Collector's Toy Fair Kuala Lumpur 2012 - Field Report

Last month I visited the first ever Collector's Toy Fair Kuala Lumpur held at the Kuala Lumpur Gallery Library. Since I'm not on Facebook, my friend was nice enough to inform me of the event seeing as my friend knows how much of a toy nut I am.

I wasn't expecting anything going to this as clearly it's stated in the title that this is a collector's fair and not a convention. I went there to show support to the local collectors scene. I mean we're nowhere near what our neighbours are doing but it's a start. I would not consider the more disastrous Malaysia International Toys Fair to be up there.

For a small event I was impressed with the whole set up. They did have some pretty cool activities like lightsaber duels and guest appearances by Vader's very own 501st Legion. They even had a gaming section where guests could play Rogue Squadron (one of the best Star Wars games in the past 10 years) and the not so cool Star Wars Kinect game.

Some vendors had rare toy collections on display (not for sale, mind you) like Visionaries, TMNT from Playmate, my personal favourite M.A.S.K, and Kenner's first series Star Wars figures. I was amazed that these figures were still mint in box. I tried my luck and see if they could part with some of the goodies but alas I failed. He called his display the "Display Sakit Hati" or the Envy Display just to rile up us fanboys.

Overall it was an okay event. But to be honest it does feel like just another day at Ampcorp Mall's flee market. Only difference is the venue. I did manage to snag a Kenner Boba Fett for RM30 so I went home a happy man :)

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Collector's Toy Fair Kuala Lumpur 2012

Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend. If you guys are planning to pop down, let's meet up. I'll probably be the dude with a grey Autobot emblem t-shirt or a white classic Captain America t-shirt. Geek out!

Find out more here and here

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Shut Up and Take All My Money Amazon!

Hell yeah! My Blu Rays I ordered  are here! I must say I'm impressed with how fast the delivery took. I made my order last week and it only took about a week. Good job Amazon!

I got these 2 sets for cheaps off Amazon. They were having a special offer for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Alien Anthology set and with those prices how can one resist. The LOTR set is a 15 disc set with 26 hours of bonus materials which also includes the Costa Botes documentaries. The Alien Anthology is a 6 disc set with a whopping 50 hours of bonus materials! There goes my social life :)

Can't wait to get home and unwrap these. Will review and take more photos over the weekend. Gonna get my fix on ya'all!

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The Avengers Final Trailer

Oh. My. God. I just jizzed in my pants. Epic.

Watch the HD trailer at www.apple.com/trailers.
Thanks to Joblo.com for the youtube link. Read on...

A Snapshot in Time: The Amazing Spiderman

2012 is a good year for superheroes; especially in the movie department. This year alone we're getting 5 movies with Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance kicking off the year followed by the highly anticipated The Avengers. Both Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises will both hit theaters in July with Judge Dredd ending the list of superhero movies in September. I can honestly say of the 5, I'm most excited about The Avengers, with Batman coming a close second with Spiderman coming in at third.

So we've all had a taste of things to come via the newly released trailers and the more recent superbowl teasers and what have you. Like any self respected fanboy, one would scrutinize each and every frame of the trailer, quenching our thirst if only for a short period of time before the movie hits theaters. So far I've done only The Avengers and Spiderman. I've yet to sit through Batman. I went one step further by actually taking snapshots from the trailer so I can share my joy with my fellow fanboys in this segment I like to call "A Snaphot in Time"

I'm kicking this segment off with The Amazing Spiderman :)

Here's a close up of Spiderman's web shooter. I thought it would have some form of cartridge much like the comic book version but apparently from what can be seen here it's just this little wristwatch sized shooter. From what I can gather by watching the trailer, Peter somehow manages to develop a new sticky composite which you can see him experimenting on below.



Here you see Peter actually experimenting, developing the new composite by mixing two components. As soon as the thing in his hand makes contact with the shooter, it immediately spits out the webbing. In one scene from the trailer, you can see Peter wandering into a room filled with strands of webbing (where he eventually gets bitten) in one of OsCorp's lab. I'm guessing Peter's dad was actually trying to replicate a spider web and make it stronger for more practical uses. Peter might have stumbled upon the formula from his dad's briefcase or something. Peter being a genius himself (which they demonstrated in a scene with Peter and Dr Connors; Peter completing a complicated equation) manages to replicate the process and tadaa! Webshooters!

