Iron Man Mark 7 (Hot Toys) and Captain America: Civil War

Greetings fellow Nerds and Geeks,

It has been too long. Way too Long since our last post! I hope everyone has been fairing well!

Unfortunately, Toyconstruct has been pretty inactive since 2015 and I guess it's because of the many things Me and Josh have been doing in our lives.

Regardless of the little time we have to do our hobby stuff, we never stop liking the things we do and collect and experience.

Today, I shall feature Hot Toy's Iron Man Mark 7 or Mark VII from the First Avenger Movie.

 Took me long enough to feature this Bad Boy in all its glory.

 The Intro to Tony getting into this armor while falling down from the Avenger Tower was most definitely kickass.

Not to Mention, the Mark 7 is the first of his set of armors to be highly packed with heap loads of weaponry.

Might I add on that I believe the Mark 7 has clocked the most kills. I possibly believe that it could be more than his Armor in Avengers: Age of Ultron Armor.

"The Fog of War" Shot

 Looking Badass

Back when Tony Stark could still smirk....

However, all the fun and games are gone when the dust of war settles. When the Avengers fought off the Chitauri, no one focused on the collateral. When S.H.I.E.L.D unraveled from within due to HYDRA infiltration, innocent lives were killed. When Sokovia dropped back to the ground, the inevitable casualties suffered were high. The World was grateful for the Avengers at that time but the ghost of the past had come back to haunt the team in present day.

And that is the setting up for Civil War. Due to the Avengers' actions taken to defeat their various enemies,  it has resulted in destruction and loss of lives with no accountability. As the Avengers' answer to no one, sentiments to them grew negative. A drafted "Sokovia" Accord was created in which it states that the Avengers must seek approval from the UN in order to be activated or take action.

The Captain's stand is that the Avengers' hands are the safest and that no one or no organization should prevent them from saving or attending the needs of humanity. He views organizations as politically driven and that such groups would only prevent the Avengers' from being an effective team that they are.

Iron Man's stand on this matter is that there is no one to regulate the actions of the Avengers. Till now, there has been zero accountability on the actions of the group. His concern is that if the Avengers' continue to have free reign, negative sentiments will grow stronger. Ultimately leading to the demise of the team and no one to protect the earth.

Now that the premise has been set, I must say that the show is worth its weight in gold. It delivers more than Avengers: Age of Ultron. With the only bit of the basic plot and structure of the Marvel Comic Book Civil War, this movie turned out to be quite a screamer of a show. It delivered all the usual good things that a Marvel Film should have without going off tangent on the cusp of the story. It was a brilliant direction taken by Joe and Anthony Russo given that they had to make the Marvel Civil War Comic translate into film with constraints of only being able to utilize Heroes from Avengers and Spiderman.(No X-Men or Fantastic Four characters involved due to Separate Film Rights)

So much so that it washes over the bitterness of how Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice turned out to be. I am particularly impress at the way the rivalry and grudge between Iron Man and Captain America escalated. Both had good intentions but different views on the way things should work. All in all, the movie deserved its 88 percent Meta Critic Rating.

And without giving anything away, I must say that the movie definitely gave the Marvel fans what they expect to come out on various characters and what they can do.

This Film definitely highlights out how great Marvel and Disney have been getting it done for over the course of 8 over years. It also highlights how disappointing Batman v Superman was in story line and setting up of their DC universe.

The tragedy of DC is that while I am a Marvel Fan, DC has always had the better stories and more complex nature to Graphic Novel Story Telling. Unfortunately, DC has the misfortune of choosing a Director that really did not translate the story line of Frank Miller's Batman v Superman into film screen well enough.

The only biggest hits DC had in recent history would be Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy and a great visual representation and story direction on Man of Steel by Zack Snyder.

However, I got to repeat myself and say that Zack royally screwed this Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film.

Nevertheless, Enjoy Marvel's Captain America: Civil War and more to come from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Till our next showcase of our collection,

Cheerios!

 

Good Day 2015! Avengers (Hot Toys) Assemble!

Wow, Time has eluded us big time for the year 2015, but with so many big things happening or going to happen for Nerds all over, you can't help that we are entranced by things to come.

