SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Review…Neo Zeon Mobile Suit MSN-06S Sinanju “Ver-Ka” (Titanium Finish)

July 21, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Of all of the Gundams we have reviewed, the Sinanju is the most impressive. In several ways. This Gundam has a “titanium finish,” basically vac-metal plastic. It makes it shine! Combine this effect with the size of the figure at Master Grade 1/100 scale and the many accessories and even an additional stand, and you have an incredible item. Above is the box. And longtime readers know that the SpartanNerd really likes his foil!

This item cost $140, and we purchased the stand for an additional $20. (The stand is usable with most if not all Gundams, but is detailed specifically for Sinanju Ver-Ka.) This is a special edition, with the vac-metal. The normal Ver-Ka would cost around $80.

The box is almost entirely in Japanese. As well as the instructions. This is commonplace for basically every Gundam we have built.

Above is the instructions for the decals and stickers. The SpartanTeen used the regular sticker decals, rather than the water-slide decals.

I am going to show the Gundam in pieces, sort of. There is so much here I had to “cull down” the amount of photos.

The head really shows the small details. The two “holes” on the side of the mask are meant to be vulcan cannons! You can see the vac-metal and the plain gray plastic. The crimson color goes well with the flat gray. There is an eye detail that can’t really be seen because of the size and impressiveness of the rest of the head.

Here is the backpack, showing all of its details in 3X faster mode. (The legs also have details for “3x faster mode.”) The backpack was the only truly “stupid problem.” The backpack WOULD NOT attach to the figure as it was supposed to. It works by a little slot mechanism that seemed to be obstructed by excessive plastic. We solved the problem with some super-glue. We checked other reviews of the figure, and found that ours seems to be an exception rather than the rule.

Here the Sinanju stands, unarmed, and without his backpack. It is very articulated. The fingers all move like human fingers. The arms move like a humans, the legs move like a humans. It is a “super-articulated” design. The shoulder armor and knee armor move to accommodate the most articulation.

The stickers are very much a foil item, and the Gundam doesn’t look right without those details. All of the gold pictured here is a reflection of the flash of my camera! That is how shiny it is!

The feet are on a rocker joint, and divided into toe and heel sections.

The cockpit opens, revealing Char Aznable inside. The cockpit is surrounded by yellow “psycho-frame” components. The Gundam came with two different pilots. One to stand beside on display, and one to stay in the cockpit. The SpartanTeen (nor the SpartanNerd) can paint the tiny details required….We would if we could. But that is a little out of our skill level at this point.

Here are most of the accessories. I say most, because, the Grenade Launcher/Shotgun wasn’t ready at the time of the review. Notice the “beam-effect” parts. These are interchangeable with the axe, and with the shield.

You can see, this opens up an incredible array of display options! The shield is very large and impressive. The SpartanTeen doesn’t prefer the axe. (This is more of a SpartanNerd thing. See He-Man!)

The beam saber isn’t a lightsaber at all. The beam effect is detailed and rippled, rather than being a straight lazer sword. It did come with two beam effects, we just wanted the readers to see the hilt disarmed as well as armed.

The gun has expandable options as well. The scope can move, and you can add parts from the shotgun/grenade launcher. (Not pictured.) Notable, the shield has a place to store the shotgun/grenade launcher.

Here is the Sinanju standing on his own. The backpack adds a lot of weight, causing some balance issue, but not much. Notable, it was easy not to have the legs snapped all the way in. They kept coming off until the SpartanTeen figured out how to fully snap them in. (Sorry, the lighting system took accidental damage, and so this picture and all the rest are using flash only

Here is the Sinanju holding the shield an on his custom stand. The stand is a separate item, and will be reviewed later. But the stand is the perfect way to display this incredible investment.

As we have done in the past, we are now going to give this Gundam a grade!

Here is our criteria, each item getting a score. We would like to say ahead of time, this Gundam is almost perfect!

Each item gets a score…

1 Too wrong

2 not right enough

3 could be better

4 pretty good, but…

5 perfect

Construction

Was it difficult considering the level it is supposed to be? 4

Stupid problems? 3 (cables around the legs, and backpack had to be glued.)

Instructions easy to read? 5

Diagrams clear? 5

Stickers? Paint 5

Articulation

stands easily? 5

moves without falling apart 5

posable/interchangeable hands 5

lots of articulation points 5

Dynamic poses 5

Accessories

Weapons 5

holds weapons/appropriate weapons 4 (some problem holding the gun and shields.)

