2014 Collection Highlights

My second year of "Toys of the Year". In comparison to 2013, I say that I got about the same amount despite certain months last year being 'dry'. Regardless, 2014 was a good year for collecting and I'll just briefly go through as to why within the next few selection that stood out last year! Without further adieu... here we are to the list of 2014~!

Marvel Legends: This year Hasbro is staring a trend with really coinciding with cinematic releases and boy, are they going to let it all out this year. 2014 wasn't exactly FILLED with the best Legends, but still, it was a start of the trend. So these are the Legends that stood out in my opinion:

Black Cat, Nova, Omega Red, Black Widow, Storm

Top Legend:

Toybiz is still winning awards in my book after all these years. Honestly, the details, the accessories, and not to mention he came from an amazing BAF set... he was meant to win this year; yes and he trampled over some of Hasbro's Legends in my book.

Build-A-Figure(ML): I got a decent amount of BAFs over the course of 2014 but honestly, not a whole lot of them are memorable except for two. So I suppose these two are the BAFs of the year for me:

Sentinel and Groot

Just speaking in terms of now, 2015 will be better in terms of BAF I think. With how Odin starts and the next few in line I am planning on getting, it will be hard to say that it will turn out as sour as 2014's line up. But who knows. Sometimes it's hard for me to judge BAFs; it's either the set of figures that makes it or breaks it and sometimes the BAF itself has little influence.

Statues: Last year I named this section "Bishoujo", this year it has to be named differently since it isn't just Bishoujos parading last year's catch! And like last year, I didn't get a whole lot so I am pretty much displaying all of them; ALMOST all of them with the exception of one or two.

SDCC Spider-Woman, Elsa, Asuka, X-Force Psycloke

2014 brought forth variety in my statue collections; With Elsa joining the fray, of course it won't just be imports. So these fourth are the ones that stood out in my eyes from 2014. But who took the top?

The Winning Statues:

It was hard to just pick one out of these two since they are both great pieces. I'd say that Asuka has the most sculpt, the most height, and most definitely outshines in details but the Bishoujo Spider-Woman is just damn beautiful and it is Spider-Woman(the normal version of her was also pretty high on the list but--you know!). I say it's quite reasonable that these two are top of the list.

Anime Figures: This set! These four are the only ones I captured in 2014 and I have to say, it's not a bad haul. All my reviews pretty much conveys the fun factor of the photoshoot I had with each one, and dare I say they offer a whole lot! Figmas and Figuarts usually offer a myriad of things so it's no surprise that these four are memorable and worth putting together in this list.

KOS-MOS, Mikasa, Sailor Saturn, T'elos

All four gals offered a lot and when it came down to the two, it was a real hard fought battle. Mikasa and KOS-MOS definitely offered the most even though the other two ladies were a hard hitting figure! But who between the Xenosaga heroine and the Titan killer gets the award?

Most Enamoring:

Mikasa had more accessories, more fun factor, plenty of detail to boot! Not that KOS-MOS didn't offer any of that, but Mikasa gained the victory for me. I think a big factor to that is the fact that there were times that KOS-MOS wasn't the easiest to get into positions with her weaponry(the dual gatling gun to be exact) and Mikasa was just a fluent photoshoot.

"THE ONE"

Super girl Playarts Kai and Iron Man Silver Centurion

It's a given that the Hot Toy would get the award but something happened this year: Supergirl Playarts Kai. She had the charisma, the detail, the accessories, and the fun factor to almost put a scratch on my all time favorite Hot Toy version of Tony's armor. Alas, I couldn't bring it upon myself that Iron Man would be dethroned(a Hot Toy that is) so 'the one' had to be split. Honestly, both of these figures stand out in my head as 2014's hard hitters in my game room. Glad to have them both and glad they are paid off since they did take a chunk out of my wallet. Stark more so than Kara, of course. Still.... what great pair to add to my collection! 

After Word: I am elated with 2014 and the growth I had. Honestly, I think there was more quality this time around than quantity. As room starts to disappear and funds starts to tangent off to someone else, I think I will be doing more quality as the days go by. Though 2015, as I have mentioned, had already lined up a LOT of prospects. Maybe next year's edition will be up to par in both quality and quantity as 2014. 

Other than that, there is really nothing else to say. Happy collecting for 2015 it is!

Figma: T'elos(Xenosaga III)

Figma figures became an abundance in my collection after stumbling on Mari. I realized just how wide their reach is in terms of female characters so when I found out that they had KOS-MOS, I had to get her. Well, with how impressed I was with KOS-MOS, I just had to get her 'evil' counter part: T'elos. Well, let's not delay, let's jump right in!

Figma boxes. Something of the norm! Standard and nothing we need to spend too much time on.

