I had taken the above photo with my mobile phone the other day when I was waiting for my wife at one of the less popular local malls. The sky had darkened then and as I entered the mall, I noticed a comic shop to my right. The shop window has comic books pasted from the top to the bottom. What caught my interest was that on closer inspection, I recognised some of the comics I had back in the early nineties! Too bad the shop’s shutters were down!
Originally uploaded by swftoys.
Collecting Thor #80-85
This comic is probably one of the best I had read since I re-booted my comic reading hobby. I would say it’s the best Marvel comic for me so far. I had picked it up as I was tracing the events leading to Marvel’s Civil War.
Marvel comics that I had picked up so far always seemed to lack quality found in DC Comics or the other publishers. Well, at least to me. It is always to struggle to indulge in my favourite and familiar superheroes or to read a comic with a good premise. I would say that a well-crafted story is somehow lacking in the Marvel comics I picked up thus far. Maybe I need serious guidance in Marvel reads!
Anyway, Thor Disassembled blew me away. Prior to buying this Thor story arc, sources on the Net did highlight that the Ragnarok storyline is good. That and wanting to know what happens after Avengers Disassembled gave me some confidence to get it. And I was not disappointed!
So I am in the midst of forming a Darth Vader shrine. Currently it has 2 12″ Vaders, a Riddell Vader helmet, Vader on op table, a Bearbrick Vader and a Vader postcard. Well, not quite a shrine people would pay a dollar to visit at the moment. But it’s a start nevertheless. Sorely missing from this personal line-up is Medicom’s EpIII Vader.
I have added a new page to chronicle my Hong Kong toy hunting trip. Although it’s been more than a year since I went to Hong Kong, I was able to retrieve the list of places to look for toys from my original travel notes. It lists a good number of places of which CTMA Centre is a must-visit if you can only go to one location due to time constraint. Do check out the basement although all the overhanging signs on the building’s facade will lead you up. There are good deals to be found below.
I remembered struggling to buy my Macross 1/48 Roy Fokker Valkryie when I was there. I had bought quite a number of toys by the last second day of my trip and had spent quite a fortune then. I knew I would regret not getting that valkryie since it was so much cheaper than what I could get back home. Thankfully I got it!
Codenamed Sandtrooper002 at TIMRAM, this Marmit Sandtrooper LT arrived at HQ with his Dewback ride! It’s the first time that TIMRAM has such a huge resident. The official word is that it is still unknown if the high-ups here will take in that green lizard beast. A new facility will be required for it – that’s for sure.
Originally uploaded by swftoys.
Collects Avengers #500 – #503, Avengers Finale
While tracing how the story of Civil War started, I came across information that pointed me to Avengers Disassembled as a good place to start. By the way I plan to get into Civil War only when the TPB comes out. So I have quite a bit of time getting updated to events leading to that epic.
I would not say that I am an Avengers fan. This main guys of this group has always been Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hawkeye and the Hulk to me. It’s probably I have the impression of seeing them on the cover pretty often. I was aware of the roster change policy with the Avengers. Something like that at Chelsea.
Now that I have finished Avengers Disassembled, I realise Thor and Hulk is not MIA or no longer affiliated with the Avengers for sometime. And Scarlet Witch has been with the team for sometime but somehow I have never noticed her! My databank got some major update to do!
Ok, so many fellas have received the Hot Toys’s ED-209 in the past few days. Well, I had pre-ordered it but not one unit of ED-209 landed in my lap. Why? Because I missed out on replying to an sms during lunch hour! What a great time to send sms to all loyal customers.
Amidst all that noise and clattering of utensils, I could hardly hear the sms beep on my mobile phone. It was not until more than an hour later that I realised that the local toy shop had sent out the sms for customers to revert if they are confirming collecting their ED-209s.
With a limited number for the first run, it was all swept up in minutes… and I replied more than 60mins later. 😦 That night, I had the time to open up ED-209 and marvel at another toy reminiscence of childhood TV. Had the time, but no ED-209. That sucked. And I was really disappointed.
Here’s a ‘family’ shot of all the Hot Toys Predators as I did not review the Scar and the Celtic. Somehow, the Predators look best when stand straight.
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