Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogging. Show all posts

Tuesday 21 January 2014

A Better Webhead: A Fond Farewell to the Superior Spider-Man

Collected Editions #1 & 2
Late to the Party: Playing Catch-Up with TPBs.
So the spoilers were true – the Amazing Spider-Man is back in just a few short months, bringing to an end the glorious reign of the Superior Spider-Man (henceforth called ‘SpOck’, for the sake of easy identification). I have to say that I’m going to be sad to see him go.

Maybe it’s a sign of the changing times that being an outright try-hard do-gooder isn’t as appealing as it used to be, or maybe it’s because there’s still the taint of Peter Parker’s deal with Marvel’s not-Devil Mephisto lingering around (and here's a well-thought out counter argument to that opinion), but SpOck is by far one of the more interesting takes on the Spidey myth. He’s proactive, actually uses his intelligence, and wears a superb take on the classic threads. That he actually dresses in mad scientist garb when working at Horizon (goggles and all) is just a layer of icing on the cake. There’s humour in SpOck’s pompous arrogance, unintended quips and robot servant, and the way he relates his own experiences against Spider-Man as he’s taking down the villains himself is fantastic dramatic irony. It’s an exceptionally well-written and frequently well-drawn series that applies the Freaky Friday formula to superhero comics, and pulls it off with exceptional success.

SpOck about to take down Massacre...
SpOck about to take down Massacre... Permanantly.
This is Doc Ock however, mass-murderer and criminal mastermind, and there remains a dark undertone of violence (see Annual #1 for his savage takedown of Blackout, or of course the execution of Massacre from SSM #5). If it weren’t for this aspect, if Ock had genuinely turned over a new leaf and become a better man himself, then perhaps it wouldn’t all have to be coming to an end. But, it’s a fragile balance and Spidey is Marvel’s biggest cash cow (with a movie out this year as well), so a return to the status quo is inevitable. What’s unfortunate is that with SpOck’s over-exuberant take on vigilantism, Peter Parker has every reason to throw out the very inventions that made SpOck so superior. I don’t know this for a fact (and will be reading to find out), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Spider-Man switch back to being Peter Parker in unsophisticated threads and out on patrol himself, screwing up his social life and being back on the wrong side of the superhero community. 

SpOck's Superior Spider-Suit
No more plans?
That doesn't upset me though. Whilst I may have seen this before, there's a generation or two of comic readers out there who won't know that Spidey, and he's one worth knowing. Perhaps that’s the secret to keeping the character so successful; the ever-developing car-crash of the X-Men books provides the other side of that coin...

Whatever the outcome for SpOck, it’s been a heck of a ride. Thank you Dan Slott and co for making Spider-Man engaging, interesting and immensely readable. And for this reader, making him not Peter Parker, even if for only 16 months worth of great comics.

Friday 17 January 2014

Bring the Rain

Open Canopy with Pilot
The Most Striking Seeker.
Just a quick post to illustrate that yes, I am finally the owner of a Masterpiece Transformer: MP11 Decepticon Acid Storm. It's a fine, fine toy. He's a bit too big for my lightbox so I'm going to have to wait until some finer weather and a free schedule to get some better pictures, however University has been absolutely nuts this month and I'm about to start an internship, so I'm not exactly sure when/if this mythical 'free schedule' will ever arrive.

On that note, this will be my last Transformers blog post for a while. They've pretty much dominated the schedule thus far in 2014, which is absolutely fine, but I have a good reason to give them a break. All will be revealed in the fullness of time...

Sorry to tease. Next up: Spider-Man!

Monday 30 December 2013

The Resolute Collector

The Party Dude!
Christmas has been good to us here at the Mos Espa household, but things are settling down to normal again now. One of my gifts from the Emcat was the superb TMNT Classics Michelangelo figure seen above, and I can't stress how great this guy is. Despite loving the original cartoon over and above anything else, the Classics figures didn't appeal to me at first; however in recent weeks I've become truly converted. I'm looking forward to picking up Leo, Raph and Don as soon as funds allow.

That's not all I'm looking forward to though. You may have noticed that 2014 is just around the corner, resplendent with the optimism that a new year always seems to bring, and as such I'm going to highlight a few of the figures that I'm most looking forward to over the coming months...

