Getting ready for summer!

    As of writing this, I am about to complete my finals. Once this is over, I eagerly await a summer of work and toy-buying. And, of course, comic book reading. I'm gonna post about things as I get them, but that won't happen until I'm back home and able to enjoy what I've been buying. I wish you all a good beginning to your summer, but I have to get to work so I can enjoy my free time. Cheers!

Desktop Army's oddball vehicles

    So, Desktop Army is already a bit of an odd line, but the vehicles are even stranger. They're SD (usually) versions of often serious things from the source material, and with even more SD versions of the characters. Even stranger is they're model kits; and not cheap ones, either. Full ABS/PVC kits are a serious rarity these days, and are pretty much extinct among the largest manufacturers. So, of course, I'll take anything I can get. Does anyone who reads this fall into the target demographic? What is the target demographic? I've always had this issue with Nendoroid, because for as cool as they are, chibi things tend to be associated with cheaper, lower-end releases. However, like DTA, they're extremely expensive, so I'm just not sure who they're for. I did order the Tachikoma, though, because it's essentially just a model of a Tachikoma with pretty minimal quirks.

(image pulled from BBTS)

New Transformers Releases

    We've known about this for a while, but images finally came out! Up for preorder as an Amazon/Hasbro Pulse exclusive, this is a Voyager/Deluxe two-pack with Beast Wars Grimlock and an Earth-mode Mirage! These are the toys I've been waiting for out of Kingdom. I'm a huge Mirage fan, and I'm absolutely furious that they didn't use the toy head sculpt but everything else about this is wonderful. It's like they took the Siege toy and just fixed everything wrong with it, besides the inaccuracies. Grimlock is also fantastic, though I do wish he had a more prominent Dalmatian pattern, like the original toy. The dark grey really doesn't look great, but besides that he's about everything I could have wanted. I consider it a treat to own a copy of that design that won't shatter, so I preordered this set pretty fast. Anyone else planning to get one?

(image pulled from Amazon)

Diamond Select SDCC Reveals

    I don't follow most of Diamond's other lines, but I do like Minimates and their Tron toys. Was anyone able to get a preorder on the new Tron 3-pack before it sold out the same day?! I'm amazed it sold so fast, which either means they made very few of them or there's a lot of demand. The Tomy colors are wonderful, and the price was totally fine. I'll probably leave them in the package, though, at risk of damaging that clear plastic.

    The Minimates Avengers pack is also a welcome surprise. The movie stuff really isn't on my radar usually, but it's nice to see them return to basics and also to see the set sell out so fast. Once again, unexpected for the property. Hopefully, we'll see some revitalized interest in the line as a result, especially with those GI Joe and Transformers releases.

(image pulled from BBTS)

Symbiotes, Symbiotes, Symbiotes!

    I'm no Marvel Legends guy, but I don't think I can pass on this wave. Symbiotes are always awesome, and while I'd prefer pinless joints, they're symbiotes! The designs are so rough it shouldn't matter. "Venompool" is a bit weird looking in general, but he's a nice way to finish off the set. I'm also eyeing Toxin and the big Venom. Is anyone else planning on buying into this set?

(image pulled from BBTS)

Cassie Hack - The Girl Who Lived

    With the impending doom of finals upon me, I've spent my time doing the very productive activity of reading comic books. Every night or so, I spend about an hour reading these books I've been buying from my local shop or Amazon. Lately, that's mostly been Hack/Slash (already on Omnibus 3!), but I'm looking forward to reading some good Symbiote stories once I get a chance to walk over to my store.

    It's a great series, and I'd highly recommend it. Despite the poor binding quality on my second Omnibus, it's a fantastic and deep story to represent the most shallow of horror genres. The main character is, of course, hot. However, like the Grimm Fairy Tales characters of Zenescope, this does not mean she is missing necessary character development. I'm also very surprised by how much I like Vlad, and the impact he has on Cassie's development.

    I'm looking forward to continuing through the series, and seeing all of these strange new villain ideas. They've already went to Hell, and the Suicide Girls story was just something else. By the way, $30 is absolutely worth it for each Omnibus; they're around 300 full color pages each.

That's all I've got!

    This last series of messages have been fun, but I'm out of ideas! I've got a couple exams to study for and then the semester here ends soon enough, so I'll be back later. For the time being, though, I'm gonna decompress with some killer anime and calculus.