Stand 5 (available as a separate item.)

expansions 5 (see above)

Weapon storage 5

playability

durable 4

photogenic 5

holds weapons? 5

Reasonable Facimile to media representation 5

Aesthetics 5 (that shiny plastic is incredible!)

Figure-specific features

morph/ transform/ change form 5

action feature 3

LED lights 1

Diarama 5

Pilot included? Does he fit in the cockpit or is he in scale or not. 5

To tabulate the score, we add up all of the values, and then come up with an average.

The SpartanTeen and SpartanNerd Gundam Evaluation Checklist says that the Sinanju receives a 4.92. So far the only Gundam coming in higher is Char’s Zaku II-S (2.0), which had a score of 5.2.

What do you think? Leave us some feedback in the comments!

SpartanNerd Project…Earl Norem Poses

July 20, 2015 by SpartanNerd

I had this crazy idea. Really more of a dream. I could get each person who is interviewed in the Masters of the Universe Art Book to sign their article. Or maybe a piece of art. I know it never would happen…I am not a well traveled person. But it was a fine thought.

But not soon after the book was published, one of the greatest artists of Masters of the Universe passed away. Earl Norem. I wrote my thoughts right here on the SpartanNerd Blog. (Link)

To help illustrate my love for Norem’s work, I thought I would attempt to emulate it with the incredible Masters of the Universe Classics figures. So here is my attempt at “The Sunbird Legacy.”

A few Caveats have to apply.

The figures have one expression. Some have alternate heads. But you still have a limitation.
The hair can be wrong.
Norem didn’t always paint the weapons the same way.
I don’t have the diorama piece. As this stuff becomes more available to me, I will see about photographing some of it.

I chose this picture because I thought it was one of the most do-able. My favorite is the one with He-Man on a lion and Skeletor leading an elephant army, with the space battle among the meteors a close second. But you’ll see.

I tried the Snake Armor He-Man head. But it doesn’t look as good as the original. In the picture, Skeletor’s sword is more of a scimitar. The closest I had available is Draego Man’s sword. The Havoc Staff is bigger than the one in the painting. This proves to be the biggest problem. I felt like the pose above was too…boring. Not capturing the motion of Norem’s work.

This photo is closer to Earl Norem. Still not perfect. It is really hard to get Skeletor to balance like this. If you look at the Norem at length…(as I have,) you can see that He-Man and Skeletor have very parallel hips. He-Man’s figure can’t quite stress his head back or hold his shield at quite the same angle, and still keep balance. (He-Man has weak ankles.)

The colors are pretty good. The white background is about as good as I could do. I applied a filter to mute it a little.

So, Hub City Geeks. What do you think about my new venture? Can you do better? Send me your pics, and let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd and SpartanKid Unboxing and Review…D-Arts Vile

July 15, 2015 by SpartanNerd

D-Arts Vile is the first villain for Mega-Man X that we have at the SpartanNerd household. How do I know he is a villain? Who’s name is “Vile?”

Vile comes in this nice window box. I am going to apologize up front about some of the pictures in this review. It seems my lights have gone out for the light box. Here is the item photographed on the kitchen table.

The box shows the figure nicely, and the side is similar to the other D-Arts figures we have opened.

The parts all come in this nice blister.

Here are some of the accessories.

You get alternate hands. Cannons for the back. Different barrel ends for the guns. Chain gun ammunition. Knee guns (not pictured), and What?? Some kind of beverage!

Not really sure how this works, since he doesn’t have a mouth…at least he doesn’t have an alternate face or removable helmet.

The SpartanKid thinks this during must be Coke. I think sweet tea, though. It is a detailed piece, with ice cubes. You can remove the contents to have an empty cup as well.

The figure has excellent articulation. He has movable wrists, elbows on a hinge, biceps swivels, ball jointed shoulders, a ball jointed head.articulated torso, moving waist, ball jointed hips, double jointed knees, and ball jointed feet.

Vile looks menacing with the double guns attached to his backpack. SpartanKid says that only rarely is Vile seen with both guns armed in the video games. (Maybe even never.)

The knee gun is an interesting feature. The SpartanNerd would like to say that it was very difficult to achieve. Mostly because the gold ring around the upper part of the figures boot doesn’t want to let go, and is necessary to put the knee gun on properly. In fact, it was highly frustrating, and will be rarely done.

