{"id":18069,"date":"2015-01-21T00:35:58","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T05:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/?p=18069"},"modified":"2015-01-21T00:35:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T05:35:58","slug":"rustins-spoils-of-the-week-149","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.oafe.net\/blog\/2015\/01\/rustins-spoils-of-the-week-149\/","title":{"rendered":"Rustin's Spoils of the Week #149"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following up on last week<\/a> we finish up what I consider the \"coffee table haul,\" a bunch of stuff that's effectively been sitting on my coffee table for three months waiting for time and energy to free up so they could be photographed and reviewed. Also, the back chunk of this Spoils<\/i> comes to you courtesy of Target who, back in late August or early September, had an odd sale where every TMNT<\/i> toy priced at $20 or more was marked down to $15... so I certainly took advantage of that!<\/p>\n

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Bandai - Sprukits: Batman (4\")<\/b>
\n\"Batman\"<\/a>When I first heard of the Sprukit<\/i> format I was immediately intrigued by the idea - action figure model kits! It seemed like a clever licensing work-around and had the potential to be something very fun. Once they hit they were a little pricey for an unknown quantity but Toys R Us had a sale and so, here we are. Not great - that's the short version. I haven't built a model in a LONG time but the assembly was simple and fun, not dissimilar to building a Lego set, though I was surprised by how much excess plastic was left on the 'tray' after the pieces had been popped out. The annoying thing with Bats here are the arms, which are cast in all black so that they don't match the gray body. Included is a sticker sheet for the Bat symbol on the chest and also to apply the gray coloring to the biceps, but clearly I'm not interested in applying those. The most frustrating thing, though, is the articulation. We get a limited-range ball-and-socket head, hinged elbows, swivel wrists, limited-range T-crotch and a hinge in the cape at shoulder-blade height. The shoulders are technically \"articulated\" but they connect via a square peg, so you have to unplug, rotate, then re-plug them back in. So... what the hell? I'm guessing it's something to do with the licensing (model vs. action figure) but it's damn annoying!<\/p>\n

Bandai - Sprukits: Superman (4\")<\/b>
\n\"Superman\"<\/a>Superman turned out better than Batman, but mainly that's because they're able to just cast him in blue and red - no bodysuit stickers here! He does come with a sticker sheet, though, but it's for the S-shields on his chest and cape. I really, really love that the chest S-shield, which is an inset piece of red plastic. In an ideal world it would be a yellow\/gold backing piece with the S\/Frame in red over it. His hair is two pieces which allows for the pseudo s-curl but weirdly his cuffs are separate pieces too, for no clear reason. He has zero paint apps, which does make for an oddly eye-less visage, but in general it's an aesthetic I like. I just wish he had better articulation. As is, for a $10 figure\/model it feels lacking. I should also point out that each figure comes with a big, bland, rectangle base but they stand absolutely fine without them.<\/p>\n

DST - The Walking Dead Minimates: Officer Rick Grimes & One-Armed Zombie<\/b>
\n\"Rick<\/a>Found this guy at the local comicshop which is great since I missed out on most on Series 1 originally so I'm super jazzed to get \"signature Rick.\" Actually, this is a perfect Minimate set, which I define as having alternate looks for each character in the set. Rick gets a removable coat piece, alternate coated and un-coated arms plus regular hair and hat-ed hair. Plus he gets a pistol, his hatchet AND two shot guns which fit into a duffel bag (as per his iconic first-issue look<\/a>), though the duffel bag is a very loose fit over the coat. The Zombie comes with a decayed half-arm and a full arm, plus he looks perfectly generic and thus is a good battle-builder! If I come across this set at a reasonable price again I might just double-up on it! <\/p>\n

Hasbro - G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary: The Eagle's Edge (Leatherneck, Destro, General Hawk)<\/b>
\n\"GI<\/a>Angular Destro head = instant buy! I've never had more than a casual interest in G.I. Joe<\/i> so I'm not entirely sure where the angular head comes from but I know I've seen it and it turned out awfully pretty! Destro also comes with a very over-sized case that can fit a constructable sniper rifle! We also get a token Heavy<\/a> under the name Leatherneck - he's unknown to me but looks like a perfect Joe<\/i>! I love that he comes with a massive machine gun but it is REALLY tough to get him to hold it, and even then he can't do it properly (plus that front handle\/barrel piece falls off with great ease). Finally we get a cool, desert-y commando guy who is... General Hawk? Again, not SUPER familiar with him but not what I recognize as a memorable outfit. He comes with a couple cool guns, a sat-link case and removable helmet and goggles - not bad and would be a perfect battle builder were that an option. Each figure comes with a team-specific base that gets a gorgeous brass wipe on the team logo - I really dig the look and it's a great example of how much just a little bit of paint can improve something.<\/p>\n