From Game of Thrones Season 5, House of Cards Season 3, Daredevil to the Epic Release of The Avengers 2 and the recent Trailer of Star Wars: The Force Reawaken, it is yet another great year to geek and nerd out.

So how appropriate it would be for Toyconstruct to start this year by featuring my Avengers Assembled on the release day of The Avengers: Age of Ultron!

Enough said! Let the Pictures do the talking!

 It's time for the Avengers to Assemble!

 The Hammer and the Spider

 Stark on Point

 Face off

 Strength, Intelligence and Agility in one frame

 The Leader

 The Heroes' Sacrifice

And there you have it! As some of you may know, I have not done a featurette on the Hulk, Iron Man Mk VII and Hawkeye. But I will be sure to show them soon enough! And many more from my Hot Toys' Stash to come!

For more photoes on My Hot Toy Avengers, you can check them out on our Facebook page here.

Stay tune for more posts, more reviews and a new shake up on our page and more! 

Be sure to watch The Avengers: Age of Ultron!

Finn the Human from Adventure Time

Hi all,

We are back again!

Today, we shall be featuring the main dude, Finn the Human from Adventure Time!

Finn had been abandon in the woods during his infancy and was rescued by Jake's Parents. Finn was raised alongside with Jake, his adopted brother which made their friendship and bromance grow to what you see in every episode.

Time to get some adventure going!

Prepared to meet your doom with my Sword!

As one of the only Humans left in the land of Ooo, Finn is the resident adventurer and main hero of the story. And at the age of 14 now, he showcases his youth through his funny and entertaining child like behavior. Finn is also righteous, brave and has a strong sense of responsibility to help his friends. As such, he also acts as the moral sheriff for the Candy Kingdom.

What are you doing, Jake?

Nap Time with Beemo.

What draws me into watching the Adventure Time show is Finn's relationship with the people around him. From the bromance he has with Jake, to his interaction with Beemo and his relationship with girls, there is something about him that I can connect very well with.

It's ADVENTURE TIME!

Just chilling at the bottom of the tree house

I know that the cartoon demographic is for kids but there is so much of Finn that I see in myself and I can't help but realize that a lot of his wanderlust, curiosity, sense of adventure, goodness and friendships that he has forge are very much similar to my experiences in life. His perspective on things are also close to how I view things in life.

There are hardly a lot of mainstream cartoon that are really awesome nowadays. Gone are the 90's era of action heroes and off beat but cool boyish animation series. Adventure Time is what makes me feel like a kid again.

Are there any of you guys out there who can really associate to any Cartoon Character in the way I do with Finn?

Do share!

On other matters,  there is just 3 more days before we announce the giveaway. Be sure to follow our blog and comment on the Giveaway post.

Till then, stay tune!!!

Cheers!

BMO (Beemo) from Adventure Time

Greetings fellow friends!

The weekend is around the corner and if there is one place I wanna go to on a weekend, it would be the Land of Ooo from Adventure Time which brings me to today's feature, BMO!

Offline Mode in his package

BMO is the trusted, loyal and helpful friend of the two main characters, Jake and Finn in Adventure Time. 

"Football, I will teach you all the things there is to be a real boy"

This cute little fellow has its weird quirks. While the main plot focuses on the main characters, you can't help but be curious as to how BMO sees the world and what it does while Jake and Finn are off adventuring. There are a few episodes which focus on the half-Macintosh half-Game Boy Color Robot which are just as entertaining as the other Adventure Time episodes.

BMO Chills

Aside from helping Jake and Finn with the household chores, BMO also serves as Finn and Jake's Video Game console.

 BMO isn't too happy with falling down

While BMO is a Robot, it does show many signs of emotion and has great feelings of care and love to Finn and Jake. It also has a great imagination and has its own adventures within and outside of the treefort.

