SHF Masked Rider 1 (The First Ver.) - Review

Greetings all! Now that Chinese New Year is coming, I wish to all my Chinese friends Happy Holidays! Save some ang pow for me huh?

Well, I have with me right now, a figuarts of Masked Rider 1!! As you can see from the title, this figure is based on the character from the movie 'The First'. Quite different from the original Rider 1 outfit, but magnificient nevertheless.

PACKAGING

As we can see from the picture above, it's the usual SHF box. Standard silver box with plastic window, showing the content inside. Nothing to shout about but adequate and functional nonetheless.

The figure is held inside by a plastic tray, consisting of :

1. The figure
2. 3 extra pairs of palms/fists.
3. 2 sets scarves; 1 in relaxed position, another in 'flowing' position.

DESIGN/SCULPT

As far as I can tell, Bandai did another good job with this figure. The sculpt is accurate where it is needed, while remaining close to the real character design. My only complain is the shoulder looks a bit disjointed when the arm is pushed too far forward or backward, but given the limitation of a figure this size (approx. 6 inch), it is acceptable.

The belt, the helmet, the shoulder pauldron, the rivets are all sculpted cleanly and Bandai manages to show the details in great depth. Even the trademark compound eyes is shown clearly. Owh, the antenna is made of flexible material, so you do not have to worry about breaking it off.

PAINTJOB

Paintjob is no small matter to us collectors, and fortunately, Bandai did not disappoint in that department. Paint application is crisp, no visible overflowing color around the edges and as far as I can tell, the colors are evenly applied.

ARTICULATION

Articulation is the SHF's standard fare: EXCELLENT! All the joints are tight yet movable so that you can pose this figure in almost any style you want. Also, the feet are diecast, which means it can stand on one leg unassisted. Go ahead...I know you want to do the 'RAIDA KICKU'...lol

OVERALL

Well, this is one great figure and if not for the lack of accesories, I would have given it higher than 3.5/5 score.

But, if you put this figure on the SHF Cyclone bike (sold separately), the effect is simply: AWESOMENESSS!!!!!

So, until next time, this is boyarque, signing off. Over to you, buddy!

Another Day, Another Joke......to those who believes in the mumbo-jumbo of 'WONDER' medicines

This joke, I wanna share with my fellow friends, who already tired being approached by these 'instant' doctors who claimed that their wunder-products could cure us of all kinds of maladies, while at the same time making us overnight millionaires! Yeah...rite...

Those who thinks that they can get rich by the pyramid scheme, be my guess, though numbers and statistics had already proven otherwise. But to those who believes that their product really works, well, let me tell ya one thing: Placebo Effect.

http://arthritis.about.com/od/arthritistreatments/g/placebo.htm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=placebo-effect-a-cure-in-the-mind
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31481

Well, let you all do the reading...Google is just one finger-click away.... Now, on to the joke, and I hope you understand what I'm trying to share:

Subject: The church organist

Miss Beatrice,
The church organist,
Was in her
eighties
And had never been married.
She was admired for her sweetness
And kindness.
One afternoon, the pastor
Came to call on her and she
showed him into her quaint sitting room.
She invited him to have a seat
while she prepared tea.

As he sat facing her old Hammond organ,
the young minister noticed a cute glass bowl sitting on
top of it.
The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all
things, a condom!

When she returned with tea and scones,
they began to chat.

The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity
about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of
him and he could no longer resist.

'Miss Beatrice', he said, 'I
wonder if you would tell me about this?' pointing to the bowl.

'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'Isn't it wonderful? I was walking
through the park a few months ago and I found this little package on the ground.
The directions said to place it on the organ, keep it wet, and that it would
prevent the spread of disease. Do you know I haven't had the flu all
winter'

Heheheh...well, That's All Folks!

What should a girl do to marry a rich guy?

