31 December 2010

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #1

#1 - TTL Perfection Murderess.

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OK, I think some people who know me saw this one coming :) But it is for good reason I swear :p

Overall this figure is my #1 of the year because it gave me my new Gillians :) I'm a little biased.

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But this figure also helped me create another character: Anzelika.

The figure comes with a great combination of items. A TTL large bust body with IMHO the most beautiful female sculpt ever made (can you tell I'm biased?), several pairs of hands, a really nice outfit, boots, coat, and of course her accessories.

I ordered 3 boxed figures. I turned all the bodies and heads into versions of Gillian. I used one of the tight lycra top / vinyl hot pants outfits paired with the TTL black coat (my #6) to create Anzelika. A pair of the boots from another set to go with the Dollsfigure Outfit (my #10) to create my Spygirl Gillian. The blue coats are great pieces... but I've yet to find a use for those...lol

The only downside I have ever seen with TTL's items is the head to body skin tone discrepancy. The heads are usually pinker than the bodies. This usually becomes more apparent during photography of course because of lighting, etc. I use GE "Reveal" bulbs, which tend to really make it stand out.

Overall, this boxed figure has brought me the most enjoyment this year :) I'd happily buy more just for the heads and bodies... and obsession...lol

Thank you all for following me and taking a look at my list of my top 10 toys and all my projects of the year. I hope to keep you all coming back with many more projects, blurbs, and tidbits into the next :)

30 December 2010

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #2

#2 - Hot Toys Clash of the Titans Perseus Head Sculpt.

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I like the actor Sam Worthington. I think he's a good actor with a great screen presence. From Terminator: Salvation, to Avatar, to Clash of the Titans... I think he carries himself well in both action and dramatic roles. I still want to see him in the movie he did of a modern day adaptation of Macbeth.

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Anyhow, Hot Toys, a company that doesn't rest on it's laurels has so far released two versions of Sam Worthington. They released him as Marcus Wright from Terminator: Salvation (which I have as well) and not to disappoint, they did not re use the same head sculpt for the version of him as Perseus from Clash of the Titans.

Sam's head sculpt was one that I had to add to my collection. I was able to preorder the Hot Toys Perseus head online parted out. I got mine for I believe $35. I ordered two (Something I do a lot...because I'm OCD like that.) I figured that two heads plus two Hot Toys bodies, coming in at around $150 was better than $300 for two complete boxed Perseus figures that had a body that was over built for Sam Worthington (Much like they did with Adrien Brody), wasn't as poseable, and also a bunch of accessories I had no use for.

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So who did Sam play this time? His new role is as "Rhett Paladin" another action / adventure / spy character to compliment (and be the love / hate interest) of Gillian (She had a big say in that.)

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As you can see, Sam / Rhett here is dressed up in the TTL Men's Suit Set. It works great and looks great on him. The cut of everything is fantastic as is the quality as I mentioned before. This is an item that I highly recommend and am looking forward to getting more like it from TTL's assortments coming in the new year.

These two items in conjunction with each other are what made this my combined #2 & 3 of the year, as they went together to make a great character.

Thanks for following.

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #3

#3 - TTL Men's Outfit with Black Jacket.

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TTL makes some fantastic men's clothing. The TTL men's outfit set includes a fantastic pair of black jeans in a great scale denim fabric, leather belt, molded biker style boots (Hot Toys ankle ball style), a great black cotton tank top, and depending on the set you get, an amazingly done sport coat in either black, burgundy, or grey.

The quality of each piece in the set is outstanding and most certainly worth the $30 US average price tag.

You'll read more regarding this set under my #2 of the year post.

Thanks for following.

28 December 2010

TOP TEN TOYS FOR 2010 - #4

#4 - Hot Toys Blade: Trinity Abigail Whistler Head Sculpt.

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Again... another head. This one doesn't need so much introduction to those who follow my blog. Hot Toys Abigail Whistler had two things I wanted... a head sculpt of Jessica Biel and a neat pair of boots. I did get both parted out, but this post is just about the head.

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This was one of the heads that I wasn't super keen on until production piece photos started showing up. I liked that the production piece had lighter hair. I just felt the production head had more character than the prototype one.

So as those who follow my blog know, Jessica here became my character of "Darla Dauntless". I repainted her eyes green, which was just a random choice by me, but something I found out later was actually right... granted not AS green as the ones I did, but certainly not the color that HT did them.

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So, not much more to say about Jessica / Darla here :) If your not a normal follower of this blog, just check out the link in this post to "Darla Dauntless" on the blog for more pics and info onto who I turned this great head sculpt into.

Thanks for following.

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 -#5

#5 - Hot Toys Predators "Royce" Head Sculpt.

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As you can see many of my favorite items for this year are head sculpts. So many great figures came out this year, but many of them didn't come with enough items as a whole to make them worth while as a total purchase. So through various dealers and Ebay I procured the items of interest I wanted.

Adrien Brody for the most part was an actor I couldn't stand until the past year. After seeing him in the movie Splice and then Predators, I took a closer look at the actor and his range. So after seeing those movies and some others I had a new found respect for him.

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after seeing him in Predators, I felt he really fit the role well and was a real bad ass as "Royce"... to the point of upstaging Ahnold's "Dutch"... Dutch got his ass handed to him by the Predator, where as Royce pretty much handed the Predator it's ass... and it was a tougher Predator even...lol

When I heard Hot Toys was making Royce I knew that that the head sculpt of Adrien Brody was one I wanted to add to my collection. His face is just very full of character and the likeness is dead on.