Much like her 'Holy' counter part, T'elos comes with an intricate amount of details. The dark color combination is quite intriguing; the tanned skin really is complimented by her burgundy, and violet colors. To add a bit of contrast(a prominent one too), T'elos has bright white hair that truly fits her. Reminds me of Pirotess! Then again, KOS-MOS and T'elos do have that Deedlit and Pirotess rapport going on. Well, going back to the figure, T'elos can't stand on her own. Or at least, it is very difficult. Speaking of accessories, right off the get go, it's pretty obvious that she doesn't have the same amount as KOS-MOS. She lacks the weaponry, and to be exact, she only has two weapons while KOS-MOS comes equipped with a handgun, blade arm, a blade/laser gun(I assume), and two colossal battling guns. Though with the expected hand variations, the face swaps, the chest piece, and the stand included in T'elos' box, I would say the accessory department isn't lacking just smaller compared to her 'lighter' counterpart.

She comes with three facial expression: angry, serious, and smirking. All beautifully done and consistent in all painting aspect. One little thing, I forgot to take a close up of her other 'headpiece' swap with the red dot covering the majority of her face. I'll try to point that out later when I get to the pictures but yeah. Basically it just looks like she has ONE gigantic red eye.

The chest piece should be no secret by now. It mirrors KOS-MOS' and since I have watched the video of these two going at it, I am more than aware of what it really does!

Basically it's her 'uni-beam' akin to Iron Man's signature chest blast, though T'elos has something more promiscuous to show off with this chest beams. Just like KOS-MOS', the little detail added to this is appreciated, albeit it could've gone with a special affect to truly capture the intent. Oh, the picture above has the 'targeting' headpiece on. Again, it dominates the majority of T'elos' face and leaves only her lips to be seen. 

T'elos' left arm comes with a 'gauntlet' of some sort that allows the transparent blade(matches her color scheme too) to be attached to it. It's basically just like KOS-MOS' interchangeable blade arm. For some reason, this one wasn't as cooperative as I want it to be, but when able to pose right, it does look rather amazing. 

I don't quite remember if T'elos' blade had a bit more 'energy' feel to it, but this one is a bit linear and at some aspect, it's rather insipid. Though it does do the trick, but I feel like it lacks. Also, putting on some of her hands with the gauntlet piece provides some tedious work that shouldn't exist when swapping hands. Small gripe, but a gripe nonetheless. 

The handgun is also part of T'elos' weaponry(and I think she also has a gattling gun, but it's not included in this figure) and detailed as it is, it's not a wow factor. I have the same feelings for KOS-MOS handgun and it transfers over to her rival. I do believe T'elos uses this in Xenosaga III and I believe all in all, it's pretty accurate. Maybe I'm getting spoiled with special affects that Figma usually provides when characters deems it necessary... I think T'elos could use a few fire power affects but, meh.

Her articulation is something to admire! I think Figma(and most import toys) are so good with this that one can almost always replicate some of the characters' movements and/or signature gestures. T'elos was nimble, agile, and downright powerful in the game so her Figma version can capture the majority of her game glory! One of these days I'll try and snap some of those trade offs that she and KOS-MOS had with these two figures! For sure a fun task if I ever get the time!

As always, the stand provides much more dynamic! Being able to support T'elos' weight can offer much elation to someone who is willing to spend time really getting some poses out of her! I barely scratched the surface, and I'll be redundant in saying that she and KOS-MOS will be aesthetically pleasing when posed together in battle!

T'elos joins the SF/Anime/Video game shelf

In conclusion, I think I had much more 'negative' things to say about T'elos becuase she came AFTER KOS-MOS. Lacking some weaponry does put her down a bit and with some of the gripes I had with KOS-MOS carrying over, it's not exactly the best picture for T'elos. Though I will say this, I love this figure. She is almost half the price of KOS-MOS, and as a figure on its own, T'elos delivers accuracy, superb visuals, and minus hte two enormous guns her counterpart carries, T'elos does provide her signature weapons. With that said, great figure. Great job Figma!

Figma: KOS-MOS

I love Figma figures! Out of the eastern figures I have gotten in this genre(Revoltech, S.H. Figuarts), Figma seems to have a lot of what I look for. And it's not that the others don't have variety in characters or even great looking figures, it's just that Figma seems to have the extra magic that the others don't seem to rekindle with me. My latest figure here by the name of KOS-MOS proves my point and I won't delay! Jumping into the review right away!

The familiar Figma box! All eastern toys that are in this genre seem to share this common aesthetic with their box. Frankly there is nothing too special for me to elaborate on here but I will say that because of what KOS-MOS brings with her, it's a much bigger box than your norm Figma boxes.  So let's crack KOS-MOS open then!

This is KOS-MOS Xenosaga III form; from my knowledge, she went through two prior changes before the third so I would imagine this is her third one. Not entirely sure but let's just say, this one paid homage to her original look rather than stray away from it(the Xenosaga II form did a lot of straying away from the original concepts of the characters. KOS-MOS especially). I'm not going to sit here and defend the fact that KOS-MOS is an android that has some... sensuality to her. She literally looks like a hi-tech model for Victoria's Secret or something, but for perversion's sake, it's a good looking amalgam of tech and lingerie. The details are quite amazing and for a Figma, they seemed to have given this a bit more of a flare; and they kind of had to. Anything less with such a complex character design would not suffice. One of her highlights in terms of details and painting is her hair! That translucent color and that form! I'll let pictures speak for itself! 

