A reunion gathering on 26 Dec 2009

It has been 3 years my buddy never come back to Singapore due to his busy working schedules in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

After my visit to KL last month, John came back for Christmas holiday. He missed Orchard Road so much. Wayne in brown sweater (right above) is also my buddy and it's truly a reunion gathering for three of us :P

Took a few shots around Orchard Road and we went to Boat Quay for "a drink".

For "a drink" means "pub, beer and pool" - This is one of the pubs at Boat Quay. We drank 6 bottles of Heineken and 30 little can of Asahi Beer (like never drink beer before)..Haha!!

My favourite toys in 2009

No.1 ~ Hot Toys Iron Man Mark I: I love the details and paint work done on this armoured figure as I personally think it is the best 1/6 scale figure Hot Toys has ever produced.
No.2 ~ Hot Toys T600 in Concept Version: Besides T800, T600 is another Endoskeleton I would like to have in my collection.

No.3 ~ Hot Toys Predator: I collect because it is the first "Predator" created in the film industry.
No.4 ~ Hot Toys Wolverine: My favourite character in X-MEN series. Wolverine is tough and he looks cool with his adamantium claws.

No.5 ~ Enterbay Jack Bauer: The head sculpt produced is fantastic and the likeness is perfect.
No.6 ~ Medicom Den-O in Sword Form: The first Japanese masked rider who makes me laugh whenever I watch its TV series. A must buy figure to me :)

No.7 ~ Medicom Monkey King: I just love the costume made for this character. Very screen accurate and damn nice!!
No.8 ~ Sideshow Darth Vader: My favourite villian in Star Wars Series. This one is huge and tall, and looks nice when displaying him with other Star Wars troopers.

No.9 ~ Sideshow Utapau Clone Trooper: The first clone trooper that Sideshow impressed me a lot. Sideshow did a pretty good paint job on the armour and its weathering seems just right to me.
No.10 ~ Heroic Perfection Killer: I always want a 1/6 scale figure for my all time favourite character "Leon" in the movie "The Professional". That's why the figure is in my favourite toy list this year.

The Treasure Hunter

"In the northwest desert where countless prosperous dynasties have flourish and fallen, there is rumour of a buried treasure of unbelievable riches. A group of mysterious guardians have kept the map to the location of the treasure safe, until a fierce rivalry erupts. A notorious international crime group, The Company hunt down the map keepers and before they manage to secure it, the keeper passes the map to a young chivalrous man Ciao Fei (Jay Chou). Ciao Fei is forced to give up the map to save the live of his mentors daughter Lan Ting (Lin Chi Ling). Teaming up with Hua Ding Bang (a famous archaeologist) and Lan Ting they embark on a dangerous journey to recover the map and fight to protect the ancient treasure (Movie Details: Golden Village website)."

It was a lousy movie and worse than what I expected in the first place. The acting skills of Jay Chou and Chi-ling were weak. No "chemistry" between the two main leads. Both of them didn't look like couple and they were like "sister and brother". I also confused about the love triangle between Jay Chou and the other two actors. There was a lot of unnecessary stuff added in to drag on the 100 minutes story line. As the plot was lacking and lame, a lot of audience like myself fell asleep during the show. For action and special effects, they were "so so" only. Overall, a total let down!! (Movie Rating: 1.5/5).

Mattel - "Stantz" in Ghostbusters Pt.2

This is Ray Stantz, a 1/6 scale Ghostbuster figure with cartoon style look. Not much details we can have on the face, only "normal" paint work done on the eyes and eye brows to differentiate them from the rest of the skin tone.

The quality of the outfit is pretty good. Even though the zippers on the jumpsuit are for showing off purpose, they still look realistic in its proper scale. The cloth straps with buckles that tighted to the particle accelerator work well too.

We can activate the light up feature of particle accelerator by pressing the button on the bottom. The four lights around the lower part of the equipment light up in a clockwise flashing pattern. I just love it!!

Look at the wires, warning labels and various parts of the particle accelerator - they are detailed made and the weathering on the equipment is nicely done as well. We can attach the proton gun or particle thrower to the side of the accelerator if we want. Mattel really impressed me for producing such a wonderful piece of work on those accessories and they are amazing!!

I like the little patch "Ghostbusters logo" on the right sleeve of the jumpsuit as it reminds me of the Ghostbusters soundtrack.

With proton gun in hand, Stantz is ready to capture any ghosts in the neighbourhood :P

As the neck joint is very tight, I only able to rotate a bit of the head. I have no problem with the rest of the joint articulation.

