SpartanNerd…Catching Up…

July 4, 2022 by spartannerd

Has it really been three years since I posted anything?

This means that throughout Corona…throughout the last several MTG releases…Throughout the ending of MOTUC and the new Masters of the Universe lines that have come out. I have written zilch.

Well, it isn’t because I stopped being nerdy. Believe it or not, online teaching and also attending classes took all of my energy out for this project.

So here’s a few new things that have happened.

Masters of the Universe.– As the Classics line ended, I began to realize I just didn’t have enough space anymore. MOTUC items are pretty large. And I got lots of joy especially from my He-Man and Battlecat and also Skeletor and Panthor. But also the Griffin was one of my favorites. Vikor. But some of the others…I decided I could part with them. And then I decided when I saw the price I could fetch to go ahead and sell my core items. All I have left is Vikor and my custom Battleground Teela. I sold it all in May 2020. For $600. I use that money to re-invest in MOTU Mega Construx. I have the Castle Grayskull and basically every item they have released in that line. A downsize in square footage, it is easier to get these just by walking into a store. There are other advantages.

*Sorry about the backdrop-less pic. This is a very large item. Kitchen table will have to do.*

I decided early on that the MOTU Origins figures look too crappy…I don’t like the colors. And the Masterverse figures on first reveal, I thought “That He-Man looks “gutsy.” Meaning, the way the belt is that pale color yellow, it blends in too well with He-Man’s skin color on his belly. It looks like he has a gut. The other figures, the one that came out with the new CGI Anime line, do not appeal to me at all. I hear fans (Scott Neitlich) accepting what is going on apologetically, that this line is meant to appeal to the kids. But kids just don’t watch the cartoons anymore. Trust me. I know. Middle school teacher. So they are messing around with beloved source material and creating something “corrupt.”

I have picked up some of the MOTU Minis, and the Hot Wheels.

Magic the Gathering- For something that took up so much of my life and my children’s time, this has become a much rarer treat. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns, there haven’t been as many tournaments. We pretty much decided that SpellTable pretty much stinks. Arena isn’t a strong alternative. Now some tournaments have returned, but we have to drive a long way to get to them. Mostly these are Commander League events. And we haven’t really paid into the leagues on account we can’t reliably attend. Just the same, we have played EDH some. But the thrill of the old Modern tournaments is gone. I have done a few drafts and sealed. But it is doubtful that we will go and draft Double Masters II this weekend. That is $50 or more. To play maybe three rounds. Which I will have to drive a distance to get to … meaning I can’t stay out late in my old age driving home sleepy.

Oh yes…Secret Lair. At first I bought it all. I bought the super bundle…the one with the cats and the goblins. The Walking Dead. After awhile, I realized that this isn’t sustainable for me. They have churned out so many Secret Lairs, each with an enticing value usually, but then if you start adding all that up, you better be rich if you are a completist. I figure the Wizards/Hasbro weren’t achieving their bread and butter anymore on packs because people stopped playing. And Commander is so popular, but you can play virtually any cards you can find competitively even, that they had to capitalize on that crowd the best they could by dangling lots of shiny, pretty, artsy, and seemingly charitable carrots in front of them. So I certainly had to start pacing myself on this one. The last one I got was the Dracula one. I got my kid the pixel art lands. These things…they take forever to arrive. All the shipping delays and production delays that have plagued the past couple of years…Which brings me to the next big one.

Playstation 5. I got the money together for this…in fact some of the money from my MOTUC collection, plus some gifts, etc. I had the funds in hand right before Christmas 2020. And went to buy it, only to find…THERE WERE NONE. ANYWHERE. When did I finally get mine? OCTOBER 2021. Used! I am grateful…it has performed like a champ! You wouldn’t know. It didn’t come with a proper stand, so I had to get a third party one, which was supposed to charge the controllers and add extra fan-power. But none of that seems to be working. Still, it stands very well. The best two games for me have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Gran Tourismo. But I have lots more games. Spider-Man, Terraria, Mortal Kombat. I paid for the streaming services, but haven’t hardly used them…which brings me to

DISNEY+. Since this launched, I bundled with HULU (Which I already watched) and this has been what I have watched on TV. I have hung on to NetFlix for Stranger Things and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. (More on that on a different day.). The Mandalorian has been a terrific show! Obi Wan was pretty good. The Book of Boba Fett might as well have been season 3 of the Mandalorian. I haven’t watched anything else much on the service, though.

