By Ron, on April 29th, 2013 
I had mixed feelings when I saw the variant DC Universe figures from the Square Enix Play Arts Kai line at Toy Fair. Now that Square Enix has released their press pics of the first three figures – Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern, my take hasn’t changed. I’m mostly positive on their other DC offerings – the Arkham Asylum / City line has been fantastic, and I will probably be picking up the Dark Knight trilogy figures. The Superman: Man of Steel figures look interesting. But these DC variants will most likely be a cherry picking line for me.
I’m expecting that the articulation on these babies will be just as good as the other figures I’ve picked up, but I’m so-so on the designs. This is the kind of thing I worry about with 3A Toys and their highly-anticipated Marvel line. When you look at iconic characters through the lens of an artist with a distinctive style, there’s a chance that what you see won’t agree with you.
» There’s more… click to continue reading Square Enix Releases Play Arts Kai DC Universe Variant Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern Press Pics
By Ron, on April 19th, 2013
BBTS has provided the first pics of the upcoming Square Enix Play Arts Kai Superman and General Zod figures from Man of Steel on the BigBadToyStore Facebook page. What do you guys think? At $79.99 a pop, I think I’ll need to see these in person (and probably the movie too) before deciding if they’re must-haves for my collection.
These figures are expected to arrive in August this year. Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013.
via Man of Steel Play Arts Kai – Superman & General Zod
» There’s more… click to continue reading Square Enix Play Arts Kai Man of Steel Superman and General Zod Figures Revealed by BigBadToyStore
By Ron, on April 1st, 2013
Speaking of Square Enix Play Arts Kai, BigBadToyStore posted some cool pics of the color variants for Ryu, Chun Li, Cammy, and Akuma. You can pre-order from the Super Street Fighter IV Play Arts Kai figures here, and click through to BigBadToyStore’s Facebook album for more pics.
via Super Street Fighter IV Play Arts Kai Figures.
By Ron, on April 1st, 2013
I am getting around to posting pics in the backlog from Toy Fair. My tag team partner from Fwoosh, Hagop, did such a great job with coverage that the pressure was off to get things posted – but I realized that I had more stuff in the backlog than I actually posted.
Here’s a look at the Play Arts Kai offerings from Square Enix. The 8-inch scale is a bit of an anomaly for the rest of my collection, but between the quality of sculpt and articulation scheme I put the Play Arts Kai Street Fighters on my Best of 2012 list. They’re continuing the line with more Street Fighter 4 figures – just not fast enough for my liking.
» There’s more… click to continue reading Toy Fair 2013: Square Enix Play Arts Kai
By Ron, on January 28th, 2013 It’s almost February, so I figured I better get to my picks (and pics) for Best of 2012! I’ll get us started with one of the choices I included in the Fwoosh Best of 2012 post – the Marvel Legends Build-A-Figure Arnim Zola.
2012 was a great year for Marvel Legends, with Hasbro finally getting the flagship line back to retail. And it was an especially great year for Marvel villains. In the three 2012 waves, we got: Terrax, Constrictor, Klaw, Madame Masque, Madame Hydra, Daken, Mystique, Dr. Doom, Thunderball, and Piledriver. You could even throw in the Marvel Select Ultron.
But none stand above Arnim Zola, the Build-A-Figure for wave 2. C’mon! It’s Arnim Zola!
The World War II WMD dealer looks like he popped out of a Jack Kirby drawing. He’s got the classic orange and purple color scheme, with the tunic and skirt. His legs are ribbed for your pleasure, and he’s got the trademark Kirby flare on his crotch flap. And that Zola face? Pure evil.
To top it all off, via the Madames and Wrecking Crew running changes, you can give your classic Zola a modern twist – the BAF pieces that came with Madame Hydra and Piledriver let you build a Red Skull trapped in a Zola construct. That’s why Zola is the best of 2012 – quit arguing and just accept it.
