Hot Toys Bank Robber Joker

I finally got my hands on this! My first Hot Toys 12" inch figure and what a first figure to have.
Looking at pictures is one thing but having it in your hands is another.
To me, the head sculpt is simply amazing. It is definitely much better than the head sculpt from the first joker. This time the resemblance to Heath Ledger is spot on! What gives this sculpt so much realism is the eyes. The sculpting of the eyes is done really well. If there is a fault with the sculpt, it will be the lips as they look a bit swollen. However that is a minor minor flaw.
The paint job is excellent. An excellent sculpt can be destroyed by a terrible paint job but this time, I think the paint job has complemented the sculpt very well and together brought about the realism and resemblance of the character! Great job by JC Hong (main painter) & Yulli (main sculpter). Their work as a team is outstanding.
This figure comes with 2 new head sculpts. One with the hair combed back (used if you want the joker to wear the clown mask) and the other one with the hair down. I personally like the one with the hair down.
The clothes are very well made and fit the figure very snugly. I particularly like the jacket and trousers...they fit the body so well.
The figure comes with the following accessories:

Bag for putting 2 smoke grenades and 4 grenades
Clown mask
Extra pair of gloved hands
Machine gun & removable magazine
Pistol & removable ammo clip
Deck of cards
Stack of dollar bills
Base and stand

Overall, an excellent figure to have and display. This will definitely be in my Top 10 toys for 2008. Even though, the price point is on the high side, you are getting a figure that has set a standard for the 12" inch market!

The box comes with a sleeve
Front view of the sleeve


Back view of the sleeve


Front view of the box


Back view of the box with the credits


Inside of the box


The 2 beautiful head sculpts
































Show me the money!
















Joker with his clown mask on














The accessories


The Joker at the red carpet for the annual Little Plastic Man
Top 10 toys for 2008!

Its Christmas time...

Was inspired by Joshua's christmas banner so I decided to also spread a little cheer around by "christmasfying" my banner.
Merry Christmas to all and have a very good year ahead!

Time to leave...I mean clear leave!

Yippee! I will start to clear my leave from next week onward and will only return to the office next year. Even though I would need to work a bit from home, at least I don't have to wake up so early in the morning and squeeze with the crowd in the MRT.
Would use this free time to do my Christmas shopping, design more paper figures, try doing some kit bashing and catch up on some DVD.

I love the Christmas holidays!

Everyone needs a break sometime

Toybiz Lord of the Rings Haradrim

After a short rest from reviewing LOTR figures, I am back with the review of the Haradrim.
The primitive and savage people of Harad lived in one of the harshest environments in Middle-earth. The tribes of Haradrim lived in a nomadic existence. Due to the lack of natural resources, they relied on organic material such as bone, tusk and obsidian for their armor in place of steel. Their greatest weapon is of course the Mumakil which they rode to battle. The Haradrim would fire spears and arrows from the covered frame placed on top of the Mumakil.
The Haradrim appeared in the Return of the King where they took part in the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Most of the Harad's population was wiped out there when Aragon unleashed the Dead Men of Dunharrow upon them.

Toybiz gave us the tribal leader (or rider of the Mumakil) and the Haradrim soldier. The tribal leader only comes in the Battle of Pelennor Fields gift set. As there were no specific actors playing these characters, the head sculpt is of a generic male.
I like the sculpt of the tribal leader and the detail of the armor is pretty decent too. You can tell from the armor that it is supposed to be made from a composite of bamboo, wicker, bone, tusk and stone. It even comes with the spiked ceremonial frames which the leaders wear on their back. However the frame did bend over time.
The paint is clean which is mostly in line with the LOTR series.
I had mixed feelings for the Haradrim soldier because I only like the top part of the figure. The top consisted of his armor which was well done. Again you can tell that the armor is supposed to be made from bamboo and wicker.
The main problem is the bottom part of the figure, the Haradrim soldier looks like he is wearing a hula skirt! I think Toybiz was trying to get the worn out cloth look but it did not turn out right.
On top of that, he can't stand properly because one leg is kinda longer than the other.
The accessories are decent and are what you will expect from this series. The tribal leader comes with his spear and frame while the Haradrim soldier comes with his bow, sword and 3 arrows.

Overall, decent figures. I got them basically because I was trying to collect the different armies of Middle-earth.

Tribal Leader










Haradrim soldier

I found more space...

Finding more space in my display cabinet is like finding width in Liverpool's game...hard to find!
However I was determined to get more space so that I can display more 12" inch figures, obviously inspired by the likes of Alex, Shaun and Ken.
With some creative placement of other figures onto another shelf, I was able to clear 1 whole shelf. Yippee!
However during this whole process, there were some 6" inch casualties (to my surprise...not that much). They are now in a plastic bag and kept in the store room. Hail to those fallen toys...LOL

Precious space