Masterless: The Killing Joke

I finally hit the wall and when I crashed, the wreckage of my vehicle told me a joke. 

It showed me all the times I've played the fool's part. It gave me a punchline of just how mocked I was and how much I allowed it all to happen. It conveyed to me every single angle of my asinine way of thinking. 

What defined that sense of ideal? That honor? That need to make things right and to hold things together? Why was it so important to me that I kept ignoring the killing joke that was being told? 

I saw that wall, you know? I saw it coming a mile freaking away, but I didn't do anything to try and swerve out of the way. I guess I got used to being the one to make the move, the one to try, the one to always hold it all together... the person who was willing to reach out and try... all the time with everything and everyone. I guess there was a point that I didn't want to try and I just said... FUCK IT. 

The joke was on me and it really killed a part of me. And after I crawled out of that wreckage, battered, beaten, and thinking I'm a ghost... I realized that I'm still alive. When I came to the realization that if I go around these walls it would be the same people all over again... I laughed. I laughed so hard....

I haven't done this before..... and it's new. 

I gave up. Ha. I give up. Ha. And the funniest thing is... this feels right. 

R.I.P Adam West

There are many Batmen who played this role. But no one as eccentric and as hilarious as Adam West from way back when. While he did not pave the Dark Knight as the Knight we know today, he did add an element to the Caped Crusader that Bale, Kilmer, and Clooney never provided for the icon we know as The Batman.

RIP, Adam West. Now you will be in the heavens shining your spotlight with Yvonne Craig.

September 19, 1928 - June 9, 2017
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Gaming Endeavors

Time for a break from the figures review and talk about another Hobby that I haven't been as fervent since a few years ago. 

I may not have announced it but I did get a Ps4 QUITE recently; within the last 2 months to be exact. As the pics above shows, I'm currently playing Skyrim Remastered and Batman Arkham Knight. Great games. Now, I won't be going into reviews like I used to, but once in a while I will probably be sharing some things (Mods on Skyrim perhaps?). But here are some other prospects I have that are all mostly eastern themed games. I have some others like Injustice, the new Spider-Man game, Horizon, Mass Effect, etc. This list may repeat one or two, but most of these games are already released and obscure games. SO....

FFXV: This is a no brainer. I believe that this will be the next milestone of Final Fantasy. With FFXIII not quite hitting that mark for me and with FFXIV being a total waste of time, I do believe we need a brand new Final Fantasy that can truly hit that nostalgia as well as give us a new breath of fresh air!

Disgaea V Allegiance of Vengeance: I have always been a big fan of Disgaea. With Disgaea IV and II being my top favorite, I believe it's time for a new out of this world and hours and hours of fun with a brand new tactical JRPG. Besides this quote: "I will never forget. Vengeance is the only thing that keeps me going", I have a feeling the new main and I will get along just fine!

Onechanbara: Nothing to really say but.... we all need some sexualized zombie-slaying, mindless, hack and slash gaming time in our life! I played the one for X360 way back when and enjoyed it. I'm sure this will deliver to its (low) expectation.

Nights of Azure: Something about this game. As I was talking about hack and slash just a moment ago, this one has some flesh to it that will probably go beyond what Onechanbara will offer! It has potential for sure!

Street Fighter V: What's a new console without a new Street Fighter? Yeah, I won't be the champion or an avid player like I used to be, but I know for sure that I will at least have this so that I can play as Ryu and Ken or even Juri once more! 

New Trailers

I'm a bit late on these but it's time to add a little more nerd zest in this glum and gloom side of my web. So... let's take a gander at Marvel's line up:

Civil War: While I didn't expect it to go canon wise with the comic book, it does feel a bit.... TOO different. Civil War is one of my favorite story line in the Comic Book realm of Marvel. Really struck a note in me. While I have faith in this movie rendition, I just really miss that grand feel that was conveyed in the comic book realm.

X-Men Apocalypse: I have to say, I haven't been excited about an X-Men movie for a long while now. Here it is then! I hate to say it, I wish there was more Psylocke in the trailer. It's probably the ONLY reason why I want to watch this movie.

