Minimates Monsters: Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula (B&W)

I don't generally collect Minimates, but not because I don't like them. Actually, I like the style quite a bit, and I'm really impressed with the sheer number of different franchises represented. But I'm less impressed with the price: while I've come to terms with paying $8 for a pair of Action League or Superhero Squad figures, I just can't justify that kind of cash for what amounts to modified Lego mini-figs (price, incidentally, is why you don't see many Lego mini-figs reviewed here, either).

However, when I last visited Toys R Us, I found most of their Minimates marked down to five bucks a pack. That still feels pricey, but it was enough of a cut for me to justify picking up one pack. I looked through their selection of Marvel and Ghostbusters, but ultimately went with these guys. While I'm far more a fan of those properties, there's just not much display value in a pair of superhero mini-figures: you really need a substantial collection or there's not much point. But Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster? They're simple and iconic enough to work on their own.

The pack I chose was a Toys R Us exclusive containing black and white versions of the characters. There was a color version with Dracula and Van Helsing I liked, too, and I almost bought both. In the end, I decided one was enough and went with this one. 

Dracula's cool, though the lack of color hurts the costume. I appreciate the point behind mimicking the old films - and I like the sentiment - but the version from the other set just looked better. If it weren't for his pal, I'd have gone with that pack instead.

The head on Frankenstein's Monster is really impressive. He's got a sculpted brow, which adds a remarkable amount of depth to the figure. On the other hand, his costume's relatively dull.

In addition, mine seems to have an issue. One of the feet is extremely loose, and it falls out if the figure's lifted. While these are of course meant to come apart (all pieces are interchangeable), they're also suppose to stay together. I might experiment with some superglue at some point to reduce the chances I'll lose that foot for good (I've had a few close calls already).

I like these figures, but at the same time I'm glad I don't collect them. Considering their size, these are way overpriced.

Stargate SG1 Replicator Carter

More custom bait today: I picked this up for five bucks at St. Mark's Comics. As you can see above, this was more or less a loose figure, missing the back of the pack. Eh. I'd have thrown it out, anyway.

The figure was made by Diamond Select, a company which does good work. I'm not all that familiar with the show, but the character looks awfully lifelike. My only major complain is with the shoulders, which are cut rather than ball joints.

My wife and I picked this up for a few reasons. There are some cool looking techno-things. I don't know what they are, and I don't really care: as far as I'm concerned, they're whatever I need them to be.

She also comes with a piece of a Stargate. It's almost worth it trying to track down the other pieces: while I'm not a fan of the show or movie, I'd love to have a Stargate around.

She's got a few right hands in addition to the blade (which, by the way, could easily put an eye out). One hand looks normal, while other appears to be a sort of halfway point. I hope this was significant in the show, because otherwise it's a waste of time.

My wife likes the character's head, and I like the accessories. At five bucks, we decided to buy her and see what we came up with.

Hey, It's His Computer

October Horrors, Pt. 2: I... See... You.......

In case anyone was wondering how Lt. Malcolm Reed was doing since I repurposed his playset as a Bat-Computer....

I deconstructed him a day or two after taking the original pictures. Hey, I was curious how he worked.

This has been floating around the apartment in more or less its current state for a couple months now. I have tentative plans to use this as a base for a custom project I have planned. Until then, I kind of like it this way.

Star Trek Enterprise Broken Bow Deluxe: Lt. Malcolm Reed and Tactical Systems Base

I haven't seen all of Star Trek: Enterprise, but I actually really like most of what I have. I know there's not a lot of love out there for this show - even fans of Voyager seem to dismiss it - but I was impressed with what I saw. I can't help but think that, had the show been given a theme song which wasn't THE SINGLE WORST EVER RECORDED IN TELEVISION HISTORY, maybe - just maybe - it could have lasted more than three seasons. Pity: I thought the show itself was pretty good.

So. How'd I end up owning this? That's mainly due to Figure of the Day, a website which offers a single action figure each day. I've been trying to keep an eye on the site. This showed up a few weeks back for twenty bucks, and I grabbed it, partly for the playset and partly as an experiment to see if the site was any good.

