Nerf Armory

I blame my good buddy Weirdguy for this. He's an avid thrifter (and borderline picker) constantly scouring local thrift stores for used wares he can turn into one of two things: a profit - the first rule of picking is that one man's trash is another man's treasure. And secondly, he can choose to have some fun... like the time he found a Nerf Vulcan, repaired it and subsequently shot at any visitors to his basement.

So anyway, one Nerf blaster led to another, and before I knew it, I had to get into the action. But of course while I'm so much into thrifting, I am definitely into DEALS. I'm proud to say I've never paid full retail for any of my blasters.

I paid half-price for the Recon last fall. A few months later in the spring, I got the Raider by trading in a whole bunch of Canadian Tire Money while it was on sale (and it came with a bonus bag of foam darts). I grabbed the Ravyen at -40% during the summer. More recently, I was able to find the ammo-box on clearance at one of the Zellers liquidations. And finally, as if coming full-circle with Weirdguy, I scored the Longstrike at a local Goodwill for... wait for it... $3.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is, with a little patience, the deals are out there.

Actually... I realize I lied. I did pay full retail for a Jolt (not pictured). But the Jolt normally retails for only $5 or so. Are we okay with that? :)

Catching up: Running

You know what I haven't done in a while? Even less than not keeping up with this blog? I haven't mentioned anything about life. True, I'm all over social media and if you're careful enough, eventually you find your way here from there (i.e.: Twitter, or maybe Facebook, or even the occasional enthusiast forum).

But I've been real quiet about non-enthusiast topics for a while mostly because... I kind of developed a social life. Kind of. Not that a lot changed, but there were times when I started to wonder if it was better to distance my on-line persona from real-life and vice-versa (this feeling started a few years back when one of my friends correctly identified someone else I usually used an alias for). From that point on, I tended to avoid mentioning real-life unless it was something unrelated to my regular readers (if I had any regular readers left).

Then I decided it wasn't so bad as long as I wouldn't write about people I frequently spent time with. So I will instead tell you about everything else that's happened to me this past year or so.

Partially inspired by a long-time reader (and also partially inspired by the desire to spite someone I know in real-life by proving I was as good as or better than them), I took up running. And I mean I took up serious training. I spent a few months last summer "running" but not making much headway. I just couldn't get past maintaining my speed and strength more than a few minutes at a time despite having read about interval training. In my tiny world, I felt like 5km was an admirable distance but damn near impossible. And frequently I wound up going about 2km or so and often taking nearly half an hour to do just that. In reality, I admit I was actually walking most of it.

In fact, let me rewind about 8 years... back to the day of eBloggy: I was a walker. I lived near downtown and spent my weekends walking across the provincial bridge for shopping and whatnot, often covering 5km easily. In fact, I conceivably covered 10km without even realizing it back then.

So when I decided one lazy Sunday to get up off my couch and walk 10km, I knew it could be done, but I also knew I wouldn't be doing it fast.

And after months of frustration, I took a chance and walked into my local Running Room store and signed up for my first clinic. I recounted my story about going 10km to the manager forgetting to mention that I actually walked most of it. Thankfully I chose the smarter option and signed up for the 5K clinic instead of the 10K. And that was one of the best decisions I ever made for a variety of reasons.

1) Because I ran semi-regularly, I was already more or less able to "run" 5 minutes at a time. I would learn that it wasn't so much the intensity of my work-out that was holding me back, but the consistency. Before I knew it, I was hooked on the 10:1 run/walk technique.

2) Timing was perfect because the instructor for that particular round happened to be a seasoned fitness instructor by trade rather than a random volunteer. She had loads organizational skills and ran the class like a drill instructor but also like a friendly kindergarten teacher at the same time.

3) Up to that point, one of my ongoing concerns was that I felt the obligation to "go home" on a regular basis. I didn't feel I had any right to commit to a weekly activity that would interfere with opportunities to be with family. Committing to this has freed my stress-levels incredibly. And on a side note, my parents were okay with this.