Well... here's DC's line up:

Dawn of Justice: Okay so I'm not going to say I'm not impressed with this trailer because I am. There definitely is a lot for Comic Book fans and for any who are Big time DC fans, this should evoke nerdgasm or two. For me.... WONDER WOMAN! Doomsday though?

Well, there you have it. Personally, I'm looking forward to ALL the Comic Book movies coming out in 2016. These two are the heavy hitters though to the majority of fans. Though I am a bit excited for Suicide Squad.

And on the GAMING WORLD......

Final Fantasy VII: THEY ARE NOT F@CKING around! Woo boy! Looks like the old ways has joined the new! If I don't have a ps4 by the time this game comes out, I'm going to buy one! 

Suicide and Justice

Suicide Squad: DC is doing something that Marvel has yet to do and that is making a movie that is based on a group of bad guys forced to do something good. Some of these characters are unknown to me because of the fact that it's only "recently" that I started getting into DC, but everyone knows who Harley Quinn is and she is in the movie. Heck, she's the highlight of the movie. Some might abhor this adaptation of Harley, but I say it's rather cute. It's not the 'canon' looking Harley but come on, I think there is something to be said about change. But I suppose it's all about how the movie pulls her off, huh? And I'm not going to gripe on Joker since .... well, I'm not the biggest fan of the last Joker we saw in the big screen. Suffice to say, I'm excited for this movie. 

Dawn of Justice: This is DC's supposed big introduction to Justice League; DC's answer to Marvel's Avengers. Between this and Suicide Squad, I'm more excited for Suicide Squad. I wasn't the biggest fan of Man of Steel; though I think it was decent, it didn't really feel like it was going to lift DC into the momentum that they needed to be. The new Batman seems fitting. Wonder Woman (in the few seconds we saw her) seems adequate enough. But we'll see.

Keep them rolling DC. We need some DC competition in the big screen to keep Marvel on their toes. 

Playarts Kai: Variant Supergirl

This was part of my spoils for 2014 Holiday. In fact, it was the big bang gift! The main event! To be completely honest, I knew it was going to be a good catch but as to how good? Well, let me just be blunt right this moment and say that I wasn't expecting to be this enamored with Supergirl's Playarts Kai rendition! I'll capsulize as to why and how I am highly excited to have her in my collection of course as the review goes on, but I will say that she will definitely be in my top catches for 2014(if I ever get to that "soon"). So without delaying, let's start.

Box wise? Well we have seen this before. It's HUGE! Playarts Kai have started this set and the figures are colossal! One thing is for sure: they're no 6 inches action figures for sure! The box does over exaggerate the figure, but to justify the box, the majority of these characters do have a few accessories to hold inside. There is a door to allow view of the figure inside, neatly laid out and the majority of her accessories can be seen. The back of the box doesn't really show much except it does have a 'shadow' of someone else you can buy. Sorry Clark, I'll pass on you! Kara on the other hand... 

What is there to say about the details on this girl? I guess the first thing to really say is that she is a gorgeous figure from head to toe. I'll go into details with her face in the alternate face comparison, and while I am describing her figure, I'll try not to talk about her articulations(which are amazing), so let's just say there is something about the way they made Kara that really intrigues me. The costume, despite it being a 'variant' of her popular(non-New-25 outfit) really does look like Supergirl. I mean, they did a magnificent job making sure that when people see this figure they see Supergirl.

They did this thing where they made her skirt look less cheer leader-like and more of a 'battle skirt'; In fact, the rest of her clothing is more or less 'armor' and metallic feel to it, which of course makes me question as to WHY Supergirl would need armor since she is practically bulletproof.  Regardless, the visuals of the 'armor' tights really does come off as metallic with all the different shades of blue put into it. The red on the cape(the plastic one) really does work well with the boots and the "S" and of course the perfect trim on gold does finish the trick on making it still concur with the 'classic' costume. Flesh tone is done quite well and with a well sculpted and painted hair, it just compliments the fit of the whole figure; sexy and epic all in one body. Speaking of body, she is one smoking kryptonian gal.