Keeping Boxes

    Is keeping boxes healthy? Is it important to the value? I once watched a video by Thew Adams, on YouTube, where he explained that keeping boxes feels like simply waiting for the day he plans to sell things. This was a pretty profound statement, I thought, and I subsequently went on a massive recycling spree of boxes. Now, I only keep those that belong to the rarest items I have (lots of Glyos ones). Does anyone else keep close tabs on what they keep? Is it a good idea? Has anyone looked at you like a hoarder?

Modern Prices

    Have modern toy and media prices become too high? It's something I'm sure everyone has noticed at some point that those blind-packed Lego figures are now $5 a piece. And, what the hell has happened to the video game market? Why is Silent Hill $120 used? I just want to play the game, regardless of its collectors value. Don't even get me started on the recent Target exclusive craze, I just want T-Wrecks. Has this impacted your ability to partake in the hobby at all?

Reissues

    How do you all feel about reissues? This mainly applies to toys, but is also common in media releases. Do you care at all that it may undermine the value of what you already own? Is that even something you consider? Lately, I've been in the market for some vintage Tron toys (until I balanced my checkbook!) and was exposed to the wacky and wonderful world of the 2001 Neca reissues. Not only did they release the original four figures and all three light cycles: those reissues have demand comparable to the original toys. Even more interestingly, they made changes. Three of the original molds were released in translucent grey plastic, and the fourth was released in translucent black as a game-store exclusive that for some reason now demands $300. Are there any toy lines like this, where the reissues have become almost as expensive as the originals, without either eclipsing the other?

(image pulled from Dallas Vintage Toys)

Hack/Slash

    I recently picked up the first Omnibus of Hack/Slash, a decision that had nothing to do with the cover art. It seems pretty interesting, though I haven't had a great chance to read it (still pushing through Fatal Attractions). I liked the Alien comics well enough, so seeing a slightly more on-the-nose horror book should be pretty different. I've also looked a bit into the Cassie figure by that one new six-inch toy company, and I'm not sure how to feel about the QC. It seems all over the place.

A brief PSA for all those interested in Kingdom Galvatron

    If you've been following the news at all, you probably have seen (and may be interested in) the Leader Class Galvatron that's coming out. Unfortunately, we haven't seen him in grey yet, but he looks pretty nice in purple. However, you might have noticed the funky shoulders. Based on leaked pictures of the toy, we know that those shoulders can actually be flipped to raise their position relative to the neck, which is a really big deal and should be considered for anyone concerned by how much he looks like that one teddy bear meme.

  (image pulled from ijemr)

It's nearly summer!

    I hope y'all are enjoying the weather, if it's started to get warmer in your area. Here it's been trending about 80 degrees every day, which is absolutely insane compared to last month. If you aren't experiencing this weather, I'm assuming you live in Montana and it's -30 degrees right now.

The Music of Gundam Wing

     I've discussed this with Zach many times, but might as well ask the fictional people who read this blog: what's the best song from Wing? Zach's favorite is The Wings of a Boy Who Killed Adolescence, which is a banger, but I'm not sure if it quite compares to When the Dragon Swims, Everything Ends, or Last Impression (which I am admittedly biased by its involvement in the gorgeous art of Endless Waltz). Which is your favorite?

The Peak of Cereal

    Alright, what's the cheese? What's your favorite cereal? Is it Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Do you pour the cereal before the milk, or are you a psychopath? Do you simply not buy cereal at all? I'd like to know. In my cell of concrete and anguish I call a dormitory, it's the only breakfast food I have access to that doesn't make me nauseous (dining hall eggs are not recommended).

Genocyber Blu-Ray

    Well, this exists now. Apparently a 1080p copy of Cyber City Oedo 808 (awesome) wasn't enough, so there's a DVD-on-Blu-Ray version of Genocyber. If you've never seen it, Genocyber is the imagery and gore of Parasite Eve as an anime. It has its reputation for being one of the most graphic anime of all time, and hits all the right body-horror science fiction notes. I'd highly recommend it, if not just for the PS2 boss battle soundtrack and sick hard-rock ending song. Any chance we'll get a Figma of this thing? 