4) Up to this point, I was still rather embarrassed about my fitness level. I would talk about attempting my runs, but I refused to talk about how fast I was and avoided running with others, even making up excuses like, "you wouldn't want to smell me when I'm sweaty." This excuse later turned into fact, by the way.

I graduated the clinic and ran my first 5K race in March, clocking in at about 36 minutes. Which, if I took my before-clinic times into consideration meant I had cut almost 15 minutes off my best time. I enjoyed running with a group so much, I volunteered to be a group leader.

This is where things get a little bit weird for me. I loved group-leading. It was very rewarding to nurture other runners through the same experience I had by blowing away their doubts about their capacity for improvement. Telling them they ran so much farther than they thought and watching their smiles was a great feeling. But at the same time, I wasn't getting any faster or stronger. I spent the whole 10-week program running as slow as the slowest runners to make sure no one was left behind.

Come May, I ran the 5K at Ottawa Race Weekend and clocked 36 minutes again. As expected. Then things took a very unusual turn.

I took a few weeks off around this time. I went out of town - even tried to continue working out while away. But then one dreadful afternoon, a phone-call came. And it was possible the worst kind of phone-call one could receive: my grandfather was in a bad way.

Without getting into details, my extended family and I packed up and headed home to say our goodbyes.

When I got back to Ottawa, I threw myself in the training again. It was the only thing holding my nerves together and taking my mind off everything else. I ran so hard I wound up following the 10K clinic unofficially. I got along with them and was continually invited to join them on their clinic nights so I had my full 3-times-a-week schedule, following their hill-training through to the long-slow-distance runs on Sunday mornings. Before I knew it - the clinic was over. But due to weird timing, goal race for the group was actually 3 weeks away. I rallied the regulars and persuaded them to continue meeting me at the store to keep up our base training until the end.

In between last winter and now, I've lost about 18 pounds. I cut almost all junk food from my diet. I've continued to train 3 times a week (unless I was recovering after a race; or something came up). I stopped "midnight-snacking." I ran my first 10K race on August 21 clocking 1 hour and 8 minutes.Now I have plans to join the half-marathon group in September. There's no looking back now.

Revisiting Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

There was this one time when I was little that Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan aired on network television. I stumbled on it during the interrogation scene and was frightened out of my mind as the eel squirmed across Chekov's face and into his ear. I remember changing the channel.

Many years later, I had my parents rush home immediately after a Parent-Teacher night so I could catch Wrath of Khan. I missed the very beginning but started taping just as the Enterprise disaster was revealed to be an Academy simulation.

And this time, I stared intently into the screen daring the eels to scare me again. Then I continued to stare right through to the end.

I have a special place in me for Reliant. It's the first evidence that Star Fleet had multiple ship designs. To me, that opens up a world of possibilities. It's agressive to the Enterpise's elegance. And we also saw the first extensive space-battle in Star Trek! It dictated fans' collective imagination of ship combat for years until the debut of Deep Space Nine when a similar ship was shown maneuvering around a Borg cube reminding us that ship speeds are relative.

I kept this movie on the same 6 hour cassette as Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I kept it right through to college when I showed it to my friends at a club we formed (no charter, but we booked communal rooms for screenings in its name).

Like the first film, I revisited Wrath of Khan when it was available on VHS for cheap. I was happy to finally see the openning credits, plus the recycled TMP footage of the Klingon ships. This didn't bother me anywhere near as much as it probably should have.

And finally, I got it on DVD, which was kind of a non-event. The double-disc release was billed as an extended cut but I honestly couldn't tell you what was added.

In fact, the most memorable thing about this movie isn't even something that happened in the film. Mad Magazine reprinted a spoof in their Star Trek special years later. In it, McCoy warns Spock not to enter the engine compartment or be exposed to a gazillion units of radiation. To which Spock responds, "don't worry, I've got gloves!" I guess, if anything, now we know the reactor core is hot enough to require oven-mitts...

Avengers and more...

So I went to Avengers last night and it was freaking awesome.

...this video is not that movie...

Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline

Just a rundown on the events that have shaped the "universe" so to speak...

***
965 A.D.:
- Jotunhiem and Asgard forces do battle in Tonsburg, Norway. The Asgardians take the Frost Giants' "Casket of Ancient Winters." Odin saves Laufey's son, Loki, and adopts him as his own.

1940s
- Howard Stark invents "repulsor" technology but does not have a proper power source.
- Nazi Germany invades Norway. Hydra agents recover the Tesseract in Tonsberg.
- Arnim Zola and the Red Skull use the Tesseract to power their hi-tech weapons.
- Super-soldier serum works but Dr.Erskine is killed making Steve Rogers the only successful subject. Operation Rebirth is abandoned and all samples of the serum are put in stasis.
- Captain America lost somewhere in the arctic and Red Skull "disappears." The damaged Tesseract is recovered by Howard Stark from the ocean floor.

1970s
- Howard Stark holds the Stark Expo '74. Films a message to his son.
- Howard Stark and Anton Vanko invent the arc-reactor.
- Some time later the Strategic Scientific Reserve becomes Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, Logistics Division.

About "5 years ago"
- Bruce Banner works on "biotech force enhancement" unaware his work is intended for the military.
- Banner becomes Hulk. Eventually winds up in Brazil while being pursued by General Ross. Both parties are observed by SHIELD.

Present Day ("6 months ago"):
- Tony Stark becomes Iron Man. He goes public after the Iron Monger incident.
- Anton Vanko dies, passing on his prototype arc-reactor blueprints to his son, Ivan Vanko.
- Nick Fury, director of SHIELD personally meets Tony Stark.
- Emil Blonsky undergoes "Weapon Plus" unaware that the process is incomplete without the "vita-ray" treatment.

Present Day (summer of 2010 and on).
- SHIELD recovers Captain America.
- Nick Fury reveals Stark's secretary was Agent Romanov a.k.a. The Black Widow.
- Iron Man Mk.2 is stolen and weaponized. James Rhodes becomes War Machine.
- Loki manipulates events in Asgard to have Thor banished to Earth. He discovers his true parentage.
- Agent Coulson and Agent Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye) dispatched to New Mexico (Coulson discovers Mjolnir).
- Coulson has a "funny thing" happen to him on the way to New Mexico.
- Ivan Vanko becomes Whiplash during Stark Expo 2010.
- Hulk appears at Culver university campus. Stark Industries weapons are ineffective against Hulk.
- Fury hires Stark as a consultant.
- Blonsky becomes Abomination (Hulk escapes but is blamed for "The Brooklyn Incident"). Banner goes into hiding again and begins learning to control Hulk.
- A few weeks later, Nick Fury presents World Security Council with Avengers Initiative but they request Blonsky to join.
- Coulson sends SHIELD's new consultant to embarrass General Ross into keeping Blonsky out of the Avengers team.
- Coulson makes contact with Thor. Thor returns to Asgard and saves Jotenheim by destroying the Rainbow Bridge between realms. Loki disappears.
- Fury recruits Dr Selvig to work on the Tesseract. Loki revealed to be on Earth.
***

Now we are ready for the The Avengers...

Revisiting Star Trek: The Motion Picture

In 1979 I was 4 years old. I vaguely remember being aware that there was a new Star Trek out because I had seen the evidence: in a local grocer's novelty capsule machine, I had "won" a sticker set featuring Kirk and Spock. But they weren't the Kirk and Spock I knew from the show I watched with Grandma every Sunday morning. They looked a little different. And so did the Enterprise miniature I received from Grandpa that year - it was surely the Enterprise, but it was... different. And I remember seeing that bald chick on a poster somewhere.

Indeed, I was too young and too shy to ask to see Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But I kind of knew it existed.

I finally sat down to watch the movie many years later. I had caught part of it when it aired on television before, but the next time, I was old enough to have a modest collection of blank VHS tapes that I was allowed to play with. Thus armed with my dad's VCR, I sat down to record the CBS airing - which, by the way, like Aliens turned out to be a longer cut... and as an aside to this aside, I should mention that unlike Aliens, the longer cut didn't help matters. But again, I was too young to be complaining about much.