The additional accessories are goggles, portable trap, walkie-talkie and extra pair of skin coloured hands. Not forgetting the locker that holds the additional accessories can be used as a prop for diorama purpose.

Besides the amazing work done on the proton pack, the portable trap is well produced and it connected to the foot pedal with a rubber hose. I think the rubber hose connected between the trap and foot pedal can be longer. Both yellow with black stripes lids open when we press down on the red button of the trap. Overall, I am pleased with this figure and I highly recommend it to those who love cartoon style "Ghostbusters" figures. You may view the box packaging here.

Alvin and the Chipmunks 2

"In the Squeakquel, pop sensations Alvin, Simon and Theodore end up in the care
of Dave Sevilles twenty-something nephew Toby (Zachary Levi). The boys must
put aside music superstardom to return to school, and are tasked with saving the
schools music program by winning the $25,000 prize in a battle of the bands. But
the Chipmunks unexpectedly meet their match in three singing chipmunks known
as The Chipettes - Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette. Romantic and musical sparks
are ignited when the Chipmunks and Chipettes square off (Movie Details extracted
from Golden Village website)."

The movie is definitely suitable for all ages. I found the plot was still "average" even
if the Chipettes were included in the story. Not much music performance done by
the chipmunks as compared to the first movie. In addition, Jason Lee's character
"Dave" had only fewer screen time in this sequel and that's why his nephew Toby
(played by Zachary Levi) came into the picture. Overall, the movie was hilarious
and enjoyable especially to the kids. So, bring your kids along if you are going to
watch it and my movie rating for this one is 2.5/5.

Items purchased from Playbar

ECW Series 5 - Jack Swagger

Ruthless Aggression Series 43 - Randy Orton

These should be the last two wrestling figures I bought in 2009. I will upload more photos on each figure soon :P

Bodyguards and Assassins

"1905, City of Victoria (British Colony of Hong Kong). Before Dr. Sun Yat-Sen became the Father of Modern China by instigating the revolution of 1911 that overturned the Qing Dynasty, his life was almost cut short when he arrived in Hong Kong for a secret meeting to establish a united anti-Qing revolutionary front. Whilst he only had to travel the distance of thirteen blocks, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen had to survive relentless attempts on his life with only five bodyguards, a group of ordinary men and women against hundreds of assassins. These men must put their courage to the test in order to protect the hope of millions even if it meant fighting to the death...(Movie Synopsis: Far East Films)"

This is a great movie with well balanced of emotional and action scenes. Great performance by all heavy weight actors like Wang Xueqi and Tony Leung, etc. I should mention the actor with great improvement is Nicholas Tse. As the story focused more to the history of revolution in China, do not expect more action from martial arts superstar "Donnie Yen". Of coarse, I like the fighting and chasing scenes between Donnie Yen and one of the assassins. I personally think that was the great action part of the movie. The ending was expected as all bodyguards and assassins died. I guess "Revolution" is all about "Sacrificed". Anyway, I enjoyed the movie and my overall rating is 3.5/5.

Hot Toys - "Wolverine" in X-Men Origins Pt.1

For box packaging, I prefer the usual Hot Toys 5-panel box with outer sleeve as this one looks like a shoe box to me. The box cover has a graphic of embossed Wolverine Claws with printed movie title whereas the back of the box shows a list of production credits and picture of the figure.

Inside the box, there is a printed paper cover that reveals a brief bio and picture of the figure. Beneath this, we will find the fully dressed figure with accessories housed in a standard Hot Toys plastic tray. Surprisingly, no twisties are used this time round.

I am still happy with the head sculpt produced even if the likeness of Hugh Jackman is not that accurate. The accessories are - dog tags, a leather belt with detailed buckle, 2 pairs of interchangeable hands with extra wrist pegs and a figure stand with movie logo and "Wolverine" nameplate.

Hot Toys - Michael Jackson Pt.1 (Thriller Version)

Similar to other M-Icon figures, we have a simple box design that flips open sideways. Besides the picture of Michael's face on the front, there is a brief profile printed on the bottom left corner. The top right corner has a small triangle shaped metal badge with flaming Hot Toys logo.

After lifting the printed paper cover inside the box, there is a foam sheet that protects the figures that are surrounded by black foam. I guess the colour of the box is to match the jackets and jeans of the figures.

These are the 2 interchangeable heads - Zombie Head (left) and Michael Head (right). As for accessories, there are 9 poseable hands with 2 additional wrist pegs and a figure stand with classic "Thriller" title and "Michael Jackson" nameplate.