Join the Fanholes, and special guest Jan Christophersen from the CAN-AM Infection Wrestling Podcast, as they discuss the Japanese television series that inspired Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Dairanger in the fourth episode of what is now Fanholes tradition, Sentai Saturdays!
Fanholes Sentai Saturdays Episode 4: Dairanger "Ore-tachi Amai ze!!"
Listener Feedback and Blogspot submissions that were too awesome to be contained! Listen as the Fanholes read a listener stream of consciousness review of Star Trek Voyager using a variety of impressions at their disposal!
Fanholes Episode # 102 Point One: Fanholes Masterpiece Theatre
Join the Fanholes as they discuss the brand new anime, Gundam Build Fighters in the sixth episode of what is now Fanholes tradition, Mobile Suit Mondays!
Fanholes Mobile Suit Mondays Episode #6: Gundam Build Fighters "The Strongest Builder"
Hey Fanholes readers/listeners, welcome to the first installment of Fanholes Figure That! Today I'll be reviewing my first ever Figma/Max Factory purchase. Some figures that were of interest to me were Space Adventure Cobra, Golgo 13, Gantz, Roger Smith and Dorothy of the Big O. More recently there has been a movie Spider-Man and later on this year we will be seeing a series of Avengers figures from this company.
I ordered this from the online import store Mandrake Japan. Why Kamen Rider Dragon Knight? Well to be perfectly honest, he's one of the few Kamen Riders I know b/c I watched the American version of the show for a little bit. Also, he was only 800 yen. A Figma at that price seemed to be a steal. The first con was that handling was 500 yen and the DHL shipping (which I used the last time with Mandrake Japan on the Raideen Soul of Chokogin) was 2000 yen. So 3300 yen later, instead of an $8 steal, it's probably about your average price for a mid-end Figma. About $33-$35.
Now why was it such a "steal"? Well because this store is crazy honest. If ebay was this honest, it would be a ghost town. The item was listed as DAMAGED, BOX OPENED.
Absolutely nothing was missing. All parts were included. If there was the slightest hint of damage on the box or in these pics, I probably placed it there myself. All that was done was the factory tape at the top of the box was cut. That was it. Thanks Japan, you are awesome! The box, by the way, is totally collector friendly. I cut a few pieces of what I assume was factory tape on the plastic trays, but they separate or reassemble with great ease.
The figure comes with a little plastic bag labeled FIGMA that seals at the top, should one want to get rid of the box and place all the accessories in the plastic FIGMA baggie.
The character has multiple hands that are secured by a clear plastic hand rack along with a clear base stand with positioning arm for action poses.
The legs do have tomato ball joints, but they are expertly concealed by these rubber flaps in the front which is quite aesthetically pleasing. Also while the rubber could hinder articulation, it is actually easily bypassed with specific ball rotation so the flaps of rubber can go inside or outside the joint like tucking in your undershirt.
You can change out hands for fists or even the Dragon head, Card Changer or Dragon armor.
The accessory that I most fear losing is his tiny little change card. I thought it was missing at first, but it was just on his belt buckle and not in the little tray space provided as it tends to shift about the box once opened.
While the majority of this seems pretty awesome overall, there is one thing I was let down by.
It was my understanding that the Figma/Max Factory folks were approximately six inch scale. To be honest this looks like it fits in better with one's S.H. Figuarts collection. I'm told because of there being so many Figuarts Kamen Riders that the scale for this item was designed to match the existing S.H. Figuarts line. Ultimately, while this is a fun and interesting figure, the scale discrepancy led me to send it to my fellow Fanhole Justin. He has a blooming S.H. Figuarts collection and I thought Dragon Knight would have a happier home with him.
Though I will say that while pulling apart joints and inserting pegs into raw accessory arms was a little hair-raising, the rubbery softness (as opposed to the hard plastic of Figuarts, in my limited experience with them) was much less stressful than changing out Gohan's face and parts. In fact, I pretty much never want to touch Gohan's other parts ever again. The Figuarts box didn't secure them very well and while I never want to touch Gohan's alternate parts ever gain, I could see messing with the alternate hands and accessories on this Figma/Max Factory item just as much as I have been doing with the MAFEX Batman. The box is collector friendly unlike poor Gohan's and the changing of parts and accessories (while there are many more than MAFEX) are at least non-stressful and pretty easy for the most part.
Derek (derekwc)
Join the Fanholes as they discuss the brand new anime, Gundam Build Fighters in the fifth episode of what is now Fanholes tradition, Mobile Suit Mondays!
