SUBWAY 1/6 24 Hours Betrayer Movie Figures

The second character of SUBWAY 24 Hours movie figures has been published today. It is a Betrayer, which you can see from his atrocious eye sight. He is dressed in black, including a black leather jacket, a black long sleeve granded shirt, a black denim pants, a black webbing belt and a gray underpants.

Particularly, the eyes are replaceable, and it comes with three pairs of eyes with different versions.

As a betrayer, he surely carries two USP compact pistols, one in silver and another in black, and he also has a matched USP compact 9MM magazine in black.

Additionally, this item comes with a black flatsider paddle holster, a pair of silver sunglasses and a pair of black workder boots. With 33 points of articulation, this 24 Hours Betrayer 1/6 scale movie figures can take most almost all the poses as in the movies. In terms of price, it is a little cheaper than the previous Hero, and it is mainly because it is not equipped with the RRL leather mail bag this time, but who cares. It is expected to be released in June 2012. Click here to pre-order now!

DAM Stands For Action Figure (3 versions)

toyhaven: DAM Stands For Action Figure (3 versions) - DAM if...: I actually laughed when I saw these ;p These are DAM (the company that has been releasing the Operation Gothic Serpent / Black Hawk Down 12-inch figures) Figure Display Stands for action figures (3 versions are available - black, white and sand / khaki) . I found it funny that figure display stands should take centre stage over 1/6th scale figures. DAM actually bothered to take studio shots of these stands as if they were an action figure :) I always felt that the 12-inch figure should be self standing as far as possible for realism and if the stand was to be used, it should NOT be too obvious.

These DAM 'Y' stands for figures are designed to go up between the legs of the 12-inch figure to hold them up. To me, that's not a great way to display any figure because when you look at the figure being displayed, you see the figures as having three legs instead of two :(

If I have to, I much prefer to use the waist held figure stands as these go around the waist and can be hidden by the fabric clothes so that the figure still appears to be standing on his own two feet and NOT propped up by a foreign object going up and into his / her crotch.

Here's an example of a figure with the waist held stand. This DiD (Dragon in Dream) 1/6th scale Samurai Date Masamune 12-inch figure's samurai armor plates are all made of die-cast metal and joined together piece by piece which makes the figure rather top heavy. Without the display stand, the figure will just topple over under its own weight. Check out my post HERE for more pictures and how I try to conceal the stand from view ;p

Another figure that needed a figure display stand is the Hot Toys RoboCop 3 1/6th scale figure. The flight pack made the RoboCop figure top heavy as well so the stand was necessary.

Stands with diorama bases add a touch of realism and relevance to the figure. Hot Toys Predator figure came with a jungle themed display base and looked rather nice.

See my post and full review of the Hot Toys MMS90 Movie Masterpiece Series 1/6 scale 14-inch Predator from the first Predator movie HERE

Even simple brick bases can enhance a display much better. See the pictures below :) Gray Brick Figure Stand by Alpha Toys. Base is made of plastic and "bricks" are made of resin. (Can be ordered from Cotswold Collectibles)

Red Brick Figure Stand by Alpha Toys. Base is made of plastic and "bricks" are made of resin. (Can be ordered from Cotswold Collectibles)

For me, one of the best stands so far are the ones produced by Medicom Toys. These are clear stands with options of a waist held clip or thigh held clip where the adjustable clips can be secured anywhere on the clear rod that goes into the base. The clear rods give the impression that the figure is flying through the air or jumping off the ground and does not spoil the look of the pose. I wish more manufacturers will include these with their figures instead of the standard black figure stands.

Examples of some recent poses using the Medicom Toys clear figure stands - BBICN ThreeA Popbot exclusive 1/6th scale Pathfinder Ono Tomorrow Kings Oyabun 12-inch figure (MORE pictures HERE)

Round 2 1/6th scale Captain Action Deluxe Spider-Man Costume Set -MORE action poses HERE! Plus a better idea of how the Medicom Toys clear stands work

I would rather do away with figure stands if I can help it unless they enhance the figure, for example display stands and bases with diorama or that are custom-made for the particular figure.

toyhaven: Incoming: Mivi 1/6 The Outsiders 12" Figure

toyhaven: Incoming: Mivi 1/6 The Outsiders 12" Figure: This is another 1/6th scale 12-inch figure that will be released by Mivi. Earlier Mivi had given us a preview of their "Due Date" 12-inch fi...

Diecast car models - appreciating investment

Collecting diecast car models, has been popular in foreign countries, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan regions for a long time. At the begining of 1980s, an alloyed mini scale car as small as the match sticks box flied into China, which was an eye-opener for those who only known the metal toy cars. Till now, with more brands, larger scale, more extensive produce range, finer craftsmanship and higer quality, more and more collectible car models appeared to people, which generates the most enthusiasm among all the collectors.

Stamp, antique, badges, tickets, newspapers, coin and magcard etc have all been fahionable in China. Nowadays, as the spread of diecast car models, most of collectors turn to the scale car models industry. They are of all ages and in different industries, some are elderly, some are young and some are just children. Among all collectors, there are government employees, staffers, private owners, armed police, students, miners and so on. All of them have the same hobby - collecting car models. They love and are infatuated with cars. In the actual life, they have not gotten the cars that they dream to have, and then collecting those collectible scale cars becomes another way to realize their dreams. In this modern time, equisite car models are launched constantly, and crazy collectors increase gradually. Though it still can't compete with the stamp enthusiasts yet, the scale doesn't lost to the collectors of other projects. Any collection has the appreciation potential and is able to create value-added space, diecast car models are no exception, even more outstanding. According to information reported, in Germany, a rare classcial car model has ever fetched $600, 000 marks. In America, there is also a record of a diecast model sold in $200,000 dollors. Such large increments are not unthinkable. When a thing is rare, it becomes precious. It is the truth that can be used everywhere. Becasue each car model can't be produced unlimitedly, especially the limited edition item. It ensures the large appreciation potential.

