We Finally Got Them !!!

We finally found Jazz and Shockwave! Absolutely love them. The wave that they are released in also includes the Optimus and Bumblebee movie versions, but I don't find them as appealing. I'll check with Kat if she wants to get them latter on though for the collection.

Initially I was planning on displaying them sealed, but temptation overcame me and so...

Yup I just had to take them out...

Once again the classic Transformer character designs translated well onto the Mighty Mugg's basic frame. Jazz Comes with the same head as Bumblebee and a blaster-gun, whilst Shockwave comes with a blaster-arm. Interestingly Shockwave's weapon is attached to his back by a flexible plastic tube that allows the arm to move about easily. The back wings on the Jazz Mugg and the cable of Shockwave are fixed, unlike the wings for Starscream which are detachable for storing.

Both were bought from 2Rats in V-mall and came in good condition. The boxes were in acceptable condition with only a few knocks at some corners. The figures themselves have nice paintjobs, although Jazz does show some sign of scratches on the black portions which to me are still acceptable. All the joints are firm and there are no deformations on the accessories.

Overall I love these new additions to the collection, and Shockwave is easily my favorite of the Mighty Muggs line at the moment. But more importantly I really feel good to see signs that the Mighty Muggs toy line is not being canceled. My girlfriend and I would definitely want to see more characters come out and to be able to add to our growing collection.

Just to finish off this entry, I would like to post this size comparison of the characters currently invading my shelves. From left to right: Jazz (Mighty Mugg), DIY Toyer (Qee), Hellboy (Mez-itz), Ragnaros (n00bz)

Thanks for reading :D



-alger

Hellboy and Abe Sapien Mez-itz !!! (some holiday loot...)

It has been a while since my last post. It has been a busy holiday, with the sudden onrush of festivities and work related distractions. Anyway, now as my daily routine goes back to a more normal pace, I would like to take the time and write a review for some toys I got during my hiatus.

An uncle of mine gave me Hellboy (top) for Christmas, and I found an Abe Sapien (bottom) whilst browsing at 2rats in Eastwood. They are Mez-its from Mezco. Their site mentions that these are 6" variants of the original Mez-itz line, though personally I don't think these look significantly similar to these Mez-itz predecessors.

Hellboy is a Con exclusive comic variant whilst Abe is the Hellboy 2 Movie version. There is also a Hellboy movie variant but I couldn't find one in the local stores. Both figures I have are wonderfully detailed, with as much character painted on as it seemed tasteful to bring the basic Mez-itz mold to life. Abe comes with plateaus that serve as goggles on his head. Hellboy, in addition to similar plateaus that serve as his sawed-off horns, comes with the Right Hand of Doom (articulated at the wrist), his signature Samaritan handgun, and an articulated tail. One standard articulation that I enjoyed on both figures was the ball-socket type head joints instead of the usual swivel, as these enabled more interesting poses that you couldn't really do with most vinyl collectibles.

(pic from theblotsays.blogspot.com)

Another aspect of the toys I found interesting were the differences in their packagings. Above is the standard movie version Mez-itz. The Abe I bought came in one of these, which featured clear plastic windows. Both the front and back of the box have similar windows that taper slightly to the sides of the box, thus enabling views of the figure from multiple angles. I really like how this packaging helps showcase a lot of the figures inside. The art on the box itself does not draw away attention from the toy itself, which for me is a good thing.

The Comic Con Exclusive Hellboy on the other hand had different packaging.

(pic from www.actionfigurepics.com)

Instead of the standard clear plastic window, this box came with line art drawn on all four sides. The front and sides showed closeups of the respective views of the figure, whilst the back showed a full body line art of the toy. The art came in muted colors with a "con exclusive" sticker standing out with its blue and yellow. I found this to be very appealing and I would really enjoy displaying this next to the loosed toy.

Overall I am pleasantly surprised by how appealing these were to me. I was not really planning on getting them, because I'm not really that familiar with the characters and the toy line. Unlike the Mighty Muggs that I currently collect, these offer a bit more articulation, but fewer character availability. They are coming out with the horror line though which includes Jason, Freddy, some zombies, and the Wolfman. Perhaps I'll be tempted to get them as well, if my finances allow. Now if they came out with an Aliens and Predator line, those I would definitely start saving up for.



-alger

Elusive Mighty Muggs (We wants our Jazz...)

This post is just a quick follow up on the last one. (I know ... I really should do the next painting tutorial, but I saw something online that really made my day)

From the very start of our Mighty Muggs craze, Kat and I wanted to complete the whole Transformers series of the product line. The classic designs of the characters translated really well onto the format, and this appealed to us and which is why these guys easily became our favorites.

One character in particular that we sought after was Autobot Jazz. He and Shockwave, were supposed to have been in wave 3 along with Megatron and Starscream. However because of some weird internal decision, only both of the latter mentioned were released. Rants and rumors began to spread online and some even believed the whole line to be cancelled (there were also other Muggs that weren't released, which fueled the rumors). 

One other rumor that surfaced was that Jazz and Shockwave were seriously 'under-produced' and were shipped to only a handful of stores worldwide. This was followed-up by an Ebay post from a Hong Kong seller that showed a picture of Jazz in a beat up packaging, supposedly from a shipment that never went to market. I have no idea if anyone bought this and weather it is real or not, but it at least proved that there was a community actively looking for these guys, and that the market was not so small as to kill off the product line.

Well that was early this year, and the multiple conventions have gone by with no word on the plans for these much sought after characters. Kat and I basically considered our Transformers set complete, or at least doomed never to be 'fully' complete, and started collecting the other series of the Mighty Muggs toy line. A few days ago though I came across this post about Upcoming Muggs from the Mighty Muggs Lounge forum. Finally hope on getting the Jazz and Shockwave Muggs for our collection. They are slated for fall this year though I expect these guys will probably be delayed a bit longer. As the saying goes however, "Better late than never". I'm going to have to ask Kat to see if we can pre-book this set, and hope that they come out soon.

Thats it for this post and once again thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. 

-alger

As a little bonus I'm putting below some excerpts from an old interview conducted by the Mighty Muggs Lounge with the Mighty Muggs creator. The full interview you can find here Interview on Mighty Muggs Lounge, but below are just the two questions that I found amusing.


Jose: Chris, can you tell us what “100% recycled awesome” actually means?

Chris: Well, it just sort of started out as a cute little slogan thing that we slapped on the side of the package, I know a lot of people have misinterpreted it. The official explanation I’ve been giving people is that Mighty Muggs are made of plastic, plastic comes from oil, and oil comes from dead dinosaurs and dinosaurs are awesome! (laughs) so that’s my answer.


Jose: Lastly, any particular reason for the square peg hole on the bottom of the Mighty Muggs feet?

Chris: So you can peg them on to stuff! Silver Surfer is actually the first figure that will actually come with something with a peg on it for him to stand on. It’s one of those things when you get on a line you always wish “wow, I really wish I had put a peg there so I could make him stand on stuff” and I didn’t want to have that regret with this line so I told myself I would build it in from day one, I don’t know what I mighty use it for but I know I might use it and that’s why it’s there.