Fanholes Mobile Suit Mondays Episode #5: Gundam Build Fighters ":Gunpla Idol Kirara"
Join Derek and Justin on the latest Toku Spin-Off podcast as they discuss not only the trailer for the upcoming Godzilla film from Legendary Pictures, but Godzilla's appearances on Toho's own 1973 tokusatsu series, Ryūsei Ningen Zone.
Fanholes Toku Thursdays Episode #4: Godzilla Meets Zonefighter!Another top ten? As long as I draw breath they will never end!
While I am mainly a Transformer's guy as far as my toy collecting goes, there are many lines I also enjoy. One of these is G.I. Joe. Specifically the smaller Joes from the 80's for nostalgic reasons, and the recent lines because of how well done they are. However, as with all toys, while there are some amazing figures out there, there are also those that because of a name, or a design... are just kinda funky. They aren't so much bad, they are just a little....off.
Well, I'm here to give these outcasts a little love, so here's Chainclaws Top Ten Weird G. I. Joes!
10. Headman- This was a character that came out a good while after I had stopped collecting in my younger years, and learned about him upon my return to collecting. Headman is more or less a civilian criminal...specifically a drug kingpin. A weird fit into the military world of G. I. Joe. However, there was a big push at the time to "Just Say No" and all that, so I can see where the idea came from. Joes are all american heroes, let's have them take down a druglord(The Joe anti-drug team was named DEF), pretty simple. The main thing I do like about Headman is his not as weird, badass personal soldiers, the Headhunters. They just look lethal, and really need an updated figure. However, without their weird boss, they wouldn't exist. So, for that, the action figure who probably snorts coke makes the list.
9. Cesspool- Brian may take me to task on this, but Cesspool is weird with a capital "W". A former philanthropist that was environmentally responsible, he ends up taking a bath in some sludge, disfiguring his face, and hey, why not? Joins up with Cobra as the main villain in the "Eco-Warriors" sub line Hasbro released for Joe. Cesspool looks more like someone Batman or Spidey would battle. Brightly colored, monstery face, insane, all the standard supervillain guy stuff. Like Headman, I understand the idea behind this, the whole pollution issue had been addressed in the Captain Planet cartoon, which was popular, and Hasbro wanted on the bandwagon. Of course, jumping on said bandwagon, they needed a villain less in the vein of an evil terrorist, and more a super villain, so taa-daa, Cesspool. Still freaky looking though.
8. Robo-Joe- Ok, many criticized the later years of Joe for not being very realistic. Well, Star Brigade took that opinion and blew the hell out of anything coming close to "realistic". Aliens, space travel... and a cyborg Joe figure. Robo-Joe is not only a weird idea, but look at him. Yikes, they possibly did the crappiest cyborg design possible. He'd rank higher if he was more memorable. Unlike the previous two...I really have very little to say about Robo-Joe.... he's weird, and he sucks.
7. Manimals- A previously unreleased sub line from Star Brigade, the Manimals were a gimmick set of figures. Fans were anxious to get them, and eventually they were a Kay-Bee exclusive release. Having an alternate head, or weird alien deal in their chests, they would open revealing the space critter. The villains, who were aliens, were pretty bad, but there were concepts to have beloved characters like Snake-Eyes in this flipping crap. Ugh, no thanks.
6. Captain Grid-Iron- You know what kids like? G. I. Joe. You know what else they like? Sports. So, what do we do? That's right, mash up a soldier with a football player! The good captain not only had a military helmet that had the familiar football faceguard, but he also had a lil football grenade on his backpack! He also came with possibly the most insane gun I ever saw. Looking like a huge pistol, this bad boy had three freaking missiles on it. I assume Captain Grid-Iron is just so bad ass, he has to have a pistol that shoots missiles. He was just so far out of left field, and oddly enough I actually like this weird ass football/road warrior looking reject.
5. Crystal Ball- Ok, here's where we get into some prime weird. Crystal Ball here is a gypsy hypnotist. Yup, you heard me, gypsy hypnotist. It's assumed he uses the lenticular sticker shield accessory he came with to do this. It's a pretty big, silly prop. Most guys just use a pocket watch. Anyway, this loser had no weapons with him(a cardinal sin in Joe Land), and as far as I know may have held the title as biggest peg warmer for the whole line. I never saw him sell, there would be five or six of these guys in an otherwise empty Joe section. One more time. Gypsy hypnotist.
4. Super Trooper- Wow...obviously a master of camouflage, Ol' Disco Vest here was a mail away figure. Clip some Flag Points off some toys, send a few bucks, and taa-daa this chrome plated monstrosity could be yours. Obviously again trying to blend superheroes with the military theme, Super Trooper was a gaudy looking toy, and his big shiny shield wasn't the coolest accessory. All in all a weird figure for sure, and a silly lookin one to boot.
