Sunday, March 18, 2012

Crazeracers


My wife knows me pretty well. She found this set of collectible erasers and gave them to me as part of my birthday present. Collectible erasers have been around for years in Japan, and they seem to be becoming popular around here now. Personally, I love them. In addition to the fact they're adorable, they're close enough in scale to fit in with six-inch figures. I've got some similar ones, but these might be the first that aren't imports.


These are interesting for a few reasons. First, they're labeled "puzzle erasers," but that's a stretch. The number of pieces is extremely limited, and there doesn't seem much point in disassembling them. In addition, I've got a few puzzle erasers, and these are the first I've seen with decals. I'm no expert, but I get the feeling that kind of defeats the point. Not that I care, mind you: as far as I'm concerned, decals as good as these make these more useful, not less.


All four are cool, but the clear standouts are the cereal box and milk. The milk cap pops off, in case you want to display it open. As far as I can figure, this is the only useful removable part, at least for my purposes.


My least favorite is the toast. In addition to being too big for six inch figures, it's got an image of grapes sculpted over the jam, presumably so you know what flavor it's supposed to be. Unfortunately, that kind of breaks the illusion.

The set's great overall, though. When you've been collecting action figures as long as I have, you're never lacking for guns, knives, and explosives, but unique and unexpected twelfth-scale accessories like a jug of milk are a godsend.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

DC Universe Classics: Captain Boomerang


Captain Boomerang is a fairly straightforward villain included in a very bizarre wave of DCUC figures. Overall, Wave 18 is defined by its assortment of figures from the 80's show, Superfriends. That series was a little before my time, to be honest, and while I find the concept amusing, I have a hard time sitting through episodes. So while I appreciate the much needed diversity this wave offers, I can't bring myself to drop twenty bucks a figure for a bunch of characters I have no attachment to. If they ever hit clearance, I might rethink that, but for the time being, this is the only character I was really interested in.


Captain Boomerang is the only figure from this wave who's a villain, not a hero. He's one of the Rogues, the team of criminals who are usually battling Flash. In addition, this is a modern version of the character, making him clash even more with other figures in this wave.


This is nice work. The sculpt is strong, and the paint is clean. Further, Mattel's included some "extra" joints: you get double-pins in the elbows and knees, in addition to all the other DCUC joints. Plus, the scarf's a loose piece, meaning it can face any way you want it to.


The accessories are a bit light. Other than the boomerang (which is required in this case), the only things you're getting are the head and crotch of Apache Chief, the Collect & Connect figure from this wave. Honestly, even if I were a bigger fan of the show, the head seems relatively weak.


I was expecting to be similarly underwhelmed by his boomerang - it's made of a very soft rubber - but I was pleasantly surprised. While it is flimsy, it works well in his hand and looks pretty nice.


I was surprised to find Captain Boomerang marked down to ten bucks at Forbidden Planet. For a relatively new figure, that's a good deal. Especially since he actually seems like the least obscure character from this wave (which is saying a lot, when you think about it).