Happy 3rd Birthday, Alex!

OK! Another year and another shot at misusing this blog to wish my son a Happy Birthday. He's three today.

This year, for a change, I'm not completely off topic. He had a Spider-Man themed birthday party.

Here are a few pictures of his cake:





Here's a picture of the birthday boy.


Again, Happy Birthday, Alex!

Sideshow Collectibles: Gambit

Sideshow is offering up the ragin' cajun X-Man: Gambit.

Manufacturer Sideshow Collectibles
Artists
* Tim Hanson
* Tony Cipriano
* Steve Riojas
* Anthony Mestas
* Seth Rinaldi
* Mark Brokaw
* Heath Hammond
* Tom Gilliland
* The Sideshow Collectibles Design and Development Team
Type Statue
Size 20"H
Release Q3 2010
Price $274.99

Zimm's Two Cents
I think the hand-tailored fabric offers something to this piece that a lot of other statues should seriously consider.

Points in Favor

• The coat. Wire-hemmed so you can make it look the way you want to.
• Paint Job is looking good.
• Little bits of detail - like the glove - make this nice.
• Two Heads - so that you can choose the one that you really like.
• Premium Format has a cool charged card with it. May be Worth the extra $10.00

Points Against

• The base. Not much there.
• Faces throw me off a bit, but overall - they are pretty good.

Recommendation: This is a Hot Buy. Sideshow Collectibles tend to be lower in productions, and this is a cool piece. I think it would look pretty rockin' sitting on the shelf. I would splurge and go for the $284.99 Premium Version, if you can still get it.

DC Dynamics: Green Lantern

The fifth in a six part series. Need to figure out who is the next one in the series.

Distributor DC Direct
Designed By Tim Bruckner
Sculpted By Tim Bruckner
Type Statue
Size 13" H
Release Sept 29 2010
Price $195.00

Zimm's Two Cents
I've been dying for a good Green Lantern Statue. This one looks great, but after Robert's two cents from the last one, I can only perceive it as a bust.

With that said....

Points in Favor

• Great Colors.
• Love the flame/energy going from the 'base' into his fist.
• Like the clean sculpting in the body and face.
• I like the green energy/flames on this one.

Points Against

• Paint between the hair and forehead.

Recommendation: Neutral. I like pieces of it, but I only see a bust.

Robert's Two Cents
It's a bust. This one is the closest to pull off what I think they're doing.

Points in Favor

• The green flame effect is the best effect usage in this series. Aquaman's water may be a close second.
  
• It's the classic Hal Jordan costume., I'm wrong it's not.
  

Points Against

• His hair isn't quite right. I miss the grey at his temples.
  
• Facial expression is a bit off.
• The pose seems a bit awkward, especially if we're supposed to think there are legs under the green flam effects.
• I'm not sure I like the way the green energy effect is working around his right hand.
  

Recommendation:Pass . Not crazy about it. There have been other GL pieces I've liked better and I'm pretty sure there will be others I will like more in the future.

Heroes of the DC Universe: Sinestro

Now that he is helping save the universe, I would have to agree that he is a "Hero of the DC Universe."

Distributor DC Direct
Designed By Gary Frank
Sculpted By Jean St. Jean
Type Bust
Size 5.75" H
Release Sept 22 2010
Price $70

Zimm's Two Cents
This one makes me want to hunt down the Hal Jordan Bust, so that I can have the two of these together.

Points in Favor

• The base is totally rockin! And it matches Hal's too.
• The level of detail. From his costume, to his sneer, to his hands and teeth. I love the little pieces.
• Love the Colors. DC doesn't attempt to shade anything, they just throw it at you.

Points Against

• The tips of the energy on the top of the lantern. How insignificent is that anyway.

Recommendation: Hot Buy....BUT - if you get this one, you need the Hal Jordan one. I like this one, and I tend to be tough on DC Direct.

Robert's Two Cents
I'm not crazy about the handling of Green Lantern in the recent revival. The resurrection and apparent attempt to make Sinestro a bit of a sympathetic character doesn't work for me. The one thing I feel they did right is his costume. I love the new Sinestro Corps costume. Plus Sinestro is the one person who single-handedly nearly brought the GL Corps down to their knees twice. Yes, twice. How would they compete with an entire corps of people like Sinestro?

Points in Favor

• The base is great.
  
• They did a great job on his costume.
  

Points Against

• The pose. If you're looking for definitive Sinestro, this isn't the pose you put him in. He should be standing upright and sneering.
• Forehead is all wrong.
  

