Spectre's Realm of Mystery

Under Revision!

2009-10-11T06:21:00.001-04:00

I am making changes to this blog, so please come back and check often to see what's new.

Thank you

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T00:23:00.011-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile because I have just been too busy with things but will get back into doing updates more regularly in 2009.

But I thought I'd share some of the things that get put out in my house for Christmas. Mind you a few things were not put out because of not wanting to crowd things too much.

First my sideboard in the kitchen:

It has as its center a snow village made up of houses my sister use to use in her "N" scale train setup for Christmas. I have to the left a porcelin nativity scene that I collected from Hallmark and to the right a light up Charlie Brown Christmas scene (my wife loves Snoopy!).

Next the living room. I cleared off the bookcase and filled the three shelves. The top shelf is filled with a collection of Santa Claus's from various years. These were gotten when I lived in Conneticut from that old store Bradlees. There are over 30 of them. They still have the original boxes.

The next shelf is out Nativity scene. Most of these figures we have had for years. I replaced the manger a couple of years ago because the original one had gotten too old. The funny thing is that now we have three baby Jesus's. Last year we could not find our original one anywhere so I went out to look for one and found out that the only way you can get one is to by a whole set. Well finally I found one. Meanwhile my mother had talked to my sister and she sent us one from Texas. Then after hristmas when we were putting stuff away we found the original one. So I named them Moe, Larry and Curly. The palm trees are something I added this year. Always trying to add things.

The bottom shelf is my Santa shelf. The centerpiece is a great Santa's Sleigh with reindeer that I got from Hallmark years ago. Surrounding this are a whole lot of elves doing elvish things. I got them from Acme supermarket years ago. There is even a stable for the reindeer that lights up. The two big statues are by an excellent artist named Lena Liu and are called Nature's Santa and Mrs. Claus. I got them from the Danbury MintShe does some nice work. I have 4 Chinese Princess statues done in porcelin by her.

Next is a drum table in the corner which my mother puts a bunch of odds and ends of figures and stuff. he interesting thing is the little plastic tree in the left. That tree she inherited from her mother and has to be at least 80 years old.

Next are a bunch of singing Snowmen from Hallmark that I have scattered around the room. I have everyone that has come out. You'll notice other Snowmen scattered around too. There are also a bunch of stuffed toys along the top of one couch which I've gotten over the years. A lot from those machines with the claws in the employee cafeteria (until they took them out).

Finally the Christmas tree and yes it has a slight tilt that I discovered after it was decorated and pushed into its corner. I said I was not going to crawl around under it anymore for a little tilt! Its a little smaller this year so a lot of my Hallmark ornaments like all my Star Trek star ships are not on it. But all my planes from the Hallmark series are there, all 12 years of them. Every time I put one up I think of my father. He use to spend hours getting all the lights ready then starting from the center of the tree worked outward. Of course he never really got started until Christmas Eve.

So I hope you enjoy this little look at what my wife calls "Christmas House".

Spec

Some Of The Original Battlestar Galactica Crew Visit The Realm

2008-07-01T02:53:00.014-04:00

I was perusing some online toy stores and came upon this great deal from the Amok Time site. Commander Adama, Captain Apollo, and Lieutenant Starbuck 12" figures for a price of $60 for all three. I liked what I saw and ordered them. These were made by Majestic Studios.

They each come with a communication unit and Apollo and Starbuck come with their helmets and laser pistols. They also have multiple points of articulation and can be pretty much posed anyway you would like. And Starbuck comes with an extra right arm holding his trademark cigar.

I was surprised how nice they are and how close the likeness to the actors the sculpts are, especially Adama's.

I understand that in the coming months there are going to br figures of Colonel Tigh, Lieutenant Boomer, Athena, Commander Cain and a gold Cylon and a Silver Cylon and Lucifer.

All that would be needed to make me happy are figures of Count Baltar, Serina, Medtech Cassiopeia, Lieutenant Sheba, and the Imperious Leader.