Comic Books

    I'm not normally a big comic guy, but I was at the local Big Planet Comics and decided to pick up one of those self-contained story collections. Joe suggested I pick up X-Men: Fatal Attractions, and it's pretty cool! I was mostly interested in the X-Men because the Shi'ar looked awesome, but the story of Magneto is a lot more interesting than his title as the Master of Magnetism. This story in particular is all about his acolytes and the war they rage against humans, so it has all sorts of bigotry themes. If you're interested in a social commentary that contains enormous men in spandex, I'd recommend it. Still only about halfway, though.

Marty's Keeping them Coming

    Marty "the Godbeast" Hansen is back at it with his wacky and uncharacteristic Godbeast releases. This time, it's a Mushi, Nemesis, and Biomass in glittery black plastic with fluorescent paint. The UV reactivity isn't something I'm normally interested in, but the fact the black plastic reacts is pretty incredible to behold.

Check them out at: godbeast.com

Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex

    I haven't had any time to update this blog lately, but I've been watching a bit of Ghost in the Shell: SAC after my friend Haydn pointed me towards it. It's pretty amazing, and hits that Kamen Rider Kuuga law enforcement mystery-of-the-week story structure that I value so deeply. The fact it manages to carry such a compelling overarching story (I'm this close to buying some of those Laughing Man decals off Redbubble) on top of the "Standalone" episodes is extremely impressive. At no point does it just stop the side stories for the main story, either, like my beloved Kuuga unfortunately did. I'd strongly recommend it; it's on Hulu in its entirety and there's a recent Netflix show that isn't half bad if you can get past the PS3 animation.

It does help that the Major has the same look as every other fictional woman I find attractive.

New Cryoshell!

    For those of you who haven't lived, Cryoshell was a band formed with The Lego Group in order to play easily-licensed music for the late-2000s BIONICLE toy commercials. With lead vocals by Christine Lorentzen, the band was something between hard rock and symphonic metal. While their first album was almost disgustingly 2000s, their more recent stuff (one song per year since 2015) is a bit more pop-y in style, and relies a bit more on synth and cool choruses. Keeping with their scarce yearly releases, they just posted a new song called Faux; check it out! It's one of my favorite songs they've done, even despite the bleak opening.

Watch Big Time Rush

    Watch Big Time Rush. It's the ultimate sitcom, and Lucy is hot. Also, Kendall runs half a mile in his underwear. Twice.

(photo from Big Time Rush, currently on Netflix, I claim no ownership)

Quorra...doll?

    Does anyone have more information on this? I know the New York doll company that made it, but what the hell? Why is it so high end? Who was paying $180 for a doll of Quorra back in 2010, for a movie that would end up being relatively unpopular? I'm not complaining; Quorra and Lucy Stone occupy that special area of character that completely distracts me when she's on screen. Olivia Wilde is hot.

TRON

    Have a meme I made; I don't see anything TRON ever. At most, there are some funny pictures of Bridges and Boxleitner circulating. Speaking of which, which is the best Tron suit? The white suit from Uprising (Tron, not the Renegade) is absolutely sick, but it's used very briefly with the mask.

Exams are over!

    Exam week is over, so until the next one happens I'll have an opportunity to play some games this weekend and test my "gaming" notebook. We'll see how it works, and these tests will be pretty indicative of just how outdated my Alienware is. I've already removed the optical drive and attached it via a USB adapter, so for media consumption it's pretty close. I've also just ordered the Genocyber Blu-Ray (holy shit) and am looking forward to testing that on a screen that doesn't look awful.

Physical Media

    I know streaming is the new big thing, but does anyone remember DVDs? Remember when "high definition" was really special? I do, so I'll continue to advocate buying DVDs. They can be found for super cheap, and tend to come with bonus features that you can't find on streaming services. Here's a picture I took of CDepot, a store in College Park, Maryland. Check them out!

New laptop!

 I just got a new laptop, so this should mean more regular and longer posts. My old Alienware had a broken keyboard and was over six pounds, so carrying it anywhere was a no-go. Now, I can bring this thing places to actually work, and to update this blog. 2.6 pounds! It's almost disturbingly light, seeing as the entire outer case is metal. Now, once I get off my ass, I'll be able to write outside.

In Defense of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

    For those who haven't seen the Indiana Jones movies, stop reading now and watch them. For those who have, you probably like Raiders of the Lost Ark the most. It's a valid opinion, but not the correct one. To set the record straight; my favorite is The Last Crusade because of its perfectly polished storyline, amazing acting and delivery, historical """realism""" to the environment at the time, and the monumentally important relationship between father and son which would serve as the basis for the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles TV show.

