Metallic Paints!

I recently got an Red Lantern figure for $6, a good price especially because it was still moc. Upon opening it, I notice one of the rubber/plastic part is already faded.

I'm pretty certain the red belt will be the next one that's going to fade.

Its really sad that toy companies still have not found a way to prevent the fading. I just wish they skip metallic paints altogether and just give us flat paints that will last a couple of years.

My Iron Man mark 3 is starting to show signs of fading...starting with the helmet.

And my Galactus figure's leg has signs of paint fading as well. Sigh!

ELASTI-GIRL aka Rita Farr

Really happy with how this figure turned overall. The face turned out good, its a good size large figure (unlike Rocket Red), and makes me wish they go on  add Mento and the Chief to really complete this line. The only complaint I have is putting in an extra articulation between the chest and torso area....doesn't seem to add anything to the figure and I think shouldv'e been taken off. I also feel the legs are a big too long for the figure.

SDCC MOTUC King Grayskull!

The very first MOTUC figure I ever bought was the King Grayskull figure at the San Diego Comicon. I line up for around 45 minutes and bought 2 King Grayskull and a DCUC Lobo figure. I ended up with 2 bronze version which I didn't wanted, so I lined up the following day and was able to get the regular version of King Grayskull. 

A couple months after I all the figures I got from SDCC. Back then I decided against collecting the MOTUC line, and I was pretty selective with the DCUC figures I was getting. Well 2 years ago I decided to backtrack most of the DCUC figures I miss out on and was able to get back Lobo. Last month, I was lucky enough to get the regular SDCC King Grayskull off ebay at a pretty decent price. What's more, the figure doesn't seem to suffer the broken ankle that's common with this figure!

 

The box and electronics are fantastic, and I'll most likely keep the figure inside the box, only removed the batteries. I'm really glad to have this guy back in my collection!

COMPLETING BANDAI's THUNDERCATS LINE

Thanks to some He-man.org members, I finally completed Bandai's Thundercats toyline! Overall I'm pretty happy with the toys, from the sculpt to the action features! 

Here's Wilykat, with version 1 of Lion-O and Panthro

Mumm-ra has got to be the lamest figure of the bunch. I wish they put at least hip articulation on this guy. Mumm-ra the ever Living and Grunne are excellent deluxe figures!

Thunder Racers!

Lizard cannon, definitely the best figure/vehicle of the entire line! It's so awesome that I bought 2 of these! I wish they made the long-neck lizard as well

And lastly the Tiger Flyer with Tygus. This is by far the lamest vehicle of the entire line. I wish they did something else...maybe one of those giant robot the lizard pilots!

Amethyst sketch

I find myself doing more and more doodles of Amethyst during my lunch break. Amethyst was the very first comic I seriously collected until it was cancelled in 1986. Ever since I've waited for her to make a return, and she finally did 2 months ago as part of the 3rd wave of the new 52. I'm not sure if its my affection for the character that made me love the new series, because so far I'm not liking any of the other new 52 titles I'm force to collect!

Well here's the doodle I did with a ballpen.

Scanned the image and converted to black and white.

Inking via Photoshop. I'm still a little new to using the brush tool to ink. I love putting in all the small details that my eye can't see with traditional inking. On the other hand, it takes some getting use to inking at 300%

Added some highlights. Doing this drawing makes me appreciate how professional artist do their job at a regular basis. It's a very difficult profession to be in!

Classic Thundercats 6" and 8" figures!

I wasn't planning to go into the classic Thundercats figures, but when I saw these at a local Winners for $9.99 each, I decided to get them, and I'm glad I did. These are terrific figures and cost way less than a MOTU Classics figure!

The paints are terrific, not a lot of shared parts, nice articulation and the sculpts are terrific.

I was never a huge fan of the old show...for one thing the voice talents were pretty bad. Notice how slow Cheetara talks in the series?

Hmmm, kinda disturbing Lion-O only have 4 fingers when he puts on his claw-shield. Overall terrific figures, just wish they included the sword stand like the SDCC version.

Since I'm still pump for the Thundercats, I decided to just import the other classic figures! 

Bandai only did two 6" scale classic figure before the line died. The figures aren't as impressive as the 8" line nor the modern 6" figures in my opinion. I feel Mumm-ra's like a clown in most of these episode...not scary at all!

Here's some comparison shots

Modern Mumm-ra is a little small..but I think the should have been a little bigger. Notice how small his face is compared to classic Mumm-ra. I really wish they included the cape for the classic figure, and big bat wings for the modern figure.

