Rustin's Spoils of the Week #113

I'm out traveling the world for ye olde day job yet again and am thus trying to save money, but alas the stars align to thwart such valiant efforts! Between some unique finds at a Meijers, the Lego Store and some dastardly Buy-1-Get-1-50%-Off sales at Toys R Us I ended up filling a duffel bag with this week's scrumdiddlyumptious spoils.

DST - Marvel Minimates: Captain America & Scarlet Witch
Oh hey, these are out! Sadly they did not have the "Phoenix Five" set and only one of this exclusive, so though it's not that exciting I certainly bought right in. Cap is... well, just another cap. That's not totally fair - he does have (what looks like) a new helmet and nice new deco plus, FINALLY, a second left glove that doesn't have the shield peg on it so we get some options (plus a hair piece for unmasked look). I imagine this is the latest "modern" Cap and while it looks good and is executed perfectly, it's just so similar to all the other Caps we have I can't get too excited about it. Scarlet Witch, thus, is the star of the pack sporting her not-a-Playboy-Bunny modern(ish?) outfit. It looks great and DST translated it excellently. It does feel, though, like we JUST got her though so all around while these are both good Minimates they don't feel new or different enough to be all that exciting.

DST - Universal Movie Monsters: Mummy & Sarcophagus
I didn't know until yo recently pointed out to me that the Mummy four-pack had been canceled so I went into a scramble to find this set lest I be left incomplete! Fortunately, despite being a year old (and having the awesome Sarcophagus) I was able to find one at the, like, sixth TRU I checked. Both pieces here are very good. The Mummy is an excellent example of the beauty of simplicity with his right hand being the only unique, non-base-body piece. He comes with his Sarcophagus which likewise turned out pretty darn cool. I particularly love that it's sculpted to have a Minimate head and arms - that is some damn nice continuity! The lid closes nicely and the figure fits in quite well. Carded this set looks perfect, but in hand it does feel a bit lacking. An alternate head with closed eyes seems like a big oversight and I would have loved at least one alternate arm that could cross over his chest for proper "in tomb" posing. It's really too bad that the UMM Minimates have come to an end, each release seemed to be improving, and I really would have LOVED an Ardeth Bey (let alone a Creature Walks Among Us Gillman).

Hasbro - Iron Man 3 Assemblers: Iron Patriot
Well, the much lamented Iron Man 3 "deluxe" interchangeable limb 4" figures were one of TRU's "BOGO" sales so I finally got the necessary, but limited in screen time, Iron Patriot to go with the Mark 42 I got some time ago. This figure is pretty disappointing and it's hard not to feel some anger at whoever developed this line. Why these figures weren't just the $5.99 line with a couple "deluxe" sets that included these nonsensical missile launchers is beyond me, but looking at the cheap quality of this figure and his silly alternate pieces and accessories one can certainly see how how a company that only makes building bricks has surpassed Hasbro's diverse portfolio in terms of worldwide sales.

Hasbro - Iron Man 3 Assemblers: Starboost Iron Man
Starboost is tied with Heartbreaker as my favorite "new" armors from Iron Man 3 so I've been eyeing this guy for a while. I like the astronaut-ish color palate and overall aesthetic. His alternate black/bronze arm is annoying since the missile launching metallic part is attached via a peg rather than a balljoint but I will concede a degree of enjoyment from the metallic blue chainsaw arm. While I'm not opposed to the renaissance of five-POA figures the lack of elbow joints is sorely felt on that arm. I was most impressed, though, to find that this armor includes a jetpack that plugs on to the back! I presume it's screen accurate, which is pretty cool, and since it uses the same back-peg it should be transferable to other armors too, a rare instance of "coolness" for this concept. Alas, this figure does falter chiefly in it's "cheap" looking and feeling white plastic. Beyond that, though, I'm pleased to add this armor to the collection.

Hasbro - Marvel Legends: Iron Man
I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to find this guy at retail! From all I could tell Iron Man, Dr. Doom and Archangel were only ever released to scalpers, so I was quite elated to snag this dude for a proper $15. It's a great sculpt and pretty good paint. I have a soft, nostalgic spot for this armor so I'm very glad to add him to my 6" Hall of Armor. The helmet, in particular, turned out quite well, though the boots are a pain. He has swivels at the top of the boot then his gigantic feet are balljointed (tightly) at the ankle making it difficult to get everything to agree on a good pose/solid footing. On the plus side, though, this is the best execution of the hinged shoulder pads approach they've been doing for a couple years. Overall a cool figure and worth getting should you ever find one before the dreaded re-sellers.

