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.

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.

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?

Sideshow Collectibles Scout Trooper

I came to a collector's impasse this past month. Expecting a big overtime pay-out, I wanted to treat myself to something cool and unusual. I looked into high-end collectible "dolls." These 1/6 scale figures are highly detailed and stupidly expensive (often 2 or 3 times the price of Barbie special editions). The problem is that even the 1/6 scales are a dime a dozen: there are literally hundreds to choose from and my local comic book shop alone stocks several lines. I picture myself succumbing to temptation and having yet another army begging for shelf-space.
But at the top of the heap is Sideshow Collectibles "Premium Format" statue line. Each one is sculpted by an entire team of artists from
traditional poly-stone casting and metal-work to stitched cloth pieces and paint-detailing. Not to mention severely limited production runs.I decided in the end that this was the figure for me: it fits right in with my armoured/mechanized character goods and it's Star Wars. And it's even more stupid-expensive than even I'm usually comfortable with so I won't be tempted to buy too often.
This is the Scout Trooper from Return of the Jedi. He's the first "troop" character from the line-up (not counting the older speeder-bike riding version). The Scout Trooper features the usual body-suit, padded vest, strapped on armour, and utility-belt. All miniaturized to 1/4 scale. He also features weathering effects painted on his clothes giving him a just-served-his-tour-on-Endor-moon look.

My version is the "exclusive edition" that came with a sniper rifle accessory. I'm a little annoyed that this is the only part that's exclusive about it. I was willing to pay a bit more than market value because it's a limited run of only 300 (mine is hand-numbered #102 on the base). However, in truth there are 850 of these because there were 550 others that are renumbered and packaged without the rifle.
As can be seen in the first pic, yes, for the first time my old PS3 looks small by comparison. I can be fairly confident I won't be buying too many of these again soon.