(WAVE) Memorial Game Collection Taiko no Tatsujin & Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold Arcade Game Machine Plastic Model Review

In a nutshell,
Paint: 8/10
Articulation 0/10
Detailing 9/10
Scale 8/10
Fun Factor 8/10

In this post we will cover 2 arcade machine plastic models by WAVE Corporation: Taiko no Tatsujin (1st Generation) and Persona 4 The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold. They are part of the Memorial Game Collection series, and I got them due to their 1/12 scale. We'll start off with the packaging. Like most model kits, these are packed in cardboard boxes, with the top and sides having pictures and descriptions. Really love how vibrant and colorful the box arts are! Nothing much going on here, so let's look at the model kits themselves!

Inside each box comes with the plastic parts, a set of instructions, stickers, and paper accessories! The paper accessories are really nice, as they are a variety of "screens" for you to use when you display your arcade machines! Assembling them takes a bit of time, and while the instructions only show the stickers application when the model kit is complete, from experience, I personally advice you to apply stickers to each completed component when you have built them, before combining them all together. No glue is required, and paint is not really necessary, unless you really want proper colors on even the tiniest details.

Paint: 8/10
Feels weird to rate the paint of model kits, as they usually require you to paint them. However, if I talk about the looks of the model kits after applying the stickers, I would give them a high rating. Why? Because these kits, with the stickers, already look really detailed. This is even more so for the Persona 4 Ultimax model kit, where we have stickers even for the combo lists of several characters. The only parts that really need painting might be the legs/wheels at the bottom of the arcade machines, which I can live without doing (I have 0 skills in painting model kits).

Articulation 0/10
I really cannot give a rating for articulation. What articulation is there? I guess it would be nice it the joystick was articulated, instead of just sticking out. But that's about it. Articulation really is not a factor for these model kits.

Detailing 9/10
Like I mentioned earlier, the stickers really help give the model kits the detailing they need. All around the model kits are stickers, making sure we do not get plain arcade machines consisting of 2-3 colors only. While the model kits do come with parts of 3-4 colors, the stickers help to make them even more detailed.

Scale 8/10
The main reason why I bought these is because of the 1/12 scale. Most of my figures are 6" scale, so I would definitely want accessories that can go well with them. As this is a Japanese brand, I assume that these model kits are meant to suit the 6" figures of Japanese brands, such as figma and S.H.Figuarts. When I pose my figma Yu Narukami and S.H.Figuarts Captain America with the arcade machines, the scale works perfectly. The same cannot be said for Hasbro's Marvel Legends figures though, which many people use as the benchmark for 6" figures. They can still be used together; just that you may need to play a bit with the angles if you want to do toy photography.

Fun Factor 8/10
I guess it depends why you want these model kits. Some people want these model kits for display purposes, which I suspect what they are really meant for. For people like me, I use these model kits for toy photography, so fun factor matters to me. These model kits, being of good scale and looking detailed, are already really nice to have. What boosts the fun factor is the paper accessories, letting you choose what to display on the screens of your arcade machines. It could be the start screen, an in-game screen, or the top scores. This gives you a bit of variety, which is considered pretty good for a mere model kit!

So would I recommend them? Yes! Whether you want them for display collection or for use with your figures, these are really nice accessories to have! Paint is not necessary, and these model kits snap together without needing glue, making them easier and fun to put together! You can get them on amiami (while stocks last) here and here! With that, thank you for reading this review and hope it helps! :)

(KAI Studio) S.H. Figuarts Age of Ultron Captain America Steve Rogers Custom Head Review

In a nutshell,
Paint: 9/10
Articulation 0/10 (it's just a head!)
Detailing 10/10
Scale 10/10
Fun Factor 8/10

Price: USD$55 per head
Shipping: USD$7(registered airmail) or USD$15(EMS)
KAI Studio Facebook page

Because I wanted to treat myself in December, I decided to YOLO a bit and order the rather cool-looking Steve Rogers head from KAI studio. When I received the head, I was blown away by the Hot Toys-likeness the head is. The sculpting is really well done, and painting is sharp and accurate, without any paint bleeding over. The head fits nicely on the S.H. Figuarts  Cap figure, and does he look good!

