Tagged: Samus Aran

Review: Figma Samus Aran

Hey everyone, hopefully by the time you’re all reading this, you’ll have checked out our new store location, a mere four stores down from our previous location. If not, BOO, BOOOO YOU! I suggest that you do so as soon as possible, because it’s REALLY nice and fancy like. Well fancy for a comic shop. The floors are real nice, and if you try real hard, you can still get a contact high from the new pant/varnish (NOTE: I AM KIDDING, DO NOT DO THAT, THERE ARE PLENTY OF BARS NEARBY THAT SERVE AS A BETTER ALTERNATIVE). To celebrate our new location, I’ll be taking a week off to visit Maine. Yeah that really doesn’t have to do much with toys. So I guess I’ll just have to review a new collectible or something.

((Luckily for everyone, I came prepared.))

It’s been a long time coming, but finally, someone (Max Factory) made a Samus Aran figure worthy of the Metroid franchise. One of video game’s most beloved and celebrated franchises, not to mention oldest, Metroid is a little bit of the black sheep of the Nintendo family; overshadowed by the likes of Kirby, Pokemon, Mario, and Zelda. And not exactly as heavy in the merch department as those franchises. Oh sure there’s been a handful of statues, but there’s been all of ONE action figure from over tears years ago, and it’s quite terrible. Luckily Max Factory has delivered the figure we all wanted.

The first of 3 announced Nintendo Figmas (The other 2 being Link from Skyward Sword, and Pitt from the 3DS Kid Icarus game), Samus Aran is based on her appearance from “The Other M”, the Wii game that’s arguable the weakest in the series. I’d complain about that a bit more, but beggers can’t be choosers, especially when the figure is this damn good.

Like I said, the figure is damn good in terms of sculpt and paint job. And it’s pretty damn sturdy too, not feeling as fragile as previous Figma, Samus looks like she should be taken out of the box and posed/played with. Which is great, considering she fairly posesable, and looks good on display. In terms of accessories, she comes packed with 5 different left hands, changeable missile tips for her arm cannon, and 2 different blast effects ( a single shot and a double shot).  Also, like every other Figma in existence, she comes with a plastic bag and stand. To be honest, I’m a little bummed out that there’s not an alternate head without  helmet on it, or at least a Metroid. It’s slightly annoying. HOWEVER, this is redeemed by the addition of one accessory…. Continue reading →

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Best of 2011: Super late edition part 1

By Chris Troy

My 2012 is off to a brutal start, as the first day of the year started with me having no power in half of my apartment for 4 days, but rebounded when I went down to DC for MAGfest 2012 for another 3. The latter was rad, but explains my absence. NO WORRIES, NOW I’VE RETURNED, I CAN TALK ABOUT TOYS THAT CAME OUT LAST YEAR, SEVERAL OF WHICH YOU CAN STILL PURCHASE AT FPNYC!! So without further delay, my ultimately meaningless list:

Let’s start off with some import goodness shall we? While not the strongest year for Figma as a brand (IMO, people who love them some Madoka may disagree), Max Factory managed to pop out a few rad figures this year, one of them being the Figma based on Evangelion 2.2 ‘s Mari. In a sea of Asuka/Rei merchandise, Mari was a welcomed addition and her Figma, which came with a cockpit and a ton of variant parts and accessories, was great. In addition to that, the Dorothy (of Big O fame) Figma dropped as well, and I am bias as hell towards Big O merch, so that makes the list. Also Robocop, because, well, he’s Robocop; why wouldn’t he, right? 2012 looks solid too, as we’re expected to get a Figma based on Guts from Beserk, as well as Samus Aran of Metroid fame. This is best in life. We still have the Eva girls and Dorothy in stock BTW, as well as several other characters I couldn’t tell you about.

Revoltech had a stellar year, especially if you’re into giant robots. Evas? A ton of them, all of them rad. Zone of the Enders finally got some love, with the release of Jehuty, and more are on the way apparently, which pleases me to no end. A ton of American properties got some love as well, including the likes of Iron Man, War Machine, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee, rocking their Michael Bay designs. 2012 looks to be full of more giant robots AND more movie stuff, including the likes of Pixar movies NOT named Toy Story. In the words of Achewood‘s Ray Smuckles “That’s alright, coz that’s okay.” And wrapping up the super pose-able import toy trinity is SH Figuarts: which, while delivering awesome Godzilla, Gundam, Dragon Ball Z, Megaman X, and One Piece figures, stole my heart with the release of their Tiger and Bunny line. This line is hot, and I think we had the Tiger and Bunny Figuarts in for like a few hours before they sold out. We do have a nice variety of non-T&B Figuarts still in stock though, so hey, it’s not a complete loss if you come in looking for some. We also got a ton of new Gunpla in this year, including kits from the new series Gundam Age. Continue reading →

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NYCC Wrap-up/Recap!

by Chris Troy

::: Coughs for several minutes before vomiting up several organs of varying importance:::

Once again, New York Comic Con has come and gone, this time giving me a case of the death, along with a ton of freebies, like posters, shirts and comics that I would never buy. The con was awesome and if you want a recap of what I did that doesn’t involve toys, I suggest you check out the article I typed up for BleedingCool.com, which can be found right here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/18/cosplaying-with-seth-green-chris-troys-nycc/

As for toy news from NYCC that you should care about:

– Next year’s Avengers toyline will have figures in-scale with Marvel Universe/ Marvel Movie figures as well as Marvel Legends sized figures. (3.5″ and 6″ to those unfamiliar with what the hell I’m talking about) On display were Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Hulk, & Loki for both lines, in addition to Black Widow, Thor, and Nick Fury for the 3.5″ figures.)

-The 2nd wave of the returning Marvel Legends line will consist of Big Time Spider-Man, Daken, Madam Hydra, Fantomex, Bucky, Captain America, Madam Masaque, Thunderball, and Build-a-Figure Arnim Zola. As good as the Avenger figures looks, these looks amazing, and I will end up buying WAY too many of them.

-DC Direct & Mattel both had “Arkham City”-based figures on display. Mattel’s will be 2-packs, and will feature characters like Harley Quinn, Robin, Batman, and the Joker. DC Direct, is making single cared figures of Batman and  literally ALL his villains from the game, as well as oversized deluxe characters from the first game like Venom-Joker, Killer Croc, & Bane. Also Catwoman, who I guess we can consider an alley at this point.

-Square Enix also had Arkham Asylum figures on display, Batman and the Joker of course. Also, photos of an armored Batman & Harley Quinn. In addition to these, there were Halo Play Arts Kai, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (which we just got in!), Serrah from Final Fantasy 13-2, as well as fully painted prototypes of the new Street Fighter 4 line, consisting of Ryu, Chun-Li, Akuma, and Cammy. Without a doubt, these are the BEST looking Street Fighter figures to date, so expect me to rave about Cammy when she drops in 2012. Continue reading →

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