    That said, I don't think Lost Ark is the second best. I give that to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Why? Let's take a deeper look into the movies. Raiders of the Lost Ark was the first attempt at this franchise, and the first use of 1930s Han Solo. It was a great movie, with an incredibly strong plot and concept. However, it was clearly the first. Some of the depictions would change and become streamlined over time (even visible by Temple of Doom, another fan-favorite), and the goal of realism would become stronger.

    This is why Kingdom of the Crystal Skull beats it out for me. Playing off the iconic father-son relationship in The Last Crusade, it depicts Indy as a man who ended up becoming exactly like his father. This is realistic, and adds a depth to the character that goes beyond the womanizing, academic adventurer. It's subtle in some ways, and overt in others. My personal favorite is the motorcycle sequence, where Indy's interaction with Mutt is an exact 180 of his interaction with his father during The Last Crusade while escaping the Austrian castle.

    The movie also benefits from depicting Indy as an American spy against the evil Soviets, which was a very real and very important social depiction during the Cold War. This is unlike Lost Ark or The Last Crusade, where the villains are Nazis who search for ancient treasure to use as weapons. That isn't a bad villain concept, but it leaves out the whole "war" part. Of course, the TV show returns some of this by depicting Indy's experience in the Belgian army during WWI, but who's actually watched that?

    By depicting Indy as one country, and pitting him against the soldiers of another, the movie personifies the political atmosphere at the time. Ironically, he's once again going against a sect of the army that looks for mystical artifacts. This is a limitation of the premise beyond Indiana Jones, but still doesn't outdo his fight against Dracula in terms of ridiculousness.

    That's most of my spiel, but it is true. I really enjoy Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I think it was a great movie. Unlike most modern sequels of 80s franchises, it wasn't the soulless cash-grab remake. Instead, it was a fresh look continuing the same story, written by the same people, playing off of the content of the original movies while writing new content to depict the different world the film is set in.

COVID-19

    Don't let the title scare you, I don't intend to talk in length about the pandemic. I just wanted to let y'all on the blog know that I got it and I've been a bit sick, so that might account for a lack in activity, compounded with school work. I'll try to keep this place up to date, since I won't have much else to do while stuck in quarantine for over a week. I'd like like to watch The Adventures of Tin Tin, a show I watched as a younger child and would love to see again.

Pharaoh's Quest: A forgotten gem of 2010

    I'm gonna take this opportunity to talk about the most underrated LEGO theme of all time. Pharaoh's Quest is from that strange series of early 2010s LEGO themes that only had one above-average size wave and almost no story. Monster Fighters is another example. However, like Monster Fighters, this was a strong wave, playing off of the ancient Egypt plot that Adventures had tried in the 90s, though with a bit more fantasy. Half the sets were 1920s-styled adventurers pitted against giant stone statues (Anubis minifigure!), and the other half against revived mummies. It's all the good stuff from The Mummy (1999) with the bright colors and imagination Denmark has become known for.

    Like all good things, unfortunately, it didn't last very long. Of course, it was only intended for one wave. However, it also had virtually no long-term legacy. The recent Creator Haunted Mansion set is a manor for Baron von Barron of Lego Adventures, so hopefully LEGO has shifted its eyes back towards the desert. I've still gotta pick that set up, and plan to do so if I can get some more things sold soon!

(image pulled from Brickset)

Who to go to for 1/12

    It's by far the most popular scale in modern toy collecting; the primary scale of McFarlane, Hasbro, Jazwares (kind of), Mezco, Figuarts, and Mafex. However, the quality is all across the board. McFarlane has been doing pretty well lately, but Marvel Legends is really not great. Figuarts is of course fantastic, but they've become extremely expensive. Mafex and Mezco are kind of in the same boat, but with more QC problems. This just leaves the Fortnite God-King Jazwares, which has somehow surpassed the market in terms of extra accessories, paint, and design. It's a really wild change of pace from the typical Legends and LC figures, since these really feel like a human designed them rather than a cold Ti-84 calculator. I'm a Jazwares guy, personally, but I'd also recommend checking out Figuarts if you can find them for cheap. Just, no Figuart is worth more than $70.

