Transformers Bumblebee Studio Series Optimus Prime

Megatron must be stopped! No matter the cost!

The only way the Transformers Bumblebee Studio Series Optimus Prime could be better is if he were made of die-cast metal.... and was bigger. Paging 3rd party groups!

We enjoyed the Bumblebee movie - although how it fits into the Bayverse is beyond us. Personally it would have been way better if they just admitted that this was a re-boot.

As you can probably tell, we loved Optimus Prime's cameo in the film, and we particularly loved how Travis Knight created an Optimus Prime that was closer, truer to his appearance in the G1 cartoons. Something Bay utterly failed to do - not that we didn't like the updated Optimus Prime look, but... if this was possible why wasn't it done in the first place?

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Avengers Endgame Worthy Captain America Action Figure

I am worthy! 

Captain America finally showing that he was worthy enough to pick up Mjolnir in Avengers Endgame is MORE than enough reason to pick up this action figure.

The Russo brothers have speculated that Captain America has always been able to lift Mjolnir - except he wasn't able to do so in Avengers: Age of Ultron. They've gone on to speculate that he just didn't want to make Thor feel bad.

We don't really buy that. There's no real official cannon as to why Steve Rogers failed to lift Mjolnir in AOA. Personally we believe that Thor - having some mental control over Mjolnir, chose to force Mjolnir not to move when he saw Steve budge it. Of course this doesn't align with Odinson crying out "I knew it!"when he saw Cap wielding Mjolnir in Endgame.

So perhaps the Russos are right.

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Transformers Siege War for Cybertron Hound

If you can't protect yourself, die and get out of the way of those who can.

The Transformers Siege Hound is the Hound that we want, and the Hound that we deserve.

In 2008 HasTak released  what we then thought was the "perfect"version of Hound - and to be fair in some aspects that we will get into later, it is better than the Siege version - but that version can be classed as.... cartoony. The Siege version has this "War-Machine"appeal to it, and - even if we're not a fan of the "effects" that you can purchase with the rest of the Siege line.

If we're right this is the first of the Transformers toys to precede the video game that it is based upon. We wonder if that's a software development deadline problem or if the developers were simply afraid that the third installment of the Transformers War for Cybertron trilogy would be a flop.

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Marvel Legends Magik Review

You believe yourselves immune to death? I bring you a gospel of oblivion.
I bring you the Soulsword. Taste it and cease to be.

We'd like to thank Marvel for making one of the rarest Marvel Legends figures - Magik - easier to attain. 

Though we're pretty sure that there are those out there who are seething that Magik's price range has dropped. Illayana Rasputin here used to be a 2015 SDCC exclusive that you could only get if you were able to purchase Marvel's Book of the Vishanti collection that includes: the Astral Plane version of Doctor Strange; Brother Voodoo, Hela and the great  Dormammu. Because it was an SDCC exclusive, we've seen Magik being sold alone - sans the Book of the Vishanti - for as high as US$275 (Roughly PhP 15,000). So when this was released? We had to have her - especially since Colossus and Shadowcat came out so beautifully.

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Favorite Halloween Cosplays of 2018

Halloween came and went and we couldn't help but be amazed by all the celebrities and models who dressed for the season. They get better and more glamorous with each year. So we thought we'd come up with a list of our favorites as gleamed off of Instagram. We initially started with 5, which grew to 10, which ended at 15. These are in no particular order - though we did save our favorite for last.

1) First up is Jinxkittiecosplay - AKA Kelsey Atkins, a 5'2 Slytheryn from the House Targaryen of South Africa and she went with a gender-bent Pennywise this season:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JinxKittie | Kelsey Atkins (@jinxkittiecosplay) on Oct 30, 2018 at 10:33am PDT

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Marvel Legends SPdr wave Elektra Action Figure

 I am Elektra, the assassin. To look upon me......is to see the end of life.

Marvel keeps pumping out Elektras and each one is even better than the last one. 

We remember the first Marvel Legends Elektra that was released a decade ago and it was praised for its articulation and beauty. There was that back-step though when Marvel released a version that came with the Sinister 6 pack. That was garbage. Then there was the Elektra that was released along with Ronin as part of a 2-pack. That was our standard for Elektra since then: decent articulation, good accessories, alternate hands and heads, and a great sculpt. That was our fall-to Elektra til the Elodie Yung's version that we reviewed here. 

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Heroes of the Storm: Starcraft James Raynor Action Figure

The Terrorist Marshall James Raynor

NECA does indeed delight with this sculpture of the Heroes of the Storm General James Eugene "Jim" Raynor" from the Starcraft video-games.

Now we use the word sculpture because, as you'll soon see, NECA hardly provided him with any articulation.

But given how we've complained about NECA's choice of joints - especially after what happened to our Starcraft November "Nova" Terra figure during her shoot, our expectations on Jim Raynor's pose-ability  wasn't very high.