If you have not seen video reviews of this head, you should know that there is a brown helmet strap painted on S.H. Figuarts  Cap's neck. The brown line is painfully obvious when you attach the Steve Rogers head and look at the figure from the side. Also, the skin tone on the head is slightly darker than that of the figure, which may bother some people. It does not seem to show that obviously in my photos, so I am fine with it.

From L to R: Hasbro Marvel Legends Age of Ultron Captain America, KAI Studio head, S.H. Figuarts Age of Ultron Captain America

Would I recommend this alternate head? If price was not an issue, then yes. Definitely. It makes the recently revealed S.H. Figuarts  Civil War Steve head look like a disgrace. But when you factor in the pricing, you realize that the money spent on this one headsculpt can be used to buy the whole new CW Cap figure, or something more worth spending on. If you do decide to buy it (or the Hulk head), try to order together with others, in order to divide out the cost on shipping !

"Can I have this dance?"

(Ultra-Act) Ultraman & Ultraman Dyna Review

*Note: This is an old review, prior to the creation of this blog, so please pardon the inconsistency of review format!

Today I decided to review my two Ultra-Act figures, the 1st edition Ultraman (Hayata) and Ultraman Dyna. I'll start off with Ultraman, who was so disappointing to me at that time I didn't even bother to fiddle with him much. Totally forgot he had a cape (which I didn't bother to take out at that time) until I read a review somewhere recently. So here goes...

Being the first wave to introduce Ultra-Act, which is under Bandai and Tamashii Nations, Ultraman was rather appropriate to be included in that line. And to enhance it's value, the figure came with a lot of accessories! There is the Ultra Slash and Specium Ray effect, an assortment of hands, the red color timer, and a cape. I'd say that it was pretty generous of them.

The sculpt is good; it's rather accurate. The paint job is well done too, with almost no mistakes on my figure. But none of these could make up for the poor quality of the figure.

The proportions felt a bit off. Ultraman was rather tall and skinny, as if he didn't eat much. Also, the joints (especially those at the legs) became loose really fast, making posing without a stand a burden to do. The articulation, while a lot, felt weird, especially the part connecting the shoulders to the main body. When I first got this figure, I gave up almost immediately because I wasn't used to Japanese action figures (used to collect US toy brand figures like Hasbro and Mattel prior to this).

To make matters worse, Ultra-Act started a new habit of having "renewal" editions, which improved the figure's scuplt and joints, and even adding more accessories. So when they announced that they are making a renewal edition of Ultraman, I felt really, really cheated. It was like I wasted money on a "trial product" instead of getting the renewal edition. I'll never forgive Bandai/Tamashii Nations for doing this to customers like that. Or at least, I don't trust the Ultra-Act line anymore. S.H.Figuarts are still awesome.

Despite feeling cheated about Ultraman, I really wanted Ultraman Dyna when it came out. Dyna is my all-time favourite of all the Ultra, and I made sure to read all the reviews first before buying it. Apparently Dyna was using a whole new figure that Ultra-Act used for later waves, which was new and improved. And they were right. The proportions were much better, and the leg joints were actually not loose. A noticeable change in articulation for me was the loss of the ankle swivel that allows the feet to bend left and right. The colours were more vibrant, and the eyes on Dyna were nicer.

Dyna definitely beats Ultraman hands-down, except that he comes with less accessories. Dyna has displayed many powers in the TV series, but all we got was the Solgent Ray and the Ultra Fork. There were a few alternate hands, with a nice thumbs up hand. He comes with an interchangeable collar piece and second head. I think the 2nd head is suppose to allow light to enter from the back to make the eyes look "lit up", but I didn't find it effective or impressive. The collar piece allows Dyna to do poses where the arms needed to come in more, like when he crosses his arms for Solgent Ray.

