Anyone here collect toys/Action Figures?

@M

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I saw that on Yahoo! News too. I guess I kind of look at it as a high-end variation of the kids' Transformers that are spring-loaded to transform in one step. Neat in a way, but, not $700 cool (bear in mind that's coming from a guy that just spent over $600 on more LEGO sets).
 

Tron

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Well who has the $ to buy this cause i sure don't.Damn and i thought the haslab unicron was expensive.
[video]
 

HDRchampion

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Well who has the $ to buy this cause i sure don't.Damn and i thought the haslab unicron was expensive.
[video]

Looks like its already sold out, i was thinking of picking one up to play with and the other keep in the box...Now its going for double the price already.
 

@M

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Almost forgot this. Picked up this little Optimus Prime action figure (doesn't transform) at the thrift store the other day. Some paint wear, but, for a quarter, I'm not complaining. Another Prime for the red and blue pile.

IMG_20210412_141056562.jpg
 

SouthtownKid

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The size of sets are all over the place, depending on what you want to pay for. The Disneyland castle set is 4,000-some pieces for example and takes most people several days to put together. Some sets look kind of janky, true, but, in general, I'd say LEGO models have a more polished appearance today than when I was a kid, due to more brick variety and blocks with smooth surfaces instead of studs on top.
It's those custom pieces that make the sets look so cheap and lazy. Like the sides of the drag car. At one point, a set like that would have simulated the sides of the car with existing lego bricks. And it would look Lego-y, but that's part of the point. The culstom pieces make it look not like Lego, but also not as good as a regular plastic model would. So there's no meaning to it, imo.
 

terry.330

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Agreed.

I started to really notice it when my nephew was getting Bionical sets. They looked like shit and he was putting them together in like 5 min because the custom pieces were like half of the set.

At least on the higher end sets they're almost all regular pieces and they look awesome. The new 89 Batmobile that's like 3' long is insane.
 

@M

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That dragster you're talking about isn't a normal LEGO set, it's Technic, and that's an almost completely different building system. Traditional LEGO stud blocks are very minimal, almost nonexistent, in Technic sets. The models are composed mostly of girders, rods, gears, and posts--Technic is more comparable to an Erector/Meccano set (but with pegs and holes instead of screws and nuts). A Technic car is more like a real car in construction: a frame with internal mechanisms and chassis pieces attached on top of that, not an object built up out of bricks.

Bionicle/Hero Factory are more customizable action figures than traditional building sets. You assemble a simple buck body and then attach armor chassis bits and weapons to that. They're mostly ball-and-socket and Technic peg affairs; again regular LEGO stud bricks are minimal with these. I like them and own several, but, they deviate quite a bit from traditional LEGO expectations too.

The Thor, Thanos, Spider-man, and Iron Man mech suit sets I recently bought are probably more the direction that Bionicle should have gone, but, Bionicle was pretty popular and profitable for a while too.
 
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@M

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Space used to be its own dedicated line, like Castle and Pirates, but, LEGO has stated that they're trying to move away from that and fold more of the thematic stuff into the broader Creator 3-in-1 line rather than having a bunch of sublines, which I understand and support. Contemporary, realistic space exploration fits with the City theme, wilder, futuristic stuff like the green alien above doesn't.
 

terry.330

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Bionicle and Ninjago are the dumbest shit Lego has ever produced second only to the NBA line they had awhile back. That was just baffling.
 

@M

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I like both Ninjago and Bionicle, but, it's been established that I have shit taste in everything. 😂 I didn't know there was LEGO NBA; focused on mini figures I would guess (I don't know that we'd need a dozen different courts/stadiums)?

Ninjago is pretty popular, probably largely because of the TV show--those generally help drive toy sales. I just looked on Wikipedia and 376 different boxed Ninjago building sets have been released since 2011, that's both impressive and scary.
 
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HornheaDD

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Bionicle and Ninjago are the dumbest shit Lego has ever produced second only to the NBA line they had awhile back. That was just baffling.
Yup. never understood the appeal. They always looked like knockoffs.
 

Mai_Lover

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My all time favorite LEGO sets were the Space Police in the nineties. I had the gigantic police ship with the removable prison cell inside. I even made a stop motion film using an old 8mm film movie camera. Those were the days....
 

@M

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I liked the vintage LEGO Space Blacktron and M-tron sets.
 