So we're really fine with referring to him as a sculpture rather than an action figure - though yeah we wish he was an action figure.

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Marvel Legends Sabretooth - quick look

Your fancy claws can't cut what they can't hit.
An' your hotsy-totsy healing factor... won't save you... 
when I rip out your heart! 

This will be a quick look at the Marvel Legends Apocalypse BAF Sabretooth. This is definitely not our first Sabretooth, but it is indeed our favorite! 

This particular Sabertooth stirs up memories of back when we first discovered the X-Men. This was the Wolverine antithesis who cut his way into the X-Mansion and nearly killed everyone in there during the Mutant Massacre only to be stopped by the timely arrival of Wolverine (Face it Psylocke, that was a running retreat. Nice try though).

Today he's more of an anti-hero, but he'll always be a classic X-Men villain to us. Their literal bogeyman.

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Star Wars Black Series Jaina Solo Action Figure Review

"You know what? Being the Sword of the Jedi really stinks."

You can choose to find and purchase Jedi Master Jaina Solo-Fel: daughter of General Han Solo and Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo; Niece of Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker; Twin-sister to Darth Caedus;  Former commander of Rogue Squadron; Former commander of the Twin Suns Squadron; Hero of the Yuuzhan War; Avatar of the Trickster Goddess Yun-Harla - Goddess of Deception; Sword of the Jedi or; you can go look for Rey, daughter of nobody.

While we do not hate the direction that Disney took with Star Wars, we do regret that they did not pursue the rich now non-canon history which began with Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire in 1991, especially since it relegated such a strong female character into virtual non-existence.

So we were surprised that Disney acquiesced to creating a 6" Black Series version of her just because she won a fan's survey.

Disney could have easily lied.

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Marvel Legends Multiple Man Action Figure

You never know when you might need X-Factor.

How may Multiple Mans are needed before you have an acceptable army? We don't know but it's a really sad thing that we only have the one. 

Jamie Madrox, Marvel's Multiple Man has always been a surprise to us. When we were introduced to him some time back in the 1980s we kinda scoffed at him. We thought his power was lame in comparison to everyone else who could easily wipe out all of his duplicates with one or two blasts.

Yet through the years through creative writing, the Multiple Man has proven to be a complex and charismatic character; a worthy leader of the X-Men (Factor), and; a resourceful and almost unstoppable one-man army

He's so complex he refuses to die (His death via Terrigen Mist in the absolutely horrible IvX story-line was waaay undeserved, so welcome back).

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GI Joe Vintage Fast Draw Action Figure Quick Review

Beware the firepower of a US Clerk typist!

Fast Draw was one of the GI Joes that, if you really think about it, is absolutely ridiculous. But he did make our imaginations fly.

Bear with us people as we try a new camera here in the Dungeon.

Frankly we're not impressed and will stick to the Samsung Note 5 that we've been shooting with for quite some time now.

Anyway, to the uninitiated this is Fast Draw, the GI Joe Mobile Missile specialist who is much loved and much hated for introducing FAFNIR or the Fire and Forget Non-Tube Launched Infantry Rocket.

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Marvel Legends Domino Action Figure Review

 I really should have stayed in college

The Marvel Legends Domino Action Figure is a much needed and much awaited upgrade over that horrendous excuse for a Domino released a few years back.

We watched Deadpool 2 over the weekend and frankly it was a fun ride but they lost me when they iced Vanessa (Spoliers - yeah they brought her back to life and now there's this theory that she's the personification of Death, but she's too pretty to kill).

But it was a fun movie and we do recommend that you go see it - we just prefer the first one (And we love you Colossus, but no way did you stand toe-to-toe with the Juggernaut).

It also surprisingly didn't bother us that they color-bent Domino. Probably because we thought that Zazie Beetz did justice to the role: she was fun, fearless, irreverent, and damn sexy (Though let's accept the fact that the members of X-Force died because of her probability field).

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Transformers Takara LG 15 Nightbird Shadow

Shadow KICK!!!!!

Nightbird Shadow is a beautiful retool of the Transformers Generations Arcee figure and a nostalgic tribute to a great G1 cartoon episode.

To the uninitiated, this is Nightbird Shadow: originally a drone built by Dr. Fujiyama to "benefit mankind" (He probably meant to "Protect mankind" against the big giant robots who've come to fight a war on Earth).

Anyway the Decepticons stole her and Bombshell (Yes, the Insecticon) implanted a consciousness chip into her brain turning her into a sentient super-ninja Autobot butt-kicking Decepticon!

That the Autobots eventually captured and put into cold storage never to be seen again.

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Marvel Legends X-23 Laura Kinney - X-Force Action Figure

Maybe I'm not the best there is, but I'm pretty damned close.

The Marvel Legends X-23 Laura Kinney X-Force uniform action figure is a definite must have for any X-Force fan and one of the nicest Marvel Legends figures we've seen in some time. It's actually a wonder why she's turned into a peg-warmer. 