T-U-R-T-L-E Power!
Continuing on a theme, there's the TMNT Classics Series 3 to look forward to, which features the Turtles based on their appearance in the first live action movie from 1990. That was the first movie I remember getting bed-wettingly excited about, and I completely wore the soundtrack cassette out from repeated late night listening on my Walkman, so these guys are dead certs for the collection.

Image from TFW2005.com
Arriving later in the year is the MP-22 Ultra Magnus "Perfect Edition" from the Transformers Masterpiece line. There are no images of it yet, but early reports indicate it will use the existing MP-10 Convoy mold for the cab, in true G1 style. I don't yet own any Masterpiece figures as I'm still deliberating where to start, but as Ultra Magnus is a big hitter for me in TF terms this is one I'm very excited about. It will most likely cost a bomb, however...

My money's on Spider-Man.
Hitting stores a lot sooner is the rebranded Marvel Legends: Infinite Series, which combines all of the movie related waves under one catch-all line. I'm loving the Superior Spider-Man comic right now so I'm very much looking forward to picking up SpOck, as well as Captain America in his 'Super Soldier' costume from the Winter Soldier wave. ASM2 Spidey and Boomerang are also on my radar, but those first two are on my want list for certain.

*

So that's three lines that will almost certainly be getting my money over the next 12 months, but it doesn't stop there. I've collected my thoughts on the state of the Star Wars line here, but of course there is the upcoming Rebels to look forward to in the Autumn. I'm late to the party but NECA's Predator series looks like it's been churning out some pretty incredible figures, and then there might be some interesting offerings from the Transformers 4: Age of Extinction line. I'm not sold on a lot of the Bayformers but Dinobots? Hell yeah!

With all of this excitement for the future, I guess that wraps it up for 2013. It's been a good run for the blog with an expanding readership, brand new look and redefined focus and purpose, and I'm enjoying running it here more than I have at any point before. Massive thanks to each and every one of you who has taken the time to read my ramblings or to look at my pictures, and thank you even more so if you're a returning visitor or commenter. The comments mean a lot to me, and I appreciate you taking the time. 

I wish you all a most excellent 2014. It will be better!

Wednesday 11 December 2013

The Collecting Storm

Storm Shadow
I've never been a big GI Joe/Action Force fan (I think I was put off by how by how frequently I snapped the waists on my brothers' toys as a kid), but I liked the way Marvel used the GI Joe comic to bring back the Transformers for the short lived G2 iteration. There are a few characters I've always liked though - namely Cobra Commander, Snake Eyes, and Storm Shadow.

I'm really not looking to collect any more toy lines at the moment, but between our matching tattoos and the incredible (and inspiring) Sigma 6 photos that Geek Creek's been posting on Flickr, when Storm Shadow here came up cheap on eBay I had to spring for him. And I have to say, between the stylised sculpt, the bold colours, accessories and soft goods, I'm glad I did. 

Well, except that now I have another line to keep my eyes peeled for...

*
On another note, I've recently setup a new blog - Variable Thoughts. I'm trying to get my myriad online identities into one place, and take full advantage of social media to connect with as many people across my many varied interests as possible. I'm not really sure where it's going yet, or what the long term ramifications for this blog will be, but part of the fun is going to be finding out. If you have a spare five minutes, please head over and take a look!

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Blogging and Photoshop

TF: Prime Deluxe Bumblebee
Since starting this blog I've been evolving the way I use my collection - from initially wanting to document each figure as I purchased it (on my way to building a Jabba's Palace display), to then wanting to focus on diorama building; however I've since found that the one constant has been actually photographing the toys, and creating images that attempt to show these characters at their best. The shot of Bumblebee above is my most recent, and I'd like to share some of the techniques I used to create it...

Firstly, the kit - I shoot on a Canon 600D DSLR, usually using the 18-55mm 'kit' lens, but sometimes a 50mm (although this generally only works for larger objects). This is my equipment for my day job as a filmmaker though, and something that I've worked up to. My initial forays into toy photography were on a Canon Powershot, and photographers such as R2witco take a lot of their stuff on camera phones. Basically, as long as you've got a macro function (often displayed as a flower on the camera settings) and can find a way to set the focus where you need it, then your camera is suitable for the job.