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@M

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M, one of these days you should take a pic of where you keep all these kits. I want to see what your hoard looks like
I don't display them, I just disassemble them enough (cars usually slide in as-is) that they'll fit back inside the boxes and toss/stash them somewhere in the house. I've got probably a couple dozen I haven't even opened or built yet (and three more on the way in the mail this week). Those are my future M got laid off/disabled/fired projects. 😁
 

@M

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No one misses Jar Jar Binks.
Everyone misses Jar Jar Binks (with their lasers, explosives, and lightsabers); that's the only reason he's still alive. LoneSage was right, he's secretly Force sensitive and fucking with us all.
 

prof

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I went on a He-Man kick about a year ago, and bought about a dozen of the classic figures from the 80s. My daughters love to play with them, so I keep all the little weapons set aside because those things get lost easily. Somehow I still had Orco, He-Man, Skeletor and Mosquitor from when I was a kid even though all the rest of my toys were long gone. Cool that they survived.

As far as the new ones I picked up last year, Tongue Lasher and Robotnick were probably the coolest looking. And I like Kobra Khan because when you squeeze his head, he spits out water mist. I chase the kids around with him. Hahaha
 

@M

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As far as the new ones I picked up last year, Tongue Lasher and Robotnick were probably the coolest looking.
Robotnik is working with King Hiss' crew now? Sonic may be in trouble...

Yeah, MotU is one of the coolest toylines ever. I had most of them when I was a kid, but, not anymore (I think I've got Hordak, Webstor, Dragstor, and either Rokkon or Stondar in my piles somewhere, but, those were all relatively recent thrift store buys.) The new retro MotU figures on the pegs now look pretty good, but, I haven't gotten any of those yet, but, I picked up three of the new MotU Mega Construx sets (Mattel's knockoff LEGOs).
 

prof

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To be honest, I didn't even know that they had a new line out now. I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the info.
 

@M

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They're very similar to the original line but have more joints. They were Walmart exclusives for a while, but, I think you can buy everywhere now. There's a WWE MotU-inspired line that uses the same bodies and accessories too. Mondo is making cool, but very expensive, deluxe 12" MotU figures as well.

Here's a comparison photo (not mine) of vintage and current Skeletor:
motuooriginskels_original.jpg
 
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For me it is Halo figures from MegaBloks, picked up many sets from car boots, garage sales. Super cheap, i have amassed quite an army lol...
 

@M

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I've picked up a handful of those Mega Bloks HALO figures too, some by choice, some in random bags of other toys. They're pretty well done and poseable mini figures. Mattel has that franchise, and Game of Thrones, in their Mega Construx line too. I'm guessing they must have bought out and acquired Mega Bloks?
 

@M

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Wowwee Buttheads Brainfart electronic farting zombie figure (love his butt face--what can I say? I like classy stuff like this.)

IMG_20210506_180902497_HDR_39.jpg

LEGO Minecraft The Crafting Box 3.0, 564 pieces.

Initially, the blocky look of these Minecraft kits turned me off, but, it IS true to the look of the video game source material (which I've never played), and it does have a retro LEGO charm to it, so, I was won over.

The build was more time-consuming and involved than I expected (a bag of plates, 4 larger bags of bricks, and several smaller ones). Happily, there were zero stickers, all the bricks with graphics are printed on, which is exactly how I like it. I made the castle-like structure and grounds, but, there are instructions for a smaller house too (and a few photos of some other designs you could try, on the front of the box).

The 2-story stone and wood structure is pretty spiffy. It sports a working front door (as do the gates on the fence outside). There are 4 crafting stations (anvil, oven/forge, etc.) inside the first floor and, on the second, a bed, TNT box launcher (BOOM!) at the top of the tower, and a treasure chest full of 4 coins/ores, 2 roots, a carrot, and an axe. The grounds consist of a shallow stream, fed by a little waterfall, two trees, and several smaller plants and flowers. What you get is good, but some more torches and plants, and perhaps a small bridge over the water, wouldn't have hurt either.

As to the figures, you get two heroes, Steve and Alex, a pair of villains, a Creeper and a Zombie, and a pig. The Creeper's 4 legs aren't articulated, which disappointed me. In addition to the stuff in the chest, some armor, a helmet, sword, mattock, shovel, and water bucket serve as accessories. You also get an orange LEGO brick separator tool, which comes in handy.

I have to admit, minus the Zombie and Creeper, I'd kind of love to live in this place. This set is a wonderful little slice of a virtual world with lots of play value and rebuilding potential. It's a pricier set (56 dollars, originally 70, which was too much), but, I think that's reasonable in this case, due to the final size of the model (close to a square foot) and the mostly larger types of bricks. The minimalist, super blocky style won't appeal to everyone though. 4.0/5.0 stars.

IMG_20210505_212854869_39.jpgIMG_20210505_215445278_39.jpgIMG_20210505_214830806_39.jpg
 
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