The Purge: Round Two

Welcome to the second of three posts on the first lot of figures I'm shifting on Ebay this week. It's been mainly Star Wars figures I'm selling so far, is that going to change today? I sincerely doubt it... On to the toys!

Big Millennium Falcon

Mace Windu here is from 2007's Anniversary Collection, and looks pretty neat. The Sith lightning on his lightsaber is a nice touch that's really well realised, but I have zero interest in this figure. I have massive respect for Samuel L Jackson, but I also think that Mace Windu is one of the biggest wastes of space in the Star Wars universe, with terrible dialogue and not much to do but sit around and be a bit of an arse to Anakin. And I never liked the purple lightsaber either. Easy sell!

If only Qui-Gon were here...

On the opposite end of my preference spectrum is Episode I's esteemed elder Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn. Liam Neeson is the best actor in the whole of the PT for me, lending Jinn the nobility and authority the role required, and he's captured here in the plastic for 2012's Movie Heroes line. I picked this up for cheap but as I established before, I have no interest in collecting anything from TPM or AOTC. Also the light-up lightsaber feature actually momentarily blinded me when I looked at it wrong, it's that bright - two good reasons that he's got to go.

With Action Feature!

Qui-Gon's apprentice is next up. This Obi-Wan Kenobi figure is from 2005's ROTS line, and as such is imbued with a 'slash attack' action feature - basically, you squeeze his legs, and his torso jerks left and right, waving the lightsaber around. It's actually a pretty neat feature. I've gotten some alright shots with this figure before, but he's since been replaced by a far superior Kenobi (review and pics to follow).

I am wondering... Why are we here?

This may surprise longer term readers to see these two gone for auction, but I can explain - I picked these up in a POTF2 lot earlier this year, duplicating two of my collection's stalwarts. I love these figures and would recommend them to anyone, but I only need the one set myself.

The Flop Film Cast (John Carter not present)

Today's final lot is a small selection of figures from the Prince of Persia and Golden Compass movie tie-in toy lines. I've highlighted the Lyra figure before, but Prince Dastan (who came as a pack in with a fantastic gate backdrop) and Setam (bought on clearance from Toys 'R' Us) have both been largely anonymous on the blog. I did toy with the idea of picking up discount lines a while back, but ultimately had no real interest and found I was just buying junk. Not saying these figures are junk, but they're no longer items that I want in my collection, and hopefully putting them together as a lot means I can sell them all a little bit quicker.

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I had planned to tackle sculpt versus articulation today, but that's a debate which is just getting bigger and bigger to attempt to do justice to in one or two paragraphs, so it'll be the subject of a future post of its own. In the meantime I'll be back on Friday with the last of this week's Ebay listings as well as some ideas on custom figure recipes that I never quite gave myself the time to try...

Until then, thanks for reading!

The Purge: The First to Go...

I have my first few listings up on Ebay for the Purge, the catch-all term I'm using to describe the stripping down and streamlining of my collection. Every item is at a 99p start and with reasonable postage, so I'm really not trying to rip anyone off; I'll just be happy to clear out some space (both physically and mentally) and make some pennies whilst I do it.

First up is the Anniversary Collection Evolutions Jango Fett figure, which I obtained in the AOTC Bluray multipack...

The Ultimate Army Builder.

I've highlighted this figure before here, but now it's time to say goodbye. Despite coming from Episode II, an instalment better forgotten, Jango is actually a fairly decent character as a gun slingin', 'simple man' of a bounty hunter.  The thing is, this toy looks awful. I mean, it's in good condition, but look how squeezed that helmet is on the head, and how off-colour the purple jumpsuit looks. I don't watch AOTC with regularity at all, but I remember it well enough to know that Jango looked a lot more blue under the armour than he does here. Regardless of the many points of articulation this version has, the 2013 Saga Legends edition just looks far, far superior.

The Ultimate Penknife

R2-D2 here was a present that came from the previous incarnation of Saga Legends, although research tells me it was originally available in 2005 as part of the Revenge of the Sith line. It's a decent figure, good sculpt and size, but it's one of four R2s I have - the OTC Dagobah R2 is also electronic and is part of a set, the Saga Collection R2 is my standard go to Astromech and the POTF2 version I'm keeping for the sake of sentimentality. This isn't a bad figure at all, but it's a case of being the odd droid out.

