Originally posted at http://slangards.multiply.com on Mar 27, '09
Many people who've seen my Stikfas collection don't get the appeal of the toy line. They see a plain looking figure, with no paint, no details, and a completely un-refined form. The toys look a lot like stick figures; simple, featureless, boring.
But like old Sponge Bob says, "Imagination!"
Stikfas is like a successor to classic toy lines like legos or Linkin Logs. You get a box with a mess of parts and you can build something all your own. You can follow the rules and build what's on the box... or you can have fun and build anything from the parts. You start tossing pieces from different sets in a big tub, jumbling all the parts together, then digging through them for the one that will complete your masterpiece.
That's the appeal.
The company that makes Stikfas even goes so far as to give you a sticker sheet so that you can customize your figure even further! An this isn't a tiny little sticker sheet like those that came with the old transformers. This is a big one with multiple designs of each sticker so you can fit the one that suits you.
Unfortunately, after Stikfas became the "in" toy, prices started going up and I dumped the line. The best kits were harder and harder to find and once they raised the prices, it was too hard to keep up with this and other toy lines.
But when I saw that they had re-issued the Beta Female Warrior with Dragon set, I had to get it. Granted, the colors aren't as nice as the original (The dragon was red in that one), It still looks great. At P800.00 at Hobbes & Landes, this thing is still a pretty good buy.
The kit comes in plastic frames, just like you basic gundam kits. You use those gundam kit cutters to free the pieces from the plastic bars, but a cuticle nipper from your sister's or mom's manicure set will do just as well (and at like 10% of the cost of the official tool).
Building the thing is half the fun. There's not much choice assembling the dragon (probaly due to space and price issues), but they include some extra limbs of another color to give you some choice with the female. I lost one of the shoulder pads right after I cut it out (danger of having fat hands), so mine came out lopsided. You don't need any glue, everything is either a ball joint, or has a nice little peg to fit into a hole.
Once done, it looks something like this:
The wings of the dragon can open, which is cool, but this isn't a toy for kids. The pieces are tiny and tend to pop off. They're all easily swallowed or lost or broken. Posing them takes alot of work, but with all the ball joints, you can get them in a ton of positions.
The scale of Stikfas is roughly the same as GI Joe 3.75"ers. They're about the same height though they tend to be more "built". They're small size makes it easy to display a collection of them or store, but again so much easier to lose.
If you're going to start, I suggest getting a few of of the smaller, simpler packs, or one of the ready built blisters. If you can find the Black Ops set, that's a winner. Weapons and soldiering gear galore.
Later, if you decide you like them, get some of the other figures and start kit-bashing. Great way to custom figures without worrying about destroying them!
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