Medicom 1/6th Scale Sandtrooper

I've been waiting a while to show off this weeks Stormtrooper of the Week. I had pre-ordered him on my Birthday earlier this year and three months after that he arrived, right in the middle of the house remodel. So he has sat patiently in his box till I could get a chance to shoot some photos. This is the 2007 "30th Anniversary Exclusive" Medicom RAH Sandtrooper. Released by Medicom Toys of Japan and distributed through Sideshow.

This year I had saved up some money and like I said it was my Birthday, so I said what the hell and purchased him. Medicom is usually way out of my price range, but I figured if I was going to buy one (the second in my collection, the first being a gift) this would be the one. I can tell you I am pretty happy with this trooper. Medicom is obviously known for their detail, but the level of articulation is crazy, though most of it is hindered by the armor. when I first saw pictures of these I was like most and could have sworn I was looking at one of the actors in a costume.



For some reason I have always been drawn to the Sandtroopers, ever since I saw them on the big screen for the first time, especially the ones with the orange shoulder paldrons. Must be something about the grit and grime covered trooper with all the extra gadgets? The Sandtroopers are really my favorite of the Stormtroopers, and next to Boba Fett, probably my favorite of the characters from the Star Wars Universe.

This trooper comes with his standard issue survival pack, a blaster rifle, and an extra set of hand to get some pretty cool posses (my favorite hand has to be the thumbs up), plus a clear stand just in case you want to keep him from tipping over, which he stands pretty good on his own. The box, like the Stormtrooper box, is pretty much no thrills, but gets the job done. The cool thing is that the box has all the people responsible for design, sculpting, etc. listed on the back, plus some information about the trooper listed inside the fifth panel. Always cool to see the artists get the credit they deserve, I just hope they got some of the profit from this guy.

Well enough talky, here's some pics, enjoy!

Star Trek: The Menagerie on the Big Screen!

Well I gave in and went to one of the showings of Star Trek the Menagerie! I had a good time, it was kind of weird seeing the show on the big screen, even though it was basically an extended commercial for the release of the new HD series one set. The Menagerie has never really been my all time favorite episode, but having actually sat through it and watched it in this format, I do, now have an appreciation for it.

So here are some the things I liked. The fly by of the Enterprise where the camera comes over the bridge and there is a pass through where you see everyone on the bridge and it zooms in so you can see what's going on, has now been fixed so it matches up better. If you remember before it seemed like the bridge was on a different plane, since they did not match the angle of the model shot with the live action back in the sixties. This shot always bugged me, as a kid all the way till now. So I was relieved when someone finally caught this and fixed it.

The color was brilliant, and they really looked like they took care to remove scratches and dust from the print. The sound totally beat what I have home, but wasn't overwhelming. Then there are the special FX upgrades. I have been watching these re-mastered versions of Star Trek for a little while now, and I can honestly say that the re-mastered FX are not distracting in the least. The first time I watched one of these "newer" versions I really had to question if they changed anything at all. You really only notice when they do close ups of the ship, there is way more detail now.

My wife and I had a discussion after the viewing last night if the enhancements were more distracting in the re-mastered Star Trek episodes or when George Lucas worked his magic on Star Wars. We both came to the same conclusion that the Star Trek enhancements didn't affect the story and were done in a way that they did not take away from your original memory of the show, while Star Wars did have elements that changed the story in re-telling parts or the stories pace. So I'm giving the Star Trek team a thumbs up, way to go!

It was also nice to see some footage on how they accomplished the re-master, even though they were selling the new HD DVD set, I really found the part about the scan and clean up interesting, as well as the re-recording of the original score, pulling the original music and notes from the sixties. It was also a nice touch that when they flashed a name of one of the people that worked on the re-master it was set in the Classic Star Trek font, eye for detail I tell ya!

Things I didn't like, the price seems a little steep, 12.50 USD for a ticket, plus it would have been nice to get a little one sheet or something of the movie poster. I've been to movies before where they handed out little flyer / posters. If this was such the event that it was billed to be, why not give out a little bit more advertising, right? That's really about it for the dislikes. I did here some people complain about the 4:3 Television ratio and not widescreen, but hey you can't really control things like that and not distort the picture.

I will add my apologies to my wife, she didn't find out this was a two hour event until about 30 minutes before we got to the theater. But hey we did go out for Tex Mex before hand and I made sure she got a Margarita, before dealing with all the Trek geeks, myself included.

Lil' Namor

Does anyone really like Namor? I mean pretty much every story I've read he has been a big ole' jerk. Maybe my memory is fading, as a kid I thought he was sort of okay in the Invaders, of course I only had one issue. I mean he was hanging out with Captain America and a couple of Human Torches, he couldn't be that bad, right? But then as he started popping up in various Fantastic Four comics I was reading or cartoons, he really started coming off as more of a jerk...

Anyway, I don't care how cute Hasbro made him for the Super Hero Squad line, he still looks like a little jerk, you know the friend that would take your favorite toy, break it, and then tell you that he didn't! Yeah I'm talking about you Namor... you jerk ass!

Action Figure Monkey!

Just when I think I have the Action Figure Monkey under control, Hasbro goes and releases these! Damn you Hasbro!

Marvel Legends Fantastic Four Series, the series number escapes me, but lets just say that Marvel Legends have been aroooound! Being a fan of the Four, not an über geek fan, just a fan, and having purchased Marvel Legends on a few occasions, I thought it was safe to say that I wouldn't be sucked into a series of FF4 figures for quite some time, I mean who in their right mind releases a series based on the FF4 now? Right? The Thing and Mr. Fantastic sit on selves years after they are released from the first movie line, you can never find the Invisible Woman... and not because she's invisible, and FF4 villains, hah, good luck! Plus like I said I have only purchased Marvel Legends (Toy Biz and Hasbro) on rare occasions. So safe right?

Not at all, I've seen all eight in this series, and I love em! Love 'em all I tells ya! Some people don't dig the non-wash, or lack of detail Hasbro has brought to the Marvel Legends Table, but on these this makes them look that much more like toys, fun and bright! Mr. Fantastic, actually looks like Mr. Fantastic and he's all stretched out! Doc Doom here looks like he should and they made Namor in his green panties! The whole cast has been represented fairly accurately and the numbers of them available are a plenty! So I guess I'm hooked, at least for this series, and possibly the next with Captain America and Bucky! A freaking Bucky! I can finally assemble the Invaders!

I guess since I have been weaning off Star Wars figures, that the Fantastic Four here make a pretty good substitute on the Hasbro side of the collection. So let it go on record that I am only collecting JLU, Batman, FF4, some Star Wars, some Star Trek, oh and those Minimates, the occasional Mego, oh and forgot the Joes, and... Dammit, I give up... stupid monkey!

Side note that these two are open and currently battling on my desk until the rest of the team shows up!

Happy Veteran's Day!

Well, observed Veteran's Day anyway, yesterday being the true holiday and all.

I also don't know if you really wish people a Happy Veteran's Day, being that it is in remembrance of all that have fought for our country, so maybe a Salute to all Veteran's on this Day is in order!

I have a few Veteran's in my life, so in my own weird way here's a salute as I rank them up there with one of my favorite heroes!



The card is the first in the 1990 Marvel Comics Super Heroes trading cards set. Probably one of the only card sets I have ever completed in my life! Wow, 1990 these things are seventeen years old, seems like yesterday, man I feel so old right now.