I was never too keen on Boxey or the Daggit.

Commander Adama

I said earlier this is a nice version of Lorne Green as Commander Adama. He comes with a communicator and his cape is removable. The material used in the outfit is like a velour and is very nice. The box is nicely done with some good information on it.

The Box

The Figure

CAPTAIN APOLLO

Captain Apollo comes with his flight helmet, laser pistol and communicator unit. His jacket is removable and the material once again has a velour type feel to it. He does bear a resemblance to a young Richard Hatch.

The Box

The Figure

LIEUTENANT STARBUCK

Starbuck comes with his flight helmet, laser pistol and communications unit just like Apollo but he has an added part, a right arm (from the elbow down) which holds his trademark cigar in its hand. I think this is a nice touch. He is also fully articulated like the other two figures in this collection. And also has a removable jacket and velour like material. He does bear a resemblance to a young Dirk Benedict but should have had a more cynical look on his face as did the character in the show.

The Box

The Figure

Some Group Shots

Apollo and Adama

Apollo and Starbuck

Spec

Oh No! Zanti Misfit Attacks The Realm

2008-06-24T01:25:00.002-04:00

This was my favorite episode of the original Outer Limits series from 1963. It starts out with a group of airmen awaiting the arrival of a spaceship from the planet Zanti containing a bunch of their criminals. A con man and his girl crash into the landing area just as the ship lands and after the guard (The Regent) gets killed by a human and having all the criminals escape and get killed by the airman you find out that even though they threaten earth with destrution if they interfered with the landing they hoped we would killed them because they are unable to kill their own kind and we are "practiced executioners" and would kill them because they were different from us.

Well a few years ago Sideshow Toys produced a set of two figures from the show The Regent and a prisoner. These were full size (1:1) with rooted hair and nice articulation. Being a fool I didn't get an order in on time and missed my chance. Well now I got one - The Regeant. The box is banged up but I am more interested in the contents.

So here he is The Regent.

THE BOX

As you can see it is a little battered but it has nice pictures of the zanti and a very nice description on the inner flap of the episode.

THE REGENT

He is a very nice figure about a foot long and 6 inches high. The head is ball mounter as is the tail and legs. The antenna rotate from side to side. The expression on the face is dead on from the tv episode. The thing I like is that they didn't over do the articulation. The legs move just enough so you can pose him but not have him sag from the weight. He is a rotocast figure.

As a scale I have one of the Mouse Guard figures defending the house from him.

Spec

Showcase Series One - Superman, Batgirl and Jonah Hex

2008-06-19T15:32:00.003-04:00

The newest wave of DCD figures just hit the stores. They are a 4 figure wave that are made in conjunction with the Showcase line of trade paperbacks that have been appearing in stores over the last couple of years. This wave is also an artist specific wave. You have a Curt Swan Superman, a Carmine Infantino Batgirl, a Tony DeZuniga Jonah Hex and a Joe Kubert Hawkman.

My biggest peeve with this line is that once again DCD has up the scale so that you can not really place them in a display with your older figures.

I will be reviewing the first three as my store did not get the Hawkman figure.

CURT SWAN'S - SUPERMAN

This is an interesting figure in that it has 3 heads and 2 extra sets of hands to show Superman after he was exposed to Red Kryptonite. These are from stories done in the 1960's. For me this figure does look like the way Curt drew him with a strong jaw and large upper body. As a note I had no problem at all in replacing the heads and hands. The joint all are tight and moved easily and the paint application is fine. He has a standard neck joint (it would be touch to do a ball joint with all the head swapping), ball jointed shoulders, pin elbows, pin wrists, normal hips and pin knees.

CS Superman with the MA Superman

CS Superman with the SA Superman

Insect Man

As you can see he has two antennas on his head. You should be careful putting them on the head. They are of a stiff plastic and can break if too much pressure is applied.

Lion Man

This is a nice figure. The head is nicely detailed and the paws are really nice.

