A quick one

I got out of my lazy stupor last night to take my Masterpiece Starscream out of the box and transform him.

The boxed U.S. version contains Starscream in his robot mode, unlike the Japanese version where one gets him in his alt mode. I cut the tapes, removed the twisties, and scissored the transparent bands... he was free.

It was exciting to see how the Air Commander would look like once transformed into the alt mode -- an F-15 Eagle. According to reviews, the alt mode is so awesome that you wouldn't know that it could transform into something else, much less into a robot like Starscream.

The transformation instructions were pretty straight-forward and getting him into the fighter mode wasn't that hard. I've had harder times with my Optimus Prime's Leader Class figure.

The reviews were right. Screamer's alt mode is simply wicked! Seeing the F-15 almost made me do "Larry and Balki's dance of joy." Except that I didn't have anyone near to do it with me.

"Damn, this thing's gorgeous!" It was a sentence I kept on repeating over and over again as I marveled at the plane I held in my hand.

Even though it was already way past midnight, I quickly got my cam out, set-up a backdrop and shot off a few pixels. I didn't care if I shot him on a tabletop, nor didn't have any dedicated light... I WILL get some snaps! ^_^

The landing gear and its cover wasn't all flush yet.

A more formal review and photo-shoot would follow, of course, in the next few days... the Air Commander deserves it. :)

Now that I've personally seen and held Starscream, I'm really seriously considering getting all the Takara Screamers. I'm sure they would all look great in an F-15 squadron group shot!

Click here for more pics.

Falling in love with Ikki Tousen

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Danny Choo's blog post on a Kanu Unchou figure. I fell in love with the figure even before my right index finger could roll my mouse's scroll wheel.

Great bod, pretty and innocent(?) face, killer moves... package them all up inside a Japanese third grade schoolgirl's uniform, add a dragon crescent blade, and you've got Kanu.

As in other cases where a toy-bug bites me, I was bitten hard. And deep. I began skimming through the 'net to figure out who Kanu was.

Thank God for the internet... I finally found out her story and began watching online episodes of Ikki Tousen. I'm currently in the process of acquiring the three series. See? I told you I liked being diverse. ^_^

A stroke of luck...

... has yet to come.

Today, I just found out that there is a Kanu action figure made by Maxfactory. Yeah, yeah, I know, call me naive. This is probably the only time that I took Figmas seriously, yet I was sold. As soon as I get enough moolah, I'm getting Kanu.

Who in his right mind wouldn't want to be with this gal?

Ryomou Shimei is also available in the Figma line. However, Sonsaku Hakufu's figure is yet to be released (July, 2009.)

Ryomou Shimei

Sonsaku Hakufu, July, 2009 release

More Kanu pics...

Images from Maxfactory and Amiami.

The US$ 4.00 sticker

My fiancee and I came back to Greenhills yesterday in order to pay some bills. I, of course, have only one thing in mind every time I'm in this area -- toys, of course.

My choice in toys became quite diversified only recently. As you may very well know, I used to go ga-ga over Gundams, which is the primary reason why we often come to what is arguably known as the toy-shopping capital of the Metro. Then came my interest for DC Direct figures... Transformers figures... scale model cars, and the like. I have come to like diversity.

Yesterday, I bought a sticker worth US$ 4.00.

The Takara Tomy sticker

In case you're still wondering what the figure behind the sticker is, well, he is my favorite Transformer of all-time. Yup, the Air Commander of the Decepticons, Starscream.

In my book, I'd choose his character over Optimus Prime and Megatron, or any other Transformer for that matter. Optimus Prime is just too, uhmmm, perfect. And Megatron, in my humble opinion, is an ounce shy of being the ultimate evil. I would hate to be a subordinate to any of those two guys.

Starscream, now he's my type of leader. Cunning, takes unnecessary risks, treacherous, and finally, I love his G1 voice. His intelligence may not be up to par with Megs, nor Shockwave, or even Soundwave, but I like him the way he is.

Then the recent designers of Transformers: The Movie effed the leader of the Screamers. His robot mode is just plain fugly! He looks like a moth with arms and legs. This is what keeps my mind from even trying to think about buying the toy version. The F22 Raptor is gorgeous, but when he transforms into his robot form, it makes me wanna puke.

I'd take the original F15 design, thank you. I'd also choose the U.S. version, whose colors are virtually anime-accurate over the Japanese gray-and-purple-painted-and-black-boxed version.

Don't get me wrong though. Even though I said that Starscream is my favorite Transformers character, he is NOT my favorite Transformers toy. That honor still belongs to the MP-01 Convoy.

Anyway, here's the still unopened box.

Masterpiece Starscream (U.S. version)

What's the story behind the US$4.00 sticker you might ask? Well, the toy that doesn't have the said sticker on its packaging is US$4.00 cheaper. ^_^

More pics here.

Cavallino Rampante

I do not patronize Shell products. It doesn't even catch the minutest of my attention... unless its logo is slapped on the side of Ferrari's Formula One car. The only times I go to Shell service stations are when I bring my dad's SUV in for a re-fill of diesel... and that's about it. Yes, I'm a Petron Blaze-kinda-guy.

The last Holy Weekend, however, was different. My fiancee and I were gearing up for some 372 miles of journey up north to the Church of Manaoag, SBMA, and back to Manila. That would roughly equate to around USD52.00 of high-octane fuel. And, this time, Shell was offering official Ferrari-licensed model cars on a 1:38 scale at less than USD2.00 each (if one gets USD10.00 worth of petrol.) Hmmmm... not a bad deal, I thought.

There were seven cars available -- the Fiorano, the 250 GTO, the F40, the 360, the F430, the FXX, and the 575.

After 350+ miles, I've already had five of them cars... and, after a quick re-fill last night, I've already completed the lot.

Shell's April offering of Ferrari 1:38 scale model cars

I getting some more for the vroom-vroom-loving nephew of my fiancee.

And oh, by the way, these are pull-back cars which make engine noises (via batteries and speakers, I suppose) when turned on. Cool! ^_^

Trivia buffs, click here.