Analog Radio

    A brief change of pace, but I'd suggest getting an analog radio if you have the opportunity. It's a pretty liberating feeling not to have to sign onto a computer just to get news. Since all of my class material is online, I'm on the internet too much as is. I'm looking forward to this being over, but it's very unfortunate how dependent on the internet we've become for simple assignments.

Distribution

    I see people complain about this enough that I figured I might as well share my own thoughts: what the hell is Mattel doing with their MOTU Origins distribution? Obviously, you should just preorder from BBTS if you desperately want something and are willing to wait. Unfortunately, some releases are out of stock but I doubt they won't get restocked soon. As far as brick and mortar stores go, though, forget about it. I've only seen Masters of the WWE Universe in Walmart once, and it doesn't look like distribution has gotten ANY better. It's pretty unfortunate that Walmart has become such a well-known carrier for exclusives, since their stocking is inconsistent at best. The Lanard Alien toys are a pretty solid example of this. Hopefully this will be a Rainmakers 3-pack situation where a couple years later BBTS gets a case for retail. In the meantime, I don't hold out hope for Mattel, though.

Where to go with superheroes?

    You all know the drill: a superhero movie is announced, and it has the same plot as half the others. I got some kicks from the MCU, but it was a lot of the same past Iron Man and Cap's origin stories. And now, they just try to shove crossovers everywhere as though it'll improve the quality.

    As much as I love that the Joker actually says the line, it isn't good content. Where now? Obviously these companies have to keep superheroes in the popular conscience; comic book collecting is finally considered a "trendy" hobby. To forsake that market would be like buying into GME, so we know they'll go somewhere.

    We've seen some info for new movies. The new Spider-man looks fun, but I want to focus on the lesser-known characters, announced or otherwise. We know there's a theoretical Moon Knight show that's theoretically in production: what should we expect from it? Will it be like Daredevil, and appropriately violent to match the character? Or, will it be like Iron Man, which a dark side to a lighthearted, family friendly series?

    It better be the former. Moon Knight is an impossibly dark character, considering he's from Marvel (yeah, I said it). Despite being completely insane on multiple levels, he also just isn't supposed to be simplified and made to appeal to casual stream-goers. Moon Knight's tragedy is the question of whether what's in his head is real, and thankfully a show will help convey that.

    As for other characters, I'd like to see a DC show for The Question. Since he has no superpowers, he's a pretty easy character to work into a plot. The original comics were just about a reporter solving conspiracies, who doesn't like a good detective show? Add in some of the quirky personality and hot Italian girlfriend from JLU, and you have a pretty marketable character.

Transformers Selects Wish List

    I'm sure this has been talked to death, but we haven't really seen enough about TF Selects yet for BW. Transmutate is great, but where're the Blackarachnia reuses? We've never seen her in silver, or the unreleased Halloween colors. I'm still hoping for a Transmetal 2 mold or repaint, but I can't see that happening. As for the other molds, I still need an excuse to get Megatron and Primal. I've heard there's a T-Wrecks rumored, but what about Primal? Here's hoping for an Apelinq in the near future, since god knows I can't find the Transmetal release.

Who do you want to see produced?

Transformers Minimates?

    Certainly, the biggest Transformers news of the week is Transmutate. Putting aside the absolutely surreal reality of that figure (I have never preordered something that quickly), I'm more interested in the long-term implications of the Minimates shown off.

    Minimates is sort of a dying brand, they only really do animated Marvel stuff anymore, alongside one-off box sets of new movies. Even Avengers: Endgame only had one 4-pack to cover the entire team with different head sculpts, if I'm not mistaken. Transformers is known for novelty mini figures, however, and these start off with four of the most recognizable characters in the franchise. The sculpts are a bit wonky, as they always are, but these'll hopefully revitalize the series a bit. My hope is they start covering some of the niches that don't have many toys, like Beast Wars. This could draw in the people who don't want another Optimus Prime.

Who would you like to see?

(image pulled from BBTS)

Remember not to draw your camera close to your toys!

 I see this a lot so I want to write a quick post on it; don't get too close to your figures! Most camera lenses (cell phones included) cannot handle focusing on something so close, so draw your camera back and zoom in or use a macro lens if you want any close up pictures.

Homages

    Homages are tricky. If you're not aware, those are the Glyos figures that are painted exactly like some of your favorite (or least favorite) 80's franchises. The opinions I see are always mixed; they seem to either hit really well or the general consensus is they weren't very good. Battle Tribes tends to use most of its releases to reference some other popular or obscure franchise, but this extends to other lines like Marty's Kabuto Mushi. What are your opinions?