One of Many
This shot was an unused take from the session which yielded the final image. Here it shows more clearly the background, which is the old fireplace in my study. Whilst barely recognisable as anything, the important thing for an action figure shot is that it doesn't look like a house. Nothing kills the 'reality' of a Dinobot shot more than Grimlock being out scaled by a potted plant. What the above shot also shows is the lighting setup I was employing - basically, one torch. There was a little bit of light from the window (it was dusk), but that torch was my primary light source. I wouldn't encourage shining the light directly onto your subject like that, but I knew I would be cropping the image anyway (more on that later).

I'm often lazy with lighting, either taking the figures outside or shooting around the office window (nothing beats indirect sunlight as a light source), but taking the time to create a proper lighting setup often works wonders - see my PAK Batman shots here. I think it's to do with cast shadows, which helps to integrate the figure into the environment and in turn create a sense of reality. It's something I'm going to work on, especially as winter descends and daylight becomes scarce.

And Another...
What I consider the most important point of action figure photography is to GET LOADS OF SHOTS. Whenever you have a setup, go trigger happy - I'm gonna presume that you're shooting on digital so the cost of film isn't an issue. I find that it takes me a little while to get 'warmed up' to a subject, and really get an idea of what works. Mess around with your angles, the pose of your figure(s) and experiment with what you want to focus on - and even after you think you've got the shot that you're after, get a couple more. You may surprise yourself. The other thing to remember is that cropping is your friend - you might be gutted that the stand for your figure is just visible in the frame, but with a crop and a re-composition it could still be the perfect photo.

The 'One'.
When I had the shot of 'Bee that I was after, the fun part started. Firstly I opened the image in Photoshop (Paint.net is a superb free alternative if you don't have access to this), and then I did a quick Google search and found this rather superb guide to creating eye FX on the TFW2005 forums. Thank you, Process - if that is your real name...

After the eyes were completed I imported the image into Picmonkey, my editing suite of choice. Here I cropped the image to a 1920x1080 resolution (my usual canvas size), and then played around with the exposure, saturation and sharpness settings to get a base image I was happy with. Using these tools really does require trial and error, as well as a degree of personal preference, but it's at this stage that the image really starts to come alive. I should also note that you can use the colour settings on Picmonkey to fix the white balance, which is always useful - simply use the neutral picker and select the part of the image that should be as close to pure white or black as possible, and it will shift the colour tones accordingly. Again this takes practise, but when you get the hang of it it's a valuable tool. 

The Glow!
When I was happy with the core picture I used some of Picmonkey's various filters to complete the image, as seen at the top of this post. Once more this comes down to experimentation and personal preference as to how you want your image to look, but there are some pretty cool filter options on there. Really editing is all about how you want the image to look, and finding ways of making it happen. I've been doing this for a few years now and I still haven't found one particular style that I've made my own (look at Ed Speir IV's work for examples of instantly recognisable photos), but I'm definitely developing my skills, and I think that a style will come with that eventually.

There it is then, a few of the tips that I've picked up when it comes to action figure photography. I hope you find them useful... Now go and take some shots!

Tuesday 29 October 2013

The Matrix MIA

Classics Rodimus, Generations Orion Pax
Here's my latest purchase - Transformers Generations Orion Pax, with my not yet spotlighted Classics Rodimus standing in behind him. The more recent Deluxe figures being smaller like this isn't such a big deal for Orion Pax here, as he's not yet evolved into the Matrix-bearing Prime he will be, and he makes a great addition to my Autobot shelf. Both weapons (his cannon and axe) look great, but the winningest part is how the axe can be carried neatly on his back. Who needs a Matrix when you have weapons storage?

Despite how good this figure is (and it is very good), the size drop does puts me off getting the fantastic looking Megatron from this wave. I already have a Galvatron that looks stumpy next to Cyclonus; I don't want all my Decepticon leaders to have height complexes... That also brings me to my next point though - I got burned out with collecting Star Wars toys after completing my stated goal of getting the best modern vintage 12 figures. The Transformers line is in rude health right now between Hasbro and all the third party manufacturers, and it's something I'm considering getting back into - but only within certain pre-defined limits.