I'm liking the direction of them actually going back with webshooters just like in the comics. A while back I actually condemned the move, stating it looked ridiculously large for him and made him look like the 70's movie Spiderman. Looking at the pictures and actual footage now, I have to say I take back all the bad things I said.



From the picture above you can see the shooters actually emitting a red glow every time he uses it. The light could probably be the effect of the chemicals reacting. I don't know why they actually made the shooters light up. Looks a wee bit tacky but I think I can live with it. I can see the Spiderman action figures; light up wrist spiderman.



Spiderman's eye protectors are somewhat gold rather than the silvery / white we're used to seeing in the comics and the previous movies by Sam Raimi. Maybe the gold reflects light better and gives Spiderman a more dramatic look when filmed. Maybe. It also looks slightly smaller than the ones we saw before. No complains there.



Cicakman. People have been on the fence with the Lizard's overall look, some even going as far as saying that he looks like a scaled down version of Godzilla. I don't know why the studio didn't go for the classic Lizard look with an elongate snout but rather a Killer Croc looking lizard? Oh well...



Can someone please explain to me why the Lizard is carrying a sling bag? It's a sling bag. Trust me. Really it is! I ain't making this shit up. Don't believe me? Go back and watch the trailer and pause/play when this scene comes up. Told ya...





Spiderman and the Lizard's final epic battle. From here you can get a rough idea of the Lizard's physique and anatomy. You can see why people are calling him Godzilla. Just look at those hind legs! Check out the tail too. Ginormous. I wonder if it falls off when threatened?

So there you go guys and gals. After watching the trailer a few times I must admit I'm pretty sold on the movie. But I have been disappointed before (Yes I'm referring to you Green Lantern). So here's hoping that the movie kicks ass.

I'd love to hear any comments you might have regarding the movie. Until May fanboys! Excelsior!

*all footage/screencap/copyright is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment
*Trailer available at apple.com/trailers

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Firing Squad

How it feels like every time I tell creatives the clients rejected their ideas. Read on...

Suit of Armor

After much wait, finally the set is now complete. Last off from Hot Toys' Iron Man 2 series is the Mark V. I'm not including the Mark II Armor Unleashed in the list because technically the suit was already featured in the first movie.

Hot Toys announced the Mark V sometime in December 2010 and after much, much much delay the figure is finally hitting the store shelves. Most collectors were wondering if this figure would ever make it out of the factory floor seeing as it's been almost a year but the wait, my fellow collector is worth it.

The packaging is similar to the other Ironman figures from the line. I was hoping Hot Toys would somehow make the box art interconnected with one another just like the Mark IV War Machine and Black Widow but alas that was not the case. No biggie tho, just thought it would be cool to arrange the boxes and make one big poster-like collage.

Out of the box the figure looks stunning. The details on the Mark V is astounding. Much love and dedication definitely went into the making of this one. The suit is beautifully replicated down to scale. First thing you'd notice is how scrawny the figure is. Technically this suit is suppose to be light in the plating department and was meant to be portable and having that in mind Tony Stark had to sacrifice a lot of armor to make the suit work the way it does (Whiplash's power whips cut through the armor like a hot knife through butter).

I like how John Favreau paid homage to the classic comic book series by having an updated version of the Ironman briefcase; where in the comics Tony would store his Ironman gear in a briefcase and when needed would quickly change into his superhero duds. They even included the suitcase as part of the accessories, along with the handcuffs. Also worth mentioning is the choice of color for this particular suit. The Silver Centurion armor color scheme was used for the Mark V notably a nod for the fanboys; even though the Mark VI was more like the Silver Centurion armor sans the color. Hey maybe I should photoshop the Mark VI. Hmmmmmm....

The articulation on this one is as good as you're gonna get it. It's far superior in terms of joint movements if you're comparing with the IV and the VI but don't expect the V to perform any contortions. It still has limitations, where the upper arm hits the chest plates. There's actually an instruction manual on how to position the arms during poses. Be careful when posing though, when done wrong you might chip the paint off.

Another thing I'd like to point out is the articulation on the lower body and the ribs. I can't seem to figure out how to outstretch the joints, much like how the IV and the VI could pull the joints apart for more articulation. I tried numerous times to do so but couldn't. Funny thing is the instruction manual actually shows you how to do it but I think I was too scared to risk pulling it and snapping my figure in two.

If only Hot Toys had thrown in a bruised and battered Tony Stark headsculpt in there that would have definitely made my day. I must say I am quite happy with this purchase. Noteworthy to the Ironman 2 line. Hats off to Hot Toys yet again for yet another masterpiece.

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