One thing that bugged me about Dyna was his head articulation. While it was ball-jointed, the shape of his neck piece made it impossible to turn his head left and right. Not too sure what the manufacturers were thinking there.

Overall, Dyna is a really good figure. If they started the Ultra-Act series with this kind of standard I might have bothered to invest in the series and collect the Ultra-Brothers or something. Ultraman (1st edition) is decent if you can be patient with it, but I'd recommend anyone interested to get the renewal edition.

(Mastermind Creations) R-09 Eupatorium Review

*Note: This is an old review, prior to the creation of this blog, so please pardon the inconsistency of review format!

Femme Fatale

In a nutshell:
Articulation: 9. Very articulated, but certain parts restrict the motion a little.
Paint: 8. While it would be good to have more colours, the colours on this figure (especially the head) are very well done with little smudges, bleeding, etc.
Sculpting/Detailing: 10. No complaints from me, really.
Accessories: 10. The 2 pistols and that sweet-looking bow are enough for some fun times. And that hover piece for vehicle mode is a very welcomed bonus.
Transformation: 8. It's fun and challenging, although it may feel unnecessarily complex to some.
Scale: Generations/Classics scale - Yes; Masterpiece scale - No.
(Most are out of 10, apart from scale.)

Recently I fell into the trap of collecting Transformers Masterpiece, which lead me to search for Elita-One, and unfortunately, there wasn't any worthy ones made my Hasbro/TakaraTOMY, apart from the redeco of Transformers: Cybertron Thunderblast which does not look enticing to me at all, with her huge backpack and my lack of interest in "shellformers". Prior to this purchase, the only 3rd party Transformer figure I bought was the X-Transbots Apollyon, aka Megatron, and I still haven't fiddled with him yet. While he isn't the best, with his own issues, he is the most G1-accurate and MP-scale Megatron toy out there. Back to this figure: I never heard of Mastermind Creations (MMC), so I was not sure about the quality of this brand. But I really wanted an Elita-One figure, and this Eupatorium figure was the best we were going to get for the time being.

When I first bought her, I noticed how her body mold seem similar to the Transformers: Generations Arcee figure. In fact, MMC created quite a few fembots, one being "Not" Arcee. And from what little reviews I could find online, apparently all these fembots carry the same mold, which I'll touch on later. In robot mode, Eupatorium stands slightly taller than Arcee and her fellow gal pals Windblade and Chromia (the latter two I just bought very recently). This was okay for me, as I wanted Eupatorium/Elita-One to be the leader of my fembot quartet. In terms of MP-scale, she is definitely way too short, being slightly taller than Bumblebee but almost a head shorter than Prowl. But for these ladies, I'll close one eye in terms of scale. Of course, deep down I pray for a MP Elita-One to go with my Optimus Prime.

In terms of sculpting, I really love how "robotic" she is, with much more details in the mold than the Hasbro figures. The head turned out very, very nice, and I can definitely see Elita-One in it. Her articulation is almost identical to Generations Arcee, but with a slightly more, such as ankle pivots. In terms of weapons, Eupatorium comes with 2 pistols, which seems like the standard weapons for all the MMC fembots. But MMC gave her an extra weapon just for her: a bow. Now, I'm pretty sure Elita-One does not use a bow in the actual Transformers universe, but I find it a really nice extra weapon and I could totally see her being all badass with it, eliminating Decepticons from afar like some Katniss Everdeen. The weapons have a rather metallic colour, which makes them look even better. One thing to note though, is the white parts of her upper thighs. When posing, they might rub against the red "hip flaps", and that would scratch the white paint off them.