Recommendation: Pass There has to be a better Sinestro piece than this one. I know Zimm is going to think I'm just contradicting him, but I'm not. Sinestro is one of my all time favorite DC villains and I just think he deserves a more accurate depiction.

One additional note on the costume: While I do love the costume, I think I just realized something. His costume basically looks like an updated version of Black Adam's costume. I need to think on that more.

Sideshow: Silver Surfer

Distributor Sideshow Collectibles
Artists
* Michael Allen
* Tony Cipriano
* Seth Rinaldi
* Tom Gilliland
* The Sideshow Collectibles Design and Development Team
Type Polystone Statue
Size 24"H x 11"W x 22"D
Price $324.99

Zimm's Two Cents
I'm split on this piece. Part of me likes it and then part of me doesn't. I actually like the hands with the trailing power cosmic, but if you don't, they have alternative arms without power cosmic.

Points in Favor

• 3 Heads and 2 Set of Arms means you can really make this your own piece.
• Nice little features. The angle of the board. The form of his body.
• He's mostly silver. I know that sounds weird, but sometimes people try to add in more then they should.

Points Against

• I don't like 2 of the 3 Heads.

Recommendation: I am still split, but it looks to be a good BUY. If I hadn't seen the other two heads, there probably would have been no doubt in my mind.

Robert's Two Cents
Just a quick comment. It's a decent statue. The multiple heads & arms seem to make this one a good idea. However, There have been at least three other Silver Surfer statues in recent years, including at least one that basically did this same pose and did it much better and was about half the price.

I'd definitely rather have the recent Bowen Silver Surfer. Plus they offered a smaller scale one to go with the Galactus statue if you had bought it.

If you haven't picked one of the other Silver Surfer pieces up and you like this one definitely pick it up. It's a good piece. I'd probably be all over it if I hadn't seen the other pieces that have been made available in recent years. Neutral.

Additional note: You can still find the Bowen one on eBay for a little more than half the price of this one. The base isn't as nice, but the statue is its equal. Or you can get the Galactus scale one for less than $100.

Bowen Designs: Guardians of the Galaxy

Distributed By Bowen Designs
Sculpted By the Kucharek Brothers
Sizes
Charlie 27 - 8”H
Martinex - 7”H
Starhawk - 7.5"H
Vance Astro - 8.75"H
Yondu - 8.5"H
Release April 2010
Price $400.00 - Website Exclusive

Zimm's Two Cents
Kucharek Brothers tend to do some great stuff, and this is no exception. The fun part of this one is that you can pick up all five characters at once. Yes, I realize that means dedicating some much valued shelf space for the group of them, but what the heck, they are the Guardians.

Points in Favor

• Good Price for 5 Detailed Busts
• Each bust is uniquely different and represents the Guardian it is supposed to
• Love the Colors and detail on Yondu, while Starhawk wings rock.
• While somewhat bland, I do like the fact that all of the bases match.

Points Against

• Smudged painting. Robert points it out a lot, and I am starting to notice it. I know why it is there, but sometimes it seems to be overkill.
• Kind-of wish that either Charlie 27 or Martinex had slightly different pose. Nitpicking there, but I'm just saying what I think. It's not enough to deter me though.
  

Recommendation. Hot Buy. It is a lot of money, but you would probably spend the same amount (if not more) for five statues of similar quality.

Robert's Two Cents
As a huge Guardians of the Galaxy fan, I love this set. I like the standalone Collector's Club exclusive Vance Astro/Major Victory even more. I wish Jim Valentino was still working on a GoTG series. That was one of the most fun comics of the 90s.

Points in Favor

• Lots of detail and good poses for most of them.
  
• They're the Guardians of the Galaxy.
  
• They are a very tight set and the colors are amazing. Even with the skin tone issues I have with Bowen Designs, I give the paints a thumb's up.
  
• They're expensive, but good quality and you can get the whole set at once.
• The Yondu bust's pose is much better than the Hawkeye bust that Bowen released several years ago. I like the arrow drawing action.
  

Points Against

• Where's Nikki? Or Aleta? I know they came along a bit later, but not much later.
• Yondu is one of my favorite characters and he's well done, but I'm not very happy with the paint on his skin portions. Like Zimm says, I get why it's done this way, but I want it better.
• Vance's pose. It looks like he should be holding Cap's shield. And if you see the Collectors' Club exclusive, you can see that he should be holding Cap's shield.
• I see Zimm's point on Martinex and Charlie 27. I'm not sure what you could do with Charlie other than put a massive gun in his hand, but Marty certainly could have a better pose.
  