Future Man

This is an evolved Superman as shown by the big hairless head and long fingers.

Tony DeZuniga Jonah Hex

This is a nicely done figure which to me captures the Jonah Hex character very nicely. He has the following articulation: ball jointed neck, an interesting shoulder arrangement which I've never seen before kinda like a combination ball/cut joint, pin elbows and wrists, standard hips, pin knees and the boot turn at mid calf. He comes with 2 guns which fit nicely into the holster and belt but not too good into his hands. And a hat which to keep on I used a piece of poster putty. They did a nice job in capturing his facial scar.

Jonah Hex with MA Superman

Jonah Hex with a couple of other unusual DC characters

CARMINE INFANTINO'S BATGIRL

This one is the meh figure of the bunch. She has a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, pin elbows, glove rotation, standard hips and pin knees. I had no bad paint applications with her. The problem is that she is too tall to stand comfortably with most figures.

Batgirl with Crisis Batman

Batgirl with SA Batgirl

Spec

How They Stack Up - The New Gods

2008-05-13T00:26:00.004-04:00

I got the DCD New Gods figures last week and I have to say that for me it was a home run by DCD. I looked through the New Gods books and these are the spitting image of Kirby's creations. For once a whole wave with the same articulation (ball jointed necks and shoulders), the same sculpting and the same scale. The only down side I can see is no aero-disks for Mister Miracle and no astro-harness for Orion.

Now the test, How They Stack Up against other New Gods figures already produced by DCD and Mattel. Also a comparison by what I take as the measuring stick of all figures the MA Superman.

Orion

As shown by his earlier counter part from the 2001 DCD set with Darkseid, there is no comparison between the two. In fact the earlier Orion looks like those ads in the back of the comics where you see the bully kicking sand on the skinny kid on the beach with the 2001 Orion being the skinny kid. The helmet is too big on the 2001 Orion and with that wide stance he looks like he's going for his six guns.

Next the DCD Orion with the Mattel Orion. Once again the DCD one is much better mainly because he's truer to Kirby's style. Also the red is a brighter color than the Mattel version. Now the Mattel one does have more articulation and does have his Astro-Harness so I have to give him points on that. But he does look too slender next to the DCD one.

As a size comparison I put the DCD Orion against the MA Superman and as you can see they go very well together.

I tried both the DCD and Mattel Astro-Harness on the new DCD Orion and found that the Mattel one fits him the best except for one thing, you can't get the feet to stay in the stirrups! I figured that some poster putty would make it work. But to get him to stand up I had to use a stand. But its bright gold looks good on him. I'm sure with some fussing around you could get it to fit fine.

Mister Miracle

There has only been one other Mister Miracle figure done and that was in the DCD 2000 boxed set with Big Barda and Oberon. Once again the new version wins. The new one is more faithful to Kirby's creation and fits in very well with the others in the wave. The colors are much better. The Mister Miracle from the boxed set was just too large to fit in with most figures. Also he has a look on his face as if he just saw a ghost. As for articulation the new one wins again. The addition of the ball jointed neck and shoulders and waist joint makes him more posable. Now the 2000 one does have his aero-disks but a creative person can drill a hole in the new Mister Miracle's foot and he can then wear the old ones disks.

As you can see when standing next to the MA Superman they look very nice together.

As a bonus here is the new Mister Miracle with the 2000 Big Barda and Oberon. Now in the original boxed set I thought she looked too big next to that Mister Miracle but now she looks just fine. And Oberon is just the right size too. My only complaint is that the articulation on Barda is very poor so I hope they do another one of her with the same articulation as the new New Gods figures.

LIGHTRAY

Now Lightray has never been done before and we will not get a Mattel version until the end of the summer so I thought I would give you a shot of him next to the MA Superman to show that he too fits in rather nicely. For me the nice thing about Lightray is the opalescence white of his outfit. It really fits the character.

