Cooey's Toy Box

Here's a recent find in an obscure little toy shop -- 54mm hard plastic Star Wars figures! I managed to get 7 different figures in a hard, tan plastic. The sculpting is acceptable and the figures are free from mold lines. They are, however, studded with 2 or 3 plugs and mold holes. These can be easily cut from the figure and filled in with putty but I'm leaving them on until I decide to paint them. From top to bottom, left to right the figures are: Han Solo in Hoth gear; X-Wing pilot Luke Skywalker; Leia in Hoth gear; Bounty Hunters Dengar and Bossk the Trandoshan; 5D6-RA7 Imperial Espionage Droid; 21B Medical Droid A closer look at each figure next time:)

LEGO hits Middle-Earth! In anticipation of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit due for release this December, LEGO -- those darned purveyors of colored plastic bricks -- have come out with designs for the characters of the previous Lord of the Rings movies. Head on out to TheOneRing.net for the story and more pictures. Picture came from this site.

Here be another dragon! A friend recently gave me this dragon to add to my collection. It’s a multipart toy dubbed as a 4D Puzzle and manufactured by a Hong Kong based company called Fame Master.  More of a puzzle than a scale model kit, the dragon came in 26 parts inside an egg much like the Megabloks Dragons. The pieces are made from a sturdy plastic and came prepainted. All the parts snapped fit into each other quite well and I had a dragon model just a few minutes after opening the egg. And what a model it is! First of all, the sculpt is pretty amazing with loads of deep detail work. The texture of the skin looks really scaly and – dare I say it – pretty much what a self-respecting dragon would wear to maiden raids. The rough hide is contrasted well by the differently textured underbelly and the smooth wing membranes. The head features a set of frills that I normally do not prefer but the design makes it work.  More important though are the

While I'm waiting for some printad revisions, I whipped up a few quickies with some toy pics. Here's the two-gun toting MARS Heroes Noncom. Enjoy!

These guys are perfect NOT-SPARTAN Spartans. I really have to get more of these guys, seven should be a good team size. Check out the Halo Spartans of Black Team and notice the similarities in look.

Hello 2012! As I start sorting out the stuff I was blessed with this Christmas, let me start the 2012 entries with this little gem I found in a department store toy section. It's a line of articulated action figures made by HAP-P-KID Toy Group ( the link works but the site is still under construction) of Hong Kong. For an action figure that costs roughly around a dollar and fifty (around PHP 80.00) this toy rocks. Each figure is built up with around 13 ball and socket parts and are interchangeable with each other. No need to unscrew parts, pop open torsos with socks and pliers, etc. Details for each are top-rate with pretty nice design considerations as well as crisp details. Paint apps are clean and neat. And the poseability rocks! They kinda remind me of the magnetic microman line or the micronauts figures. Heck, these guys look better than some of the more expensive action figures out there. The line I saw consisted of three varieties with three types for each variety --