What happens when the figures you have pre-ordered have not arrived and you have to satisfy the toy bug that is itching inside you? I end up getting stuff I didn't pre-order but bought on impulse because I liked what I saw and these are my April 2017 haul so far, pending the arrival of Black Panther: The S.I.C. or Super Imaginative Chogokin Masked Rider X and Appologeist plus the SH Figuarts Bruce Lee (Yellow Track Suit version).
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I can blame the method of pre-ordering for these impulse buys but I'm not sorry that I bought them so no complaints here. Because 1/6th scale manufacturers believe that pre-orders are the best way to go for selling collectible figures, collectors like us end up waiting months (sometimes up to a year) to get the figures we want, figures which we first saw as prototypes in pictures released by the companies to solicit our pre-orders. Some of these prototypes might not even see the light of day if the response to the preview pics are lukewarm or worse. Case in point: Hot Toys 1/6th scale Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones (played by Frank Grillo in Captain America: Civil War) 12-inch figure. Since the preview pics at many of the toy shows, it has failed to show up for pre-orders or any of Hot Toys catalogues. Toys, unlike limited edition adult collectibles, are mass produced and sold at major stores worldwide. There is no need to pre-order because chances are, you can probably get your hands on them easily. Some adult collectibles and figures that become highly demanded after they are released might not be so readily available because the supply was dependant on pre-orders which can mean limited supply. That's when the secondary market gets exciting as prices for them keep going up and up as their demand heats up.
Scroll down to the rest of the pictures.
Click on them for bigger and better view.
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I grew up on comic books, both from the East and the West, so I was quite influenced by both cultures. The West have their Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk etc and the East have their Astro Boy, Gatchman, Space Battleship Yamato and tokusatsu (Japanese live-action film or television drama that features considerable use of special effects) superhero television series like Kamen Riders and Ultraman. That probably explains why I collect action figures from both sides of the globe. They were a big part of my childhood. There weren't many toys available then and I enjoyed drawing them in my younger days. But 3D is definitely much better than 2D!
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Super Imaginative Chogokin (aka S.I.C.) is one of Bandai's popular line-up of die-cast metallic figurines (chogokin) based on the Kamen Rider franchise and other characters created by Shotaro Ishinomori and his production company. The 1/10th scale figures (typical height is 7"/18 cm) are usually modified and differ from its counterpart as seen in the series. It is intended for those riders to closely resemble the ones portrayed in the manga and to have a much darker theme. S.I.C. figures are mostly sculpted by Takayuki Takeya and Kenji Ando.
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This Super Imaginative Chogokin (S.I.C.) Kamen Rider X & ApolloGeist (spelt wrongly on the box as Appologeist) was released in May 2008 but still looks as good and as relevant today. Not outdated at all. Truly a blast from the past!
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ApolloGeist is the Chief of Security of G.O.D. (Government Of Darkness). Armed with the Geist Cutter shield and the Apollo Shot shogun, his human appearance wears a white tuxedo with black gloves until he invokes "Apollo Change". Version 2 is revived by two doctors of G.O.D. Armed with the Apollo Magnum bayonet on his right hand, the Geist Cutter shield, and the small Geist Cutter shield on his left shoulder.
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This is the S.H. Figuarts Game of Death Bruce Lee (Yellow Track Suit version) which was released in January 2017. This is the second version after the success of Fist of Fury Bruce Lee figure released in January 2016. At just 14cm (5.5-inch) tall, it's really quite a small figure but apparently, the head is recreated with digital printing for an extremely realistic rendition. It's my first S.H. Figuarts figure and only because it's none other than the legendary Bruce Lee!
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Action Figure Reviews to follow shortly :) stay tuned.
I can blame the method of pre-ordering for these impulse buys but I'm not sorry that I bought them so no complaints here. Because 1/6th scale manufacturers believe that pre-orders are the best way to go for selling collectible figures, collectors like us end up waiting months (sometimes up to a year) to get the figures we want, figures which we first saw as prototypes in pictures released by the companies to solicit our pre-orders. Some of these prototypes might not even see the light of day if the response to the preview pics are lukewarm or worse. Case in point: Hot Toys 1/6th scale Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones (played by Frank Grillo in Captain America: Civil War) 12-inch figure. Since the preview pics at many of the toy shows, it has failed to show up for pre-orders or any of Hot Toys catalogues. Toys, unlike limited edition adult collectibles, are mass produced and sold at major stores worldwide. There is no need to pre-order because chances are, you can probably get your hands on them easily. Some adult collectibles and figures that become highly demanded after they are released might not be so readily available because the supply was dependant on pre-orders which can mean limited supply. That's when the secondary market gets exciting as prices for them keep going up and up as their demand heats up.
Scroll down to the rest of the pictures.
Click on them for bigger and better view.
I grew up on comic books, both from the East and the West, so I was quite influenced by both cultures. The West have their Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk etc and the East have their Astro Boy, Gatchman, Space Battleship Yamato and tokusatsu (Japanese live-action film or television drama that features considerable use of special effects) superhero television series like Kamen Riders and Ultraman. That probably explains why I collect action figures from both sides of the globe. They were a big part of my childhood. There weren't many toys available then and I enjoyed drawing them in my younger days. But 3D is definitely much better than 2D!
Super Imaginative Chogokin (aka S.I.C.) is one of Bandai's popular line-up of die-cast metallic figurines (chogokin) based on the Kamen Rider franchise and other characters created by Shotaro Ishinomori and his production company. The 1/10th scale figures (typical height is 7"/18 cm) are usually modified and differ from its counterpart as seen in the series. It is intended for those riders to closely resemble the ones portrayed in the manga and to have a much darker theme. S.I.C. figures are mostly sculpted by Takayuki Takeya and Kenji Ando.
This Super Imaginative Chogokin (S.I.C.) Kamen Rider X & ApolloGeist (spelt wrongly on the box as Appologeist) was released in May 2008 but still looks as good and as relevant today. Not outdated at all. Truly a blast from the past!
ApolloGeist is the Chief of Security of G.O.D. (Government Of Darkness). Armed with the Geist Cutter shield and the Apollo Shot shogun, his human appearance wears a white tuxedo with black gloves until he invokes "Apollo Change". Version 2 is revived by two doctors of G.O.D. Armed with the Apollo Magnum bayonet on his right hand, the Geist Cutter shield, and the small Geist Cutter shield on his left shoulder.
This is the S.H. Figuarts Game of Death Bruce Lee (Yellow Track Suit version) which was released in January 2017. This is the second version after the success of Fist of Fury Bruce Lee figure released in January 2016. At just 14cm (5.5-inch) tall, it's really quite a small figure but apparently, the head is recreated with digital printing for an extremely realistic rendition. It's my first S.H. Figuarts figure and only because it's none other than the legendary Bruce Lee!
Action Figure Reviews to follow shortly :) stay tuned.