DARKSEID

Now this is the fourth Darkseid to be made the first was from the 2001 boxed set with Orion. As you can see compared next to the new DCD Darkseid this one is a skinny little person with briefs instead of a tunic. The new Darkseid is another perfect rendition of a Kirby character. The big selling point of the 2001 Darkseid was that there is a transparent piece of plastic on the top of his head that when you shined a light into it his eyes glowed red.

The next Darkseid produced was by DCD also and was in 2006 as part of the Superman/Batman Wave 2. As you can see this Darkseid is just too big and massive. for some reason some artists like to make him much bigger than normal even though the original Kirby version (of which the new one is a once again perfect representation of) has him only slightly bigger than normal. Also he was done in much darker colors. And has short pants instead of the traditional tunic.

The third Darkseid done was by Mattel and up to the new one by DCD had the distinction of being the best representation of the character yet. The Mattel version is nicely articulated but suffers from having a head that is a little too small.

As you can see in this final picture the new Darkseid looks very much in scale with the MA Superman. Not too massive or bulky.

Spec

A Comparison of DCUC Wave 2 With Their Corresponding DCD Counterparts

2008-05-06T00:44:00.011-04:00

I've been thinking about this for awhile now. There are a great many excellent reviewers out there (Michael Crawford, Andy, JQ3x29yz4a and Psy) and with the way things are brought out nowadays its tough to get their ahead of the crowd. So I thought that one thing that has been missing is comparison shots between the new Mattel DCUC figures and their DCD counterparts as well as the newer DCD figures (such as Orion) and those that were released earlier. So I thought I would try to fill this small niche.

So for the first installment of a feature I think I will call: How They Stack Up

I'll do the DCUC Wave 2 vs DCD

Gorilla Grodd

Here is the BAF next to the original Grodd that came out from DCD back in 2001 (the only difference between this Grodd and the Alex Ross Grodd is the head sculpt).

I think the DCUC Grodd is a more imposing figure than the DCD one. He projects more intelligence and power.

Now here they are with the Barry Allen Flash from the boxed set from 2001:

And with the Wally West Flash from 2003:

FIRESTORM

Now the DCUC Firstorm with the DCD one from 2004.

In this case the DCD Firestorm is a figure that captures the character better but unfortunately he is just too big to stand with most other figures.

BLACK MANTA

Here we have 3 Black Manta's: The one on the left is from the Super Friends boxed set from 2003. The middle one is from DCUC Wave 2 and the right hand one is from the Alex Ross Justice line from 2005.

Even though you can remove the helmet from the Alex Ross figure I feel that the DCUC one captures the character the best. The Super Friends one is too cartoony and the AR one has a too big helmet.

HARLEY QUINN

There have only two of these made, the DCUC and the one from 2004 as part of the Hush series.

I have to say that DCD wins this comparison. Its figure captures the character the best especially when you look at the blue face on the DCUC Harley.

And as a bonus a picture of the DCUC Harley with the Joker from Mattels Batman line.

AQUAMAN

Now this had a lot of comparisons so from left to right: Aquaman from the boxed set from 2001, Aquaman from 2003 JLA series, Aquaman from the JLA boxed set from 2005, the DCUC Aquaman, Aquaman from Alex Ross series from 2005, Aquaman from the 2007 Kingdom Come series, and Aquaman from the Super Friends boxed set from 20013.

Now I have to say the DCUC really captures the character of Aquaman the best. The one from 2001 just has a stupid smile and the others are representatives of different periods. The DCUC really is the best one of a traditional Aquaman as he has been seen thruout his career.

Another shot of the DCUC Aquaman with the AR version and the one from 2001.

As another bonus a shot of the DCUC Aquaman with the Marvel Prince Namor from the Hasbro Marvel Legends line.

SUPERMAN RED AND SUPERMAN BLUE

Now since DCD has never made these two characters I just took a picture from the DCUC Superman for comparison.

This picture does point out why I hope that Mattel gives us another Superman that does not come with a wide stance.