Shipping was included in the price, and it arrived fast and in great condition. What's more, the folks at Figure of the Day tossed in a Star Trek poster along with it, which was awfully nice of them.

The set (produced by Art Asylum back in the day) comes disassembled, but it's fairly easy to put together. None of the panels do anything, but there are a few play features. First, there's a button on the floor that cycles through some sounds and voice effects. It's incredibly loud but not particularly clear; I don't plan on playing with that too much.

Far more useful, the chair can swivel and is on a sliding track. This is a nice feature, one I'm happy to have. I should probably mention that this is supposed to be part of a full bridge. There's a small, plastic connector, should you buy the other sets and link them together. Assuming they released all the other sets, that is: I'm not sure whether they had a chance before the line was cancelled.

The figure... is bizarre. From the pictures, I'd assumed he was more or less a statue, similar to what you'd get from NECA. In fact, the outfit is mostly a thin, rubber membrane concealing a fully articulated figure beneath. Conceptually, it's got some merit: in reality... not so much.

First of all, his hips just look weird when he's sitting. On top of that, the rubber suit functions like a sort of elastic, preventing him from retaining positions you're not holding him in.

So, neat idea, but it doesn't really work. Pity, because the set itself is beautiful. But, what are you going to do? I mean, it's HIS playset. You can't just walk up and take it away from -- WHA?

OH MY GOD - DID YOU SEE THAT? ONE PUNCH!

Ahem. Sorry. Where were we? Oh yes. We were reviewing my new Bat-Computer Console Playset.

Granted, it's missing a giant screen, but I plan on correcting that in time. The overall look of the Bat-Computer console is pretty fantastic, with angled panels that evoke a bat's wings and high tech looking knobs and buttons. It's kind of perfect.

I particularly like how Batman's cape flows over the chair. It looks great, and keeps him in place. All in all, this is a fantastic bat-computer console.

Back To The Future Minimates DeLoreoaaaaah, actually it's a "Time Machine"

The DeLorean DMC-12 is a trademarked automobile which was shown in the Back to the Future films. Toy companies which might want to produce a toy of that DeLorean would need to separately buy the rights to both the movie AND the rights to use to use the DeLorean name.

If, on the other hand, you just wanted to produce a "Time Machine" from the movie, you'd only need to pay for the rights to the Back to the Future license.

Where's the iconic DMC symbol? Why doesn't the package contain the name of the car? Fans bitch and moan, then we buy the toy anyway. Then we bitch and moan some more. It's what fans do.

I've never really had much interest in Diamond's Minimate figures, though they are certainly cute. The thing is, cute or not, they're usually really expensive for what amounts to glorified Lego figures (not that those are all that reasonably priced these days).

However, I did kind of fall in love with this Minimate vehicle. I mentioned this to my wife, who managed to remember at Christmas. And, wouldn't you know it, I found this under the tree (well, the metaphorical tree, anyway: no way we'd fit a real tree in this tiny apartment).

The decals had to applied:

This is a sweet toy. It captures the feel of the vehicle, even in the adorably deformed style. It doesn't light up (sadly), but the bright blue plastic conveys the sense of energy.

In addition to the car, you get a mini-Marty, complete with alternate hands and hair. I have to admit he's a nice toy.

This is actually the second "Time Machine" I own from Diamond Select. I also have the larger light-up version, which is also a nice toy. This was a gift, so I don't know for sure what my wife paid. I know these started at around fifteen or so, though I've seen them more recently going for ten. Check your local Toys R Us.

I'm really happy with this, and think I can declare my Back to the Future collection complete. I mean, it's not like they're going to come out with a 'flying version' in this scale, right? Right?

Oh, crap.

Star Trek: Classic Science Tricorder

My wife and I have been eying this for a while. We're both fans of Star Trek in general, especially the original series, and we've slowly been amassing a collection of both Star Trek action figures and replicas.

The thing is, while this has intrigued us for a while, we weren't ready to drop $40 - $45 on it (or $30, for that matter). But given how long they'd been camping out on the shelves at Toys R Us, I've had a feeling for a while now that we wouldn't have to.