I had reached that age when I realized that Star Trek was actually a very old show and I had grown up on the reruns. So I was just pleased to be able to "revisit old friends." Being critical of this long-winded film was still many years in the future. I kept that VHS cassette all that time (it was such a proud accomplishment to have been able to cut all the commercial breaks with such precision, I remember I had a hand-drawn label with the logo applied to the tape).

The next time I revisited the film was just a bit weird. It was shorter than I remembered it. That's because shortly before DVDs became common, I was still buying cheap VHS tapes. At the time Star Trek had released a set of cassettes - and you'll remember these as the set hat featured the Enterprise across the box spines when you had all 5 films. The thing is, this was the theatrical cut of the movie. I think it had the "overture" at the start of the film, but did not have the unfinished footage (i.e.: extra crap) added by CBS. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it should. Perhaps by this time, I was old enough to notice that this beloved movie was kind of... not-so-great.

Finally, I revisited the film on DVD when the Director's Cut came out. I think this is the first and last time I have ever encountered a Director's Cut which was actually shorter than the theatrical film. Robert Wise has gone on record many a time before and after to express his regret for sending an unfinished film in. I have such a history with this movie, I wish I had the patience to listen to the entire directory commentary track. But as I discovered, Robert Wise has this unbearably raspy voice that I have a hard time hearing and thus I haven't ever taken the time to go back.

Despite this, the final cut was indeed better - the pacing is sped up and a lot of redundant dialog is gone. Some of the updated effects work is a welcome sight too. I remember when I was little, I couldn't quite grasp why they kept referring to V'Ger as a "cloud" when all they kept showing us was a vague pattern with no discernible context. In the new version, we finally see that the "cloud" is indeed a "massive cloud" as the mechanical beast within emerges at the climax of the film.

It's just funny to look back at such an important film - it spawned 10 successful sequels (some less successful than others), a new 7-year show with 2 very successful spin-offs plus another not-quite successful one which managed to stay upright for 3 years. And I practically missed it.

Hercules: Dr Crank

TFC released the 4th figure in their Hercules line back in December. At the time they were running at full steam after a very successful release of Structor.

Dr Crank is a mobile crane paying homage to the character Hook. In vehicle mode Dr Crank features a crane arm that will extend nearly 3 times the original length. He also curiously features a space for placing a counter-weight and a series of pulleys including a crank handle which locks down the pulley system... if only there were length of string tying it all together. That's right - this toy could have an actual working crane if you take the time to customize it. All the parts are provided to make it happen except for string.

Other than the crane arm, the vehicle mode is quite a brick with not much to get wrong. If there is only one weakness to point out is that he doesn't roll very well due to his small wheels and the tendency for the rear wheels to wobble a bit (these wheels are meant to swivel aside on his shoulders in robot mode.) His crane does have an additional swivel to allow it to offset itself for a variety of purposes (like getting out of the way of Hercules' head in combined mode).

In robot mode, The first thing you see is that he's got a large crane arm sticking out of his back. This does help him stand up however the large block behind his head obscures the light-piping effect. His eyes will only "glow" if you turn his head slightly.

The robot is well articulated with all the usual joints freely moving. The hip is ratcheting and it seems TFC learned their lesson and gave this a very forgiving ratchet. The legs have real "knees" this time along with hidden lower joints like Structor. The knees themselves are clever folding "doors" leaving a near-seamless look for the vehicle mode's from windows.

Optionally if you remove the his crane arm, then you have additional ports to "shoulder" his guns (this is how he came packaged originally). To help him stand, Dr Crane also has additional stabilizers in his legs. These flaps are way too tight on this sample and a hook tool is needed to pull them out.