Spec

Spec Reviews First Movie Of The Summer - The Forbidden Kingdom

2008-04-30T00:57:00.008-04:00

Well last week I saw the new Jackie Chan and Jet Li movie The Forbidden Kingdom. Before my review a little background to set up the story.

This is based (loosely) on the character from Chinese literature called the Monkey King. He is one of the Immortals made famous in the great series the Journey To The West (which I have read). He is a mischievous soul always getting into trouble.

The story starts off with a young man Jason Tripitakas (Michael Angarano), waking up from a dream in which he saw the Monkey King(Jet Li) fighting a bunch of soldiers and going to the palace of the Jade Emperor who takes a liking to him. When the Jade Emperor leaves on a 500 year meditation the Jade Warlord(Collin Chou) tricks the Monkey King and turns him into a stone statue. But not before the Monkey King throws away his staff. It is then said that a traveler will bring back the staff and free him. The young man is a martial arts film fanatic and his room is filled with posters and dvd's.

Jason and the Monkey King

After getting dressed, he makes his way to a thrift store in Boston's China town to buy some new Kung fu DVD's. There, he converses with Hop (a Jackie Chan), the shop's eldery owner, and, while thumbing through some DVD's, he is drawn to room full of antiques and notices a golden staff. Hop tells him that the staff is to be delivered to its rightful owner and then closes the door. On his way back home, Jason is attacked by a group of bullies who force him to take them to the store so they can steal some money from the old man. Feeling betrayed, Hop tries to attack the thieves with the staff, but is shot. He tells Jason that he must deliver the staff to its rightful owner. Jason takes the staff and runs from the thieves. On top of a building, he is surrounded by the bullies and suddenly he is pulled off the roof by the staff and travels back through time.

There he meets

Drunken Immortal, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan)

Golden Sparrow (Liu Yi Fei)

Silent Monk (Jet Li).

The four of them join together to return the staff to the Five Elements Mountain and free the Monkey King.

The Jade Warlord enlists the aid of his bounty hunter, the white-haired assassin Ni-Chang (Li Bingbing) to stop them.

After a long journey they reach the mountain and after a fierce fight return the staff to the Monkey King restoring him to life. The Jade Emperor returns and sends Jason back to Boston where he fights and defeats the gang and saves the old man. He also meets a young girl who looks like the Golden Sparrow who walks away and enters a shop with the same name.

Now I just gave you a short version of the movie because I did not want to spoil some of the things that happen during it.

I like the movie, it was nice to see the two great martial artists working together. It was flmed in China and the scenery was amazing. The fight scenes are great and there is a running gag during the movie about Jackie Chan's character always being drunk. The thing that was annoying to me was the American actor. He seemed out of place and his character whined a lot. I think they would have ben better served if they had a young Chinese actor in his role and maybe started the movie in Hong Kong. But all in all it is a fun movie to see and I highly recommend it.

Some shots of the actors during the filming:

Mouse Guard Statue

2008-04-05T01:07:00.006-04:00

Yes this week I added another Mouse Guard item to my collection. First came the pvc set, then the Liem plush now the statue.

This is a great little 5 inch statue which has our intrepid threesome of Lieam, Saxon and Kenzie set to defend themselves again all comers whether they be Owls, Weasels or evil mice.

I got lucky in a way. I ordered it thru my LCS but he never got it for me so when I came home I looked online and found it for $65 which is excellent since if he had goten it I would have paid $99.

The Packaging:

It comes in a nice large box which is very colorful with a nice description on the back.

The mice are done on a 1:1 scale so what you see is how they would be in real life.

The statue comes with a certificate signed by the artist - Rudy Garcia and is numbered since the run was only 1152 made. I got No. 484.

All in all I am very happy to add this piece to my collection and can't wait to see what comes next.

Spec

Godzilla Chronicles Part 3

2008-03-24T01:03:00.003-04:00

This is the final post dealing with the 15 Godzilla set. It deals with Godzilla from 1999 onwards.