A friend of mine emailed me this joke. Makes sense.... :D

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York . My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York CityGarden(? ), $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:
1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, and gym)
2) Which age group should I target?
3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks & are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys
4) How do you decide who can be your wife, & who can only be your girlfriend? (My target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

Awesome reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyze your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here. From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you. The answer is very simple, so let me explain. Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of "beauty" and "money": Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square. However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be much lower 10 years later.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a "trading position". If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it will not be a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision; any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or "leased". Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advise that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with a $500k annual income. This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps. If you are interested in "leasing" services, do contact me...

signed,

CEO
***********

Yak Deculture! Yamato 1/3000 Macross SDF-1 Review!

INTRODUCTION

I have been a fan of Macross since I was a kid. But with 4 sisters, and my parents meager government servant's salary, I could not afford any toys. So, after I graduated and have a job of my own, I started looking for Macross toys. It was in 2005 I think, that I was introduced to Yamato. Their 1/48 VF are incredible! Perfect transformation while maintaining anime accuracy. Then came their 1/60 ver 2.0 line, which totally rocks!
But still, one thing is missing....the iconic SDF-1, the battle cruiser which carries the war from Earth to Pluto and back. The only available SDF toy that time was the vintage Takatoku or Matchbox, which due to their rareness, costs astronomically high...and the next best thing from WHAM was too small.
Out of the blue, Yamato produced 1/2000 scale SDF model kit in 2010, which although costs is insane ( RM8k, tax and shipping not included ), manages to sell out of expectation.
And due to that success, maybe, finally Yamato find it feasible to come out with a much smaller scale, albeit more affordable, 1/3000 SDF-1. And I wasted no time in raising the funds necessary to secure me a unit! And here it is!

PACKAGING

So let's start with the basic first.

The box is quite huge, the design simple and utilitarian, probably to save cost on an already premiumly priced product ( RM 1.4k ). Inside, the toys is further protected in a styrofoam box. Kudos to Yamato for not using the cheap plastic tray...heheehe...You know, even Bandai SOC nowadays cheap out on the styrofoam.

Box dimensions
Height = 490mm.
Width = 363mm.
Depth =
140mm.
Weight (toy in box) = Around 1721g

Toy Dimensions
Height in Attacker Mode = 420mm (in A-stance, from bottom
of feet to tip of gun booms).
Length In Cruiser Mode = 420mm.
Weight of
toy only = Around 981g

Measurement courtesy of Graham from Macrossworld.com

Ah, I should mention this; some small parts you have to assemble yourself, like screw covers and cannons installations...nothing major. Also, due to the design of the packaging, and the shape of the assembled product, I do not think you can keep the toy back in its box. Hurmmm....

DESIGN & DETAILS

Here's the part where I'm totally blasted away! I have to tell ya, this toy is so packed with details, even minutes one. Some complaint on the lack of color..my guess is they are confused with the TV version which is more vibrant in color.

Because this is a transforming toy, I'll be showing you both of it modes, starting with the battle cruiser mode.

1. Battle Cruiser

This toy is sturdy in this form, you can hold it up in one hand and 'whooosh' it around your room ( I know you want to ;) ) in confidence. The weight is just nice that it feels secure in your hands.

The small antenna on the head is made of flexible material, so no worries of it breaking off. :)

As you can see, sculpt is sharp and detailed, and the paintjob flawless. Even the material, although minimal die-cast is used, does not feels cheap. Its built speaks of high quality craftmanship, and its weight reaffirms that feeling. You can spend hours taking pictures of this magnificient toy, and still have a hard time choosing the best photo.

2. Attacker

True to the show, this cruiser transforms to a behemoth of a robot! And transforming this toy is a breeze. Although the instruction is in japanese, the pictures provided are adequate enough. If you are stuck anywhere, you can go to this video guide, courtesy of Graham from Macrossworld.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQXuVijWC94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_PoaJOSJvs

This is the attacker mode, it can even stand on its own without the stand provided. You will notice while transforming this toy just now, there are a lot of ratchet joints, so you can be reassured of the tightness of the joints. And the toy feels solid in your hands. And as a plus, the knee has a 1 point articulation. You can even pull thelegs slightly apart to form the iconic 'A stance'.

