Robot Spirits Gundam Age-1 Titus

The Robot Spirits is a toy line from Bandai that includes 12cm (about 6") mostly robots from various anime shows, those most of the figures are of Gundam robots. The articulation and level of detail in the series is unprecedented and most usually include a good assortment of accessories. If you're not a Gunpla geek who wants to build toys from scratch, then these present a really great option.

I would have been really into these toys if not for one thing: they're really pricey. Even the ones that don't include a lot of accessories run about Php 3,000. If you're looking at something with tons of armor and weapons (like the the Altron), then you're looking at something closer to Php 4,000.

But recently, I found out that the few figures that local stores have in stock are all on sale for something like 65% off! So this Gundam Age-1 Titus, which was Php 3,500 was bought at Php 1,200 ($30 US) at Glorietta Toy Town!

That's awesome!

Decool Bootlego Future Foundation and Fantastic Four

If you haven't been to Divisoria in Manila yet, it's an insane place where just about everything is available for incredibly low (most of the time anyway) prices. When Marvel Legends and DC Universe Classics were at the peak of their popularity, Divisoria was the place to go to find cheaper, low quality factory over-run and test shot figures you could use for customs. Or if you weren't too picky, could pass off as part of your collection.

Now, with the rise in the costs of plastic and the drop in market interest pretty much killing off the super-articulated action figure, other bootlegs are taking over. We saw a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff start popping up, Frozen toys, Megablocks, (always) Transformers, and the big ticket these days, LEGO minifigures.

Mr. Potato Head Transformers Mixable Mashable Heroes

If you've already read the article I posted about the Marvel Mixable Mashable Heroes from Mr. Potato Head, then you know pretty much all you need to know about the Transformers versions other than the characters that are available so far in the Philippines, which are Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, and Starscream.

You'll also need to know that they're still a whole lot of fun, and great value for your money, especially for younger kids.

Leatherhead

So the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is out and I've decided to stop giving Michael Bay and company any more of my money than he already gets every time I buy a Transformers toy. After Transformers: Age of Extinction, I can't take anymore of the kind of crap that he consistently feeds his audience.

I'd rather give that money to the excellent people behind the Nickelodeon cartoon, and the awesome toy line based on it.

I bought the four Turtle figures pretty early on and if you read what I wrote in my review 2 years ago, then it's pretty clear that I thought it was the best line out there at the time.

Mr. Potato Head Marvel Mixable Mashable Heroes

Kids get the coolest stuff.

Take these mini Mr. Potato Head figures from Playskool for kids 2 years and up. They stand about 2" tall and are made of pure awesomesauce. Each one costs Php 249.75, with the special sets (the ones with an extra change of clothes) costing Php 449.75. That's a pretty good value considering these are all Marvel intellectual properties, which cost butt loads to license.

At those prices, these little guys are a steal!

Guardians of the Galaxy is the Best Star Wars Movie Ever!

Guardians of the Galaxy is the movie I was waiting for. It is EVERYTHING I expected it to be and more. It is my favorite Marvel movie by far.

It is totally fucking awesome.

That's my quickie movie review. Now go watch it so we will see more good films like it in the cinemas. If you watched Transformers: Age of Extinction, then you owe it to humanity to get off your ass, go to the cinema and pay the money to watch this in IMAX 3D.

You owe it to us.

Family Dollar Marvel Universe Hulk

I'm a sucker for Hulk figures.

He's always been my favorite Marvel character and even if a figure is less than stellar in the articulation, accessories, or appearance categories, I might pick it up if it's one of the Hulk. It happened when I saw the Titan Heroes Hulk from the Avengers Assemble line in the toy store. It was cartoon-y and only had five points of articulation and didn't look like it had been sculpted too well, but dammit, it was a Hulk figure!

This time it happened with the Family Dollar exclusive Marvel Universe Hulk 3.75" figure.

Age of Extinction Hound

It's not a secret that I hate the Michael Bay Transformers movies. I couldn't even complete my Transformers: Age of Extinction review due to the fact that remembering the experience of watching it just pisses me off and these days, blood pressure is a real issue. So let me steer clear of that issue and move on to something I am grateful for that came out of the craptastic film.

This particular Transfomer toy. It's the Age of Extinction Voyager Class Hound!

Beast Hunters Predaking!

That was a pretty easy hunt.

I didn't really take to Beast Hunters as much as I did to the first two seasons of Transformers: Prime. It was too long before I'd got a copy and by that time some of the high had disappeared. This new story about the return of the Predacons just didn't feel as huge as the whole dark energon and Unicron thing.

But after seeing optibotimus' review of the Ultimate Class (which means "big" in the Transformese) Beast Fire Predaking, I just knew I had to have him. All that beautiful black and the humongous wings and the slap-you-silly day glow orange... Delicious!

Thankfully, the Beast Hunters line recently went on sale here in the Philippines, dropping about 30% in price or so. And even with the price cut, they're not really all that sought after seeing as the cartoon never really made it to network TV in this country. That meant I didn't really have to really dig in with this one and run him down.

The Lele Movie Series 2 KO The Lego Movie minifigs

Toy collecting is an expensive hobby and there are times when you can't keep up. I've had to kick the plastic addiction for the past year or so and am only coming back to it now. One of the things that has been keeping me going however is some fantastic bootleg minifigures that have been turning up all over. There are several different "brands" from China, but the best ones are usually from DeCool and SY (or Sheng Yuan, I believe). Generally, these two are the most faithful to the original LEGO designs and have appropriate accessories included. There are several other companies, like JBL and IQ, that also sell characters from various franchises, but I've been burned more than a few times with those.

Lele is one of those companies that I used to avoid, but they've come out with some pretty good knock offs lately. One of the sets that impressed me was their Lego Movie set from earlier this year. It included 8 characters from the movie, but none of the main ones.

With series 2, we finally get one of the big ones, Emmet.