Hasbro - Star Wars: Dagobah Luke<\/b>
\n\"Luke\"<\/a>Aaaah, the ever-so controversial Dagobah Luke... People apparently lost their gourds when this figure was revealed, presumably because of the \"awful\" articulation... I mean, I get it... noticeable double-hinged elbows on a 3.75\" tall figure!?!?! What has Hasbro done!?!?!?!?!?! We've been in need of an update to this outfit simply because the previous version had such limited articulation (but the interchangeable arms were EXCELLENT and make it superior to this one) but... SUPER articulation? Just doesn't make much sense for this outfit. He even gets two sets of hands in addition to his blaster and lightsaber. And using the \"flat\" hands and a lot of patience you can get even get him to do and hold a handstand. The only things that actually bug me here are the wrists and the hips. The balljointed wrists require, well, a ball and thus his hands, particularly the \"flat\" ones, look bulbous. Meanwhile, this hips... while balljointed, the lack of a thigh swivel makes them pretty tough to work with, and insanely the 'disk' insets are cast in flesh-tone rather than khaki, because... eeeh, why bother? Here's hoping we get this figure re-released but with an unzipped coat and Bespin\/coated arms for \"Sith Cave\" Luke!<\/p>\n

Hasbro - Star Wars: Toryn Farr<\/b>
\n\"Toryn<\/a>OH MY GOD - A NEW CHARACTER<\/b>!!! Truly the rarest of ALL things in Star Wars<\/i>, here we get not only a NEW-to-toys character, but an Original Trilogy character to boot! From what I gather she's basically just a new head and vest on Hoth Leia but who cares! Toryn is one of those super fun SW<\/I> characters that kind of reminds me how fun it used to be to be a fan. She's basically only in one shot, but for whatever reason she's memorable (at least to those of us crazies who watched Empire Strikes Back<\/i> a hundred times). She comes with a rebel blaster and her trademark headphones, which are pleasantly removable. The likeness is good enough but (perhaps humorously, all things considered) I keep thinking it's Natalie Portman. Man... getting something other than Luke and Vader is FUN!!!<\/p>\n

Lego - Galaxy Squad: Space Swarmer<\/b>
\n\"Space<\/a>Toys R Us had a big \"buy one get one\" type deal on Galaxy Squad<\/i> stuff so I took this as an opportunity to complete the series since I loved the Space Interceptor<\/a> so much (my pick for 2013 Toy of the Year)! I'm really not too crazy about the bug aliens, or at least their ships, but I need something for the Interceptor to hunt, plus this comes with a blue robot guy! The build is simple but novel, if not continuing to blur the line between creature or machine. I dig the Green Alien guy and the Blue Robot is pretty fun, particularly his bazooka build. It's a simple set but it's fairly solid.<\/p>\n

NECA - Bioshock Infinite: Booker DeWitt<\/b>
\n\"Booker\"<\/a>Those Bioshock<\/i> designers sure are good at their job, then you through NECA at thems designs and BAM - action figure beauty. Aside from watching my friend play the game for about half an hour I have no real familiarity or attachment beyond it, but man... how cool does this guy look!? I love the outfit AND the colors just a whole heck of a lot. A very nice turn-of-the-century Han Solo vibe. He comes with a small shotgun and the signature grapple-gun thingee. Sculpturally and paint-wise this guy is fan-effin'-tastic, however the articulation does leave some room for improvement. While there is plenty of it, it's kind of restricted - especially at the elbows, which leaves for very little range in posing, alas. Still though, the general quality of this figure is well worth the purchase.<\/p>\n

NECA - Planet of the Apes: Cornelius<\/b>
\n\"Cornelius\"<\/a>\"Coooooooorneeeeeeelioooooooooooossss.\" For some reason Cornelius and the Gorilla were tough to find upon the initial release, but eventually they were to be had! Again, classic NECA - such a wonderful sculpt! The paint around the face is a little wonky but good enough. Similarly, the articulation is plentiful but still restricted enough to not allow for a lot of good or interesting poses. And while I'm glad he comes with an accessory, it's a bummer that it's the same scroll-mallet than Dr. Zaius<\/a> gets. Still, though, it's a nice figure a must-have character for the display.<\/p>\n

