What's Next?

Had a few ideas when I dismantled Hot Rod and removed bits of plastic here and there... then couldn't make up my mind on whether to customize him into a Decepticon or Autobot! It's one of those days...

Minor Custom BW Rhinox... 1st custom in 2 years!!!!

I'm back!!! I can't believe that it's been over 2 years since I'd last done a custom or blogged here... in that time, I got a new job and now have 2 kids :) That would explain my lack of time to pursue this hobby as my kids keep me very much on my toes! :D

Anyhow, I'd recently acquired a loose Hasbro Rhinox through a trade and FINALLY got to doing some minor customization on this bot! Yeeeesssssss... This has taken over 15 years to materialize! Seriously!

Back then when Beast Wars was first introduced, I hated the concept and had no interest in toys (or so I'd thought!).When the interest kicked in 2 years into the CG cartoon series, the price for a Rhinox was too high to warrant any customisation (wasn't working then as well)... which is just as well as I'd probably just destroyed the toy then as a custom to me then was to pour paint over an action figure!

This minor custom is done on a reissued Hasbro Rhinox... the one that came with parts for that weird non-transformable bot in Beast Wars (my TF memory is extremely rusty now... it's an age thing).

Well, less talk and let's see what's been done for this ole bot...

Off with his hands!

Notice the new rock hard rhino horn? (Hmmm... that sounds dodgy!)No more flapping ears!Rhinox's ready to kick some pred's bottom! (gun's been modified to remove push mechanism and blades relocated to the front to reflect a little show accuracy... still spins!)

Side profile to highlight gun mods.I hate Tankor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why the Batmobile project never materialized... LOL.

The car's been claimed by my 2 year old and I can't get it back! Haha! Kids... you just gotta love em! Heheh.

Updated picture of the Addiction Corner

Trying to resist the invasion of the cute stuff (me wife's) but there's no stopping them! Argh.

Custom Exclusive Box Masterpiece Starscream (MP-3)... Is the toy a KO?

Front of box

Been a while since I last found time to dwell in my hobby and thus I haven't updated this blog for a bit. Anyway, I was thrown that question (the title of this post) recently and frantically started searching the web to verify if the bot in the box was indeed a KO or truly a TakaraTomy product.

The few net reviews focused on the box (which is a custom) and mentioned that the toy within was a Hasbro SS. There's also another box (which was customised by a dude in China) which basically is a carbon copy of the original MP3 green SS. Where it was green, that dude replaced with white (box pics, instruction sheet, etc... you get the picture).

So back to the question... is this toy a KO that was stuffed into a custom box? Did TakaraTomy ever release a white version of the ugly "GreenScream"? Let's look at the pics to find out (this was a good excuse for me to open up the box as it was wrapped in clear cellophane when i got it and i didn't want to take the bot out... me and my MISB-fetish again! Heh).

What's inside?

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up the box to note that it was indeed a legit bot PLUS it included the coronation pack that was a custom done by TFC Toys (did they do the box as well??).

The white SS was packaged in the Hasbro style Masterpiece SS box but had stickers pasted on the front of the box as well as on the bottom. The stickers basically state that this is the US version (white vs green). However, the toy has slightly different paint applications as the toy is a TakaraTomy product and not a Hasbro one thus the differentiation (much like the Hasbro Universe Classics vs Henkei or however you wish to spell it). Is the quality better? Well, it sure felt good to me.

View of Screamer's Japanese bottom... the box that is.

Instruction sheet pack comes with added Japanese info sheet.

The bonus coronation pack (now I've a spare! Argh!) was of fairly good quality. The parts fitted perfectly unto Screamer's head and shoulders. The product was top-notch considering that it was a custom. Didn't really fancy the quality of the cape tho... but you can always hunt down some velvet cloth and replace it. It served its purpose well nonetheless.

Aaaaaahhhh... finally Coronation StarScream in all his glory!!!! Now I DO regret keeping this bot MISB for so long!!!! This bot is awesome out of the box! (gotta say that the main reason why I was never tempted to open this up was due to my disappointment with GreenScream... yucky colour, bad quality of plastic, etc).

Close up pic of TFC Toys' little brochure. Quality stuff!

So to cap it all... box is a custom (nicely done!), toy is an official TakaraTomy product of the Hasbro style bot in cool white, bonus accessories is an unoffical product (but bl**dy well done!) and my overall rating for this pack? A+++ [IMO the coronation pack is a must!]

Custom Kamen Rider BIO-RIDER Fusion RX

Front view

Finally, it's done! Well, it was completed a week ago but couldn't squeeze in time to post this... but anyway, here it finally is! Bio Rider Fusion RX as I'd like to call it.

Back view

The original Bio Rider, as all KR fans would know, is blue. I chose to make this Rider black instead to better highlight the link that he's just a different form of the original KR Black RX (KR Black RX has 2 other forms... Bio Rider and Robo Rider).

Thus, the chosen name Bio Rider Fusion RX. Black's a much sweeter colour anyways (apologies for the poor pictures as I'm still experimenting with lighting and background colours).

When East meets West!

Rider Kick!Brace yourself for a nice kick in the face Wolvie!

W.I.P. Custom Kamen Rider BIO-RIDER

Finally found some time today after a long couple of weeks to get back into customizing a figure. The workstation is a mess with dismantled bits and pieces of Transformers, Marvel Legends, etc from before.