Destined for Greatness!
As I work out what those limits are, I'll be selling off more figures from the collection to raise funds. Here's hoping that this time next year, when I'm on the eve of turning 31, that I have a collection that's both focused and concise. No more messy shelves!

Sunday 13 October 2013

The Great Purge Has Begun!

First for the Chop
I've written before about my need to pare down my collection, which has grown incredibly bloated and in all sorts of unfocused directions over the last few years, and this weekend I've finally been able to sit down and start the process. It's been a case of going for the low-hanging fruit to begin with, as I'm getting rid of all of the odds and ends I've accumulated through bulk purchases, discount impulse buys, and older versions of characters that I've since replaced. Still, at least it's a start!

I'll be profiling the different figures over the coming week as they await their fates on eBay, and giving some insight as to why they no longer make the cut for the collection. Hopefully from this I'll have a clearer idea of which direction my collecting focus is taking as well, which would be nice...

Thanks for reading!

Monday 7 October 2013

Back to the Fold

The Best at 6"
I've been pretty slack here for various reasons over the last month or so, the better of those reasons being that I've just started the third year of my university course. Whilst that is (rightly) going to take up a lot of my focus, worry not about my Star Wars fan status - my dissertation is going to be on George Lucas himself, and the many, many contradictions that he presents. If I don't end up hating every word I've jotted down by the deadline, I may even post it up here for your perusal...

Looking for Someone...
My apologies if you came back here expecting Black Series 6" reviews - whilst I have three out of four of the first wave, I've not gotten around to objectively collecting my thoughts on them yet. From my limited 'playtime' I would suggest that the Sandtrooper is the best of the bunch, but it's difficult for me to judge, with X-Wing Pilot Luke Skywalker being one of my favourite versions of the character in any action figure line anyway; even the times when he's actually a Snowspeeder Pilot!

Lightsaber Duel? I Maul For It!
Other than these guys I have no recent purchases to highlight, vintage or otherwise, which should allow me the opportunity to catch up with some of my backlog a little bit. University deadlines or not, I'm sincerely hoping to give you many more reasons to return for the next couple of weeks at least...

Thanks for sticking around!

Monday 12 August 2013

Ackbar!

Life on Home One
Sorry for the lack of updates; between an extremely poorly relative, client work and another film entering pre-production the last 10 days have absolutely flown by, and I've had no time to post anything. Even this is a fly-by blogging - I just wanted to show off a shot I took of Admiral Ackbar last night...

On a collecting note, I've finally spotted the Mission Series two-packs in the wild (at Forbidden Planet Sheffield), and they look good, particularly the Utapau Clone Trooper set. I also saw the ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi in hand as well, and it looks much better than any pictures I've seen of it online. As I already have an Anakin on pre-order (scheduled to arrive with the good Black Series Luke X-Wing and Sandtrooper), that may be a final 3.75" temptation.

On that note, I've also started to reach some conclusions about my collection, and the direction I'm taking it. The Purge is coming... As soon as I get a free day to sit down and actually do it! For now though, I'm all about dealing with what's immediately in front of me; and that's a house in mid-sort, and a film that needs a production office. None of these things are mutually exclusive, but at the moment collecting is fairly low on that hierarchy. Hopefully though it won't be too long before I'm back with more regular updates, and maybe even a Black Series review... 

Until then, thanks for reading!

Monday 22 July 2013

The Coming Storm

General Kenobi, Commander Bly
The Clone Wars are taking their toll on the Jedi. Their numbers are dwindling against the Separatist armies, and the pall of the dark side of the Force clouds everything. Even so they fight on, securing victory after victory, and the tide of the war is slowly turning. Yet as General Kenobi leads his battalion to secure yet another stronghold, he would never foresee the betrayal that awaits him...

The Clone Wars are almost over. The Great Purge is coming.

