GeekSummit's Star Wars BLOWOUT!!!

Just in time to fill in your new Black Series Collection, GeekSummit is clearing out Star Wars VOTC and Movie Heroes Click the image below to go to the listings page!!!

Most Star Wars figures start @ $7.99 with Custom figures starting at $9.99. Get in early and bid high!!

Be sure and check out the large selection of DC Collectibles as well. Most figures starting at $14.99

AND don't forget the S.L.U.G. Zombies (Series 1 & 2) starting at $2.99

Current auctions run through Sept, 8 2013.

 

Star Wars Black Series

Custom 6" Stormtrooper

I simply couldn't wait for Series 3 to come around in retail near Christmas, but picking this guy up last Thursday was a huge treat right off my wishlist!! I immediately took him out of the box and examined him in his stock glory with his multiple blasters and backpack and filthy weathered paint and within minutes I was on the road to pruning this guy down to basics...

 The Standard Bright White Stormtrooper

Ever since I was a kid the Stormtrooper was the one action figure that always stood out... Maybe simply out of contrast to all the other brightly colored toys of the day? Maybe because anytime there is more than one there is an army? Maybe because they are the coolest looking Star Wars character of all characters? All of these are right... My heart has never led me wrong.

To rekindle that old flame for my favorite plastic counterpart in his new format, I picked up a Sandtrooper at Target for $19.99 and brought him home immediately to wash away the filth of his off base outpost.

Don't get me wrong... Sandtroopers are troopers too but you really just can't beat a bright white stormtrooper. Unless you're Luke Skywalker & Han Solo in Stormtrooper disguise... then technically you can mop up a whole space station full of 'em... I make that one concession.

Man of Steel | Bootlegs Emerge on Ebay

Faster than a speeding bullet!!! More generic than Soda Cola... Able to mimic major brands to a negligible degree... IT'S.....

BOOTLEG TOYS!!!

These gems surfaced this week as I was shaking ebay down for new releases and checking regional distributions. I went in looking for Zod but came out having seen the very depraved edge of toy copydom.

 

This beautiful set features the Man of Steel himself in his classic colors, Zod in his trademark black, and Superman in his dream sequence black costume. What is peculiar about this release is that the actual Black Suit Superman is only hitting markets just as recently as this week so it is quite the coincidence that this makes its appearance when it does.

 

First we'll take a look at Superman. At first he looks like a pretty faithful copy of the original we are seeing in stores. On closer inspection the details start to betray the figure as we loose about 50% of the articulation. It appears that we are left with swivel hips, waist, and neck, along with hinge elbows and knees. I would not count on these figures featuring balljoint necks or shoulders.

The "S" Glyph as it will now be referred tois also a smoothed version without all the texturing that we see on the legitimate model. a peculiar change being that may have actually required some extra effort outside of simply recasting the figure. But hey... bootleggers can take pride in their work as well I guess.

 

Second we have our Superman in Black Suit. This is quite a treat since of course this figure is being released currently so that means this effort was underway for quite some time. Pointing towards factory insiders who may find themselves privy to paintmasters or paint schematics. This doppleganger even features the blackened "Heat Vision" eyes that were included with the official release for some weird reason.  The same articulation applies here as the body is identical to the original version.

 

We've seen the good.. we've seen the bad... now we have the fungly. Zod is the most special of this set as the bootleggers chose to use a blackened Superman torso instead of a new mold for the Kryptonian baddie. Times are tough... cut corners. Zod features all the same articulation of the other 2 figures but atleast features his own unique head cast. This is a funny set to have run into and I'll probably order a couple for novelty sake. If there was a rating system for bootlegs I would give it 4 out of 5 Derps.

While identity is key in this set, I'll let the SuperZod slip. The casting thus far seems to be pretty faithful though it will be subject to the pitfalls of EXTREMELY CHEAP manufacturing as seen in most bootlegs. While I have been schooled countless times on the difference between bootlegs, fakes and reproductions I will always call unofficial mass produced figures and products bootlegs.

SDCC 2013 Reveals Wishlist: Superman the Movie

GeekSummit's SDCC 2013 Reveals Wishlist  

Dark Knight... Batman '66... Green Lantern... Man of Steel... GHOSTBUSTERS!!!

But what about the Reeve movies?...

 

What if???...

Diddly Doo! Diddly Doo! Diddly Doo!

An entire progressing line covering all 4 yes all 4 Christopher Reeve Superman Movies could be slated for release in the mix of the Man of Steel Mania taking hold this summer. 6" Movie Masters "Classics" would be designed for ALL headliner characters including:

• Marlon Brando as JorEl in black AND a white variant both with various crystal accessories.

• Lex Luthor with Kryptonite chain and a cigar (no word on removable wig status)

• Clark Kent with removable glasses and hat with overcoat over arm accessory.

• Superman authentic designed costume with newspaper dispenser.

  What, no Lois?

• There seems to be a teaser in the bottom left corner of an emerging 3-pack of the of the Kalamity from Krypton; Zod, Ursa, & Non.

Could more second tier characters be on the horizon? I would certainly think so being the first 2 movies use all the same characters… Hooray!!! a Two-Fer!!!

Diddly Doo! Diddly Doo! Diddly Doo!

With high hopes for an awesome Superman Legacy line from Mattel ala Batman Legacy (not bad) I could only hope with the most sincere delusion that this has crossed the minds of Mattel if not for the 75th anniversary of the man himself then the 35th anniversary of the first movie... Well, I can't make it happen myself but I can throw this blood in the water and hope someone wants this as bad as I do…

Man of Steel | NECA Quarter Scale Superman Revealed

Shots released a couple months ago showed us our first glimpse of the NECA quarter scale Man of Steel Superman figure coming this summer. While I AM excited to see this coming over the horizon I am also hoping that this is the beginning of a major MAJOR partnership between DC and NECA. Their sculpting is second to none. Their attention to detail and really just their responsiveness to what fans want to see is uncanny.  While this first shot does leave us witness to the prototype process as far as likeness and color the facial likeness sees more detail in the unpainted versions seen above & below.

