Voltron Hunk and Yellow Lion Review

If you are interested in the contest please click here

Hello all,

Just got this in the mail today and man was I excited! The box for this figure is bigger than that for the Red Lion!  I have watched a couple of Reviews about this lion and I knew it was massive. But it wasn’t until I had it in my own hands that I realized how huge it is and how massive the finished Voltron figure will be!

Now if you want some background as to what I think about Mattel and this line in general please consult my Red Lion Review. I also want to avoid repeating myself in the Likes and Dislikes section below as many  are similar to the previous set.

Without further ado, on to the likes and dislikes...

Likes:

-The size: this thing is massive and dwarfs most of my G.I.JOE Vehicles!

-The design is great, very close to the source material

-Hunk is larger than lance and they both look great together. Part of the same team, similar uniforms and yet both unique in their own right

-Speaking of Hunk, the uniform is orange and it contrasts well in comparison to the Lion, I am told that this is also screen accurate

-Imagining what the whole set will look like on my desk!

-The fact that, unlike my Red Lion, all the springs work and none are defective

-Looking at the two lions side by side

-Did I mention the size?

Dislikes:

Can you see that? he needs to wash his uniform!

-Like the previous lion, the fact that it is centred around the transformation gimmick means that the poseability is horrible, it is very hard to get into any cool poses. I had sincerely hoped that articulation was better this time around but sadly that isn’t the case. You’ll see what I mean when you see the photos.

-The Lions head hangs very low and can only be positioned three different ways

-The springs in the legs and the gimmick seriously hinder articulation

-Unlike the Red Lion the cockpit of the Yellow lion is very odd as there is a massive yellow space behind it! I wish there was some sculpted detail there or at least a sticker!

-Again like in the Red Lion I wish that the cockpit was sculpted rather than stickers, poorly placed stickers at that

-Hunks leg articulation (all of his articulation) is terrible, he can hardly bend his knees and I wish he had a removable gun or something!

-Paint Application isn’t the best on (my) Hunk, there’s some orange bleeding onto the white

-Hunks helmet isn’t removable like Lance’s. I didn’t think I’d mind but I do!

-All in all I don’t think Mattel can excuse poor paint apps, articulation and sticker application these are labelled as ‘adult collectibles’ yet they seem like kids toys. The transformation gimmick doesn’t help!

The cockpit is awesome but see what I mean about the yellow space?

All in all I really think that the figures could have been executed better. However, they are redeemed by the fact that I will have a Titan standing in my room at the end of it all. To be honest that is the real reason I will buy the whole set as I honestly feel the Lions on their own, while good, they are far from great and are definitely not adult collectibles.

I give this set 3/5 Behind the times

More photos below

See the sticker peeling?

So much yellow in the back there!

80's style!

Finally the contest!

Hello all,

Having heard from a few of you with relation to running a contest (just putting the finishing touches on the Zombie Missions for those interested) through here relating to the game.

There will be three categories and the first prize for each of them will be $100 US. Sorry but I won't have second or third place prizes.


How to enter:

Simply send an e-mail with pictures to this e-mail address: g.i.jac0001@gmail.com
Clearly state in the Subject box for what category you have chosen to enter in. You can enter as many times as you like for as many categories as you like just make sure that you send separate e-mails for each entry and category.

Please also include your name and a way to contact you if you win. If you would not like your real name used simply include a pseudonym and clearly state that you would prefer to be refer being referred to by this name.


There will be three categories:

1. Best Squad

You must create a squad based on the rules for the game. The figures must be customized that means you can't simply take existing figures and photograph them. Since the game doesn't truly specify a particular genre your squad can look however you like: Vikings, Aliens, Swat Teams or whatever! The only rule is that they are equipped according to the rules.

Maximum 6 Photos




You must also include a word document outlining each characters equipment and attributes as outlined in the rules you can download the document here



2. Best Battle Field

Once again relating to the rules (you can see a theme here) you need to create a battle field and photograph it. The rules require the battlefield to be 1metre by 1 metre in length and you must leave room for 'set up' zones. Again this is all explained in the rule book. Apart from this however, the sky is the limit as to what you may wish to include. One final note: there must be a way for figures to move around the scenery. Like the squad entries must be customs and must not have been previously featured elsewhere

Maximum 3 Photos

I'm sure you can do better than this!

3. Best In Game Battle Shot

If you have read my battle report you may have an idea of what I mean. When you play the game you'll find certain points in the game very exciting such as when the two squad leaders face off or a single character slaughtering a whole squadron by themselves. Maybe you've got a sniper hiding in the bushes causing mayhem! This category is really a way to encourage you to play the game and chronicle your progress. Unlike the other entries please only submit a single picture for this entry. In addition to the image please include a brief description of how the situation came to pass: some context to help us understand why that particular picture was the highlight of the battle.