    I swear I always see complaining about the mere existence of homages, but then they tend to be by far the most valuable releases on the secondary market. Is that just because they hit home for a group that might not buy them otherwise? I know I wouldn't be buying into the SMC Tron wave if I wasn't a diehard Tron fan (which, by the way, I'm still looking for the Grid Enforcer and Grid Overlord, if you're willing to sell).

(image pulled from the wiki)

Photographing Cancerous Plastic

Some of my friends have had issues with photographing GTID plastic, so I figured I’d write a short thing on this. The trick is not to decrease shutter speed or open the aperture further; it’s to increase the ISO. Changing the former two will only bring more light into the environment, which isn’t what you want. Ideally, the glow will be brighter and the surroundings darker. Some cameras have pretty low ISO thresholds, but here’s a sample of mine at around 51k ISO. I’m sure you could get it lower if you had a tripod and slightly better light.

If you have the guts to handle such a toxic (not really, it just smells bad) plastic, try and photograph it!

Assembly Required

    This is a quick one, just a reminder to check out Assembly Required’s designer toy show tomorrow! It’s looking pretty cool, and it’s the only chance to get Man Or Monster Studio’s new Valkyrie figure in printed resin before she goes up on Kickstarter. I’m not sure how much it’ll cost, but the figure will probably end up around $16 like Clawbber and Bog Nar when she (hopefully) reaches production.

www.assembly-required.net

vinylposting

     I’ve raised this in private conversations a million times, so I may as well write about it (by the way, expect more frequent posts for a while). 

    Toys are made of plastic. Surprising, I know. However, the kind of plastic matters and is something I always feel is lost in the discussion. Surely, you toy enthusiasts know about ABS and PVC. ABS is a hard, easily painted plastic that has decent rigidity for large pieces and can hold great detail. PVC is super flexible, and very durable for building toys like Glyos or for sharp pointy things like those MSIA v-fins that would surely snap otherwise.

    However, there are others; PC, PS, and POM. PC is just good for transparent parts, and should only ever be used for detail. POM is super durable, similar to nylon. It has a rigidity more like ABS but can handle being cast in very thin pieces, and in my opinion is widely neglected as a good material, usually only being used in Kotobukiya model kits, MSIA (which shocked me to learn), and some main-line Transformers. Ironically, it’s not common on the $300 Masterpiece releases.

    PS is the outlier, because it’s truly useless. Why? It sucks. It has every property of ABS, except it isn’t durable at all. Despite this, it’s used in just about every model kit brand under the sun save for Flame Toys. It has some advantages, it’s lighter and cheaper, but this mostly just benefits the manufacturer. This is why I avoid most model kits, and only buy ones with either an ABS frame or full ABS construction. It’s a real shame, too, because it leads to great designs and engineering being pulled down by a soft and fragile material that simply isn’t designed to handle that kind of stress. It should have stayed back in the 80s, when models didn’t have to move.

Hopefully you’ve gained something from this, and have learned why I hate Bandai!

Where's Tron?

     Unfortunately, I can't take pictures reliably in college (turns out beige desks make for shitty backdrops) but I can talk my ass off about movies. This isn't so much a review as a retrospective; so let's talk about a movie exactly four people still care about! Of course, I'm referring to Tron. Tron is an enigma, because depending on who you talk to, it can mean one of two totally different things. My father, for example, has never seen Legacy and only knows Tron as that 80's movie with the cheesy hockey suits and Jeff Bridges in his sexiest years. I grew up on both films, so Tron to me means something between the original and Legacy; something of an evolution between the two.

    I wouldn't realize the importance Tron would have in my life until around a year ago, however. We are currently in month eight of America's COVID-19 pandemic, so I had a lot of time over the Summer as classes ended. I decided at some point to rewatch Tron (1982)—that movie I hadn't seen in years but fondly remembered from my younger days with a DVD player. Tron was cool; I kind of knew what to expect. Tron Legacy (2010) is what really caught me off-guard. I vaguely remembered the plot, but only the visuals really stuck with me over the years. Despite having seen it probably multiple times as a younger child, watching it this year was a pretty fresh experience.

