Happy Halloween!

"Hey, guys.  Do you notice anything odd about April?"

"I'll say! She forgot the pizzas!"

3.75" Doctor Who Wave 3 Photos & Review

Here are some photos of the new wave 3 Doctor Who figures that came out within the last month:

The Tenth Doctor with Trenchcoat: The sculpt looks like it's based on Tennant's appearance in "Day of the Doctor." The sculpting around the collar and tie look a little underwhelming. I think that's partially because there's not enough paint on the tie's knot, and there should be paint on the part of the tie going around his neck.

The 11th Doctor in Tweed (revised): The one on the left is from wave 2 and the one on the right is from wave 3.  Besides the different jacket opening in the front, I noticed that the newer version's jacket is a lighter color that is a little closer to the actual jacket color.  Also, the face on the newer one is a lot nicer, maybe by luck, and the skin tone is a lot more flesh tone and a lot less yellowish.    

What I did in the end was pop off the hands and head from the new figure, and swapped them for the Purple Coat 11, and now I have a much nicer Purple Coat figure.

And then there's the Gold Supreme Dalek. He's , um, gold.

Damning Faint Praises Leads to Success for Latest "Ninja Turtles" Movie

The Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made a $65 million debut this weekend, thanks in part to the critics.

It would be a easier to find a hard working senator than it would be to find a positive review for the latest Ninja Turtles movie, but this hasn't stopped moviegoers from flocking to this movie. In fact, the movie's success can be attributed to one key phrase that seemed to be repeated in many of the early reviews:

"It's not as bad as Michael Bay's Transformers."

That is not to say that all reviews are redundant.  I was quite impressed with a few of them:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-what-the-shell/375777/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/08/07/review-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-is-a-cowabummer/

But it comes down to why people went to see this movie.  To rekindle some old nostalgia? Sure. To indoctrinate a newer generation? You betcha.  Due to lowering literacy standards, no one reads reviews any more? Possibly. There's nothing good on Saturday nights? Okay. Because it's better than that piece of $#!+ Transformers franchise? Nail-on-the-head correct.

And I'm not preaching from the mound either. I plan on seeing Ninja Turtles sooner rather than later. In part because I grew up during the original craze, but mostly because it's not going be as bad as Transformers.



I hope.

TMNT Puzzle Erasers - Leo & Raph

I recently found these at my local Target.  I didn't notice that they were erasers, or I probably wouldn't have got them. Available in little poly bags, these are not so much puzzles as they are just rubber models that need assembled.  Each bag is labelled so you know which figure you are buying.

I bought Leo and Raph.  Each figure has their own stance, and their weapons are made of plastic not rubber. So, if you really did use them as erasers, then you'd have their weapons leftover to remember them by. Leo and Raph also have different skin tones, similar to what Playmates does with the regular figures.






Now for the bad.  The overall detailing and paint are pretty generic.  There is a separate piece for Leo's scabbards, so they're not totally lacking.  The paint, though, is pretty sloppy and look like they were applied by, well, me.

But these are erasers after all, and only $2 a piece. For what they are, they aren't bad. I certainly had fun putting them together.