest Zoid treasure is actually the Liger Zero - which barely beat a Blade Liger in the cartoons - because I really love how the armor can be swapped out with the parts of other Zoids to boost its capabilities. Unfortunately, my Fire Phoenix and my Jet Falcon are deeper in storage than I expected. It'll take a while.

The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters: Batman

I'm Batman

Presenting The Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman.

I was originally psyched when I saw this come out, opened it and... well... I had a sinking feeling - which I couldn't really verify at the time since the key to the riddle was in storage - that this was nothing more than a repackaging of the Dark Knight Movie Masters Batman which came out in 2008. I scurried through the Dungeon Basement  and.... yup. It's a re-issue.

So if you have the one from the 2nd Dark Knight movie, don't bother with this figure - unless you're trying to complete the Collect -and-Build Bat Signal (But you'll need both Bane and Alfred for that) that comes with this particular Dark Knight Rises Movie Masters Batman.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Sentinel Prime

Presenting Sentinel Prime from the Transformers Dark of the Moon toy-line.

I remember the first time I laid eyes on Sentinel Prime waaay back before the movie was released and the first wave of DOTM toys had hit the market. And I remember that all I could think of was "He's pink!"

For the retail price that the stores were asking for him? Pass.

I kinda regretted not getting him especially after watching how critical a figure he was in the DOTM Movie. But I still didn't feel like paying retain for him. He became rare and I did not want to pay black-market rates for him especially since other Leader class surpluses were now being retailed at half-price. A few months back, there he was, standing on the top shelf all alone. And I grabbed him.

Still pink.

At first I thought that it was because of the type of firetruck that he is. Universally, red is the accepted international color for Firetrucks and other emergency vehicles. But sometimes all you need to do is cross over to the next county - or country - and you'll find blue, yellow, white, black and even green firetrucks. But I haven't seen a pink firetruck yet.

So I popped the Transformers DOTM DVD and realized that Sentinel Prime was not pink. He was red. Firetruck red. He only appears to be paler than Prime's flame red because he was corroded and beat up. He was old.

So this color is really an injustice.

Batman Begins Tumbler

Presenting Batman's Tumbler from the Batman Begins movie - also known as the Transblast Tumbler. I think it's rather sad that Christopher Nolan's trilogy comes to an end this year though I am interested in seeing whether or not it will tie the Avengers movie in terms of ticket sales.

But I also find it sad that the most of the Tumblers that will be seeing action in the 3rd and last movie will be working for the antagonist, Bane.

Still this would be the last time that we see the Tumbler in action (I'm really not so keen about a "flying" Tumbler), so a full 7 years after Batman Begins, I thought that I would dust off the cobwebs off of mine, take it down from the shelf, and share my thoughts on it.

Transformers Prime: Vehicon aka Eradicon (First Edition)

Presenting a Vehicon - AKA Eradicon - from the Transformers Prime Animated Series First Edition. There are a few issues that I have with the Vehicon.

The biggest happens to be its gender. It has a waif like figure which is fine because most Transformers Prime figures have waif like figures. But the Vehicon figure kinda also has... breasts (Like Arcee)... whereas the more macho male figures like Cliffjumper and Optimus Prime have flat barrel chests. Face it, with the glass on her chest, it even looks like she has lace covering her cleavage.

The only other booby looking chest that I know of would be Bulkhead's but then he's built like a Gorilla - complete with nipples.

It makes me wonder if this is a design flaw since the Vehicons were voiced by a guy.

But then the Vehicons have always been a source of much confusion.

Captain America's shield versus a Lightsaber poll

Facebook brought to my attention this fan-art creation from someone named Dorman, which features Darth Vader puncturing Captain Amerca's shield with his lightsaber. This got me thinking: "Can this actually happen?" Lightsabers are indeed elegant weapons but they have difficulty cutting through bulkheads and blastshields, so would a man-made shield that could stand and repel the mightiest blows of a Thunder-god, stand up to it? What do you think? Do cast your vote and share your opinion on our Facebook page: 

BBI Chenowth Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV)

Presenting the Blue Box International (BBI) Elite Force Chenowth Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) re-purposed for G.I. Joe use.

This is not to be confused with the more mass-market Freedom Ops Officially Authorized Navy Seals Desert Patrol Light Strike Vehicle nor with the Hasbro G.I. Joe  Desert Light Strike Vehicle that was released for the much larger 1/6 sized figures. This is from BBI and if memory serves me right, he was released with a driver which I probably threw into a box somewhere since all I wanted was the vehicle. Strangely, this Elite Force vehicle does NOT appear in the BBI website nor can I find much about it on Google.

Toy News: SDCC Exclusive SHIELD 2012 Helicarrier

When I first saw the Avengers movie SHIELD  Helicarrier when it was released, I was extremely disappointed. Thank God, there's an SDCC 2012 Exclusive that's not only a full foot longer than the three foot long mass-released Helicarrier, it comes with an exclusive Maria Hill figure.  Information happily sourced and passed on from Marvel CollectorUK.