BMO and the Tree Fort

While it has taken me quite some time to feature stuff from Adventure Time, I have been into the Cartoon Series since the start of 2012. The Adventure Time Story created by Pendleton Ward is definitely an animation series that has reignite my days of loving action cartoons from the 90s. While it has a very different feel and touch to the action cartoons of yester years, there's a nice combination of zaniness, childish fun and a subtle maturity in plot that really gets to me. There is a faint semblance of the Never-ending Story in Adventure Time that draws me but it is but one of the many factors that makes this show so awesome. I do not know how to explain this but this show connects to me more than the modern action cartoons that I see on Cartoon Network. And while Marvel still produces pretty neat cartoon series and animation, Adventure Time is one of its kind in our post millennium era of cartoons.

For those who like Adventure Time, Pray tell what draws you to this show.

Till then,

Stay tune as there will be more Adventure Time Stuff and more Toyconstruct Posts!

Batman (Arkham Version by Square Enix)

Hi all,

It is interesting to know that the infamous caped crusader has turn 75 this month. Batman who was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger has been around more years than any of the Marvel Avenger.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that I will be featuring one of the many version of Batman across these many years. One of the most coolest Batman in video games has to be Batman from the Arkham series of games.

Fight Mode Activated.

With just the right element of puzzle solving as a detective, the cool gadgets used as Batman and the fight sequence, it makes for a really awesome game. I really do like the fight system in the Arkham series as illustrated in the below video on combat tactics. It really does showcase Batman as a Martial Art Specialist Extraordinaire.

 

"Batman: Arkham City" - Combat Tactics by MahaloVideoGames

 

The Dark Knight

One Thing that rings through to the Modern Persona of the Batman is that there is much emphasis on the grit and fear of his symbolism to criminals. Batman isn't the super wholesome hero like many other heroes that we know of. He is the night, he is terror. And like Melisandre would say in Game of Thrones, "The Night is Dark and Full of Terror." This terror is enhanced by the criminal's own guilt conscience.

Batman and his iconic Batarang.

It is this mix of terror and vigilant justice that has made Batman such an icon today. In fact, the re-imaging of him to be mold from these two factors that made him grittier and so much more appealing today. From Tim Burton's Batman to the Dark Knight series by Christopher Nolan, the Batman story in the movies had also focus on these characteristics to be a hit success on screen.

The Dark Night watches over the City

In retrospect of the Batman Legacy, The Caped Crusader is somewhat of a Modern Time Zorro. Perhaps much of the inspiration of Batman could be derived from that classic vigilante. On the topic of the Bats, I am sure many of you are aware that Zack Snyder has picked Ben Affleck to be the new face of Batman. Many of the fans are not too please with the pick and are quite concern that Ben would not be able to pull it off due to his less than exceptional portrayal of Daredevil. There are also some concerns that he just isn't the right fit to be the Bats. And with Christian Bale's exceptional performance as Batman, the shoes he has to fill in place of the previous Dark Knight are quite big.

Nevertheless, I feel we must give the new Batman a chance. I too was quite adverse to Zack's pic of Ben. And I was quick to judge. But I think many were also quick to judge Heath Ledger as the Joker before the Dark Knight movie came out. I would be thoroughly impress if Ben can change our opinions and pull off this role well. What say you guys? Do you think Ben can do well? He was impressive in Argo. Perhaps that can count to him being able to pull this role off? Let us in on your thoughts!

The Face of Vigilance

Onto the Action Figure review, Square Enix has done an awesome job in making Batman: Arkham's Asylum Action Figure. The famous video game developer, publisher and distribution company also has a knacked for creating really exceptional quality action figures (e.g Halo and Mass Effect) and they really nailed it on this figure too.  After completing the Arkham Asylum game, I was really impress and captivated at the whole gameplay and the game persona in Batman. As such, I decided to source out and get the DC Direct Batman Figure. Quite honestly, the figure look pretty good too. 

However, Josh found out about Square Enix version of the Arkham's Batman and recommended it to me. Consequently, I was impressed at the articulation and quality of the work. DC Directs Figure of the same game paled in comparison.

I have more pictures of the Dark Knight here on our Facebook Page. Do let us know if DC Direct can compare with Square Enix the Dark Knight.

Till next time, Happy 75th Anniversary to Batman!!