Definitely NOT a teenager's body though.

When it comes to accessories, Supergirl has a few. She has two faces, 3 pair of hands, a sword, a special affect 'comic book' action, and probably my favorite Playarts Kai addition up to date: her cloth cape with wiring articulation! Let's talk about these accessories:

I do wish they gave us more faces with Kara, but the two that are supplied does a good job. We have a calm and happy Kara and an angry "heat ray" vision variant. It seems to be in the polar opposites so something in between, like a serious NONE heat ray face would've been nice.

The idea of the special affect comic book text is a neat idea! Superman Variant PAK also has this one(a different text and affect), though sadly, it's the least used of her accessory for my photoshoot. Oh, while I never took a picture of it, Supergirl does come with the standard(so it seems) Playarts Kai stands that are probably one of the most 'complex' stands that I have come across with. Requires the more assembly, I should add.

For a girl that is super strong, can cause agonizing cold winds with her breath, melt someone with heat ray vision, see through walls with X-ray vision, faster than a speeding bullet, bullet proof, and just smoking hott, why would she have a sword?! It's quite unorthodox in some ways but reading the box description, it is actually an amazon blade that pays homage to one particular story line when Wonder Woman took Kara to her island and trained her with sword art. One thing obvious from the picture above is that one of the alternate hand is just for the sake of 'holding' the sheathe/or sheathed blade. Makes for great pictures like her about to take the blade out, or her just merely holding the sheathe. There is also a peg hole on her left thigh so that Supergirl can carry her blade like a real warrior. It's a neat addition and the details on the blade adheres to her patriotic color!

Last but not least on the list of her accessory are the capes. First, it's pretty obvious that I used the cloth one far more than I did the plastic and I'll explain, but not before delving on what aesthetic satisfaction the plastic cape offers.

This plastic cape is most likely the definitive cape for this figure in terms of looks. The dark crimson color really ties in with her boots, the "S" emblem, and the 'short mini cape' that is attached to the figure by default. I'd say they had every intention of making this the 'main' cape with how much it concurs with the shade of red but to me there is one problem: the stand can't support the weight(least I have yet to figure out a way to get away from that problem). Which is the main qualm I had with the Playarts Kai Batman, honestly.

Now the 'cloth' cape did the best it can to replicate the plastic color. Honestly, it may not be immaculate to the color of the plastic, but it does the job well enough! The two things I really love about this is that it's lighter, which means Supergirl's stand can hold her now with ease! But the main reason for this being amazing is that it contains a bendy wire inside that allows articulation! Okay so the plastic cape has articulation itself but THIS makes it far more dynamic! It has more capabilities of duplicating some super poses!

Speaking of articulation! It will come to no surprise for some of you that Kara is very articulated. Playarts Kai(and imports in general) have a great way to making sure our highly spent well earned money are put to good use. With the expected movement, Supergirl's body does all of them. Her ab crunch and her waist movement allows for some pretty wide range so the super fly pose does come naturally. The skirt is a pliable material which doesn't hinder leg movements that much and a small addition but a great one, the sheathe does have movement as well. Her hair has articulation as well, which isn't the best, but one can't truly complain about that.

For fun, I did a duplication pose with her Bishoujo Supergirl counterpart and once can see that she almost had it. Of course, Kara the bishoujo does sensuality a bit better as well as the pantsu. But, it's not bad articulation at all for PAK Kara! Still a magnificent piece and I can't really say a lot in this department since I believe the pictures posted should speak for it.

Next to Batman, I think Supergirl is a better Playarts Kai variant for a myriad of reasons: accessories, that alternate cape, two faces, more hands, and sexier. Sorry Bruce, I ain't into your hunkin "Konroy" voice.

In conclusion, this toy is much more than what I expected it to be. I absolutely love this figure and had every bit of fun posing her, taking pics of her, and just all in all, having her as a new addition to my DC shelf. Though as one can see, I am now losing more space that I don't already have when it comes to this shelf. If I decide to get more Playarts Kai..... I'm going to have to make a few changes here. Welps, that's it for now! 