Following are a few action poses versus other figures in the D-Arts line, so you can compare.

SpartanKid has a few statements to make about this figure…

“The guns are pretty detailed and an essential accessory for this figure, for he’s never seen without one of his precious cannons.”

“He looks pretty cool without the shoulder pads, because it appears as if he’s been fighting for awhile, and they got knocked off.”

“His feet are different, made for flying. I like that they made them different.”

“The blue backpack on his back were originally used for flight until he was upgraded with feet thrusters (Mega-Man X-3)”

SpartaNerd Rating of D-Arts “Vile” is 4/5. The figure is well articulated and beautifully painted and detailed. It comes with lots of accessories. However, there is a little problem with changing the knee guns.

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Review…Master Grade Zaku II MS-06S (Char’s Zaku II-S)

July 11, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Another Gundam Review and Rating by the New Types, SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen!

Here’s the box. As much Japanese as possible! This was ordered from Amazon, for $30-$40. (Memory is sketchy)

Here is the Gundam, fully assembled.

The SpartanNerd would like to go ahead and say, “I am very impressed with the solidness of the figure. It also has impressive articulation! This Gundam approaches my gold standard for action figures, Marvel Select Deadpool!”

Articulation? The fingers are each independent, and have three joints! When you turn the head, this eye moves with the head in an awesome robotic way. He has basically all of the articulation of a human! You can make virtually any pose with him.

For example, it was the SpartanTeen’s desire to give him this classic bazooka pose…

He does have a little trouble balancing. But no problem making this pose. And he is holding the pilot..”Char Aznable.”

He came with this classic piece of equipment for the pilot as well…an elevator stand for the pilot. Just so you know, there is another copy of the pilot in the cockpit.

He also comes with another gun, and this axe. Note that the flight stand was meant for a different gundam, but Zaku II S fits fine on it. The shield is removable, but he generally keeps it on! It has a hinge so that it is articulated as well.

The SpartanTeen would like to say a few things…

“It wasn’t hard to build. I am getting more used to building them, so that contributes.”

“He is a little bit “back heavy.” This contributes to some balance problems. For instance, he can’t stand on one foot like most other Master Grades I have built.”

“The Heathawk (axe) didn’t come painted in the correct color.”

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Rating…(We use this checklist)

Each item gets a score…
1 Too wrong
2 not right enough
3 could be better
4 pretty good, but…
5 perfect
There are five areas that we will score for our models… Construction, Articulation, Accessories, Playability, and Figure-Specific features. Each area has five criteria.
Construction
Was it difficult considering the level it is supposed to be? 5
Stupid problems? 5
Instructions easy to read? 5 (japanese Benefit of the doubt!)
Diagrams clear? 5
Stickers? Paint? 4 (water slide decals didn’t transfer completely. Wanted to tear. Good for battle damage!)
Articulation
stands easily? 5
moves without falling apart 5
posable/interchangeable hands 5
lots of articulation points 5
Dynamic poses 5
Accessories
Weapons 5
holds weapons/appropriate weapons 5
Stand 1
expansions 1
Weapon storage 3
playability
durable 5
photogenic 5
holds weapons? 4
Reasonalbe Facimile to media representation 5
Aesthetics
Figure-specific features 5
morph/ transform/ change form 1
action feature 5
LED lights 1
Diarama
Pilot included? Does he fit in the cockpit or is he in scale or not. 5 (Elevator stand!)

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Final Score for Gundam Zaku II-S is 5.2!

Let us know what you think in the comments!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…Magic the Gathering Modern Event Deck

July 9, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Nobody panic! The SpartanNerd purchased something he originally said he had no interest in!

But there is a story…

First of all, I didn’t pay $79.99.

I am going to take a moment to talk about how wonderful the folks at the Tangled Web Comics and Games are in Spartanburg, SC. I came to their store yesterday with two cards to trade, Inkmoth Nexus from the French Event Deck I recently purchased and reviewed. I won’t divulge the details of our trade. But these decent folks made sure I had a good deal. This was the last copy of the event deck they had, and I needed five of the cards in the deck. As well as I didn’t have the sword or the Elspeth.

The Tangled Web is just good, small business. They are forever nice. And reward their loyal customers. Daniel, Anna, Danny, and Josh, this is a shout out to you. Thanks for being so nice! I have visited a ton of different similar shops and gaming places, but The Tangled Web stands a head taller than everyone else.