Hero Lot

Luke & Han from TAC are both figures that I acquired in job lots, and I don't really have any need for either. I've photographed this Luke figure once, but generally use the Legacy Collection version as my default whiny farmboy. I would use the Han if I had a Millennium Falcon, but I very much doubt I'll own one of them any time soon...

Hot Wheels? No Wheels!

There's actually a bit of an embarrassing story behind how I ended up owning this Galoob Action Fleet Landspeeder, because when I bought it I thought I was getting a rather cheap Hasbro/Kenner POTF2 version. As soon as it arrived I realised my error, but it was my fault for not asking any questions of the seller and leaping on the purchase at the last minute, however vague the listing was. I still managed to work it into a few shots though and, needless to say, I've been crystal clear when listing it this time around.

Dark Knight in Bright Light!

It's not all Star Wars. This Batman figure from Mattel's DKR line was bought for a reduced and insanely low price, and it's served its purpose for one shot. However I've since acquired the Play Arts Kai Dark Knight Trilogy Bats, and since I'm not picking up any other 3.75" DC heroes, I've hit the end of the road with this one. As a kid I would've loved this Batman, as opposed to all the day-glo versions we got from the movie lines and animated series, but it's now surplus to requirement.

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And so the Purge has begun. Do I have any second thoughts? Well, Jango Fett is the first figure that really raises any questions for me, because not only is it the only figure I've looked at today that I don't own another version of, but it's also something that I'm in two minds about whether to even replace. I'd like the 5POA Mission Series Jango, and also the Class II Slave 1 ship for him to pilot (toys being toys again!) but as I inferred above, Episode II doesn't hold any huge appeal for me. As collecting is becoming affordable and interesting again with both Saga Legends and next year's Rebels, I think it's important to set parameters - and the first of those is to stick to my stated Star Wars focus of collecting Episode III and onwards only. It felt good remembering this when I came within a whisker of picking up the Geonosis Mission Series pack today.

I'll be back on Wednesday and Friday highlighting and justifying the rest of the stuff I'm selling, whilst also thinking out loud about the 5POA vs SA debate, and why I'll never be a customiser...

As always, thanks for reading!

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!

Shelf Review: Vintage Trilogy Saga Collection Greedo

"I'm lucky I found you first..."

Shelf Review! Not as in-depth as my regular musings, but a look at the equally-deserving items on my toy shelf all the same. Today I'm taking a look at Greedo, from 2006's Vintage Trilogy Saga Collection. The question is, is he as bad a figure as he is a bounty hunter?

Wrong Trade, My Friend.

I'll put you out of your misery straight away - Greedo is much better at being an action figure than he is a hired goon. Coming in at 14 points of articulation, with soft goods, a working holster, a striking colour scheme and exemplary sculpting (particularly on the head), this version of Greedo is as definitive as it gets.

 

All-Round Rodian.

As with all the better 3.75" Star Wars figures, Greedo has a good weight to him, and feels like a solid mass of toy. The joints are stiff on my version, which always helps to make a figure feel robust and well made, and because of this Greedo is easy to stand and pose unaided. The working holster is a treat, and the gun fits securely both in there and in his hand, which should really be a minimum essential for any figure that comes packed with a weapon. I know some folks aren't too keen on the soft-goods coat, but for me it's one of the better examples of soft-goods in the Star Wars line - I appreciate it hangs a little low, but it can be easily trimmed if you're so inclined. Otherwise it has a great colour, it fits, isn't see-through (ahem, Darth Vader) and generally looks great. For me it's the coat which takes the figure from solid to spectacular, which is really saying something for a minor character when it comes to my personal tastes.

Super-Size Greedo

As I'm sure most of you are aware there's a newer, bigger version of Greedo coming in the Black Series Wave 2, due in November, which I think looks ace - but it has some pretty big shoes to fill. If you're after the definitive 3.75" Greedo for your collection, then you should look no further than this superlative VTSC figure.

*****

Thanks for reading!

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!