The properties that they find license with are awesome (Predator/Alien/Terminator/RoboCop)... NECA is who I'd like to give all my money as a Mid-High end collectible company. Mattel has been at it for years with their DC license slowly ascending to giving us awesome movie property toys but NECA was already at the top of that mountain years ago. This unpainted version definitely gives me confidence that NECA has got this figured out.

I can only hope that we will see NECA use this as their foot in the door to do 6-7" DC figures, or at the least be sought out by DC Collectibles to do their figure sculpting. I love Tim Brukner's work but up until lately for all he and other AWESOME sculptors have done, DCC really shits the bed on articulation.

Man of Steel | SDCC Exclusive Revealed

Mattel has released images of the 2013 SDCC Exclusive Man of Steel 2 Pack

Every year, Mattel has one of the largest toy presences at Comic-Con, and they’re again bringing a host of cool exclusives, including a special ‘Man of Steel’ box set ($50.00).

They’re battling it out on the big screen, but Superman and General Zod bring their fight home in the two-pack. (And Zod comes packing with a steel girder! Look out, Supes!)

Superman looks intense usually but when he really needs to take charge he breaks out the heat vision. Push a button on the back of his figure and his eyes light up to add drama to a fiery situation.
San Diego Comic Con takes place 07/17/13 – 07/21/13

Via USA Today

GeekSummit Summary:
While I nearly figured that all of these features would be included I'm surprised that Zod is not the character getting the heat vision feature and Superman a more deluxe looking fabric cape. While I am always a fan of fabric over vinyl the cape does betray scale a bit and I HATE those rubber tops. The transitions are always made to be blocky and there's no good way to do it via Mattel.

Also is this possibly the only way we get bearded Zod in the Kryptonian skin suit? Would we have rather gotten Superman/Zod with ab crunch and fabric cape options?

So what do you think?

Man of Steel | TARGET 5 PACK REVEALS NEW CHARACTER: SPOILERS….

While strolling through target this afternoon I couldn't help but notice the huge silhouette of Justice league characters at the endcap. HOORRAYY!!! They finally bulldozed of that pile of TMNT and IronMan peg warmers!!!

While perusing the DC/Man of Steel display I looked down and saw this HUGE figure in a target Exclusive 5 pack. The 5-Pack includes Superman in standard presentation as well as Kryptonian Armor, Jorel in Armor, Zod, and then this King Daddy towering over the rest of the characters.

His name is Namek… Who? You know… Namek… YOU KNOW… Name… K… Kryptonian Name… Did I solve this Lucasian Anagram? Probably not as I hope it has a much deeper meaning.
Anyway Namek appears to be either Zod's right hand or possibly his boss. there's no telling really at this point. Having seen the newest trailer (#5) there is a HUGE pari of hands pinning Superman down. this could possibly be Namek himself about to take some fire up his nose.

Google won't turn up much for you but I'm assuming this is an all new character conjoured up to unlevel the playing field a bit. this could also possibly be the HUGE character we see bounding upwards towards Superman from the very first trailers. Either way… entertain your curiosity and try and dig something up on this guy!!!

Batman Unlimited | Wave 3 Beware the Batman 6" figure Revealed

Mattel has released the first image of the Beware the Batman figure from Dc Comics Unlimited Wave3.

While I find the figure itself to be a pretty accurate depiction of the character's appearance thus far I do hate to see more and more figures losing their ab crunch articulation. Hopefully the scale/proportions of this figure in particular make it a solid choice and not a new trend to seep into all of the titles we can look forward to in the future.

Man of Steel | Play Arts Jor El & Faora

New shots out of an asian collector even show is the first shots of Play Arts Kai Square Enix' Man of Steel line of figures. This round we have Jor El & Faora coming soon!!!

Man of Steel | Movie Masters : The Ab Crunch Project

SUPERMAN with CUSTOM AB CRUNCH ARTICULATION



After the first release of the images of the Man of Steel Superman & Zod figures it was clear that the ab crunch articulation had been done away with. Whether it was in preservation of the torso detail or simply a corner cut in some interest it was the ONE joint that seemed an inexcusable loss to the running caliber of Movie Masters figures. The Dark Knight/Batman Begins figures were awesome with very little to complain about (lack of accessories) and the Man of Steel figures looked to be equally impressive but that ONE DAMN JOINT... Come on Mattel. 

 

So not being one to sit back and let my toys suck... i took to the shop armed with a bagfull of Man of Steel Superman figures to see what I could pull together. There were a few drafts but I am pleased to say a standard has been set!!! How do I do it? SIMPLE!!! I'm an obsessive hobbyist!!!

 

The first thing usually do is to affect the articulation of the stock figure. I deepen the insides of the elbow joints as well as the knees for a tighter closure. I also trim off the lowest band of the belt region. It seems to restrict the leg movement quite a bit and once its gone it is not missed.

I also add a notch to the back of the neck allowing the head to rock all the way back for a better flying pose. The figure comes stock with a ball joint head but it is restricted internally from being able to flex all the way back. I drill out the lowest section of neck peg which then releases the head to move much more freely. Also of course we added the fabric cape for balance and weight purposes. Now the Man of Steel can flex and pose in any orientation horizontal or vertical and the cape doesnt weigh him down. 

So how do we do it? We can't tell you but the answer may surprise you!!! In the mean time check out this diopanorama!!! We will return with a tutorial on converting YOUR figure into the specimen seen below!!!