Changing into Hercules's upper torso and head also requires a tool. There is very little leverage available to pull out the connector pegs from their folded positions. Dr Crank has another yet-unresolved mystery - he boasts 7 connectors ever though only 4 are required. Some fans have used the extra pegs in vehicle mode as "outrigger" bits while the crane is extended, but TFC have not explicitly issued a statement about this.

Hercules's has a silver painted face with lots of light-piping for his eyes an several ports. TFC also released an optional "visor" which was packaged with their following figure. The visor is removable, but can remain installed while Dr Crank changes between modes.

Lastly, as mentioned elsewhere, Dr Crank's Hercules connectors appear to be made of an extremely solid ABS plastic. It is very unforgiving and is not at all like the connectors on Heavy Labor (on my Heavy Labor, those leg connector pegs are showing signs of wear). This means: never swamp arms and legs on Hercules! Once you've pegged the arms into place, those sockets have been conditioned for the Dr Crank pegs and will not fit Heavy Labor's. Likewise, the legs sockets are smaller because they've been conditioned to fit the slight wear with Heavy Labor and would be too tight to fit on Dr Crank. You have been warned!

Among other things: Stormtrooper busted

So my blog has been dominated by Transformers lately. I know this gripping saga has everyone on the edge of their seat so I'll just say it: yes, all 6 of the TFC Toys "Hercules" project has been released and I got mine at the end of this past week. And "toy-surgery" was a success.

Before I get to that, I also wanted to breifly update that despite having pre-ordered what was said to be a "limited edition," I not only did not get my Sideshow Collectibles "Premium Format Stormtrooper" until 3 weeks after its release date, when I did get it, I discovered that an edition size STILL hadn't been set. That means, the pieces being released are NOT numbered. That didn't so much bother me as this:

The leg on my specimen had broken clean off at the knee. If it had been the other knee, I would consider attempting to repair it. After all, the figure is covered in a body-suit and a repair job could be easily hidden. However this happens to be the leg that has the large metal post that plugs into the base. I'm afraid that having been previously broken, it wouldn't support itself once I set up the display.

Anyhow, it sounds like SSC is swamped with a backlog of customer service issues. I do appreciate at least that a human sent me a message to reassure me that they would handle my complaint in 5-7 days. Not sure if that meant "business days" but Friday rolled around and that afternoon I also got an email about them closing up shop early for the day to do department training, whatever that means. In the meantime, I can only wait.

Anyway, back to the TFC toy-surgery... I'm the kind of fellow who spend an insane amount of money on the likes of toy robots action figures. But I don't do so lightly. So when I'm forced to do DIY projects on it, a lot of my money is at stake. So finding that TFC packaged a replacement hip assembly inside made me both thrilled and nervous at the same time.

Thrilled because I love that TFC figured out a solution to their grinding gears problem that was making their figures literally self-destruct internally and saw fit to provide a fix and then absorb the cost of new parts into the price of their product line. But nervous because... well, the only way to install the new hip on the Heavy Labor figure was to do this:

Yes, that is about $100 worth of action figure disassembled into at least 11 (not counting the individual parts that could come apartment within those; or the screws that held him together) components to get at the waist and hip joint. That was the hard part. Provided you don't mix up the screws and placement, reassembling turned out to be fairly simple.

And lastly, an update on Structure's engine block.

Yes, we can now confirm that all 4 limbs on Hercules share a common port. However - never ever swap legs and arms. I've found that while Heavy Labor's leg connectors have been steadily wearing out, DrCrank's shoulder connectors seem to be a tougher ABS type plastic and have retained their original size and are therefore slightly larger. That's my Public Service Announcement to all fans:

Despite appearances, Hercules's arm and leg connectors are NOT the same size.

Hercules: Structor

Sorry, I'm extremely late with this review - I'm behind since these figures arrived just shortly before I left on my holidays and I've been sick since I got back. This time I'm kicking off my video review of the 3rd TFC Hercules figure with a serious warning: it appears there is a miniscule difference between the connector pegs for the legs under Heavy Labor and those for the shoulders off Dr Crank. I have ruined my Structor figure by stressing the connector port a little too much by plugging it in the wrong peg while fooling around!