I have done tons of reviews of event decks since I began the SpartanNerd blog. And I purchased all of them from the Tangled Web except for the French Event Deck. Links to some of my reviews are below.

M14 Event Deck

Theros Event Deck

Born of the Gods Event Deck

Journey Into Nyx Event Deck

Dark Ascension Event Deck (French)

So, back to the review!

This event deck starts off like any other. With some inspiring information of the back. This time what is different is the cover sleeve feels like an essential part of the packaging.

Removing the sleeve reveals this SICK box. It has foil detailing. I thought it might be a bait and switch kind of situation, like you might encounter in some Magic products, where there is some kind of cardboard spacer or something. Nope. This box is a solid two piece construction. I think I will get a lot of use out of this box!

The top slides right off, and this is what your see.

Notable…this deck comes with sleeves! The life counter features the Modern Event Deck Set Symbol on the #20.

This time you only have one piece of paper. Finally, reason prevails! No general guide to playing Magic. A person doesn’t just walk into a Modern tournament without a deck, never having played Magic before, and drop $50+ on a product they don’t even know how to play!

Here is the ever-important decklist.

I am going to go through the cards, with comments. I have been hesitant to purchase this product because I had so many of the cards anyway.

I had these cards already. The Tidehollow Sculler is similar to the Brain Maggot. He has stronger power and toughness, but at white and black in the cost, he is harder to cast. I recently encountered Soul Warden when playing against a deck called “Soul Sisters.” Basically, mostly female characters that amount to little advantages, as well as some “hate bears.”

Path To Exile…One of my main reasons to purchase this. I recently won a copy. I need them for my Esper Control Deck. (I will cover that deck later.)

Inquisition of Kozilek. Another big reason for me to purchase this deck. Basically a Thoughtsieze effect, with a restriction that the discarded card has CMC of three or less. Think how much better than Gitaxian Probe this is. Of course, that is a cantrip, but still, if you put this in your Rack deck, or Waste Not deck, then you didn’t have to pay the two life for Thoughtsieze as often for the same effect. And then you might know if it is worth Thoutsiezing.

Shrine to the Loyal Legions…the first true White Weenie card in this deck. The Soul Warden and the Tidehollow Sculler are the only real creatures in this deck. Everything else is spells that generate tokens.

Lingering Souls…a wildly fun card. I already had four copies, and made that the base for my Esper deck.

Honor of the Pure…an anthem effect. You could put the Spear of Heliod here for an even better effect, and with he added bonus of removal.

Intangible Virtue…this card was insane during the Innistrad block! One of the best cards I remember from when I started playing Magic.

Raise the Alarm…another chump token generator. Again, a card I didn’t really need.

Zealous Persecution…a great way to suddenly boost your white weenie army’s power, while at the same time weakening your opponents creatures.

Spectral Procession…I only had one copy of this card before. It is just right for this deck, which is really a white-based deck.

I didn’t have either of these cards. I like how this Elspeth has a lower mana cost than the more recent one. But she isn’t as good either. She’s still pretty good. She can suddenly pump one of your guys and give him flying.

The sword is broken. It always has been! I didn’t own this card either. The Sword and the Elspeth are a good portion of the value in this deck. Both cards are around $15 dollars apiece.

The lands…I already had four copies of Caves of Koilos. This is being reprinted yet again in Origins, so I don’t see that much value. I only had two copies of City of Brass, neither of which had as good of art as featured here. So that’s good! (I like City of Brass better than Mana Confluence. Mostly for flavor reasons.) I only had one Isolated Chapel, a buddy land. I had Vault of the Archangel, but I didn’t have Windbrisk Heights. That land is a great source of on-the-battlefield card advantage in this deck. Then there are five plains, all of the same art, and three swamps. Same art.

This deck, like all of the event decks I have reviewed, comes with a sideboard. The question is, what metagame is it addressing? Here are some ideas.

Dismember can take out indestructible things.

Kataki, War’s Wage is meant to slow down Tron and Affinity decks. Burrenton Forge Tender is meant to cost a burn player two cards. (if you play both copies.)

Relic of Progenitus will shut down Lingering Souls and Unburial Rites. It is also good against a mirror match, (concievable!)

And then Durress, a general thoughtsieze effect, but it can’t get creatures. Good against Planeswalkers, burn spells, etc.

For the first time ever, I get to review how a deck plays before ever playing it! I guess I’m a little late to the unboxing party! I have faced this deck a few times in tournaments, with occasional slight modifications.