» There’s more… click to continue reading AFP’s Best of 2012 – Ron’s Picks
By Ron, on December 19th, 2012 
As we close in on the end of the year, I’ve been trying to figure who will make it to my short list of best action figures for 2012. I think I’ll have a tougher time this year than I had choosing my Best of 2011 figures, topped by the Marvel Universe Sentinel.
With one of my favorite lines, DC Universe Classics, scaling back, my collection became a little more varied this year. Masters of the Universe Classics remained a mainstay, but I also branched out into Square Enix’s Play Arts Kai lines, especially Street Fighter. And with more 3A Toys releases coming in the 1/12 scale, the Adventure Kartel Zombs became an expensive army building exercise. It also helped that this year saw the relaunch of Marvel Legends – oh how I’ve missed you, ML! There’s more – I had to pick up the fearsome foursome from the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line from Playmates. And Diamond Select Toys’ Marvel Minimates continued to put out tiny offerings that were too cute to pass up.
I’m sure as I look through the stuff I’ve picked up throughout the year, I’ll find even more figures that could top the list. But if you’ve got some obvious winners that I’ve missed, be sure to let me know. I’ve got some Free Stuff that could head your way, as I make room for the New Year!
By Ron, on November 26th, 2012
For the life of me, I could not find a way to get to Sideshow’s Black Friday Deals Week page from their home page, but I was clicking around today doing lazy Cyber Monday shopping and finally found it.
They’ve got an awesome deal on the Square Enix Play Arts Kai Street Fighter Akuma and Cammy for $30 each – those normally go for over $50. I’ve been resisting Predators in the 1/6 scale, but they’ve also got Hot Toys Shadow and Tracker Predators on sale for $199 each.
Sale ends today – happy shopping!
via Black Friday 2012 | Sideshow Collectibles.
By Ron, on October 12th, 2012 
Square Enix continues to impress me, show after show. They have some awesome stuff on display for Street Fighter, Halo, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and Mass Effect. But I was really impressed by a Starship Troopers figure I hadn’t seen before, and the Batman stuff is mind-blowing. After Hot Toys I didn’t think I’d collect another scale for The Dark Knight, but their Bane, Catwoman, and Joker are looking really damn good.
» There’s more… click to continue reading NYCC 2012: Square Enix Play Arts Kai
By Ron, on September 6th, 2012 
I promise – this is the last shot of Akuma and Ryu! I mentioned yesterday that I wanted Ryu’s head framed by the fireball, so I made that minor adjustment plus repositioned his left hand so the palm would catch some of the reflection off of the fireball too. And while I liked how in the second shot it looked like Akuma was appearing out of the darkness, I wanted to see what it would be like with some lighting on his sides, so you can make out his entire silhouette. For this I used the LED book lights, as the flexible necks let me position the lights exactly where I wanted them.
I noticed too that the straps from Ryu’s headband had fallen out in the previous pics, so this gave me an opportunity to add it back in. And finally, tilting the camera allowed me to fill a rectangular image instead of having some unnecessary blank spots in a square. The added benefit – drama! At this point, I don’t think there’s anything other changes to make (hence my promise) – but if you have suggestions, let me know.
Although this was not intended, you’ve have now sort of been through my process of composing shots – snap pics, see how they look, and make incremental adjustments… and repeat. But instead of this being in one sitting, because of time limits the past few nights, it’s gone over a few days instead. If you want to see the progression, here’s the first shot of Akuma vs. Ryu and here’s take two of Akuma vs. Ryu. Thanks for looking!
By Ron, on September 5th, 2012 
After I posted the quick pic of Akuma and Ryu yesterday, I realized that although I liked the shot, I was stuck in the two dimensional mindset of two Street Fighters on the video game screen. I hadn’t yet dismantled the setup from the day before, so I rotated the scene a little and lowered the vantage point of my camera.
I raised Ryu’s hands up so there’d be a few more spots for the purple light to shine. In hindsight I should have shifted Ryu to his right a little so that the left side of his head would have gotten some light.
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