3. Toxo-Zombie- Another one Brian will have words with me about, this figure from the aforementioned Eco Warriors shows up. This time a day-glo neon colored former Viper, contaminated by toxic waste. Instead of dying...like you would normally do, he's now a mindless super strong zombie serving the evil Cesspool(see why I said he was a supervillain?)! The colors on this thing are just...gah...and the idea is also really silly. Give them credit on one thing, they were like twenty years ahead on the current zombie craze.
2. Big Boa- Ok, first of all, I really like this figure. He looks mean, like any good Cobra should. However, barring my bias, I cannot overlook this character comes with boxing gloves, and besides his head, has no visible armor or protection. He looks amazingly silly, and badass at the same time. It's just mind boggling how this was pulled off. I blame the awesome helmet. A guy in a turtleneck and daisy dukes would look badass with that helmet. But still, his overall weirdness is still evident, so he makes the list. His badassery just ranks him higher.
1. The Fridge- Ok.... Sgt. Slaughter was a wrestler... but at least he was a military themed wrestler, and was actually in the Marines before going into wrestling. Made sense. William "The Refrigerator" Perry was just a big ass football player who became super popular when the Chicago Bears were having a hot season, ending with a Superbowl win. I have no idea besides just being popular why this guy was made. His accessory also sucks, a spiked football on a chain(said chain being rigid plastic). It could have been worse as there were plans to make Rocky Balboa a figure(seriously), but I only count produced figures in this list. The Fridge was just goofy, weird, and didn't fit in at all....well except to get Captain Grid-Iron some buffalo wings and a six pack on gameday.
Well, at ease troopers, the top ten weirdest G. I. Joe figures/characters mission has been completed. Hope you enjoyed! Tony/Chainclaw.
This week the Fanholes discuss the relevancy of classic Golden Age and Pulp Heroes and then talk about some of their favorite Fan Films!
Fanholes Episode # 101: Lasagna Is Not Relatable Larry!
Many people were pissed when he offed himself in Kevin Smith's Daredevil run, but in retrospect, I kinda thought his whole campaign there was a nice expression of his potential unleashed, even if it wasn't against Spider-Man. And besides; it's been undone now.
I love it when all incarnations of a character meet or team-up, and I dug Peter David's Mysterio story in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Seeing the Beck, Berkhart, and Klum Mysterios all in the same story was cool. And while I usually shy away from the more mystical elements in comics, I wouldn't have minded seeing how a more “supernatural” Mysterio would face-off with Spider-Man, at least briefly.
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| If Jeph Loeb had done this version, he'd call it “Rysterio”. |
Dan Slott eventually retconned away most possibility of legit mysticism, as well as Beck's suicide, as just more man-made illusions. I guess that's the best way to keep Mysterio in Spider-Man's more “grounded” world. But some writers really tend to stretch Mysterio's capabilities and expertise to unbelievable levels.
COUGH, Mark Millar, COUGH, Brian Michael Bendis, COUGH.
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| Why couldn't you have created the illusion that Old Man Logan was a good story, Mysterio?? |
Head of a South American crime empire, rumored to be immortal, possessed of super-strength, durability, concussive eyebeams, and the ability to heal others' injuries. DeFalco dropped hints that he had some kind of past with someone at the Daily Bugle, and his ex-wife became a friend of Mary Jane's.
After being built up for several months in the shadows, he finally debuted properly during the “Spider-Hunt” storyline. The Black Tarantula beat and unmasked Spider-Man in their first encounter, leaving Peter wounded and on the run from bounty hunters looking to collect the reward on his head.
Their second fight was more of a Juggernaut-esque affair with Peter desperately holding the powerhouse Tarantula at bay, even having to use his departed “brother” Ben Reilly's impact webbing and stingers in the fight. It ends in a stalemate, with the Tarantula gaining respect for Spider-Man's ironclad perseverance.
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| Stay back or I'll faint all over you! |
I guess I might be a bit of a hypocrite for liking him, since I really dislike Morlun, and the Black Tarantula shares many of the same traits as him. But I feel like the Black Tarantula was eventually given enough substance to overlook that. Plus, he's much cooler-looking than Morlun and at least he has a spider-motif.
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| We've all had days like this. |
Of course, after this initial storyline, Carrion would never be quite as creepy or effective a villain. The stupid punkass Malcolm McBride one that shows up in Maximum Carnage and elsewhere can't hold a candle to the original “zombie” version.
Definitely one of Spider-Man's more horrific villains, but I do admit he was probably more of a one-trick pony that should have stayed dead...or undead...or whatever.