Godzilla 1999

This started the third and final series of Godzilla movies. This suit was seen in the movie Godzilla 2000. The scales on this suit were more detailed and prominent, his dorsal plates were large and jagged with a rose tint to them, and his head shape was thinner, making him look more reptilian. Godzilla's mouth and eyes contained the trademark "frown" present on other suits; the tongue was long and teeth had the old fangs, and his eyes were white with black pupils, much like the eyes used on the 84 suit. The tiny ears that existed in the original Godzilla suit and those in the Heisei series had also returned. The suit was painted a natural, dark shade of green. It was the first Godzilla suit to be officially painted green, where as previous suits were mostly painted charcoal gray, except the ones in the original film.

Godzilla 2000

This next Godzilla was in the 2000 movie Godzilla vs Megaguirus. It had a smaller mouth, flatter face, longer neck, the skin color was changed to an even lighter shade of green, and the color of the dorsal plates was changed to more of a light purple color.

Godzilla 2001

This version appeared in the movie GMK:Giant Monsters All Out Attack. They decided to give Godzilla a whole new look. They took both the designs of the Godzilla 1954 suit and the Heisei series suits and combined them to keep Godzilla looking like he did in the good old days, but he also looked very modern. Significant muscle was given to this suit and the pointer and thumb claws were made longer then the other two. The pupils and irises in the eyes were removed, projecting the impression of Godzilla's now evil nature. Godzilla's dorsal plates also shrank in size from the previous Millennium suit designs and returned to their original look, smooth and bone-white in color. The skin of the suit also returned to its original texture and charcoal gray color.

Godzilla 2002

This version of Godzilla appeared in the movie Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. This new version, did however go under some pretty obvious changes from those two previous designs. The head was completely changed and made smaller to sort of represent the head of the Heisei series Godzilla. The dorsal plates were reduced a bit and lost their purplish hue, deciding to keep the classic bone-white color, but still remained jagged. Godzilla's skin also returned from the green to the old charcoal gray, Godzilla's traditional color.

Godzilla 2003

In the following film Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. the sequel to Godzilla X MechaGodzilla, Godzilla's appearance remained basically the same, but this time had a new, large, deep red scar on the chest of the suit. Which was from a wound from the previous movie.

Haaaaaaaaaaaawkman !

2008-03-13T19:23:00.011-04:00

I picked up the Hawkman figure from the Reactivated All Star Comics Super Squad wave. I'm sorry but I just couldn't get the Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman figures. I have enough of each already! But the Hawkman figure was one that I have been missing and fits in nicely with the mini Super Squad I have.

A little history now. This Hawkman is Carter Hall from the Golden Age. He adapted this yellow cowl in Flash Comics #98 (Aug 1948). It was seen in many of the early team ups of the Silver Age Justice League of America and the Golden Age Justice Society of America. In 1976 DC revived the All Star Comic series with the next number in the series #58. It presented the Super Squad which consisted of adventures on Earth-2 with that worlds Robin, Huntress and Power Girl as well as members of the Justice Society (which the above three became members of). Hawkman was the chairman of the Justice Society during this period.

Now the figure:

Packaging: Its the standard DCD package but with a nice All-Star Squad logo on the front with character decriptions on the back.

Front

Back

The figure has 11 POA, ball neck and shoulders, wrist joints, standard elbow, hip and knees joints. The hood is a rubbery material that fits well and moves with the head. Mine has nice paint applications. I had no problems pushing the wings into the holes in the back. They have the same amount of movement as do the ones on any other Hawkman. Sizewise he fits in nicely with most of my older DCD figures.

Front

Side

Back

Group Shots:

With SA Hawkman (from boxed set)

With First Appearance Hawkman

With McGuiness Hawkman (or what steroids will do to you)

The Super Squad

With the GA Green Lantern and Flash

Enjoy!