Rules

Above each of the categories will be explained in detail. Please note there are a few key rules that you must follow for all categories.

1. The category you choose needs to adhere to the rules outlined in the game rules which you will find here. There is an expectation that you have read the rules and played the game.
2. Your submission should not have featured in another website
3. All submissions will be presented anonymously
4. While you do not need to join my blog to submit an entry you do need to be a member to vote. This will hopefully eliminate cheer-leading and potential cheating!
5.If your entry wins 'payment' of the prize will be made via paypal
6. If there are less than 5 (for any category) the contest will be cancelled

I really look forward to seeing your entries and posting them on this blog. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me at g.i.jac0001@gmail.com (please use this e-mail address and not the one on the cover of the rule book) or via facebook.

Dates:
You have  from today until the end of May to submit your entries. I will begin showcasing them in June and voting will occur late June or early July. Anyone who is a member of this blog by that date will be allowed to vote.

Good luck!

Behind the Times: John Carter

 Went to watch the film John Carter yesterday, I have to say that I really enjoyed the film. Yes it is clichéd but there is just something that made me want to keep watching! The special effects were great; I’m not a fan of 3D so I won’t comment on that. 

I don’t know enough of the back-story or the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs except for Conan and that only comes from the movies so I’m no expert. I’m sure if I did I’d be a lot more critical, I’ve just finished reading the Hobbit again just so I can compare it to the film at the end of the year!

Anyways, the film is a perfect space opera filled with swashbuckling escapades, stem punk technology and monsters. How much better can it get? I did not walk out of the cinema shaking my head like I did for Avatar or the Phantom menace not to mention the recent Conan film!

On to the likes and Dislikes:

Likes

-The use old clichés like the princes having to marry a man she doesn’t love, blue for the good guys and red for the bad guys, a primitive horde based on the Mongols with an Avataresque dash of American Indian, a sinister force secretly controlling the world and humans ‘travelling to another world’ think Narnia and Avatar again, a colosseum fight to the death. This movie actually makes it work, it doesn’t try to be more than what it is, a spectacle clear and simple. Not a laboured allegory

- The Tharks are really really cool! Reminded me of the Kroot in Warhammer 40k or should it be the other way round?

-That ‘Flash’ Dog

-It was actually fun to watch and very entertaining

-A fascinating world I would love to see developed over a few more films

-The way that Carter tricks the Thern into giving him the amulet

-The epic battle between Carter and the enemy Thark tribe

-Carter’s objection to war is explained clearly

Dislikes

-What I do have an issue with is the motivation of the true villains of the piece it isn’t elaborated on sufficiently except that they like overly villainous and convoluted plots.

-There really isn’t any way that the Burroughs character could protect Carter’s body on earth

-I didn’t buy Kitsch’s ‘southern accent’

-The negative connotations associated with a deity and its servants it’s an allusion to religion in the real world and I feel that’s copping enough flak

-The fact that this film doesn’t have a 3 ¾” toyline!! That’s all I could think about as I watched the film!

-The overly elaborate and convoluted plot forcing the princess to marry the Jedak of Zodanga just to kill her seems unnecessary. Especially since he has the power to destroy everyone with his ninth ray secret weapon!

-The final battle wasn’t as good as all the others portrayed in the film, I don’t understand why Sab Than didn’t use the ninth ray and simply disintegrate everyone?

-Why was everyone’s blood blue?

Well all in all I can’t say enough about this film, it is simply a lot of fun, like a really good Saturday morning cartoon.

I give it 4/5 behind the times. It’s still the best I can do...

The Game Update (Post Slayer Con)

Hello faithful readers,

While I've had to inform myself from secondary sources about the great success of the game at Slayercon2. I have to say that it looks like we are closer to the advanced version of the game. From the reviews I have read about the game at the con, it is clear that the people at Slayer have made use of the advanced rules I provided them with.

What does all this really mean? well hopefully it means that soon there will be a full version of the game with a name and advanced rules which will include:

-Many more missions that players can play! With additional scenario specific rules!
-Many different upgrades for figures and squads
-The ability for figures to gain experience and cash and then use both for upgrades and skills
-Improved weapon rules
-Leaders will have special abilities and be able to issue orders
-The ability to have multilayer games much like those seen at Slayer-con
-Future add ons to the game will allow for the use of vehicles as well as animals.

Hopefully the game can only grow from here, my only wish is that Slayer Dave can get back to me soon so we can make this happen.

Eventually I will run a game based competition stay tuned!

You can download the basic free version here
If you are interested please let me know through the following mediums:
e-mail: g.i.jac0001@gmail.com
Facebok become my friend!