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| In Soviet Russia, Kraven beats YOU! |
Like Mysterio, I dug the "mythology" around Kraven and his family, but it was pretty much squandered by "Grim Hunt", and the resurrected Kraven has really done dick-all of note since then. He was menacing Kaine for awhile, which sort of worked, thanks to a bunch of retconned history between the two, but clearly he's never going to be as effective as he was in Last Hunt. He's kind of similar to Carrion in that regard.
But he still gets on the list, based on Kraven's Last Hunt alone.
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| Worst...first appearance...ever! |
Yeah, what a creepy loser. But I keyed in on him when he got his “Ultimate Spider-Slayer” upgrade anyhow, so that's what I'm focused on.
One of his lines from his first Ultimate Spider-Slayer fight with Spidey always sticks with me as exceptionally badass-
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| I use Smythe's line when someone tells me I can't park somewhere. |
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| BIO-BOOSTER ARMOR SLAYER. |
His first appearance was reprinted in an issue of Spider-Man Megazine that was another early purchase by me, so that might have contributed to my imprinting on Mac.
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| Also where I picked up that the Will O'The Wisp was lame. |
Still, I can't help but have fondness for him. He's visually-distinct, and I've always liked most of his costumes. Ironically, one of my favorite Scorpion costumes is the John Byrne-designed one...which showed up at the beginning of what I consider possibly the most terrible era of Spider-Man; the Mackie/Byrne reboot. It also showed up in the Playstation Spider-Man game though, where it managed to look snazzy.
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| His one weakness is Daily Bugle office furniture. |
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| Uh...he had Scorpion-Wallet-Taking Spray in his belt. |
Holding for laughs...
I know many people were disgusted with his return and reveal as mastermind behind the Clone Saga, but back in the day, it kinda blew my mind. It was one of the first times I had been “there” for a major, irrevocable turning point in Spider-Man history, having bought Peter Parker: Spider-Man # 75 new off the shelf. Even today, that issue still holds up for me, not just as the conclusion to the Clone Saga, but as the solidification of Norman as Spider-Man's greatest foe.
But I do think Norman works better when either Harry is out of the picture/dead...or when he was dead himself, serving as motivation for Harry as the Green Goblin. There's really only one beat to play when both Norman and Harry are in the picture together, and it has been played out for decades now.
Nowadays Norman might have taken a backseat to Doc Ock, and Spider-Man even took a backseat in his own personal priorities for a time there when Norm was pretending to be an Avengers villain. Didn't really care for his role in Superior Spider-Man either. I think the last time I truly enjoyed Norman in a story was when he was heading up the Thunderbolts.
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| You bet, Tommy Lee Jones! |
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| Also I did her. |
As a kid, my guess as to Kaine's identity was Peter and MJ's son from the future! I guess my brain was infected by X-Men or something. But he turned out to be Peter's first, failed clone.
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| ME ALAN MOORE. |
J.M. DeMatteis always wrote Kaine with a nice degree of depth in his relationship with Ben Reilly and Peter, and added some real pathos to a character that could have ended up as a joke. I'm well aware some still think he's a terrible remnant of the 90s, but I'm not one of those people. In retrospect, Kaine always seemed to me to be one of the LEAST awful things that sprung out of the Clone Saga.
Plus, he makes a career of killing lamer Spider-Man villains. Grim Hunter, Raptor, The Queen, Shathra, Solus...
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| Neck snap, Kaine don't take crap. |
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| Kaine still bears his '90s pedigree with pride. |
I think Harry was effective to me as a bad guy because his friendship with Peter made it all so very personal and close-to-home. Sometimes being in a tiff with your best buddy is the worst feeling in the world, and it was captured brilliantly under DeMatteis and Sal Buscema. When Harry was an evil douche, he really was an evil douche.
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| And I left that flaming bag of dog doo on your doorstep too! |
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| Pwned. |
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| I made you beat your parents, nyah nyah nyah nyah NYAAAH nyah! |
Granted, mostly due to retcons, but this bastard got away with his crimes for so damn long through a string of patsies, stand-ins, and sacrificial lambs. Roderick Kingsley played the game smarter, not harder, and that made him seem pretty badass to me when all the cards were finally on the table. Not to mention the fact that Ned Leeds being the Hobgoblin never seemed right to me to begin with, so the bonus of wiping that away worked well too.
The original Hobgoblin was one cold bastard, particularly under his creator, Roger Stern. He decayed a bit under Tom DeFalco, becoming the Rose's stooge...and of course once the revelation of his true true identity was revealed, most of the mystique was gone.
Still, Roddy managed to maintain his badass rep in Spider-Girl (with DeFalco making up for his own contribution to the Hobgoblin's decay).
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| A GIRL Spider-Man? How droll. |
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| Yeah, he hangs out with David Xanatos, no doubt. |