Spec

Godzilla Chronicles Part 2

2008-03-12T00:45:00.004-04:00

Today we start with the Godzilla from 1974. The version of Godzilla, was used in the films “Godzilla vs. Megagalon", “Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla”, and “Terror of MechaGodzilla”. Since the studio was now portraying him as the protector of the earth he needed a more friendlier appearance. The dorsal plates did not shrink or enlarge, but were given a sort of “balloon-like” look and the smaller side rows became almost non-existent. The suit's head was enlarged and the eyes were made absolutely huge to appeal more to children. There was a more silvery sheen given to the dorsal plates .

If you notice on the right arm there is a shiny metal patch. This is suppose to represent the Mecha Godzilla which disguised itself at first as the real Godzilla. It comes with an additional right arm so you can make him the real deal.

Godzilla, 1974

In 1984 Godzilla made a comeback after 9 years. His appearance returned to that of a menacing creature ready to destroy. He had features that were lost in 1962 reinstated. The small ears were back, as were the four-toed feet, characteristics that would this time persist to the present day. The central dorsal fins were enlarged, and the two lateral rows were made much more prominent. The 84 Godzilla's tail was lengthened and made much more sinuous. The eyes returned to the style of the 54 Godzilla, while the old fangs also made a reappearance. In 1989 they made more changes in Godzilla vs Biollante which would last for the next 5 years. To convey a feeling of mass and power, the head was reduced and the neck elongated. The face was also changed and appeared to be more feline in appearance. Significant musculature was added, particularly around the chest and thigh area. The irises were enlarged to fill most of the eye sockets, projecting the impression of mammalian cunning. The fangs were eliminated once again, but Godzilla's teeth were increased to include a double row of sharp teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. The lateral dorsal fins were also enlarged almost to the size of the center row.

Godzilla 1989

In 1994 they used the same suit in Godzilla vs Space Godzilla. But with some changes it did make Godzilla look tubbier.

In 1995 they came out with Godzilla vs Destroyah. This was suppose to be the film in which Godzilla dies. They decided to have Godzilla's internal radioactivity run wild. In order to create this suit, they painted the suit a dark black color and placed new translucent glowing orange patches (accomplished with lights under the patches) on the neck, arms, body, and legs of the suit. The head of the suit was also modified with new, glowing orange irises and given more mobility. The dorsal plates of the suit were also illuminated a bright orange color to reflect the runaway radioactivity. A steam effect was also given to the suit, showing that Godzilla's internal temperature was extremely hot.

Godzilla 1995 - Before Transformation

Godzilla 1995 - During Meltdown

Next time the finish of the Godzilla Chronicles, the years 1999 to 2003 and the proof that no monster ever dies.

Spec

The Godzilla Chronicles

2008-03-11T02:17:00.008-04:00

I got this very cool 15 piece set. It is basically a history of Godzilla from 1954 to 2003. Its from Bandai and originally was a mystery box set so you didn't know what you were getting until you opened the box. The figures are pretty much in scale with each other. I'll be breaking this down to 5 figures a post so as not to overwhelm people.

The first 2 figures represent Godzilla 1954 as he is seen in the movie Gojira. One is a little smaller than the other. He is a meanacing figure and the final version of the suit sported tiny ears on the sides of the head and four toes on each foot, features that would later be altered, but then reinstated when the Godzilla series was revived in 1984. Godzilla's dorsal fins were jagged and irregular and its jaw featured teeth distinguished by visible fangs. Also, the eyes of this version of Godzilla had small, dark irises, giving them a slightly "beady" look. The suits were finally painted brown, a one-time only color as every other suit in the series, except those used in 1999 and 2000, were painted charcoal gray.

Godzilla 1954 -Big

Godzilla 1954 - Small

Next is the Godzilla from the 2nd Godzilla movie: Godzilla Raids Again. The suit still sported tiny ears on the sides of the head and four toes on each foot. This version's dorsal fins were even more jagged and irregular than in 1954, but still featured teeth distinguished by visible fangs. Also, the irises of the eyes were enlarged and no longer had their "beady" look.