    Let me tell you, it fucking rocked. I knew the visuals were gonna be pretty cool, and the plot was as fine as it could have been, but the music and details were on point. A friend of mine pejoratively described the film as a two-hour music video, and I completely agree; but I don't think it's a bad thing. It's a proof of concept for a style and an aesthetic, one that wouldn't be fully realized until Tron: Uprising (2012-2013) would air years later. Uprising is excellent, but I'll go into further detail about that later. Even the brief snippets we saw of The Grid in Legacy were excellent at conveying what life there was like; the End of Line club, the Games, and the entire premise of an uprising. This is all ignoring the importance of the ISOs and what they would do to the story (Quorra is hot, by the way). In a vacuum, the culture is interesting.

    Of course, this is all something of a carryover from the original Tron. It's easy to dismiss the original as a Disney science fiction action movie for eight year-olds, but there is more thought put into that. Have you ever seen the deleted "love" scene between Yori and Tron? Besides the entire implication that these programs can experience romance (something, once again, expanded upon in Uprising), Yori remarks that her apartment is "very illegal;" law wouldn't play a role in the culture of the Old System again until Tron 2.0, which features Jet Bradley evading security programs. Of course, that's just a deleted scene. If you'd like to explore what showed in theaters, look no further than the core plot of the film.

    According to RAM and Tron, the MCP was rounding up programs who still believed in the users. Later in the film, it's revealed by Tron that he believes users would only act carefully and logically. This is something of a religion; the users are the gods and the programs the followers. Besides the bizarre humanization of ambiguously sentient electronic signals, this reveals culture. This is why I think the new material gets too much credit; much of it is drawn from the old. Don't get me wrong, though, I adore Legacy. Since the start of this semester, I've watched it five times. I respect that the writers didn't shove the original aside, but I wish the fans would follow suit.

    There's a lot more I could say about Tron, but this summarizes my thoughts. It's a loss of potential. Two wonderful movies and a fantastic television show, and yet not a single plot was actually concluded. Dillinger returns to the story following Legacy, but obviously we'll never know how that turned out. Quorra's existence on Earth will never be explored, and Beck's uprising gained some momentum in the end but we won't know where that went either (at least we know it failed). Where the hell is the future of Tron?

X Heads

Gangs & Rivalries

DRT Callgrim Review

This is a special occasion, and dare I call it a two-parter! I don't have pictures taken for the second part yet, but a man can dream.

This, of course, is Deluxe Real Type Callgrim. It's the whole shebang: premium paint apps, weathering, soft (or not) goods and packaging with a few fun little bonuses along the way. It was released on November 21st, 2011 for $50. For those of you who are new to Glyos (like me!), it's important to understand some context. By this point, the “standard” figure from Onell Design was a plastic color swap (like the old Pheyden and Reverse Pheyden) with maybe a few highlight paint apps, panel lines, and a tampograph if you’re lucky. There also wasn’t a ton of vinyl, either. Besides the Rig and Armodoc, all of the other vinyl releases were sofubi crossovers and as far as I can tell the Rig Runner didn’t actually exist until 2012. The entire concept of DRT was special, and paint like this was by no means the standard. Even today, I can’t remember the last time we saw factory weathering or soft goods that were more than a piece of die-cut microfiber.

As far as exact contents go:
-27 PVC parts (a standard Callgrim + warp gear)
-3 vinyl parts (the Grim Reaper Warp Bike)
-1 cloth piece (Callgrim's muffler)
-1 fully printed box
-1 collector's art card
-1 blueprint for the bike

There's a lot more to cover here than in a normal Callgrim release, and there better be! This cost $50 back in the day of $8 Travelers, and was a more limited release. It released along Riac, who I do own and would love to give his own spotlight someday, as he’s a personal favorite of mine.

Now, to start off with Callgrim:




He's cast in black PVC with a very Grim Squad white color for the skull (it's entirely painted over, but if you look inside the socket). Almost every surface is drybrushed silver, with a few minor exceptions like the neck and I think the entire figure has a grey wash, but it’s difficult to tell if those are masked paint applications or just a wash. There's no real detail lining, interestingly, except for a bit of silver wash on the scattered gunmetal grey armor paint applications and of course the grey on the skull face. Some of the leathery belt components and gloves are picked out in a very dark and muted brown, with its own dark highlight color. I've disassembled the figure somewhat and laid it out here to make spotting every paint app easier.