Laura Kinney: We never did like her as Wolverine. We personally saw that as a weird gimmik by Marvel to make all of Marvel's main characters princesses or minorities. Well it looks like the experiment is at an end. Thor is dead and the mantle has been foreshadowed to return to the Odinson; Falcon has returned the shield to Captain America (Shame considering there was another shield available for his use), and; THE Wolverine is back.
When Wolverine returns to claim his mantle, we wonder if Laura will revert to X-23 or will there be Old-Man Logan, Wolverine, Female Wolverine and James Hudson?

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Vitruvian HACKS Aiyana Elven Archer - Autumn Guard - Action Figure

One Shot, one Kill

With the drought brought by the lack of new GI Joe toys, the Vitrivian HACKS Aiyana Elven Archer is a refreshing albeit small, glass of water. 

We've been seeing the Vitruvian HACKS (Highly Articulated Character Kit System) around hobby stores in Metro Manila for quite some time and have thought of them for customization projects for G.I. Joes. However they were quite pricey to be discarded just like that so we never got them. This particular Aiyana was borrowed from a fellow collector who asked for help with an issue that we'll discuss later.

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Marvel Legends Gwenpool

Welcome back to super hero world, Gwen! Hope you survive the experience! 

As far as incarnations of one of Marvel's most... twisted... characters, the Marvel Legends Gwenpool figure is pretty decent adaptation. But we're pretty sure it could be better.

We're not really fans of Gwenpool and she hasn't really entered into any of the comic books we read. What we do know is that she started out as a promotional effort for Spider-Gwen. Because Spider-Gwen was so popular, Marvel decided to release comic cover variants of Spider-Gwen imagined as different characters like Wolverine, Dr Strange and.... Deadpool.

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Missiletank Robo - Gobots Guardian Blaster

The best there is at what he does.

If he was tan and had a little more brown, we would say that Action Toys was looking to create the Gobot equivalent of Wolverine with their version of Missile Tank Robo.

We had two or three Gobots when we were younger. We definitely had a submarine, the SR-71 Blackbird whom we now know as the Gobot Renegade Snoop the Guardian Submarine Dive-Dive, and this guy - the missile carrying Blaster.

But then we grew up in an age of typewriters, rotary phones and black-and-white dial controlled televisions - we actually didn't know back then who were the bad guys. Snoop, to us, had a to be a good-guy because he was an American spy-plane. Blaster, obviously had to be a Renegade because he looked like one of those Russian missile launchers that we would sometimes see on the news.

Years later, we found out it was the other way around.

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Marvel Legends Mantis BAF Action Figure

Guardians of the Galaxy's Mantis

The Marvel Legend Mantis Build-A-Figure Mantis is an interesting progression in the technology injected into the toy-line. 

Personally we found Mantis to be a very refreshing addition to Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and actually prefer her innocent personality to her more stern and serious Marvel Comics personality. We're definitely looking forward to seeing her in the Avengers: Infinity War movie.

Her action figure was a bit of a bother to acquire though given that you had to purchase all 7 figures of the Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 toyline to get her. And we weren't particularly interested in most of the characters.

Happily we got her from another collector without having to go through the trouble.

GI Joe SLAM

GI Joe SLAM 

Presenting the GI Joe SLAM or Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine.

We first saw the SLAM in Marvel's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero # 59 all the waaaaay back in 1987. The SLAM was a prototype artillery weapon that was being transported by the GI Joes through the mountains of Colorado. Cobra Commander was able to trace where they were going thanks to the Accounting wizardry of the bird-man Raptor. Cobra Commander then moved to attack the convoy - which included a HAVOC - in one of COBRA's most controversial vehicles ever, the COBRA POGO.

It was also known as the issue that highlighted a GI Joe favorite, their survival expert, Outback.

We don't remember much about the issue anymore save that it ended up in a tunnel with the POGO coming, head-to-head, against the GI Joe APC towing the SLAM.

Suffice to say both sides lived to fight another day.

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Marvel Legends Female Loki

"There are no men like me"

Somehow it is fitting that the Marvel Legends female version of the character the world is growing to love and hate at the same time - Loki, god of mischief - is very well made out of spare parts. 

This is the female Loki included in the Marvel Legends A-Force 2017 SDCC Exclusive box. To the uninitiated, following the events of Ragnarok in the comic books, Thor - thought dead - returns and rebuilds Asgard on Earth. Unlike the movie though he had to find all the reincarnated Asgardians, which in this case included a gender bent Loki.

Just like the movie version, the female Loki proved to be on no-one's side save his own, even joining the alliance of evil known as the Cabal. However towards the end of Norman Osborn's Dark Reign, Loki would stand and sacrifice his life in defense of Asagard. Her final words to Thor were "I'm sorry brother."

Proving in the end Loki was a hero at heart.

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