Lion-O is slighly smaller than most Marvel Legends and DC Universe figures. I really wish he was bulk-up a bit.

But he is in scale with the modern 6" figures, and his plastic isn't as shiny as modern Lion-O.

Here's hoping they complete at least the classics toyline...maybe as convention figures.

CHAOS COMICS!

I recently some some comics from the 25 cents bin at my LCS, and one of those I got was a limited edition Lady Death comics and it was even signed by creator Brian Pullido, artist Justiniano and the late great Steven Hughes! Like most collectors at the time, the only indie title you could get was either Image or Valiant comics...and I was a huge fan of Image particularly the Wildstorm and Top Cow imprint! 

As strange as it was, I became a huge fan of the Chaos universe when the company went bankrupt! I rediscovered Lady Death when the title move to Crossgen with Brian Pullido writing and Ivan Reis was doing the art! The artwork was really what drew me to the book and I later found out that Reis did several issues of the old Chaos series. As I backtrack his issues, I discovered other artist I later became a fan of, guys like Justiniano, Romano Molenaar, David Brewer, etc. 

The characters grew on me as well! There was Vandalla, Lady Demon, Purgatori and my favorite Chastity! Fantastic art, good colors, incredible writing, I ended up collecting the entire line!

These days Lady Death is still being published by Boundless comics, and the other Chaos titles by Dynamite Entertainment...but it feel different. It's just not the Chaos comics I grew up loving!

Like the new 52 from DC, I find myself just wanting to concentrate on the old comics, they new ones just feels...different.

DISPLAY CABINET

Here's the current display set-up I have in my house. It mostly contains Buffy statues made by Sideshow, and a Lady Death made by Moore. Originally I was planning to collect other Moore and Buffy statues, but I realize I have neither the space nor the finances to collect those line. I also don't have the time to maintain my collection, dusting these every month is such a pain to do! The middle top shelf is reserve for new figures the comes in, and I usually display them for a week or so before they are bagged and thrown in the basement.

Here's my display cabinet from maybe 5 year ago at my parent's house. It's hard to imagine how much free time I must have had back then!

Mumm-Ra Storm Charger, Tower of Omens, Claw Shield & Sword of Omens

One of the coolest thing in the 2011 Thundercats show is seeing Mumm-Ra having his own ride!

I really love the design of his car...just wish they put more feature on the vehicle rather than having the motorize function which isn't a big plus in my opinion.

Comparison to the Thundertank

Also got the Tower of Omens, the gate kinda reminds of the door to Castle Grayskull. The only advantage of the playset for me is the size...but there's isn't a huge amount of play value or display option. I'm just glad to get this at clearance.

Decided to put up the Claw Shield and Sword of Omens - both also at clearance. They're okay I suppose, just a little annoyed that the Deluxe Sword will not fit the Deluxe Claw Shield....but it will fit the regular Sword of Omens (which frankly looks like a dagger)

Thundercats Tigra, Cheetara and Armor of Omens!

I was lucky and got Cheetara and Tygra from a very friendly seller over at ebay, who listed these with a low BUY-IT-NOW!  She didn't list her item for international sale...but agreed to ship the item to Canada.

I really love the packaging and the color combination on the Thundercats logo!

Here's the rest of the 6" figures, just wish they did Wilykit and Wilykat in 6" scale.

These are really nice figures, with good accesories, articulation, and lots of new mold. I can't figure out why  companies like Mattel and Hasbro will give us the same body mold again and again, while company like Bandai, Playmates, and even Mcdonald's Happy Meal can give us new molds on the figures!

The Armor of Omens! Love the artwork on the box!

This is a really nice sculpted figure, with electronic lights and sounds! I don't mind the limited articulation since I rarely pose my figure. As long as it's with a neutral pose, I'm happy with it.

Comparison with the DC Universe Elasti-Girl, aka. Rita Farr.

He looks really nice next to the other Thundercats figures! Overall I'm very happy with the toyline, and I'm glad I bought these figures!

THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL MINI COMICS

I recently completed the MOTU Classics mini comics thanks to guys at the Fwoosh and He-man.org who let go of these books at very decent prices! The story is a must-have for anybody who collects the MOTUC toyline since the story is based on the continuity of the toys!

The story and art is fantastic, with lots of splash pages particularly on the last issue. I'm just a little sad that the story is so compressed, and I wish they have printed these as a full size comic.

This is the story I wish they told in the DC Comic 6 issue mini series, it's much more epic in scale with plenty of appearances by pretty much every MOTUC characters that came out in the toys! It's nice to see the characters use their silly weapons, heck, even Bubble She-ra looks cool in the comic!