122nd Cadian: Bad Journalism

Something I often shy away from is politicking in the real world. It's not really my domain. But I would be socially irresponsible if I did not speak up when I have this opportunity to spread the word.

Here is a very unfortunate incident that happened to a fellow wargaming player... Please take a look if you can.

122nd Cadian: Bad Journalism

Hercules: Heavy Labor

My first attempt at a vlog review. Runs about 10 minutes.



As usual it needs not be said that is not for everyone. It's a collector's item with limited production run. MSRP is about normal for this kind of thing, but value is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

!!!UPDATE!!!

Seems I'm not alone with the leg that won't straighten out. TFC has helpfully posted the following instructions for a DIY solution. Good luck!

While I've been waiting

So... just as we settled into Labour Day weekend, I received an email from THQ. It was the shipping confirmation for my long-awaited collector's edition of Space Marine on PS3. Little did I realize at the time, long-awaited was about to become even-longer-awaited.

So besides transferring to a new work-area, here's a list of all the things I've accomplished in my spare time NOT playing Space Marine.

1. Enjoyed a nice reunion with some extended family including a trip back home, and a visit with my brother during the long weekend.
2. Finished Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions on PS3.
   
3. Met friends for a night of pool at Dooly's on Member-Mondays. Twice.
4. Started and finished reading Star Wars "Allegiance" by Timothy Zahn.
5. Hosted an edition of Bad-Video-Game-Movies night at my place for my buddies.
   
6. Completed all challenges in "Dead or Alive Dimensions" on 3DS.
7. Built a Lego Technic mobile crane model. Added the Power Functions kit.
   
8. Played Anomaly Warzone Earth nearly to completion (boy does it get hard towards the end).
9. Watched all 6 Star Wars films on blu-ray including a massive portion of the bonus features.
10. Visited with friends for an impromptu birthday party.
    
11. Watched "The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi." (Epic!)
12. Attended a Toronto Maple Leafs @ Ottawa Senators pre-season game.
13. Tonight I will begin a new gunpla kit I bought myself at the local specialty shop. It's the over-sized 1/48 scale RX-78 and it'll be awesome.
    

I just wish the Internet would stop talking about how freaking awesome Space Marine is... either that or I wish "Snail-Mail" didn't have to reaffirm how well-deserved its nickname was.

8053 Mobile Crane

I never quite warmed up to Lego Technic. It's Lego, but it's not really Lego to me. It doesn't have that elegant simplicity of bricks but instead has complicated bars with connectors, which to me, is the opposite of elegant. But I do still appreciate its inherent genius.

I felt like diving back into this sort of thing after stumbling on a Youtube video about Lego. I chose the Mobile Crane kit because it's suitably complex and is also playable when done.

After the first hour, I felt that usual "Technic Confusion" already. It must take some kind of savant to realize a model from these mechanical innards. I didn't know where the instructions were taking me other than that I was building some kind of chassis. When I got to the point seen in the photo below, I finally saw that I was actually building the brackets for a steering column that would angle the 8 wheels.

Actually to be more accurate, it figured it out sooner and snapped that photo only after I started on the front cab. But the point is, the model up to then was more or less just a series of bars and with a few seemingly random gears.

To me, thrill of Lego Technic is seeing bits become assemblies, assemblies become parts, and so on. Then that moment you think, "ah! Now I can see how this is supposed to work."

So eventually I got to this...
At the end of "Bag 1" (which is actually a series of bags), we have what can easily be recognized as a vehicle. A large gear serves as a steering knob at the back while a smaller one swings the stabilizers open and closed. The little feet lower when you twist the black handles.

"Bag 2" is all the for the crane assembly.The crane is where things get very alien to me. The red lever shift a clutch into place to catch a series of gears. Depending on the lever positions, you are raising the arm, or extending it, or lowering the grapple line.