DC Collectibles: Suicide Squad Harley Quinn

This was an unexpected toy to come my way and it was for a very frugal price! Frugal and VERY welcome to have in my collection. This is the New 52 Harley Quinn who is part of a group called: Suicide Squad. For her costume, it's not my favorite though the theme of her being a female jester does fit rather well! Let's move on then.

So this one definitely is tailored for the Suicide Squad team; not so interested in the other figures in this line for sure. The box design is familiar as well so nothing to gawk at at all. Though it's a good box if one really wants to keep her mint.

Details on this figure is well done and I have to say even if I am not the biggest fan of her New 52 outfit, I do say that this has an incredible likeness to it! The one thing I would say is that the face doesn't entirely capture Harley's 'cute-psycho' attractiveness, though it's not horrendous. What truly makes this figure for me thug his the colors and the vibrant red and blue combination that truly makes her pale skin stick out! The mold on its own seems a bit on the 'muscular' side for Harley; a little lankier(but endowed) frame would probably be far more adequate. Again it's not bad, just not the Harley I know from the animated series and the Arkham games.

Harley's accessories are indeed signature weapons but in terms of details and wow factor it comes off as 'meh'. Not badly sculpted but really lacking some designs or even variation on the pain job. I would think for her hammer at least they would make it whimsical and Harley like instead of an insipid looking one. The guns could use a bit more flare but they are certainly far better than her mallet.

Articulation wise? Definitely its weakest link! The articulation reminds me of some of the toys I had way back in the mid 90's, though slightly better! It has a few things that older figures didn't have like bicep swivel, thigh swivel, and the pigtail swivel(yes! Hair articulation!), but she lacks certain things like ankle pivot, wrist movement, abdomen crunch and swivel, and so much more! Action poses are so limited with her that it's kind of lackluster for such a great looking figure! It's even hard to get Harley to get into poses that she would be known for like some kind of sensual but psycho stance with her mallet or something! Her arms don't reach enough so she can have some kind of crazy pose with them either.

Best that could be done with such an articulation mobility!

All in all she isn't a bad figure. I'm definitely glad I have her and for the price that she cost, no complaints! No need to complain at all! She makes a good addition to my Harley Quinn figures! Though truly she made more sense as a statue than anything else(makes me wonder why I didn't put my Bishoujo on display here... oh well). 

Playarts Kai: Batman (Anime) Variant

Another one of my spoils from Christmas 2013! Playarts Kai delivers us a very anime influenced aberrations of our favorite DC characters! With Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash getting some eastern make over, it's more than obvious that Batman would be getting his version and here it is! I have to say, what a Fantastic addition to my game room!

The box is gargantuan! And it has to be enormous because the figure is no measly 6 inch! This is the newest Playarts Kai that I have in my possession and since my last addition of Commander (female)Shepard and since that time there has been a vast few changes in the Playarts Kai world! I mean just from sheer size alone it's pretty apparent that Square Enix has been undergoing some radical change in this famous(or infamous if one is unfortunate enough to get the issues that Playarts Kai seems to have according to Toyark) toy line. And these said changes I will be more than happy to point out! Well, moving on to the figure itself then.

These DC lines from Square Enix has the title of 'variant' for the simple reason that they are the anime version of our beloved DC heroes. There are a lot of backlash and negativity in regards to what Square Enix has done to some of the iconic DC super heroes(villains yet to be announced, if ever). My main qualms would be Green Lantern's design but overall, I am intrigued with some of them. Batman obviously done quite nicely. While staying true to his ominous presence, he is given a bit of a 'vamprie-slaying' look to him, or at least very vampiric elegance to his designs on this said armor. His cape and cowl still looking very Batman'ish also has the variant flare to it. The 'grappling hooks' on the end of his cape is indeed a good touch. Details are indeed extravagant and beautifully done that I can't capsulize how well it is done with my words. So the gadgets provided with this figure…

First off let's talk about accessories and alternate hands. Batman doesn't have as much as I wish he would considering it is the Dark Knight who is most popular for having gadgets to take on a small brigade. Just three weapons/gadgets and only three alternate hands which equals five total with the two he comes equipped with already. Would it have hurt to make it six total? I mean he can only hold his weapons on his right hand which is kind of a downer. Though this recent addition of the Playarts Kai stands is a plus. It requires a bit of assembly(I had a bit of a time at first but I am more than confident that when/if I assemble another one it'll be easier) but the final product is more than worth it!