The legs have no forward movement, but this is accurate to the anime. Well, this is a space faring cruiser...it just moves around by firing its thrusters, not by running! Hahaha!

GIMMICK

Finally, this awesome toy also has some gimmick to satisfy the discerning owner, and off course, to show off to your friends, what else! Lol!

First, the outer left leg cover can be removed by a simple pop out and pull movement, to reveal the nicely detailed Macross City inside! I admit the color is a bit bland, but not really matter so much.

Can just imagine teeny little VFs and Regults dishing it out in the streets...

Secondly, the small window can be rotated from 'closed' to 'open' mode. I was pleasantly suprised when I found about this function. It was unnecessary, but still Yamato included it and I'm glad they did.

"Oh, Hikaru...look at the stars...."

And lastly of course, is the twin main cannons that can be swung to the forward firing position. Really cool! I am not ashamed to admit that I always pretend there's a fleet of zaentradi ships waiting to be blasted away, everytime I lower the main gun boom.

COLLECTION/PLAYABILITY VALUE

Good all around built, solid and sturdy feel, ratchet joint, detailed sculpt ensure that this will be in any Macross fans' wet dream. Yamato's excellent engineering once again give the collectors something to shout about for the next few months...or years even! Well worth the money spent.

No electrical lights and sound, which could be a blessing as I would not have to worry about batteries leaking and such. Besides, it might make this toy sounds cheap.

Owh, did I forgot to mention, this beast is photogenic as hell!

CONCLUSION

Man, although it's still early in 2011, I have no qualms in declaring it THE toy of 2011 (2010 was the 1/24 Patlabor, Yamato also). If you are a fan of Macross, you just got to have this. If you are not...you STILL have to get this! Haha! Sheer awesomeness and cool factor make this SDF-1 earn 4.8/5 rating!

Kedai Sembangtoys....DIBUKA!!!

1 Januari 2011 (1.1.11)....jam 12.01 pagi Sabtu, akhirnya impianku terlaksana! Yeah babeh....me n partners telah membuka kedai mainan kami. Walaupun menyewa dalam kedai tu, tapi at least it's a beginning...

Kedai ni adalah usaha joint-venture antara Sembangtoys forum ( 10 of us as BOD )dgn kedai bundle Uya Distro, yg dijaga oleh Abang Fathul ( of fathulistiwa fame ). Ianya terletak di Subang Jaya SS15. Chain of events lead to his venture, dan walaupun ada sedikit masalah pada awalnya, namun berkat doa ibuku serta niat kami yg ikhlas utk berniaga mencari pendapatan tambahan yang halal, semua halangan dapat diatasi, alhamdulillah.

Gambar awal pintu masuk ke kedai kami, walaupun baru bukak, tapi variasi stok agak impresif.

Sebahagian dari rakan kongsi Sembangtoys.com tekun menyusun dan mengira stok.

Ini pula sebahagian dari barangan yg dijual di kedai Sembangtoys. Banyak lagi variasi dan stok yg akan masuk sebulan dua ni.

Sembangtoys ni asalnya (dan masih lagi) sebuah forum utk pecinta dan pengumpul toys seMalaysia tak kira apa bangsa, kaum dan agama. Dari awal2 kami cuba memberi kelainan dalam scene toys ni, umpamanya forum ini tidak spesifik pada satu2 genre sahaja, malah hingga mencakupi hobi bersukan sekali pun.

Sebelum ini aku pernah cuba utk menganjurkan satu Ekspo Hobby Collectors, tetapi kekurangan dana serta kepakaran dan pengalaman membantutkan usaha tersebut.

Well, mungkin dgn wujudnya kedai ini, satu platform akan dapat dibina utk melonjakkan lagi nama Sembangtoys? I would love to say YES!

Iklan ini dibayar siarannya, heheeheh.... Sampai ketemu lagi, aku nak check stok jap......:P