Technic does something else that annoys me a bit: no drivers or pilots. Long ago, I recall some sets had "Technic people" but I'll settle for Little-Prime being able to sit in crane cab:In fact, it bothers me even more than they made seats in the main cab, but there's no room for a passenger's legs. Why couldn't the design be just one or 2 "holes" longer. Even the cab doors open... but for what?

It also kind of bugs me that although the structure is about as stable as it will get, Lego plastic still has a certain amount of flex. Those stabilizers are cool but not truly functional. And I'm almost afraid to turn the knobs and gears when the fit is just a bit too tight. I expect it to snap at any time, even though it clearly shouldn't.

Still the whole point of this exercise is to make an outrageously large model and it does that just fine. The crane ends up being over half a meter long and just as high if the crane is fully extended and raised. I just wish it weren't so hard to take Technic bits apart because I'm eager to try building the harbour-crane model using the downloadable manual. Maybe I'll give it a few weeks rest. :)

Hercules: Exgraver

After waiting for months, here he is! The first sixth of Transformers Club's attempt to remake their own version of Devastator. Of course, being that TFC is an unauthorized fan group, they aren't allowed to use trademarked names like Devastator (or Decepticon or Constructicon, for that matter). So this is the first part of "Hercules", he is "Exgraver" and "not Scavenger."
Not-Scavenger come out pretty well despite the general reaction that he isn't quite up to Hasbro/Takara standards. Exgraver is made of the same type of solid ABS plastic. He stands about 7 inches high (his head to his feet). Everything on him moves - from shoulders to hips, knees to elbows, even his head is on a ball joint allowing him to look up at you from your desk. This is especially important since he also features light-piping in his eyes. And the "Hercules's right arm" configuration doesn't seem like an after-thought either: the arm also has an elbow and wrist, both which rotate and swivel. Not-Devastator's hand even has articulated fingers.If he's so posable, does that mean Exgraver is playable? Well... this is where I have to deduct points. Hasbro/Takara are in the business of making kids' toys. And kids can be a little rough. I've noticed in recent Transformers instruction manuals that they specifically say forcing parts may cause them to pop off. They don't break; you simply pop the parts back into place. I don't feel so comfortable here. I feel like if a joint is just a bit too tight, I don't want to force it. Part of this is due to design and part due to implementation.

Do this first......then this (the thumb will be behind the head)...
...and then this (plug in and then fold fingers over the face).

One of the first steps in the included instructions is to stow Hercules's hand onto the robot so that it becomes part of his vehicle mode. Well, I discovered that there simply isn't any give. If the hand is in place, there's barely any room to flip the shoulders up and plug into place. Well, there's a little room, but there is the risk of scratching up the parts that meet. I've since discovered it's safer to just reverse the steps - fold up and peg the parts before putting in the giant purple hand.
Myclone Optimus Prime is exactly 2.5 inches tall, to give you an idea how bulky vehicle mode is. With the "Hercules hand" stowed away there are a few more 5mm holes and pegs around to also plug in the two gun accessories. No baggie required for left-over parts. Exgraver may require parts-swapping for the cab (that is actually plugged into an upside down fist when in vehicle mode) but at least he cleans up after himself. And as you could see in the first photo above there are a variety of ways to plug everything in robot mode as well.

The instructions say this......but you can do this if you jiggle the black panel a bit...

Last but not least... the obligatory picture of Exgraver's arm-mode. This is going to be a seriously large figure. The hand compares with Optimal Optimus from Beast Wars. The connector for the shoulder joint is not at the very tip but that makes sense as the prototype photos released by TFC have shown that the head and shoulders formed by "Not Hook" will be very beefy.
I can understand the common complaints - that this figure is too expensive for what it is. But let's be serious - TFC is no Hasbro. They accepted a risk to undertake this project, but they aren't stupid. They have shopped around and must have found the best factory they could afford. And in order to make back the costs of a limited production run, they priced their figure accordingly. "Hercules" is not priced for everyone, but those of us who took the plunge should not regret the decision to support the project. Because I can't wait for the next one!