The things you must know about diecast vehicles

I am a diecast vehicles collector who has been in this field for nearly three years, and I would love the share what I have learned from three years of experience here. They are some basis knowledge you must master for collecting and appreciating car models.
The first is the size. Generally speaking, the trunk, engine hood, scuttle and doors of diecast 1/18 models can be opened just as the real cars, and you can turn the steering wheel and tires freely too. On the contrast, 1/43 diecast car models are totally closed in most cast.

The second is the brand. It is same with the real car simply. The product style of different diecast manufactures are very different. So we must learn its style and process feature if you want to appreaciate a brand. The brand that domestic ordinary collectors are familiar with is KYOSHO. It is a janpanese brand, and it is specialized in 1/18 diecast car models, and the price of its products is mainly above $150. Relatively, the Thailand's brand maisto is much cheaper, and the quality is also good. It fixes the price around $40, so it has a large market share in China. Besides, there are Hong Kong's ANSON, Thailand's UT, French EAGLE and German AUTOart etc.

Additionally, diecast vehicles are the scaled down versions of the real cars in the real life. The car toys produced by some gift factories are not the so-called diecast vehicles indeed. Each diecast car has intellectual property, and the manufacture must get the license of the original car maker. Some diecast car models of top grade even have a unified product code.

The collection of diecast car models

Diecast car is a product of car promotion born in last century. For almost a century, diecast car models have become a new collection in the collectibles field from a promotion item, and at the same time it has been the carrior spreading car cuture.

As a beneficial activity, collecting diecast models has had a long history of several decades in some developed coutries, while it has existed in chinese market for a few years. Review the development of collecting stamp, phonecard, coin etc, and we can forecast that diecast vehicles have a very large development space as a young industry. As cars become more and more popular, collecting car models will become a kind of fashion gradually. It is estimated that there are at least 300 thousand car models collectors in China currently. Car models are not simply children's toys any more, and many adults show great interest on it, expecially in the big cities.

Along with the increasing of collectors, diecast car models become circulate in online market and collectibles market. It becomes a new type for collecting and investing. For investing, appreciation space is the most important element that you should take into consideration. When choosing diecast vehicles, focus on those famous brands in the industry. The size should not be too small, and the right size ranges from 1/25 to 1/45. In addition, circulation has a close relation with the appreciation space of a certain item, the smaller the better. Those limited customized models or anniversary versions are the best for investment, and they are expected to have a great appreciation potential in the future.

Roman Gladiators Collectible Figurines

Gladiators stand for the culture of Roman empire. It is destined to be an important part during the development of Roman. As early as the 8th century, the father Beda had predicted that "When there is pit, there is Roman. Roman will die once the pit collapses. And the world will come to the end if Roman dies."
Roman Gladiator is the tained hatchet killers. The origins can date back to 264 BC. Most of them were slaves. They were forces to fight and kill each other in the funeral of royal families first, and then they fighted with eatch other to die just for pleasing the emperor and feudal lord. Generally speaking, the social status of Gladiators is a little higher than slaves. Gladiators were trained gathering in a place as the training camps. They often went on tour to act in different places of Roman Empire. Gladiator groups had ever been privately owned. Emperor feard those groups develop to be private armies and threaten the Roman empire, so he took over those gladiator groups. The way they trained gladiators is very similar to the modern way training sportmen. They had to control diet strickly and accepted harsh exercise everyday. Otherwise, they needed to learn to use all kinds of weapons including dagger, sword, net and chain etc.
Many people show great interest on the history of Roman gladiators nowadays. You can read some related historical document and novels, or watching movies to learn more about the disappearing history period. The most visual way to feel their expressions, power and weapons is collecting the gladiators collectibles figures. It is calsscified into military figures. In the 1/6 scale field, CMTOYS does very well in immortalizing the gladiators figures. From the murderous facial expression, strong muscle, scared scar on the face and body, you can truly feel as if they were standing in the pit and preparing for the next duel. We can not see fear in their eyes at all. CMTOYS has launched two gladiators figurines up to now. They dressing the different uniform sets, and the weapons they have are just the same. The difference between them are the head sculpts, bodies and some small outfits. Check the following photos to learn more!
1. [CMTOYS-H004] CMTOYS 1/6 Roman Gladiator 

2. [CMTOYS-H005] CMTOYS 1/6 Roman Gladiator 

 

ThreeA Real Steel Ambush Movie Figures Launched!

A new collectible scale model, threeA real steel ambush movie figures, has been launched. It is available for pre-order on 7-HOBBY now. The Articulation on Ambush is second to none, with countless moving parts, that faithfully mimic all the articulation from the film version. From pistons to sliding biceps, all the details are there! Ambush also features illuminated eyes for the low light photo op. It is expected to be released in Sep 2012. Ambush is controlled by a controller in films, and many collectors may care wonder if the controller is included. As a professional hobbies brand, threeA will never ignore such serious problems. Similar with the issue of Metal Gear Solid Rex, threeA provides two versions: the retail version is open to the public, while the Bambaland version is only available for threeA members. The only difference is Bambaland version comes with a 1/6 controller, and retail version doesn't have one. I think the purpose is to encourage more people to be its members. It is certainly that Bambaland version will be more expensive, actually $50 more than the normal retail one. Do you think a 1/6 scale controller is worth $50, although it is limited edition? I just want to say "If you think it is, it is!".

1. THREEA Real Steel Ambush Retail Version

 

2. THREEA Real Steel Ambush Bambaland Version With Exclusive Controller