The Dark Knight Rises: QuickTek Venom Menace Bane

Presenting the QuickTek Venom Menace Bane from the Batman Dark Knight Rises toy series.

I have to admit that I had no intention of buying this particular toy as it's what I consider "cannon fodder" promotional items for the movie that wouldn't reflect the essence of the movie nor provide sufficient "nourishment" for collectors. In fact a part of me kept wondering if this was a re-released toy from the 2nd movie or - worse - from all the way back from the disastrous nipple suit Clooney movie "Batman and Robin".

But I was entertained by the packaging - I'm easily entertained - you could actually move the figure up and down and execute the "QuickTek" transformation. It was cool. You can even make it appear that there's no figure inside by moving the figure into the "QuickTek" chamber - which I have to admit I did to some of the figures on display. It was fun.

But I truly appreciated this packaging because it gives buyers a complete idiot's guide explanation as to what "QuickTek" is without buyers having to resort to reading the back - else it just looks like a toy with a Batman prison poised above his head. Simply grasp the "Try Me" buttons and move the figure up to his holding cell. Pull him down, and the "Venom Menace" cannons are gone. Repeat the process and the cannons reappear on Bane's shoulders.

Scruffy Rebel - Victoria Schmidt

Photo by Britt Dietz of momentscapture.com

Presenting Scruffy Rebel, who's know in the real world as Victoria Schmidt. The Scruffy Rebel is without a doubt one of Star Wars most beautiful Cosplayers to don the guise of  Princess Leia in a Steel Bikini - which she is also probably best known for.

Scruffy Rebel describes herself as a 20-something geek who has been cosplaying since 1999 - particularly at the SDCC and Dragon-con.

Most of her costumes are made by herself and her boyfriend - yes I said boyfriend, so you can stop salivating - and what's so nice about their creativity is that they really do "re-create the character through whatever means necessary" The proof of which is to your left.

The nice part about her is that you can actually hire Scruffy Rebel for commissioned shoots and modelling gigs via her Facebook page or through her e-mail: victoria@scruffyrebel.com or through her website: www.scruffyrebel.com.

More photos after the jump.

Toy News: SDCC 2012 X-Force Marvel Legends Exclusive

TOY NEWS: Marvel has announced that they will be releasing an Uncanny X-Force Marvel Legends (Not Marvel Universe) collectors pack in the 2012 San Diego Comic Book Convention (SDCC 2012, July 12-15, San Diego Convention Center).

The X-Force collection includes Archangel (Dark Angel) as he appeared in his ascension (Not as he appeared when he transformed completely) to take the place of Apocalype during X-Force's Dark Angel Saga; Wolverine (Another one? Sigh); and a spanking brand new Psylocke in X-Force black and gray. The collection is in tribute to the variant cover of Uncanny X-Force # 15 that features the three.

All we need now is a Deadpool, Warpath and Wolfsbane.

Check out some of marvel.com's photos of the three

Marvel Universe Black Widow (Comic Series) with Light up Collector's Base

Presenting Black Widow with light-up collector's base from the Marvel Universe Comic Series Collection.

In a nutshell this is a repaint of the original Marvel Universe Black Widow - from silver utility belt and Widow Bites to gold (Which is more in-keeping with the modern Black Widow since she only used silver when she was going around in gray as can be seen in this Marvel Legends Black Widow) - with Jean Grey's head from her Red-Pheonix outfit from the Cyclops/Dark Pheonix Greatest Battles Comic-Book pack.

This is the one time where I feel a salvaged and re-purposed body-part is worth it because the original head was just so.... dead.

And she comes with a special "S.H.I.E.L.D." light-up base that combines with five other bases to make a cool collection.

Star Wars: Darth Maul - Vintage Collection

Presenting Darth Maul from the Star Wars Phantom Menace Vintage Collection.

Darth Maul is a Dathomirian Zabrak from the planet of Iridonia - meaning that he's not a pure Zabrak but a hybrid between a Human and a Zabrak (Though the term Dathomiri is used loosely so for all I know he could be pure Zabrak. You can also call him an Iridonian as the Engineer from Knights of the Old Republic II, Bao-Dur was commonly referred to.

The interesting thing about Darth Maul is that he's technically not dead yet. Lucas hasn't decided how Maul should officially die yet.

He did not die in Phantom Menace as was commonly believed. He survived, got himself a robotic torso and went on a psychotic rampage till the Dathomiri Nightsisters restored his sanity and he went on a crusade after Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Side-by-side with his fellow Zabrak Savage Opress, Maul fought both Kenobi and Asajj Ventress till both retreated from the battle with Maul vowing revenge.