Mess with Nintendo

In case you haven't heard by now, the Big N has been bleeding money this year and in a desperate attempt to increase sales has decided on an early price-drop on the 3DS. The price drops from $250 to $170 on August 12, 2011. However, to appease the faithful, if you had your 3DS before that date (ie: your e-shop login has been active on or before the 11th), then Nintendo is offering you 20 free game downloads...

Here's the deal though. Some retailers have jumped the gun. I got my own 3DS this weekend at Costo (in Canada) for only $170. Or you could also try taking advantage of price protection policies at Best Buy or Futureshop (assuming gaming hardware is covered; best you ask first). In fact, the last I checked, they were offering a "free" accessory bundle with purchase of a 3DS).

So anyway, now we'll see when the e-shop updates on Thursday about whether those free downloads are worth the fuss.

Sideshow Collectibles Clone Trooper

I'll be honest: I did not plan this. I was serious when I thought the prices would be a deterrent to buying too many of these Premium Format series sculptures. And even then I thought, "I'll limit myself to collecting only the generic troops." I seriously didn't know a Clone Trooper would be released within 2 months of deciding I would buy the Scout Trooper.The decision came down to this simple fact: buy it now or buy it later at a huge mark-up. I bought it now and it didn't cost anywhere near what a paid for the previous statue. I even got the "Episode III" exclusive head option.
Unlike the Scout Trooper there never was a physical costume at Lucasfilm for the Clone armoured troops - it was always a CG render in the films. So Sideshow's challenge was to make an interpretation of the suit where all the edges worked together without "cheating." Compared to the Scout Trooper, there's a lot less fabric parts of this figure and generally a lot less details to miniaturize.
It does feature weathering details - the armour is not a pure white but is covered in a brown of Geonosis dust. He wears a textured body-suit under the armour. And of course, carries a standard-issue rifle. The junked Seperatist battle-droid arm on the ground is also an exclusive option (the statue does come with a "plug" to hide the hold where the optional arm plugs into the base).
Of course, he does come with the regular "Episode 2" head to in case for some reason you got the exclusive version without wanting it...
But why would you do that?

Fortres of Redemption Build 3

I didn't forgot about this build, but a bunch of events conspired to keep me away from this project.
One more look at the walk-way: as you can see now on the completed piece, all the panels cleverly lean into each other. The angles are almost snap-fit.

The turret is the last major assembly to do. This is where Games Workshop's design experience shines. To minimize the number of molds, almost all parts in this kit are double-sided: the turret mount is actually the missle-silo upside-down. And a majority of the parts of the turret itself is symmetrical so all the pieces. For example, the drum is made of 2 halves and the cannons of 2 pairs of left and right halves.
This step is very time-consuming as I recommend allowing ample time to dry. Use only 2 drops of glue per panel. And I cannot stress enough: always test-fit! The turret is full of moving parts so a single bit of errant glue will ruin your day.
Fit the drum into groove within the housing and then just a small drop of glue for the opposite panel. Don't worry, you just need enough to help hold it in place. There is a final bottom plate that will hold it all together once glued on.
Lastly I want to show you why this project too extra long: I was waiting for magnets. Here are some tiny bolter-guns and search-lights. Careful - some of those parts are delicate. One of mine was broken but luckily the tiny bit was found at the bottom of the box with a clean snap and I could glue it back together.
The lamps can also be made to pivot as long as you're careful with the glue.
Finally here's what I had planned all along...First I use a sharp point to prime a center underneath each bolter and lamp. Then I progressively drill to widen the hole up to about 1/8 inch. I will fit those tiny little magnets you can get at hobby shops... A little bit of putty into the hold and push in the magnet - wait to try. A good trick is too use the entire stack of magnets in your fingers so that you remember exactly which polarity is facing which and you'll also remember to drill and putty the opposite direction later on the opposite part (in my case, which way should face outwards from the spot where I want the guns and lamps to mount).
Naturally, I also took time to drill proper barrels and ports. I don't know why Games Workshop do not do that since the rest of their parts are often so detailed.
And at last, a look at the Fortress before priming and painting.