Being a 3rd party figure, Eupatorium does not come with any Autobot logo. Fortunately, the shop I bought this figure from had some stickers to give out, and I'm glad I took a few. I wasted the first sticker almost immediately, as I never used it before. Epic fail. But I managed to get the logo on her chest, and does it look beautiful! BUT, it is not a spot I would recommend fellow owners of this figure, unless you do not mind what I did next.

Let's talk about the transformation. I will let you know that the transformation is probably at the difficulty of MP figures, or maybe harder. It took me almost 30 minutes just to get her transformed to vehicle mode, and even then, I feel like I did not transform some parts right. The instruction manual is actually pretty detailed, and really nice as they have a mini comic inside it too. But because this figure has a lot of transforming parts and ridges to lock in certain parts, it requires some self-discovery to understand the transformation process. There are many things that should "lock" in place during the transformation, and the instructions do not specify in enough details for you to get it at a glance. The first step of the transformation already left me stumped: I was suppose to detach the back part of the figure. I almost never had a Transformers toy that required removal of parts (other than accessories/weapons) during the transformation, so it felt... weird. But I must say, while the transformation is challenging, I actually enjoyed it and appreciated the complexity of it. If you're a fan of intrinsic transformations, this figure you will like. When you finally finish transforming Eupatorium into her vehicle mode, you may wonder why this figure need an overly-complex transformation when the Generations Arcee could easily become a Cybertronian vehicle with much simpler steps. I would like to add that I appreciate this figure coming with a small stand that attaches to the bottom of this vehicle, allowing it to "hover" instead of lying on the ground.

Remember I talked about my Transformers logo and how I cannot recommend it to people? Here's the thing: this MMC fembot mold is used for several characters, and they all transform to almost similar vehicle modes. The main difference between Eupatorium and the Not Arcee vehicle mode is where the front detachable parts are attached. For Eupatorium, these pieces are suppose to be attached very far forward, giving her vehicle mode a rather pointy hood. For the Not Arcee vehicle mode, the front pieces are attached more to the side, giving it a shorter, broader hood.

Because of my self-planted Autobots logo, if I were to put Eupatorium in her supposed vehicle mode, the logo would be half-covered, which irks me. If I were to attach the front pieces in the way meant for the Not Arcee figure, the logo would be proudly displayed in vehicle mode. So without question, I chose to make Eupatorium's vehicle mode the latter version.

I have other reasons why I would prefer the front part of her vehicle mode to be like that. Firstly, it looks more "car-like". We never really got a decent look of her vehicle mode in the G1 cartoon, and I don't read enough Transformers comics to know, but I'd prefer the second arrangement than the first pointy nose one. Also, considering how paranoid about the parts moving out of place while in vehicle mode, attaching the front pieces to the front/side will help secure the sides a bit. The vehicle mode looks really slick and nice, but it is very obvious that it lacks color. Hopefully Reprolabels will come out with stickers to resolve this, and Eupatorium will look stunning in her vehicle mode. Her bow can be attached to the back, although I recommend attaching it onto her before completing the transformation into vehicle mode. It is not fun to squeeze in the folded bow with the fear of undoing your effort to transform it nicely. The pistols are attached to the sides, but they come out rather easily and the angle is a bit off, pointing outwards to the sides instead of pointing to the front.

Overall, I think that this is a beautifully done figure. She comes with enough weapons to keep her looking badass, and her articulation allows many possible cool poses. I've seen the other MMC fembots, and as I don't really know who most of them represent (and also I prefer my Generations Arcee to their Not Arcee figure), I don't see myself collecting the other MMC fembots. This is so far THE Elita-One figure for Transformers fans out there, and she looks pretty in scale with the Generations Arcee/Windblade/Chromia figures. If you are good at customizing figures, adding logos and color onto her would be fun and satisfying. For a 3P figure, Eupatorium is definitely worth consideration.

UPDATE:
I actually used the Toyhax stickers meant for MMC Azalea to apply on my Eupatorium, which does suit her! Just an alternative for those who want to give Eupatorium more color!