Hasbro - Marvel Universe: Nova
"I've been on the hunt-down after you" for a quite a while, Nova. I just finished the first volume of Annihilation (getting myself primed for my most-anticipated-movie-of-2015 Guardians of the Galaxy) so perfect timing on this. I dig this new armor and it's a perfect modernization - retains all of the familiar elements but updates them away from old-timey hokiness. Paint-wise everything is nice, rich and clean. The sculpt is pretty good too, though the red "nova" on the helmet seems a big too big/elaborate. The only problem here is that all the good armor from the chest down is just rubber add-ons, which warp or spin freely. If they're going to the problem of tooling new pieces why not just do new forearms, shins and waist? Maybe it's a safety thing, but it's still annoying. I dig the figure but the more I deal with him the more frustrating those elements become.

Lego - City: Ride-On Lawn Mower
I had put off getting this guy for a while but with the "BOGO" sale my love of Polybags won out. This is a cute idea and may actually work well for you City builders with parks or fields, but otherwise it's just not exciting, even for parts. The design of the "blades" is pretty clever though (in both bricks used and functionality) and "driving" this dude about the desk or table is mildly titillating. All in all, though, this is just MOC fodder for other builds.

Lego - Friends: Summer Picnic
Like the Lawn Mower above, I finally got around to picking this up due to the "BOGO" sale. I'm just burnt out on these boring, repetitive Friends polybags. This one does have some nice pieces, like the 2x2 red flats, the croissant and I'm always down for more foliage. I dig the translucent orange build which I take to be a soda or juice bottle. Mia is the same as has been released before so nothing that exciting there. For an internal IP Friends polys sure cost a premium, which is really too bad as they would be a good way of promoting that line. All in all, you could do worse for parts than this set but still, there doesn't really feel like there's $5 of value here even though this is one of the better Friends polys.

Lego - Seasonal: Thanksgiving Dinner
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god - OH. MY GOD. In internet slang we say: "THIS." This set came somewhat out of the blue and easily shocked the community (or at least me and my friends) by all it includes. This is a cute set with two minifigs and a big table and spread for the traditional Thanksgiving feast here in the US (though this is a lot of food for just two people), but the value is what it includes!!! Three hotdogs, two glasses, two bottles (one smoky, one with the bottle print from that Pirate of the Caribbean set), two cats (one white, one brown), a barrel, a pot, a carrot, a loaf of bread, a pie(!), and, good golly miss molly, a full turkey!!! The turkey ALONE is practically worth the $8 pricetag and then there's everything else! This is ABSOLUTELY a set to stockpile, and though I only got two and I absolutely need to get more! Turkeys and pies, oh my!

Lego - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Kraang's Turtle Target Practice
Oh man, and now THIS set is out too!? What a hell of a day that was! Plus, it was BOGO at TRU, so you better believe yours truly ended up with four! What is this? Well kids, it's a perfect polyabg - that's all. First, you get a really cool battle builder Minifig. Plus, there's a neat bit of tech that could be a weapon, a vehicle or great excess parts (I can't recall seeing the octagon base or "leg" pieces done in silver before). Then, there's an additional build that gives this whole set an activity (shooting turtles). The ONLY bummer about this set is that the Turtle Targets are square. I'm sure that was done for better stability on the table and because the flat round hasn't been run in green yet, but man, these would be much cooler were they cylinders. Heck, I hope this inspires them to do the turtles as micro-figs in some upcoming set, now that the Games line is dead. Anyways... as if things couldn't get better, this set is only $3.99! That's the cheapest licensed polybag ever released! It is ABSOLUTELY worth your time to bulk up on these, and hopefully next year they'll do this again but with a Foot Ninja!