In fact, about a year ago I remember looking at this and thinking, "fifteen." You'll never guess what the Toys R Us in Queens was charging for the last one they had in stock....

If there's one thing I've gotten pretty good at, it's predicting the precise cost toys will get marked down to before disappearing altogether.

Yes, that's right. I'm so cheap, I've transformed my stinginess into a power. If I could figure out a way to fight crime with it, I'd be a superhero. The worst superhero in history, perhaps, but a superhero nonetheless.

I should mention that getting the last one in stock meant the box wasn't exactly in mint condition. Good thing I couldn't care less about packaging.

Actually, I was taking a bit of a risk with this thing. In addition to the box not looking so hot, the top drawer had fallen off and was loose in the box. The whole thing looked like it might have been returned to the store, and on top of everything else, the "try me" feature had been used so long, the batteries were completely dead. I bought this not knowing if the toy worked or not.

I'm happy to say I was worried over nothing. As soon as I'd changed out the batteries (no simple task: you have to open the bottom drawer, remove the inner panel, then unscrew and pull off a third level before you can get to the AAA's), everything was working fine.

And make no mistake, this thing is loaded with features. When you open the top (which gives you a soft "clicking" sound), the lights go on and start blinking. Incidentally, those lights are BRIGHT. There are three buttons: one to "scan", one to cycle through voice clips, and a third that's a tad more complicated.

The scan feature is the one that's most straightforward. The light patterns change, the toy emits a loud "scanning" sound, and the psychedelic disk rotates until you either press the button again, close the lid, or your batteries run out of juice.

The speech button activates one of six sound clips. These are all of Spock, and they're well chosen, not to mention loud and clear.

The button on the left is sort of a "play" setting. You hit it, close the lid, then wait five seconds, and the Tricorder starts making noise (it cycles through two possibilities - an incoming message or a sort of malfunction). Open it, and Spock's voice once again chimes in with a clips related to the sounds.

The Tricorder comes with a small scanner, which runs on watch batteries (unlike the AAA's, these are still good on mine). The scanner doesn't make noise, but it does light up. The light cycles through several different colors, thanks to a number of small LEDs inside. It's not as bright as the lights on the Tricorder, but it's pretty cool.

What impresses me most about Diamond's "replicas" is the company's willingness to walk the line between cosplay accessory and toy. Despite being made of plastic and being (relatively) cheap for any kind of replica, this is more or less screen accurate and ready to go to conventions or be worn with a nice Starfleet uniform. And the "scan" function reinforces that. If you want to act like Spock, press the middle button, and roleplay to your heart's content.

However, this is also a toy. A toy for grownups, but a toy nonetheless. There's no reason a replica needs a bunch of sound clips of Spock (replicas, strictly speaking, should just do what the prop did; not repeat lines actors say).

I like that Diamond included this functionality. Once again, they've demonstrated that they know how to have fun with their merchandise.

Now I have a Phaser....

Toys R Us has been carrying a number of Diamond Select's Star Trek accessories since Abrams' reboot came out a few years back. My wife and I love Star Trek - particularly original series - but we were a little hesitant to pay full price for some of this stuff.

Fortunately, that's no longer necessary. While the movie merchandise has been on clearance forever, Toys R Us left the "classic" replicas full price... until recently.

This is one of two variants, the other being darker in color (Toys R Us only carried the one - I think I'd have have gone with the other if everything else was equal).

I like Diamond Select. They're good at making toys for grownups. Sure, you could buy a far nicer replica, but good luck picking it up for twenty bucks.

The buttons and knobs function as "settings," allowing you to set your phaser to stun, kill, torch, or disrupt. You can even set it on overload, and it'll make a "self destruct" sound. The red light flashes at different speeds depending on your setting.

Take your pick, but remember: stun is for pussies.

You can also disconnect the top, converting it into a hand-phaser. You know, so you don't need to haul the whole thing around when you're wiping out alien civilizations.

All in all, it's pretty sweet. These seem to have disappeared from the Toys R Us stores around here, but if you're living outside NYC, it might be worth a trip to see if they have any at a good price.