Send me pictures and battle reports so I can put them up here at my blog!

Voltron Lance and Red Lion Review

Hello all,

Key Stand

Despite my complaining about Mattel 3 ¾” figures and their lack of articulation I couldn’t help but purchase the right hand of Voltron! I didn’t sign up to the subscription service. Actually I only found out about these lions through the Toy Fair coverage at cool toy review.

As soon as I saw them I decided I had to have them! I mean can you imagine having that giant fully formed Voltron! It looks amazing and it’s massive! The thing that really got me excited though was the fact you could fit the pilot inside the Lion. Now From the pictures I saw the figures looked really good but the articulation was poor at best, the second thing that worried me was the ‘spring loaded’ limbs gimmick. These are meant to be exclusive collectables, yet the gimmick and articulation reek of ‘movie’ toys.

I’m not one of those people that’ll freak out the white spots on the shoulders or about the fact that the legs are white instead of metallic or even that there are no die cast pieces. I don’t even care about the packaging (please don’t ever expect to see photos of packaging here). All I want are high levels of articulation and figures with removable helmets, hats and weapons with holsters.

The Ladies Man

Now I may appear a little negative here but keep in mind that I paid a lot for this figure, so unlike some ‘movie’ version figure that’ll set me back $15AU this figure set me back, well I’d rather not say... I think I’ve covered most of the things that I dislike about the figure, except for one thing , the spring on the right leg of my lion is busted, I noticed this the first time that I transformed the Lion into its ‘arm mode’ when I pushed the button one leg came down while the other stayed in its place. It hasn’t affected it except for the fact that it won’t ‘spring out’ when the button is pressed, I have to use my hand which when I think about is what I wanted in the first place, but then again, I paid so much for it!

Anyways, this isn’t really a behind the times, except for the fact that this figure has been reviewed to death so I’ll spare you  the details you may already know so without further ado, here are the likes and dislikes:

Likes:

WTF?

- The size of the lion it is awesome! The arm is the size of some of my superion! It Dwarfs all of my Joe vehicles

-The figure design is very cartoon like

-The figure is made of plastic, it’s heavy if it had been made of metal I’m sure it’d kill a small animal if it landed on it!

-I’ve already mentioned the size, but I love the scale 3 ¾” is awesome, wish they made transformers compatible with the G.I.Joe figures I guess this is as good as we’ll get and believe me it’s not bad!

-The key that doubles as a stand is really cool and you can use it to open up the cockpit and to press the buttons for the action feature

-Speaking of the cockpit t is really cool! I just wish that they had included some form of steering wheel or controls that Lance could hold.

-The sculpt on Lance’s face is awesome just like in the cartoon

-Really like the fact that the figure has interchangeable heads one with the helmet on and one without-The Voltron force insignia on the figure is really cool too

-I absolutely love the idea of a completed Voltron, I don’t even know where I’ll put him! I’m also looking forward to having the whole set as I never had a complete Voltron set when I was a kid.

Dislikes:

-The spring loaded gimmick, it reduces articulation on the Lion and it’s completely useless and as I mentioned  before fragile, I wonder how many people this has happened to?

-Even though it is a very ‘Blocky’ robot, I really think they could have added a lot more articulation so as to have the lion do some really cool poses as it is the Lion is very limited and the gimmick means the legs won’t stay where you want them.

-The fact that the spring broke. Now this may be a blessing in disguise as it looks like the leg now has more poseability!

- The lack of articulation on Lance, it really is bad, DC universe infinite heroes bad! For a figure that’s so expensive don’t get any wrist articulation, ankle articulation. Just the addition of these two would have made the figures awesome, but no, that’s too much to ask.

-Sculpted on pistol, useless!

The broken spring

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll get ‘em all! But the shortcomings aren’t as minor as others would make you think. This is my first real ‘collector’s item’ and it’s a bit disappointing to pay so much (what’s this the tenth time I’ve written this?’  for something that could have been perfect! I wish I could say that the Hasbro Collector’s club was doing better but who knows when that will become available, I ended up taking all the money I’d set aside for that and now I’m spending it on these guys. At least these guys are available!

 The verdict:

3/5 ‘behind the times ‘

and yes, I’ve yet to come up with something better!

SLAYER CON

Hello all,

As you may or may not be aware, I have been sharing ideas from my game with the good people at Slayer Design studios. Because I live in Australia I will not be able to attend but I encourage you all to attend it is happening this weekend and I have been informed that copies of my game will be available and that you may get the chance to play! I am very, very excited! I would love to hear from anyone who attends and I will be more than happy to answer any questions or post your comments here on my blog! I have also been told that there will be a few surprised in store.

I wish I could be there with you all!