Mattel - Imaginext: Blind Bag Series
So TRU was having a "BOGO" sale on Imaginext so I broke down and completed my set of Series 1. I've reviewed the Mummy and Diver before so let's look at the others. The Racecar Driver is neat mainly because he has the Imaginext brand printed across his chest and while I don't much go in for sports the Soccer Player turned out surprisingly neat once in hand. I'm not much for Luchadores but this guy is really fun, plus he comes with the coolest accessory in the line - a wrestling dummy which can even stand on its own! The Lumberjack is pretty cool and while I dislike his safety gear I love his head and axe. The robot is more fun than he should be and comes with a tool wheel he can barely hold a big ol' gun. The Alien is fairly awesome, a great sculpt and a neat staff plus I dig that, like the Luchador, his "slip on clothes/armor" is a just a cape. The Beefeater is a fun figure than I probably should double up on and the Secret Agent is good but even moreso with his surprisingly cool jetpack and removable grappling gun. I out and out love this line and am really looking forward to more!

Mattel - Imaginext: Skeleton Pirate Captain & Officer
I haven't seen these guys anywhere other than Meijer's so I'm not sure if they're exclusives, old or new but I do have a thing for Skeletons and Pirates so I couldn't leave town without them. This set is, though, sadly disappointing. The slip-on "clothes" aren't too impressive, primarily due to very limited paint but worst is that they use the base Imaginext torso! I was really hoping for and expecting a cool rib cage sculpt but ooooooh noooo, not from Mattel! The Officer's slip-on is litigiously close to being Jack Sparrow, down to the braid trinkets, which both is and isn't surprising - I guess Mattel does have a relationship with Disney. They come with a torch, pistol, maybe-a-lantern and a 1:1 key or maybe it's an in-scale axe? None of them can really be held too well further adding to the regret of this purchase.

Mattel - Imaginext: Skeleton Deckhands
I wasn't too sold on the shark armor at first on these guys but it has grown on me. Though they are identical figures sculpturally to the previous pair this set is much better. I think it's the more interesting armor and more appealing colors. One of the nice things is the interchangeable nature of the brand so indeed putting the Captain's "clothes" on the crewman with the hook-hand makes for an all around better looking Captain. This set also gets two swords, an oar and a pirate flag - also MUCH better accessories than the previous set and plenty to share with those others. If you get one, make it this set. If you get none, I certainly can't blame you.

Mattel - Imaginext: Whale
I remember eyeing this guy upon his initial release years ago, so while I prefer that original, darker color scheme I simply couldn't risk missing him again. I love whales, I love sperm whales and I love stylized aesthetics, so this guy checks all of those off! His tail is articulated in two places and there are wheels on his underside that flap his flippers (flip his flappers?) as he roles along. One button of the back closes his mouth and the other launches his spout as a missile from the blowhole - that is kind of pretty awesome. He does have a weird, white criss-cross pattern on his topside which may be scars but I take as patterns cast by the sea's surface. It's an odd choice either way and I would have preferred some alternate shading or paint patterns. He comes with a Harpooner that is a really cool sculpt though clearly from an old aesthetic as he is more detail than the current figures and lacks neck and wrist articulation. He gets a harpoon and a neat but confusing whale coin-thing. For $15 this is a pretty reasonable set, though I think the Whale could benefit from more paint, though perhaps I'm biased by the earlier release. I would love to see this re-release this as Moby Dick in a light gray and an Ahab figure!

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22 Responses to Rustin's Spoils of the Week #113

  1. jestergoblin says:

    I am in love with the new Kraang polybag - I grabbed two of them during the BOGO sale but good lord were they hard to find in stores! The purple packaging color combined with being on the bottom peg made me mistake them for Friends polybags at first!

    And I'm eyeing the Thanksgiving polybag set too, but I already have four turkeys and six pies.

  2. Soundwinder says:

    Where is that Thanksgiving Spread sold at?

  3. monkey boy says:

    i have contemplated that whale numerous times but i have to stop myself from getting into a whole new line of figures unrelated to anything i currently collect. it's a slippery slope. i actually saw a few archangels, one at my local comic shop and two at a TRU.

  4. Shocka says:

    THAT WHALE KICKS ASS

  5. HumpDayWhatWhat says:

    The Neo-classic Iron Man is only $13 on amazon. So I'm not really sure what all this "scalper" talk is about. It's a fairly easy to find figure. I agree about it being a neat figure.

    • yo go re says:

      Being online doesn't mean it's easy to find, it means it's easy to get.

      The first two series are easy to find, because you can walk into a store and pick them up. Still. Because Hasbro keeps insisting on putting Series 1 and 2 figures into cases when stores order Series 3 and 4 (and now 5). So while Dr. Doom, Archangel and Neo-Classic IM remain hard to find, you can get as many Draxes as you can possibly carry.