The Batmobile that I was working on halfway is currently placed on hold as I'm lacking ideas and I need to hunt for more parts.

So what have we got here instead? A Series 1 Marvel Legends figure done by Hasbro after Toybiz lost the license to produce further ML figures.

It's a character I've absolutely never heard of... Banshee.

It's one heck of an ugly sculpt with its mouth wide open, horrid colour scheme and is a generally dismal product under the "Legends" banner (which had much better toys when under Toybiz... did I not mentioned that before? Heh. Thankfully Hasbro's now churning out better sculpts!)

Anyway, this ugly boy has heaps of potential... potential for what you may ask?

Potential to become a Kamen Rider figure that is! Yeah!

First we get rid of that horrid hairdo.

Argh! I'm bald! (Don't complain too much Banshee as your eyes are next! LOL!)

Re-sculpted the head completely and sculpted some accesories for a more KR feel.

So that's that for today... more work to be done for this guy so do stick around!

Ned's Batman

Check out this cool drawing of Batman! It's excellently done by Ned... Ned's 7 years of age and obviously going to be a great artist judging by the many drawings he's done as shown to me by his Dad, Simon.

Ned's Batman has inspired me to get the custom Batman, Batmobile and Robin project done asap. I'll be converting Speed racer, Racer-X and the Mach-5 car into team Bats!

Soon to be team Bats!

Rider-X always knew he was called for greater things

Stay tuned for the customization process in the next couple of weeks!

Marvel Mighty Muggs!!! Argh!!!

So why "Argh!!!" when I look at the Mighty Muggs that Hasbro's been churning out recently?Well, I said to myself that I won't be getting any of these deformed cutesy little abominations... told that to Edmund and I do believe that I mentioned that to Derek as well.

I didn't like the fact that these pieces of plastic were basically of the same mold (with the occasional tweaking to add claws or flames or whatever).

These guys are made of 100% recycled plastic and to me were a rip-off for the prices they were going for (20-25 bucks!)... I just couldn't find any justification in paying anything for them!

Well, that was then...

Then came a day (a couple of weeks back?) when I received a call from Edmund telling me that they were going for 50% off their retail price... then my wife wanted a couple as she thought that they were really "cute"... then I said "why not?"... then it went downhill from there... Sigh.

Might Muggs Ironman wannabe hanging out with the real Ironmen

Sooooo... now we've got a few... I'm hoping to keep it at that... just "a few". I've seen pictures of the new Transformers Mighty Muggs that's going to be released soon (or is it out already??).

I'm not gonna get any...... argh.

TakaraTomy Music Label SOUNDWAVE "Blaster Black" Version

Box front

I'd recently received the Music Label Soundwave after much hesitation in purchasing as it was previously retailing for over a hundred bucks... I wasn't comfortable with that price as it's a rather smallish bot and the initial release came only in white which didn't appeal to me.

Anyway thanks to Derek, I got this bot now at a lower price and in Decepticon Soundblaster colours! Soundwave always looked awesome in good ole Takara black.

Box back

Spark Blue & Sonic White variants (initial releases)

Soundwave is a fully functional MP3 player that runs on a single AAA battery and it requires a mini SD card (sold separately) which you'd slot into the front compartment of the bot... just like the original Soundwave toy of the 80's (it was mini-tapes during that time).

Opening up for the mini SD card

The original toy of the 80's had 2 pseudo-batteries that transformed into a missile launcher and a gun respectively. In this version, these weapons are non-transformable but look really great.

Really amused me to see the "Wave Bluster" printed on the gun... classic Takara! Heh.

"Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy... prepare for eject... EJECT!"

You're going down Autobots!

Is Soundwave poseable? You betcha! The level of poseability for this figure is quite remarkable and a significant improvement on the original Soundwave (the original had good poseability for its time tho).

This bot came with 3 pairs of different hands (closed fists, gun wielding hands and hands that allow SW to "press" his eject button on his shoulder).

TakaraTomy could've saved a little on plastic by reducing the number of hands as besides the closed fists, the remaining 2 types of hands could still hold onto the gun anyway... and we don't really need a right hand to mimic the "eject" pose when there's only one button on the left.

Comparison shot of the new SW and the original 80's toy

So would I recommend others to get this bot? Definitely! Overall, I'd rate this Music Label bot a sweet 9 out of 10. It looks awesome (I really lurve the black to the blue or white); has great poseability; actually plays music; and it fits nicely in scale to the Universe Classics series of bots.

You can pop it in your pocket on your way to work or school and nobody would think twice about your MP3 player being a "Transformer"! Truly a robot in disguise! A++

Special thanks to buddies Edmund and Jamie as well! Thanks guys!

Precious Melody 2008

In loving memory of our very precious one... may your beautiful melody play on forever in the arms of the Lord. Daddy & Mommy will always love you and remember you... every minute has been engraved onto our hearts.

Custom Transformers Unicron

Managed to squeeze some time in tonight after everyone's gone to bed to take a couple of better pictures of Unicron before I store it away in the glass display. The horns have been redone to a (hopefully!) better looking finish. Pictures as promised... enjoy!

The next project I've got brewing in me head is either another Transformer or something Batman related... haven't really decided. This has been a long eventful week (and month) and I'm rather exhausted... will see when the urge kicks in for the next custom to be done. Till then... thanks for dropping by :)