Yukishiro Tomoe

Hi all again,

Much Posts this month?

Today, I shall be featuring Yukishiro Tomoe from Samurai X. As a fan of the TV Series, Manga and Live Action Movie, Yukishiro Tomoe must be a familiar character to all. Tomoe plays a major role in the Manga's Final Arc and is also a critical role in the Samurai X OVA.

Soft Spoken and Demure. Such is Tomoe's Persona.

Born to a Samurai who was a low level bureaucrat that served the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tomoe was the eldest daughter of the family. She had one younger sibling, Enishi, who doted on her and treated her like a surrogate parent due to the death of their mum shortly after Enishi was born. Enishi would later play a critical role in the Final Samurai X OVA, Seisohen.

Tomoe side glances

Her story and how it collides to Kenshin is one that adds great gravitas to Kenshin's philosophy of not killing anymore. As the main lady in his life during his Battousai days, the relationship he had with her was one of great complication.

Sometimes, I feel that it is the sense of irony in a story that makes a story so great. In the case of Tomoe and Kenshin, the latter assasinated the former's fiancee in cold blood due to his duty to his superiors who were people that were part of the Meiji Government. Before dealing the death stroke to Tomoe's fiancee, Kenshin was cut across his cheek for the first time in his career as an assassin. It was the fiancee refusal to let go of his life in hope that he could live it with Tomoe and his resolve that enable him to inflict a cut on Kenshin. A cut which would never heal or stop bleeding. Little known to Kenshin, Tomoe who was stricken with grief for her fiancee was sent to him as part of a plot to assassinate him as repercussion to the blood that he has spilled from the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Simple Kimono in front of a Flower Background. A perfect combination of Floral and Beauty

During the time that she lived with him, it is interesting to know that she began to have feelings for Kenshin and the unlikely love blossoms into something so deep and profound between the two. In the manga, it was clear that Kenshin asked for her hand in marriage in which Tomoe accepted. The relationship between the two lovers grew. Eventually, she admits to him of her purpose of being with Kenshin. And yet all is forgiven by him. In spite of the truth, their feelings for each other were mutual.

But such beauty could not last, Tomoe discovers that she was but a pawn in the entire plot to assassinate Kenshin. She was then used as bait to lure Kenshin into a series of ambush. Ultimately facing Tomoe's father who would have dealt the final blow to the Battousai. However, in a horrific twist of fate, Tomoe protects Kenshin from the father's blow and Kenshin accidentally cut her and the father down.  The tragedy ends of with Tomoe placing another slash over his existing cut to form an "X" which sets precedence to the entire manga/anime being known as Samurai X.

Ah, Tragic Love are but the greatest romance. The Toy Com Samurai X Action Figure of Tomoe truly showcases her getup and features. I really love the accurate detailing of the figure according to how she was illustrated in the OVA. Demure and Soft Spoken, there is a sense of calm that is accurately shown on the face of this figure. And yet there is a sadness in her eyes that the figure accurately portrays of her as she was in the OVA.

Hope all you guys enjoy these figure. Let me know your comments. More Pics of Tomoe in our Facebook page here.

Till next time! Take care!

I love the '80s: Masterpiece Soundwave

Hey Everyone

I apologize that I have been MIA for quite awhile due to medical school, boards are coming and have taken up a lot of my life lately. Classes have ended for me and I have more time to dedicate this blog to you all :) but I still have the boards coming up. Life hands you lemons, you make margaritas. Don't stop at lemonades.

Today, we would be featuring an icon from a decade that holds dear to us - the '80s. That was possibly a decade best remembered by cheesiness, such as hover-skateboards, neon colored clothes, yuppy culture...but it also saw a ton of creative output. Movies were more imaginative than today, such as the Terminator, Mad Max, Robocop, Blade Runner, and Back to the Future. It was also the Bronze Age of comics and darker and grittier storylines made an immense literary impact on still felt today, with classics such as the Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.