      Buying something online, even when it's a nice dollar below retail, is a sign of losing. We don't want to order these online, we want to go into a store and find them...

      • stack32 says:

        If buying for less online is "losing" then I'm happy to lose any day.

      • nerdbot says:

        The mysterious ways of distribution can sure be... well... mysterious. The Neo-Classic Iron Man peg-warmed and eventually went on clearance at some Targets around here (NYC). I think there might still be a few out there.

      • Tom says:

        That IronMan was all over Amazon for $6 or 8 at one point. It's the biggest pegwarmer ever. Of course scalpers then bought like 20 of them and started to flip them on ebay for $20.

      • HumpDayWhatWhat says:

        That is the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard. Yes, finding things in store is nice and it gives you the awesome "I found it!" feeling but that feeling isn't worth paying more or never owning the figure because your too proud to "lose" and shop online.

        This is the same mentality most collectors have: "Collecting is all about the thrill of the hunt." No, it's about forming a collection of something you enjoy. Collecting is about collecting. It's in the name. An Iron Man figure I paid $16 for in a Walmart is no better than the same Iron Man that I paid $8 for online simply because I "hunted" for it.

        If anything the $8 one is better because not only did I not have to waste time or gas hunting, but while the rest of you scurry through Walmarts looking for a specific figure, I've already busted mine out of the package, admired it and posed it on the shelf.

        I don't care if you enjoy the thrill of the hunt. If that's your thing, more power to you. Enjoy it. But don't act like your method of collecting is any better than mine simply because you do it the old-fashioned way.

        Sincerely,
        A "Loser" who still has $8 to spare.

        • yo go re says:

          Congratulations on completely missing the point.

          There is no "thrill" to the hunt. The hunt sucks. Which is exactly WHY we want these to actually be plentiful, so that we don't have to waste the time looking for them. There are people who love prowling the shelves for the rare find, but they're weirdos. What I want is to be able to walk into the store, look at all the figures they have, pick the one with the best paint and buy it right then. I don't want to have to go to store after store looking for things that aren't there. I also don't want to pay shipping fees for whatever random toy was on top of the pile when the employee blindly grabbed it and threw it in a box. If it breaks, I want to be able to take it back to the store and get a different one, not pay MORE shipping fees to send it back.

          When you buy online, you're not losing because you didn't participate in some fruitless hunt, you're losing because the stores and the manufacturers aren't doing their job in delivering the product to you...

          • HumpDayWhatWhat says:

            I don't see why you're complaining if you don't even enjoy the hunt? If you just want the figure, buy it online. Sure you sometimes have to pay shipping, unless you do the smart thing and buy in bulk. You can typically find most action figures on Amazon with free shipping when you spend $25 or more. There goes the shipping cost. Overall buying online, when done right, is much more cost effective than driving around town looking for figures you're not likely to even find.

            I just can't fathom knowing that stores have trouble keeping certain figures in-stock (whether that be from the item selling out or not being ordered enough by the store) and then still going there and getting annoyed about them not having the figures. You should expect it. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insane.

            Your point about "losing" being the stores not delivering the product to me makes little to no sense. The stores I shop from (whether they be online or not) typically have the product. That's why I shop there. I don't look for toys in places I know don't specialize in them (Walmarts/Targets) as they typically don't care to reorder or even restock until toy-based seasons (i.e. Christmas). I go into a Toys R Us, I usually find what I'm looking for (through no help of the employees, though. Buncha morons). I go into a Comic/Collectibles shop, I find what I'm looking for. I go online, I find what I'm looking for. I go into a Pep Boys, will I find what I'm looking for? No. I find nothing because they don't specialize in toys.

            The way you make it sound is that you go into stores knowing full well they don't restock or reorder on a regular basis (because last time you went in they had nothing) and then when you realize they have nothing, you pout about it like the other kids in the toy aisle rather than be a grown and find a solution that gets you what you want. That solution is clearly to leave the store and buy somewhere else that has the toy. Usually that place is online.

            But no. you'd rather complain about something you should fully understand by now. You'd rather not have the toy because of some weird unexplained nerd-pride that prevents you from buying online just on general principle. You'd rather come home to your computer and tell other people buying online is "losing" based mostly on the fact that you just don't wanna do it.