Godzilla 1955

In 1962 came the battle of the titans: Godzilla vs King Kong! The bulk of this version, increased which gave an impression of greater mass and stability. This version also had a more reptilian look than the previous two versions from 1954 and 1955. The ears were done away with, the teeth were evened out, and he was reduced to only three toes. The dorsal plates were enlarged and became more regular in shape, with a central row bordered by a smaller row on each side. The irises were further enlarged and positioned towards the top of the eye sockets, imparting the frowning look that became sort of a Godzilla trademark. Finally, being that this was Godzilla's first color film, the world finally found out what his true color was… charcoal gray. But stange as it may seem most figures are shown as a green color.

Godzilla 1962

For the final one for today we have Godzilla from the 1964 movie, Godzilla vs Mothra. This version was less bulky and had less reptilian features than the previous version. The face was softened and made to look a bit more mammalian, the snout was shortened, and the eyes took on a more malevolent appearance. Finally, the tail of this version was lengthened and made a bit more elegant. This version, with slight alterations, a new, sturdier head, and the addition of a prominent tongue, was also used in the next Godzilla film, "Ghidorah - The Three-Headed Monster".

Godzilla 1964

Tomorrow the next five from years 1974 to 1999.

Spec

Varan

2008-03-03T01:09:00.002-05:00

This monster was from a movie by the name of Varan The Unbelievable. This was Toho Films 5th movie to feature a kaiju and the last to be made in black and white by them. It came out in 1958 after Godzilla and Rodan but was not so successful so that the monster only made one more brief appearance in the movie Destroy All Monster.

The movie starts out in a remote area of Japan called the Tibet of Japan. The people spoke of a god that lived in a lake. Well you can imagine its not nice to wake up sleeping gods. Varan comes out of the lake smashes up the local village and the military then flys away to the ocean by climbing up a mountain and jumping into the air revealing hidden flaps of skin like a flying squirrel. He then comes ashore at Tokyo airport where he is destroyed by swallowing a bomb which blows him up from the inside.

Varan is about 160 feet long and weighs about 16,500 tons. His only weapons are gliding flight, claws, teeth, and spines, and being an excellent swimmer.

The gasphon figure below is about 3.5 inches long and is nicely detailed. It fits in very nicely with the rest of my collection.

Spec

First In A Series

2008-03-02T01:04:00.003-05:00

I've been collecting all these great Godzilla and Japanese Sci-Fi figures since I was turned on to a set of minature dioramas last August by a great guy Jim Beard.

This is the first review of a figure. It is the giant robot Mogura (which in Japanese means Mole) that first appeared in the 1957 movies The Mysterians. This movie was directed by Ishiro Honda who directed many of the Godzilla films. The war machine Moguera was created by the Mysterians, a group of aliens from Mysteroid who embarked down to Earth looking for a place to live and reproduce following the destruction of their own world.

The robot has the following statistics:

Height: 50 meters

Mass: 50,000 tons

Powers/Weapons: Can fire beams from its eyes; emits a high temperature; burrowing ability.

The figure is one of a set of what are called Gashapon figures. These are found in plastic balls in vending machines or in mystery boxes and are released in sets by Bandai. It stands about 3" high and comes unassembled but is easy to put together.

In the weeks to come I will be showing many of these since I have collected quite a lot.

Spec

A Great Kaiju Site!

2008-02-19T05:16:00.000-05:00

I just found this site and if you want any information on any Kaiju (which means Strange Beast or Monster) such as Godzilla, his friends and foes and most any other giant monster from movies from all over the world this is the site to check out. They have monster profiles, movie reviews, they even go so far as to review the various pieces of hardware that are seen in the movies that are used to attack the monsters.

Here is the link:

http://www.kaijuhq.org/index2.html

Enjoy!

Spec

Welcome All Ye Who Enter The Realm!

2008-02-18T03:46:00.000-05:00

This is my first attempt at a blog and I hope that in the coming months I can bring you entertaining reviews as well as my thoughts and pictures of my collections.