*

OK, moody scene-setting aside, the purge really is coming to the Mos Espa Collection; and given how sprawling my collection is becoming, that's only a good thing. SDCC this year was a watershed moment for fans of Hasbro's Star Wars line, I think. Fan outrage over the direction of the 'classic' figure line is not a new thing (or fan outrage about anything, for that matter), but I'm getting the impression that the SA 3 3/4" approach is winding its way down now, and that's going to affect a lot of people's collections. The new Saga Legends looks like the template for a continued line, and it's a move I fully applaud - these are toys with great character likenesses that are also sturdy and can stand up to rigorous adventures. These are the kind of toys that I wanted as a kid, and I'm glad that they're there for kids today; whether they're entirely something I would want as an adult today I'll come to in a minute. The fact that I'm not the target demographic aside though, these figures are also seeing release at a reasonable price point, which has been the most off-putting aspect of new Star Wars figures for a few years now. If reducing the articulation allows the line to survive until the new trilogy, then Hasbro should absolutely go for it, and fie on any collector who can't understand that.

I don't get it either.
So, where does that leave collectors? It's been theorised in a few places that the new 3 3/4" Black Series line is a way for Hasbro to release existing (but unreleased) sculpts and simple kit bashes as a way of clearing the line out completely ahead of 2015's sequel trilogy push, and that makes a lot of sense to me. The upcoming figures, both rumoured and confirmed, are ones that have been mooted (and some even shown) for release in previous lines and others are fairly simple updates to older releases. I'm basing this on nothing but speculation, but if, after years of missteps, you have your toy line for children finally in working order, why would you continue to sell a misfiring line to a smaller audience, that's more expensive to produce and harder to sell? Furthermore, why do this when there's very few characters in this line left to make? It's been eight years since ROTS hit cinemas, and there really isn't much left to do in this scale (and I'm a bigger fan than most, but I have yet to see one decent argument for why a Toryn Farr action figure is required at all, by anybody, as a mass-market release. Online collector exclusive is a different matter).

The future's black...
And so, we come to the 6" Black Series, and the future of Star Wars action figures. Following the lead of the re-branded Marvel Legends line, the Black Series introduces a new scale to Star Wars action figures, with superior sculpting, more articulation than you can shake a well-spoken stick at and a long future of first-release main characters to come. I think those doubting this line's ability to last should look at the success (and there is no other word for it) of the SDCC/Celebration exclusive Boba Fett with Han Solo in Carbonite, which sold out in a day despite the inflated price and is now trading for as much as £200 on Ebay. People, not just collectors but real-life people want these toys, and the buzz around them is the highest it's been for a Star Wars line since at least the Episode I merchandising launch. With this weekend's wave two reveals at SDCC, I can now say that I am beyond doubt amongst the converted.

Captain of the Millennium Falcon, woot!
What struck me about the Saga Legends line when I reviewed the Super Battle Droid last week was that they're good toys, and I fully support the line and its reasons for existing, but they're not figures that I personally want to spend money on because I've been there before. I will pick up select figures based on aesthetics or whimsy, but for my tastes, and for the level of quality that's on offer, I intend to migrate fully to the 6" Black Series with an Episode III-VI focus, because frankly these toys really sate my desire for high quality, affordable Star Wars action figures. To do this I'll need to create space and funds, and that means selling off a chunk of my 3 3/4" collection. This in turn means deciding what each figure means to me, which I think is going to be a revelatory process and one that I'm looking forward to starting. It's also a process that I'm going to cover here on the blog (as well as continuing reviews, Vintage Wednesdays and LoEB contributions), because I think it'll be interesting to look at how much of figure collecting is about the purchasing, rather than the enjoyment of owning that figure. Hopefully that'll be something many of us can relate to, so it'd be great if anybody can relate similar experiences over the course of 'the purge'.

And every now and then I may remember that I occasionally cover Transformers too.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday 6 July 2013

The Little Things

Flee, mighty Pteranodon!
It's been an insanely hectic month just passed, with film edits, festivals, and a three-part celebration of my lovely lady's birthday all wrapped up in glorious summer sunshine. As you may have noticed though, that's left me with little time for blogging - and there's never any time like the present to turn things around...