The final paint applications can be found on the eyes and spare head; scattered bright red highlights and white tampographs. These add a lot, and bring a great deal of life to the figure. I'm not too sure why there's silver drybrushing on the Caliber Dome visor, though. The Order head is where the accents really shine, though. It mirrors the Riac head pattern, surrounding the black visor with a gunmetal helmet and white fangs, overseen by red eyes. It's an appropriate biker helmet, and I really wish more than three limited Callgrim releases used this tampograph pattern. Callgrim’s main head, of course, is just painted over in white and has a pair of killer pupil tampographs.





We can't keep going without discussing the muffler, however. It's a strange piece, clearly made of fabric but the texture looks more like leather and the entire piece feels like it's been dipped in some sort of clear paint to keep it stiff. It does have give, though, and will move a bit to accommodate posing and other heads. Even the Order head rocks it!







Onto the Grim Reaper, Callgrim's signature Warp Bike. It's a shame we haven't gotten more of these, and that those we did were often in really strange color choices like Bobaran. Of course, the chassis is just a Rig Runner from Onell design without the Rig gun arm forming a hood, but the front skull face is completely original to Rawshark. It's a wild piece, and represents a lot of why I feel Callgrim best matches the aesthetic Glyos was born with. All of the detailing matches the Rig Runner, and it doesn't seem out of place at all. Like I mentioned earlier, the Rig Runner hadn’t been released by Onell when this came out, so I’m not sure which came first in terms of design.







The entire vehicle is cast in black rotocast vinyl, and treated with grey detail lining (a shame the main figure wasn't), jet black paint, lighter (ghost?) grey paint, and some sparse bright red highlights. It's clearly intended to match Callgrim, down to having the same silver drybrushing.



Unfortunately, it doesn't fit him very well. I won't be showing too many pictures of him riding it because it seems to force the legs apart somewhat which stretches the socket, and I believe that's why the hip joints on mine are so loose. Regardless, it's a very interesting addition to the set and makes this feel more like a unique package as opposed to another one-off release.



The packaging, unsurprisingly, adds to this. Boxes in Glyos are rare, only normally showing up with the Founders and some Crayboth. However, this DRT Callgrim is packaged in a white cardboard box covered in prints and product information. It opens from the front like a chest, and I can't tell if there was originally padding on the inside. My copy was bought secondhand, so I'm not sure exactly how it came originally.













Besides the figure and bike, inside there are also some paper materials. The first of which is an art card, with full color printing on either side and a glossy finish. The art is undeniably Jesse Moore, and god do I love that.





The same goes for the other paper in the set, a blueprint of the bike with a reverse side of a monochrome Callgrim art print. I appreciate the addition to the “story” within the set, and I think this will be interesting to anyone who likes pointless machine names in fiction.





That's about all she wrote for this set, and again I'd like to look at Riac soon enough too. Hopefully this was informative, and I'd like to go into similar detail for some of my other more obscure Glyos releases. Thanks for reading!

Elite Builds

The Elite Domes have always been a favorite of mine, even if I don't have the coveted Metran release. I'd like it for use with my Renegades, but for the time being bright-ass red and clear pink will suffice! I've got a Locros Rebellion Callgrim on the way, too, so hopefully I'll be able to rebuild that guy without sacrificing my Elite Sentry!

It's a little hard to see because of how wide open the aperture is, but the Renegade heads on the taller guys add a lot to them for me. I've always liked the idea that, sometime after the Old War, all Gendrones were considered viable to be converted to Renegades; even the contradictory Buildman with its Villser-based tech.

On another note, Kent really did us well with that pink Callgrim. I'm not a big fan of how the solid Ulmorrium pink has to play into the final result, but what can ya do? Mordireus is such a fantastic color, and I really hope we see a Zetonian in it eventually. That's the sole reason I made that white Renegade head!

What's y'all's favorite unofficial color combinations?

mmmm PVC

Hey y'all! I've been a Glyos fan for a few years now, and I've always wanted to run a blog like this, especially with inspiration like Fans of Pheyden. I do a lot of photography, and hope to document some older and more obscure figures especially. I'd like to make this a resource other fans use, as well as of course post about my own finds and thoughts on whatever may be relevant or irrelevant at the time!

Note: The repeating Pheyden background image is from the Onell Design blog. I did not create that graphic.