• On the Collectors' Club Vance, he should be wearing the GOTG badge. He had it when he had the shield.
• Marty wasn't quite that transparent when the team was wearing these costumes, but hey, at least we get a Martinex that looks cool.
  

Recommendation. Hot Buy. Overall, I have a lot of nits to pick, but none of them or even the collective is big enough to sway me. If I can sell this one good kidney I have, I'll own these.

What the......Inflatable D20 Die?

During my hardcore D&D days, I collected dice like a madman. I had dice for every special occasion. I had my lucky dice, and I had the dice that I would share with anyone who needed them. (e.g. Bad Luck). I think that the only time I would have wanted this dice is when I was playing with someone, they were frustrating me, and asked to borrow a dice.

Here! Take it! Borrow the damn die!

And then it would have bounced off everything, landed on the gaming table, and everyone would be pissed off at me.

Hrmmmmph.

Shouldn't have asked to borrow the die.

Bowen Designs: Captain America Ultimate

Distributed By Bowen Designs
Sculpted by Tron and Randy Bowen
Size 13.5" H
Release Spring 2010
Price $200.00
WEBSITE EXCLUSIVE !!
Zimm's Two Cents
I already have Captain America. In fact, I have two Captain Americas. If I had bought the bust, that would have made 3 Captain Americas. How many Caps do I need?

Points in Favor

• Detail. And when I say "detail", I mean DETAIL.
• Good sculpting, but were the details just added to a previous piece?
• Website Exclusive means limited run - until they bronze it.
• If I mentioned the belt, gloves, boots, or shield straps - I would simply be talking about the detail again.
  

Points Against.

• Smudged Pants.
• Another bland base. What's happening here?
• Another Cap? How many (of the same general pose) can a person collect?
  

Recommendation: Neutral. For me it is a Pass. If you love Cap or the Ultimate line, it is a decent piece, but I prefer the variety that Bowen puts out on a more regular basis. Personally - I would go grab the Ant Man....or Havok. OR - EVEN BETTER YET - Grab that awesome Gladiator piece!

Bowen Designs: White Queen

Over the holidays, Bowen release a series of statues from Ultimate Captain America, Modern Black Panther, and two versions of the White Queen. Two White Queens!

Distributed By Bowen Designs
Sculpted By Mark Newman
Release
-- Modern April 2010
-- Retro May 2010
Size 12" H
Price
-- Modern $180
-- Retro $170

Zimm's Two Cents
Sometimes you can have to many Queens in one place, but I don't think that this is one of the times.

Points in Favor

• You get to pick the one that you like more. I like the Modern version.
• Mark Newman is the sculptor. If you've been reading some of my posts, I tend to like his work.
• Slightly different poses for the same character. Instead of the same pose with costume change.
• Little touches of detail. The lipstick change, the belt, the boots.
  

Points Against

• Base is bland for a Bowen - bet it heads to the Bronzer.
• Not sure I like the lipstick colors - even though they are accurate.

Recommendation: Buy. These look to be some nice pieces, but HEY, I warned you. I tend to enjoy Mark Newman's stuff.

Also, some guy's might enjoy having a scantly clad White Queen hovering around their office, so it is probably more of a buy for you.

Robert's Two Cents
Zimm, this is a side of you I didn't know existed.

These are both very nice. I do prefer the Diamond Select White Queen statue from a few (several now) years ago (Google it).

Points in Favor

• I like the modern one too. The exception is I prefer the hair, face, and red lipstick on the retro one better.
  
• This is going to sound like I'm singing along with the choir with Zimm this time around.
  
• I like the multiple poses. The poses actually fit the eras from which Emma Frost wore these two costumes.
  
• A side note based on the previous bullet point: the retro White Queen looks older than the modern White Queen. The same thing is true in the comics. The classic White Queen (think John Byrne era) looks older than the modern one (John Cassaday).
• Base? There's a base? Didn't notice.
  

Points Against

• This isn't really a point against the statue, but the character design itself. I don't like the white lipstick on the modern one.
  
• The pose of the retro one is a bit too tame. She was fierce even then.
  

Recommendation: Buy. I'm really surprised Zimm and I agree on this one based on the subject.

Very nice. Buy whichever one you prefer. Me, I choose the modern one.

What's up on your New Year Weekend?

How have you been spending your new year weekend? I thought I would give you a glimpse as to what I have been up to.



One key difference in my playing of this game is that I am now wearing reading glasses during game play. So - here is to another year - getting older and still operating as a kid.