Face wise, KOS-MOS is beautiful. Though for a Figma, she does fall short in variety of faces; KOS-MOS only comes with two and for the most part it's the same face minus the change with the color of her eyes. Now from what I remember, KOS-MOS doesn't show emotions like the rest of the crew do since she is an android, but I think she at least had a faint angry look that they should've added. Though I did forget why/when her eyes changed colors....

And of course she has her targeting lens which can be swapped out with her regular 'headband'. It can also be used with both sets of head. Loving the details and the small writing that says 'KOS-MOS' on these pieces! 

Now to just showcase the rest of her accessories: she has a ton! Honestly, I think she truly beats Mikasa Ackerman's accessory galore and I thought the Attack on Titan character had a whole hell of a lot more than I could've taken! It's amazing! KOS-MOS also has the one unique thing that I haven't gone across with in a Figma figure really: chest swap variant. Unique to the character of course and the one thing similar to that is Mari's light swaps, but not necessarily enough to compare to what KOS-MOS could do; again it's all in what the character could do that they do the special things I suppose.

Of course complimenting Figma and their stands is always a must. This one delivers as it should and KOS-MOS has no problem standing up and keeping herself upright. Lots of poses were done thanks to this feature! Now for the other accessories that came with her.

Right off the get go, I'm going to say that one of KOS-MOS' little let down is the fact that none of her  weapons really fit in her hands as they should. They were always on the loose side and that made certain poses quite uncooperative. Of course hardly something that could be pointed out in this picture since it looked like this handgun is sitting still just fine. We can do a whole lot with the loose handling of her small firearm despite the minor gripe I have with it. Though for such a small accessory, the details are intact and works rather well.

Now I'm not sure what this weapon is called or what it really even is aside from it being a rather complex 'energy' blade. It has two forms and I'll show the other one later but the most visually pleasing one is when the blade is erected out of its 'dormant' form. This thing is pretty long and the weapon itself I can honestly say is just as tall as KOS-MOS, if not taller. 

Again the loose gripping takes away from possible dynamic shots and that's a bit disappointing. I was able to capture some good ones though that makes the blade convincing enough. The details on this weapon is rather amazing and the painting on the blade makes it really convincing that it's energy based; works aesthetically well when the light is shining perfectly on it.

Now for one of the biggest weapons(well if you count Asuka's and Mari's cockpit, I guess they're bigger) I have come across in a Figma figure are KOS-MOS dual battling gun. I'll just say it right now that because of the loose gripping, this perk disappointed me since it was a bit of a work just to get her to hold it right. With one was difficult, but with two? But when I got it to stand(extra stander are giving, though they weren't nearly as adequate as they should be) and pose, they look pretty darn good. 

I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

That's the retracted version of her 'sword' by the way. On another side note, the firepower affect looks better with the light. 

And dare anyone get in the way of that!

And probably the easiest weapon of hers to pose is her other variant arm. I do remember this particular weapon in Xenosaga I. The cannon arm is missing but that's me being picky isn't it? What to say about this weapon? It's great! Easy to pose and it has great details that continues her color scheme and designs quite well.

Now for the other asset that KOS-MOS has. The variant breasts... well to be honest I wasn't quite sure what it was supposed to be because I didn't play the third installation as fervently as I played the first(got bored of the second one). So I kind of went crazy and thought it was her 'berserk' mode and "Shion, is it time to release the spikes on my bosoms?"

Turns out, it's not that at all. It's more or less more very similar to Iron Man's unibeam! Learned that from watching the battle between Telos and KOS-MOS(must get Telos). 

Though instead of a straight linear beam, it's actually a sphere of utter destruction. Though I will say that having some kind of firepower affect for this would've made it more convincing rather than thinking that KOS-MOS gained the ability to feel lust for Shion and Ziggurat. Though all in all, it's still a nice addition.

So the overall verdict? Well this is a fantastic addition to my collection! KOS-MOS is one of my favorite video game girls and to have a figure that meets my standards, well, I can't really complain all that much can I? Now if only Telos is in my possession! The grand fighting poses I'll concoct with the two...  Though I wish they finished the female line up with Shion, guess I can't really say much since KOS-MOS is enough. Well molded, great articulation(didn't delve into it since I let the pictures do the talking; oh that great hair is articulated by the way as well as the standard issue expectation), the painting is great, the intricate details, the accessories, well, what else to say but this is a beautiful figure! For anyone in the mood for collecting Figmas or want to have KOS-MOS as part of the femme fatales line ups, this figure will do no wrong in my opinion!