King of the Thunder Lizards!
And so, back on track. These little Dino guys were unsold from a car boot sale the Emcat and her Mum were doing a couple of weeks ago, and I was kindly obliged to take care of them afterwards. I've wanted some dinosaurs for a little while; firstly because dinosaurs are perpetually stunning feats of nature, and secondly because I wanted to take some actual toy photos again. There's a real charm about toys like this, and the small scale makes them easier to photograph in multiple environments - well, the scale and a shallow depth of field, that is!

Head Shot! Gears of War's Anthony Carmine
Small scale figures are clearly on my mind right now (clearing the palette for the Black Series, perhaps?), and my latest purchase was this Gears of War blind bag figure. Costing £1.50 from Tesco and made by Meccano it's a surprisingly well-made toy, featuring 12 POA and a massive gun accessory. Gears of War is one of the few 'big' games of recent years I've played, completing one and being halfway through two as I type, so when I saw this line reduced to clear I thought I'd give it a go. It is really impressive for the size and price, and there's an easily-affordable six figures to the first series, so if you're into GoW and/or blind bags, I thoroughly recommend picking them up.

Invader on the Loose: Alien Conquest Lego & the Future of Space...
And so, full circle. All this thinking of mini-figures and blind bags put me in mind of the toy that started it all, Lego. Actually, that's somewhat a lie - I was thinking of Lego roughly concurrently, after finding out about the new Space line due later this year. You may recall, I'm quite a fan of the extra-terrestrial line...

Galaxy WAR!
Galaxy Squad looks like a lot of fun, and like a natural continuation from the recent Alien Conquest line. Insect-themed alien villains are a natural fit for playtime bad guys, and there was something about seeing the new spaceship designs and mini-fig uniforms that made me more think the Space sub-series was in better health than it has been recently.

Ad-Infinitum.
It's not enough to get me back into Lego any more than the blind bags did (picking up the occasional pack here and there), but if it's looking good I might get the odd small budget ship. Both of the above pictures are from brickshelf.com, and are used without permission. Hope that's OK...

It's good to be back in the saddle. I've got a load of reviews to write and will hopefully soon find the time to write them. But I'm not promising anything! :D

Thanks for reading!

Saturday 1 June 2013

Another Fine Mess!

The End of the War Draws Near...
Happy June! My posting seriously tailed off towards the end of last month as a load of real life took priority; happily I seem to have things in order now. I've been on a serious Star Wars photography kick this last week, and really enjoying the editing capabilities of PicMonkey - there's plenty more examples on my Flickr (new and unimproved!), feel free to add me if you're still there...

I have some articles planned and a load of figure reviews to write, along with a lack of College until at least September - here's to a busy summer of blog!

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Un-Boxing Day

I hope you've all had a great Christmas! In particular I hope you've managed to spend time with family and loved ones, as that's what it's all about. And if not this time, then there's always next year...

This is just a quick post to say hello, offer my seasonal regards and to highlight how much toy blogging I need to catch up on following an insanely busy December. To provide a quick visual snapshot, here are all the toys I have to photograph and review. At the time of this photograph (roughly 40 minutes ago), they weren't even opened!

What? No Transformers?!
Okay, so the Landspeeder had been opened. But as I've had no time to use it for anything over than a handful of photos, and needed the space for normal people things, it's since been boxed back up and left untouched. The Stormtrooper is my latest 'Vintage 12' appropriation, and the Turtles, well... Entertaining cartoon, stylish toys, and a mighty ten on the nostalgia scale - these have been a must-buy since I first saw them earlier this year. Only a Donny and Raph required to complete the four!

Told you I'd be coming back to these guys...
And so (roughly 30 minutes ago), that's Leonardo out of the box. Immediate first impressions are decent articulation, great sculpt and a fun figure, but I'll be back with a full review in a few days. As I now have a (slight) break from Uni for the next few weeks, I'm pretty hopeful the others will follow suit in the new year.

Thanks for reading, and happy holidays!

Saturday 17 November 2012

Century!


Somehow or another, I've stuck with this blog long enough to hit 100 posts! 70 of those have been from this year alone (which astonishes me to think about); I guess I finally found my groove with it. The truth is I would've given it all up if it weren't for the rapid escalation in hits that started around last December, and has been gradually increasing since. All I can say is thank you for visiting, and that I hope you enjoy my little bursts of creativity!

TO THE FUTURE!

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