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The only downside to the head is that HT made him dirty, which was fitting for the role he was based upon. So I need to experiment with removing the grime if I can. The only other thing I will do is as usual: repaint the eyes.

I didn't buy the entire Royce, so I didn't have the body he came with, but that was fine for me. Adrien Brody was pretty buffed up for the role, but nowhere near the body that Hot Toys made him on. I simply mounted mine onto a Hot Toys True Type body and he looks fine. As usual, for now, I'm still deciding who Adrien will become.

Thanks for Following.

26 December 2010

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #6

#6 - TTL Female Fashion Clothing Set TTL 68016 Trenchcoat.

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TTL makes some really nice outfit sets. The pieces are really high quality. Once of the sets released this year that seriously caught my eye was this female fashion set with the black leather trenchcoat with fur collar. I didn't particularly care for the rest of the outfit set, but the coat itself i knew from the moment I saw it was perfect for helping me finish up a character I had been working on...

Anzelika Kamarova - My Russian Mob Princess :)

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I was lucky enough to have obtained just the jacket from my awesome friend Arianne :) She bought the set thinking the collar was faux fur, and being it turned out to be rabbit fur, it creeped her out...lol So she remembered me mentioning wanting it, so she gave it to me, and thus thanks to her I was able to complete Anzelika :) So thanks again Arianne :)

The piece is just a really nice. It's a decent thickness pleather, so it doesn't really inhibit range of motion, and so long as your figure has decent;y tight joints you are good with it.

So that's #6.

Thanks for following.

25 December 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I wish you all a happy, warm, and safe holiday with your loved ones :)

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #7

#7 - Soldier Story U.S. Navy SEAL SDV Team 1 Headsculpt.

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Soldier Story has been releasing some amazing head sculpts. Their most notable of this year I believe is the above Soldier Story U.S. Navy SEAL SDV Team 1 figure. The sculpt clearly being based upon actor Stephen Lang playing the hardcore soldier Colonel Miles Quaritch in the movie Avatar. Specifically right down to the scars.

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This is a head sculpt that is just completely full of character which is why I love it. I got mine specifically for the role of my Spygirl Gillian's boss for her photo stories.

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He does need a bit of work. I'm going to repaint his hair to look more like the actor's actual hair color, just give it a bit more highlight and definition. I'll also redo his eyes and tone down the scars some to look more natural.

Once all that is done, then I will obtain a nice dress suit for him to wear so he looks like an archetypal "Company Man" which will suit his role as Gillian's boss.

Thanks for following.

24 December 2010

TOP TEN TOYS OF 2010 - #8

#8 - Hot Toys Jill Valentine Head

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Hot Toys makes a lot of figures that I like. Not always specifically for who they represent, but more so for head sculpts be they a specific actor / actress or just look in general. With the price tag of most Hot Toys figures, I have stopped buying entire boxed figures unless they have enough parts included that I can use on other projects, as I rarely keep figures stock. So when I saw Hot Toys' upcoming Resident Evil Jill Valentine I really liked her head sculpt, but of all her accessories, she only had three things that I had any interest in: Her Head, Her Beretta PX4 handgun, and her boots. I was lucky enough to get two of the three things.

I got her head loose through Toy Anxiety for @ $35, and I picked up two pairs of her boots for $5 a pair at Monkey Depot.

So back to Jill's head. I just thought that Jill had a "pretty average" face. By that I mean that she isn't anyone drop dead gorgeous, but she looks like someone you would easily see on your day to day walk of life. Many people don't like sculpted hair, but it's hardly something that bothers me. She lacks some range of motion in the neck however. I think this is due to her having been made for the newer female True Type body that Black Widow and She came with.

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I already had a body to put her on, a Caucasian Hot Toys True Type Female. Which was a decent enough match for her. The way her jawline is sculpted just seems a little off to me the way it sits on the neck, like she is tucking her chin in perhaps. Not anything major.

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So like most heads I get, Jill can expect a repaint of her eyes (factory painted eyes just don;t do it for me anymore) and probably some dry brushing of her hair to give it some highlights.

As for who she will be? That is yet to be decided.

Thanks for following.

23 December 2010

TOP TEN OF 2010 - #9

#9 - Hot Toys True Type Female (Cuban American Version)

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The Hot Toys True Type Female is like many other female bodies on the market. It has it's pros and it's cons. Many people tend to dislike the silicone torso, general proportions of the body, skinny wrists, and most people hate the face sculpt.

Personally I like everything about the body. I like the face sculpt a lot. I'm a person who is very much into "unconventional" beauty... strong jaw lines, etc. so it is one that looks very good in my eyes. I think the Cuban American version's skin tone offers a great variety of ethnicities for this body. Whilst the Caucasian version of this figure is nice as well, I just don't like the way she looks as much.

I've worked on a couple custom repaints of this head.

Valencia Naranja:

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and Lena:

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I was going off this picture for the makeup:

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Anyway. I'm personally a fan of this body, I like the way it looks, I like the silicone torso cover and the range of motion it allows and also the aesthetics in general. It offers a truly different body for variety. It's a good body for the price @ $40 U.S. and I personally haven't had any issues with any of the 10 of them I have bought (5 Cuban and 5 Caucasians).

Thanks for following.