NECA - Planet of the Apes: Gorilla Soldier<\/b>
\n\"Gorilla<\/a>The unsurprisingly tough to find Gorilla Soldier is wonderful! NECA + Army Builder = Wallet Trouble! A GORGEOUS sculpt with pretty great paint, and the articulation is broad enough to get some fun poses! He comes with, compared to the others in the line, a ton of accessories adding to the variability and fun. Honestly, I don't know that I'd get many more than 2 (plus the TRU 2-Pack) personally but if PotA<\/i> is your bag then this figure will certainly fill it!<\/p>\n

Playmates - Ninja Turtles: Turtle 4-Pack (Don, Raph, Mikey, Leo)<\/b>
\n\"TMNT\"<\/a>For $15, sure... I'll swallow the pill and get these f**kers just for historical novelty in the collection. Yes, I sat through this movie and yes, it was quite bad, but to fair it wasn't god-awful. I'd give it 1 out of 5 stars, which is certainly better than 0. These Turtle designs are just awful, though. I get what they were going for and in theory it's sound (they're teenagers, of course they'd express themselves through different clothing) but egads... they just turned out so... bad. And hey - guess what!? The figures are actually WORSE than the designs! Now, I know what you're thinking... \"But Rustin, it's Playmates - how could the figures possibly be disappointing?\" And that, dear Readers, is where I must leave you. I just don't understand how Playmates can care so little about the only thing they have going for them.<\/p>\n

Playmates - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtle Sub<\/b>
\n\"Turtle<\/a>I love submarines. I love the TMNT. I love saving money. Spending $15 to get this sucker is like a fairy tale! The scuba Don is goofy as heck, not is a '90s toyline sort of way but in a \"well, okay\" kind of way. He comes with a bladed Bo staff that fits in his hand, on his back or in a clip on the sub. The sub itself looks pretty neat, a fun stylized turtle mech. I will concede that it's weird that a turtle designed a turtle shaped thing but at least it looks cool! The four fins rotate, the propeller\/engines shoot missiles and the jaw snaps. The whole thing opens up and Don just barely fits inside, though he can only do so while NOT gripping the ball-and-socket jointed controls. It's a fun little thing, like the Kraang Hover Ship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playmates - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: High Flyin' Blimp<\/b>
\n\"Turtle<\/a>I was super excited when they revealed the Turtle Blimp was coming back (that was the first TMNT<\/i> vehicle I had as a kid) and even more so when I snagged it for $15 - a'thankee, Target! It's certainly not as interesting a design as the one from the '80s but it's still pretty darn neat and has plenty of direct references to the original. Four clip-harness allow figures to repel down (in lieu of the original's awesome bombs) while a fifth pilots from the front. There are four fins that clip onto the inflated balloon, which, you may have noticed, I have not inflated. It comes conveniently folded and wrapped in tissue paper so I'm a bit wary of undoing that knowing I'll never get it as concise again. Plus, I just don't have space for such a thing so, at least for now, I'll hold on to it as is. Still though, it's the kind of toy that reminds me what it's like to be a kid again.<\/p>\n

Playmates - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret Sewer Lair Playset <\/b>
\n\"Turtle<\/a>And here she is, ladies and gentleman, the Sewer Playset I only paid $15 for!!! Someone at Target screwed up big time and apparently swapped the dollar values to \"$15, $75 off SRP\" from \"$75, $15 off SRP\" and even printed out specific sale tags to that effect, so a few of us lucky SOBs were able to score that price before the Home Office figured it out and had all the playsets and sale-tags pulled from shelves. Aaaaanyways, guess what? This playset is AAAAAWESOME. First off... it's HUGE. Including the cardboard city skyline, this thing is 41 inches tall - that's 5\" taller than three feet... that's 7\" shy of FOUR FEET TALL! Indeed, its size is one of the hurdles that kept from Spoils<\/i>-ing last year because, indeed, how do you effectively photograph such a behemoth!? It's loaded with fun features, like sliding Japanese doors, an elevator, a slime funnel, a hinged subway tunnel that opens into a computer lab, a Shredder-dummy, a (permanently attached) dumpster concealing a periscope, a flip-around wall revealing a computer and a missile launcher in an electrical transformer. There's just a bunch of fun features at play here, and though stylistically simple I do quite like the color-through-plastic aesthetic of this piece - which is not to say there aren't stickers, there are... lots. And inexplicably the sticker guide is ONLY available online, and is NOT referenced anywhere in the physical toy or package<\/a>. This is easily the best $15 I spent in all of 2014, but gloating aside even at the SRP of $100 I think you get your money's worth here.<\/p>\n

<i>And now, some more OAFEry:<\/i><\/H5>