Behind the times: G.I.JOE Extreme, Extreeeeme!

Hello all,

Recently watched season 1 and 2 of G.I.Joe Extreme. I figured I'd post my thoughts on that series here. I have to admit that for years I've avoided this TV show. I'm not entirely sure why, but at long last it was the G.I.Joe Collectors' club FSS Iron Klaw that finally motivated me to watch it.

First off I want to say that I thought the T.V. Series was a good 90's children's TV show and unlike many other cartoons I've watched from the 80's or 90's recently it didn't make me cringe the way Skeletor makes me when I hear him speak or hear him explain his ludicrous plots! Either way, I am not too much of a fan of the Rob Liefield inspired design of the characters or the extreme shadows on all the characters. I have decided that I am a fan of S.K.A.R despite their silly Acronym.Another thing I enjoyed was hearing Optimus Primal leading the Joes!

Season 1

Optimus Primal

Not really any remarkable episodes in this series except for the season finale in which S.K.A.R takes over the U.S.A the episodes are titled (it's a two parter) "Coup of the Klaw" and "Rebellion". Through a convoluted plot Klaw takes over the U.S. Capital and takes control of the army destroying 'Joe Island' the Extreme Joe base. The best part however, is the way that  Lt Stone kicks Iron Klaw's butt and then sets him on fire! When I watched this episode I had to replay the final battle at least three times, I was so impressed. I highly recommend these episode just for that scene!

Likes
-The Relationship Between LT. Stone and SGT. Savage
-The season finale specially the final battle between Iron Klaw and Lt. Stone
-S.K.A.R (despite the silly Acronym) including their original Skull helmets, berets and brown uniforms
-S.K.A.R having it's own country Kalistan (Under the guise of Count Von Rani)
-The concept of the far future and the inter-alliance. I guess it's a bit of a alternative post  cold war setting
-Like the design of the character Inferno, he was the only figure that I owned as a kid
-The Public service announcements

Dislikes
-The theme song, show introduction. it's too Extreeeeme!
-The characterization of Inferno

-Why does Rampage turn into a 'rage creature'? He's like the Hulk except that he turns into a monstrous, green, crybaby. He's also a Blanka lookalike.
-The fact that Metal-head wears a peace sign and that his name is Metal Head
-The way that the inter-alliance concept isn't properly developed. By the end of the season Iron Klaw only wants to take over the U.S.A
-All characters are pretty much interchangeable no real character development, but then again, it is a cartoon.
-Wreckage is essentially Frankenstein and it's so odd that for a state of the art 'super soldier' he still wears an eye patch.




Season 2

I'll put you in a coma!

This Season ushers in a lot of changes, most which seem unnecessary. S.K.A.R is revealed to be a worldwide terrorist organization (like Cobra). In this organization Iron Klaw is essentially reduced to a General in charge of military operations. Which seems odd given that in the first few episodes of the season the organization almost falls apart without him and Rampage attempts to fill the supposed power vacuum. Major changes include the use of S.K.A.R troops more frequently while in the first season the main assault force was made up of Skyrenes or airborne robots. Inferno is conspicuously absent this season except for a cameo in Red McKnox's firing range. The Joes spend most of the season trying to root out a traitor which creates genuine tension between Metal-Head and SGT Savage. Iron Klaw gets his revenge over LT. Stone essentially leaving him in a coma and Rampage gets to pretend he's Starscream.

Like the first season, the best episodes are the final two ("Metal-Head goes AWOL" and "Betrayal") where Metal-Head defects to S.K.A.R and essentially brings down the entire organization. Overall I enjoyed season two more than season one. However, my favorite episode remains "Rebellion" from season one. I think it should have been the show finale!

Likes
-S.K.A.R infantry forces look a lot like cobra troopers except with with berets

-The introduction of story arcs especially the rivalry between SGT. Savage and Metal-Head
-Iron Klaw putting LT. Stone in a coma!
-Steel Raven
-The introduction of other evil mercenaries such as the Silencer and Bandido!
-The fact that the series got a final episode. However, it doesn't even compare to the first season finale

Dislikes
-The finale seems rushed and I'm not so sure that Iron Klaw would have trusted Metal-Head so absolutely
-Black Dragon does not live up to his potential in either series
-No explanation for the disappearance of Inferno, Ballistic's name change to Bull's eye and the conspicuous absence of Steel Raven in the final episode
-Episodes with Wreckage in them

Overall I give this series 3/5 behind the times (Still haven't come up with a better system)

Thinking back on it the reason I didn't want to watch the cartoon was cause then I'd have to buy or make figures! I guess now I have to get the Club's FSS! and I am  looking forward to creating some customs based on the series specially some S.K.A.R forces!