Comics- I have moved back into collecting these. I picked up IDW’s “Best of” TMNT books. I am looking to get a frame to display them in.

I have been collecting all of the IDW Transformers books…this was actually how I got back into collecting comics. IDW decided to reboot the franchise, and I felt it was a good “jumping in” place. Highlights of this have been “Shattered Glass” and “King Grimlock.” The main story kind of meandered a little bit. I was introduced to a bunch of characters I didn’t know or had forgotten. I also got into “Beast Wars”… which was admittedly NOT MY CARTOON. Unfortunately, IDW passed on the license, and all of these stories have come to a wrap up, which has seemed very rushed. But my love of getting the covers and important/valuable books has become rooted again. I collected up all of the “Batman/Catwoman” story, got back into Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. But I have dropped DC for the most part. In fact, almost everything they have been publishing in any form is tripe that panders to anyone except the classic fan. I thought “The Batman” was a much slower slog than it needed to be. My next problem is the amount of room this hobby is taking up…

Gundam- I built my first Master Grade…EW EPYON. I am still applying decals. But this has been a terrific project! I eill post pictures when I finish.

It is good to be coming back to the blogosphere…an I hope to have a review tomorrow!

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 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 and SpartanTeen Review…Gundam Heavyarms XXXG-01H (Model)

June 5, 2015 by spartannerd

(SpartanTeen is commenting on the model, while the SpartanNerd is taking pictures.)

Heavy arms whole body is a weapon.

Lots of details need paint, so the details will pop.

I messed up at first, and decided to trick it out with battle damage.

Painting the joints makes them easy to come apart at the chest doors for the Vulcan cannons.

The hands are a pain. The interchangeable hands make it easy for Heavyarms to drop his gun.

Why didn’t the beam saber come with a blade?

The chain ammunition comes apart easily, and the bullets go everywhere.

It is very sturdy, and probably could survive three foot falls.

This is my favorite model so far.

SpartanNerd/SpartanTeen Gundam Evaluation Checklist

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? 5

Stupid problems? 2

Instructions easy to read? 1

Diagrams clear? 5

Stickers? Paint 5

Articulation

stands easily? 5

moves without falling apart 5

posable/interchangeable hands 2

lots of articulation points 5

Dynamic poses 5

Accessories

Weapons 4

holds weapons/appropriate weapons 4

Stand 1

expansions 1

Weapon storage 4

playability

durable 5

photogenic 5

holds weapons? 5

Reasonalbe Facimile to media representation 5

Aesthetics 5

Figure specific features

morph/ transform/ change form 5

action feature 1

LED lights 1

Diarama 1

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

SpartanNerd/SpartanTeen rate Master Grade Heavyarms XXXG-01H 3.68 out of 5.

(More pictures following.)

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen…Evaluating Gundams

May 6, 2015 by spartannerd

Just for you, Hub City Geeks, the SpartanNerd and the SpartanTeen have teamed up! Together we created a checklist for evaluating Gundam models!

For now, we are only evaluating Master Grade and higher… We may adjust the checklist in the future.

So without further ceremony, here is our checklist. You can see the checklist in action if you click here

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?

Stupid problems?

Instructions easy to read?

Diagrams clear?

Stickers? Paint

Articulation

stands easily?

moves without falling apart

posable/interchangeable hands

lots of articulation points

Dynamic poses

Accessories

Weapons

holds weapons/appropriate weapons

Stand

expansions

Weapon storage

playability

durable

photogenic

holds weapons?

Reasonalbe Facimile to media representation

Aesthetics

Figure-specific features

morph/ transform/ change form

action feature

LED lights

Diarama

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

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

SpartanNerd…Thoughts on Master Grade Unicorn Gundam

April 12, 2015 by spartannerd

I have personally build about a dozen Gundams. It has been a few years since I did one…I am only really interested in Gundam Wing. However, there is renewed interest among the Spartan-children for Gundams. The most recent Gundam completed is Unicorn Gundam. I am not going to offer a review, because I did not build the model myself, however, I have some statements from the SpartanTeen. Following his statements, I have lots of photos!

“The Unicorn Gundam falls apart easily, unfortunately, especially in destroy mode.”

“It dwarfs Master Grade Heavyarms,”

“Black Light renders the pink details as orange light.” (The SpartanWife says it’s coral.)

“It takes thirty minutes to an hour to transform into destroy mode. It takes less time to return it to Unicorn mode”

“Gundam Unicorn cannot hold his bazooka very good.”