            I may have come off as a jerk with my first comment. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to let other people know they have the option to buy the figure on the cheap online if they wanted. Some people don't realize that. For whatever reason you assumed this was a good time to spread your anti-online agenda.

            I've argued the merits of buying online. I've made my points and I've provided an alternative to anyone else who stumbles upon this page and thinks they'll never find a Neo-Classic Iron Man for a good price. Hell, I even got to ruffle the feathers of some uptight nerd who gives the rest of us nerds a bad name. My good deed is done.

            Buying online isn't losing. That's just what bitter people who over spend want you to believe....

            Goodbye...for now.

          • yo go re says:

            That solution is clearly to leave the store and buy somewhere else that has the toy. Usually that place is online.

            But that just makes the problem worse: you buy (whatever) online instead of in a store, the store thinks (whatever) doesn't sell, and orders less (whatever) the next time around. It's a vicious circle that means less product in the long run.

            And finding something on Amazon that actually hits the trifecta of 1) in-stock from them, 2) has free shipping and 3) costs less than retail is harder than you make it sound. Like, Scarlet Spider. When I get him, I'm probably going to get him from Amazon, because nobody wants him and he's consequently a good price. But how about the rest of the figures in Series 5? Boy howdy, a $33 Jean Grey! What a find! Maybe I'll pick up that $70 Emma Frost while I'm at it...

          • HumpDayWhatWhat says:

            I never said that buying online was the end all be all for toy collecting. I said that if your unable to find something in a store you may be able to find it online. I said it makes no sense getting up in arms over not being able to find a toy because you keep looking in places you know don't restock or reorder. I said it's stupid to consider online buying "losing".

            I'm not saying that buying online is the only good way to collect. I was simply letting people know there's an alternative to waiting months for a figure or not owning it at all because you wait to find it in-store and it never showed.

            I was trying to be helpful. But maybe I was out of place. I should have remembered that I'm on the internet. A place where if my viewpoint differs from a dude on a website who spends his free time reviewing Simpsons Happy Meals, suddenly I'm the "loser". Funny how that works.

            Collect how you want. I don't care. Just drop the judgmental nerd-rage crap. It shouldn't matter how you build your collection. All that matters to me is that everyone eventually owns the figures they truly want, however that may be.

            I'm probably done replying after this, though I make no promises. If something asinine is said, I may have no choice but to respond. You can consider this a win or whatever you need to make you sleep better. It really doesn't affect me.

            Goodnight.

          • yo go re says:

            You really don't need to be so defensive - I don't know if you think I'm mad at you or something, but I'm not. I do assume people already know to look online for things they can't find, but in an ideal world that would be a last resort of desperation, not the place we turn to first...

          • HumpDayWhatWhat says:

            Amazingly enough there are a lot people out there who don't realize they can buy online.

            And to answer your question: I'm not really sure if your mad at me or not. I didn't give it much thought to be honest. Though the original comment you posted did seem like a slight jab at my comment. You can see how the "sign of losing" comment could be taken as an attack, I assume? It seemed as if I was being called a loser. It didn't really affect me. I wasn't bent out of shape over it. After all, if I got upset every time I was called a name on the internet my life would be hell. I just wanted the chance to respond to it and to further explain my stance.

            Either way, we've both stated our beliefs when it comes to toy buying. We've both made some good points....

            Just out of curiosity I have a few further questions for you:

            1.) How do you feel about online toy subscriptions (Like GB, MOTUC, DCUC/Watchmen)?

            2.) How do you feel about people who buy 4 or 5 versions of the same figure (Not the scalpers who resell at a mark-up, but the people who buy 5 of the same Spider-man figure to keep).

            These question really have nothing to do with our original conversation, I'm just curious if they annoy other collectors as well or if this is accepted behavior and I'm in the minority that find these things annoying.

          • yo go re says:

            You should ask on the message board - that way, we stop hijacking Rustin's thread, and the answer doesn't get all squished over to the side...

  6. Symbiote1982 says:

    I found the Neo Classic Iron Man in a discount store for £5 last week (about 8 dollars give or take), along with the Mystique, passed on the latter but I snapped that Iron Man up, I love that particular armour. I had no idea it's a wee bit elusive, the store was Home Bargains if anyone else in the UK is looking for one.

  7. Boot Hill says:

    Look at those arguements! I need new Spoils of the Week to rile up the fans again!

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