The way this deck works is, “overrun your opponent.” Get lots of chump tokens on the field. Use the Lingering Souls to block flyers. Reach critical mass, get the sword on a flyer, and GG. The Soul Warden works against burn. The Intangible Virtue doubles the effectiveness of your creatures. And then the anthem effects are very strong.

The Elspeth is dangerous. Many times I have seen players substitute the newer Elspeth, Sun’s Champion. And it’s possible to slide in a large creature, usually an angel.

I have beaten this deck a few times…probably more than I have lost to it. It is weak against a turn one Thoughtsieze. It has no response to Blue…it hopes to move faster than blue. But you can easily remand these spells, and then prepare for them. The creatures don’t have haste…so you get a second to remove them. It becomes a race against green. Sometimes it can beat green with a larger number of creatures. And green doesn’t have too many flyers…

SpartanNerd Rating of the Magic the Gathering Modern Event Deck…

My colors are white and black. This deck is mostly a “White Weenie” strategy, but it is a pretty strong take on it. I don’t have many gripes about it in that respect.

The box is excellent. It came with sleeves and an exclusive spin down counter.

If I have any complaint, it is that there are no foil cards in this deck. I love me some foil. But this really isn’t enough to take a point off.

So I am going to give it a 5/5. It is the best event deck I have seen, except maybe the French thing.

Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments! And go by and visit the Tangled Web sometime!

SpartanNerd…Dual Deck Anthology Vacation matchups.

July 7, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The only Magic cards I took with me on my recent vacation was pre-constructed decks. I took the entire Duel Deck Anthology box, and stuffed it with loads of Commander, other duel decks, and the solitaire decks. The box was great for transporting my cards! (I removed the tray for the first time, and discovered a Serial Number!

I held two memorable Duel Deck matches with the SpartanKid, before our interest shifted to testing the French Dark Ascension deck I purchased.

Following is a record of what happened during those two matches!

Elves Vs. Liliana

The match was generally unfair at first. I was piloting Liliana, of course, and knew what I was up against. I kept a hand full of removal! I knew it would be important to keep as many elves from sticking to the board as possible. At around turn six, the SpartanKid wasn’t having any fun. He began saying,”This isn’t fair!” Deathgreeter ensured that I kept gaining life as creatures died. Lucky for him, I was out of removal. But I had Enslave ready because I knew eventually the SpartanKid would try for Allosaurus Rider, one of the Elf deck’s most insane cards, controlled by one of Liliana’s most broken cards!

True to form, he played that Allosaurus Rider, and then I hit it with Enslave. .

It was Lys Alana, Huntmaster that landed next, and I had no response. The game became very grindy, eventually getting lots of traction for the elf deck. That Allosaurus Rider went down to the Voice of the Woods token.

Down but not out, I cast Rise from the Grave, getting the Allosaurus Rider back, and even better than ever late in the game, with ten lands on the field!

But all of this effort was not removal. Imperious Perfect and Ambush Commander hit the battlefield, and the game was pretty much over. In fact, Liliana Vess was the final thing I cast. Too little, too late. It was GG. Elves took the victory! I was two turns away from Mutilate, which would have totally shifted the game back in Liliana’s favor.

Later, we would play Divine vs. Liliana.

It all seemed grim. The Angels were truly beating down Liliana’s deck. (Recently, when I read the fiction put on the Mothership Site, Liliana would remark that Angels were “goody two-shoes.”)

Then I drew Liliana, and used her to tutor up Mutilate in the face of Twilight Shepherd and Akroma. But Twilight Shepherd has that pesky persist ability, and also brings things back to the battlefield from the graveyard that died on the same turn.

And that was pretty much it. The Divine Deck truly is a casual masterpiece of destruction! Really, almost none of the decks can stand against them except for Jace and Chandra…Jace who controls and cancels and bounces angels, and chandra who burns everything except Akroma, (but it doesn’t matter, because it takes so long to cast Akroma. However, the life gain of the Divine deck can be frustrating against burn.)

(I posted a review of matches between Liliana and the Angels once before, and had different things to say…)

The Duel Deck Anthology has proven to be one of the greatest gifts for a Magic player. It was reasonably priced. Resaonably rare. Reasonably cool. And nicely archival. I hope the Wizards release more of these Anthologys in the future. I am a dedicated purchaser at this point!

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Monthly Archives: July 2015