And one thing most of us remember very well of the 80's: Transformers, and G1 stands out as the most awesome series, for me at least. The most cynical of us would remark that Transformers is nothing more than a sly corporate maneuver to get us buying hordes of transforming plastic toys. However, it cannot be disputed how Transformers has grown to become one of the biggest cultural phenomena in the modern world. It has spawned motion pictures, cartoon seasons, comic lines, video games, and an extremely loyal fanbase. You can't deny that transforming toys have a certain coolness to them, and one would be hard-pressed to find someone in today's world who hasn't hard of Transformers.

Soundwave: Decepticon icon in his G1 glory.

I have a soft spot for the Decepticons (even though they desire the subjugation of Humankind), and always wanted to get my hands on a Decepticon Takara Masterpiece. On a recent trip to Hong Kong, I was able to pick up MP-13 Soundwave (2nd wave) for a pretty good price. I was actually visiting the Hot Toys "Secret Base" exhibit (which will be featured in another post), and in the same building there's a ton of small toy shops that sell collectibles at competitive prices. If you're there, I strongly recommend knowing what you want to get, and visit a few shops to see their prices.

Soundwave is the stereotypical 80's Transformer who has appeared frequently as the Communications Officer of the Decepticons. You can't get anymore 80's than a robot that transforms into a microcassette recorder, and talks in a computerized monotone voice. JQ and I agree on one thing about Soundwave: he's one of the coolest Transformers out there.

Soundwave's flexibility allows him to even depress his own open/close switch.

Hasbro and Takara produce their own lines of Soundwave masterpieces, and the main difference lies in the color of the eyes. Hasbro's has yellow while Takara's has red. The other noticeable difference is the inside of Soundwave's foot: it's painted in Takara but unpainted in Hasbro's. Also, Takara's instructions are wholly in Japanese, and they probably have a stronger brandname (and higher markup) that translates to bragging rights. I've not been able to compare the 2 together, but I've heard the quality difference is minimal. The kicker lies in his minions: Takara's only has Laserbeak, but Hasbro's has the whole gang for a cheaper cost.

Laserbeak ready for deployment!

As expected, Takara delivers with Soundwave's paint job. The colors are spot on and the application is very neat. There were minor details that could have used a better paint application (the chrome on the fast forward button is not even), and yes we have to admit that most of our toys come from China. This may explain why the quality difference in Hasbro and Takara is negligible, and toy manufacturing quality (probably with some Japanese supervision) has greatly improved to give us quality Masterpieces.

Soundwave comes with a few accessories:

1) Laserbeak (or Condor in Japanese parlance)
2) Megatron as a Walter P-38 scoped with a extended butt
3) An energon cube
4) A viewscreen (for over the chest)
5) Concussion blaster (that doubles as an AA battery)
6) A sensor to replace one of his fists
7) A slipcase for Laserbeak in cassette mode

The instruction manual comes with a cut out for Soundwave's viewscreen, but fans have scanned high quality versions of it so that you won't have to cut your actual manual for the cut out.

Soundwave with his concussion blaster at the ready.

Sounwave's spy sensor, would be mistaken for a plasma blaster cannon if I was a kid.

Transforming Soundwave did take awhile due to our lack of Japanese, and posing him was surprisingly easy given his blocky G1 form. Soundwave also comes with additional "Easter Egg" functions that add personality to him. The fast forward/rewind buttons do spring when pushed on (but not the other buttons), and the earphone jack fits actual earphones.

In all, JQ and I had fun playing around with Soundwave, his innate coolness and good pose-ability makes him a worthwhile Transformer to collect. The 2nd wave is still widely available, and would fetch around 130-150USD. It's pretty obvious that the Masterpiece line is targeted to those who have lived in the 80's, and they did deliver to our expectations for quality and fun.

Here's some photos in the end JQ and I did for fun, and thanks for your continued readership! It means a lot to the both of us. Cheers!

PS: Here's a personality test on "Which Transformer are you?." Perhaps it's fitting for this post that I got Soundwave!

Soundwave and Ravage (note this Ravage is a separate toy and not to scale).

Decepticons may be evil, but Soundwave enjoys the steadfast loyalty of his minions.

JQ and I having fun with the almost functional earphone jack.

Ravage and Soundwave, making retro cool since G1.