The Batarang is probably the most disappointed part of his weaponry. I like the gold tint but being next to the 'gun' and his katana, I feel like it doesn't really do much.  It would've been nice if he can hold his weapons on both hands so a mixture of both Batarang and katana would've been a good mixture. Sadly, not able to be done.

In the Dark Knight Rises movie, Nolan's Batman holds a gun. I'm not sure what it did since I didn't watch the damn thing completely(still proud of myself!), but I think this gun is highly influenced by that movie's gadget. It looks cool enough and I doubt it can be a grappling gun with how it is shaped… but again, it is Batman variant we are talking about!

My favorite weapon that came with this action figure! Of course I have an affinity for samurai swords so him coming with one is always a plus! It's rather long as well so again, anime themed. I am assuming the gadgets on his thighs are retracted version of these katanas or something. If that's the case he has six katanas sculpted on him.

Playarts Kai figures are not light by any means so their stands has to compensate for their weight. The stand that came with this figure delivered. It allows for dynamic poses like the one shown above or even …

With a cape like that, it is only right that Batman is allowed such 'floating/gliding' poses! The clamps holds firm enough and if the 'head' joint of the said stand becomes loose, one can always tighten! I'm pleased with the stand suffice to say! And I'm sure there are more poses that can derive from this stand, but I kept it basic but zestful enough for pictures.

Of course articulation is a big deal with an import (and expensive) action figure such as this! IT has all your standard flexibility and wide array of movement that I have experienced from previous Playarts Kai and then some. In fact, a lot of his movement reminds me of the Batman Arkham Asylum figure that I own! While the joints are firm and 'click-y', they are as I said: firm and able to hold a pose on the whim. Some areas are a bit awkward and requires a bit of fixing to get the right idea for the pose, but one can really work some dynamics if one tries hard enough. And of course the cape articulation! Like the previous Batman toy Playarts Kai I own, the cape movement is what got me so hooked on him! This variant delivers! The one thing that does get to me if I am to have a gripe about his articulation is that his upper chest joint seems to be too loose to hold the weight of the cape. Some poses doesn't stay because of how 'heavy' the said cape is so that is a little bummer. Other than that, no real complaint with his movements.

The box is huge for a reason. The difference between Playarts Arkham Asylum Batman and this Variant Batman is more than obvious. The scale doesn't go well with the other Batman Playarts Kai line but if one does collect all of the other variant DC characters, I guess one will have concurring figures.

In conclusion, this addition to my game room is indeed worth the praise. Great detail and paint job, unique and note worthy take on the Dark Knight, fantastic articulation, and most of all the addition of a great and durable figure stand! These figures aren't exactly on the cheap side so if one has/wants to fork up a good $70-$80 then do know that one does get what s/he pays for. While Marvel dominates action figures in my opinion, there are a few and far between that DC comes out with is something to be enamored about! Seems like the Playarts Kai variant are one of those.

Random Spoils of 2013

It goes to show that I appreciated everything I received this past Christmas. These ones I'm about to show off may not be my favorite, but they do serve as a means to say that I am indeed lucky and blessed and in this collecting endeavor, I am VERY lucky.

Yes. Cups. I won't be using these at all to drink. I know, what a waste. But I have enough Marvel cups lying around so these can remain as collector's item until needed otherwise.

I remember these kind of Batman figures from way back when. The Batman Animated series spawned a plethora of Batman figures that I think would fall under peg warmers in this day and age. Sadly, while this one is indeed somewhat cool, it still has the same articulation as the Batman back then with less functions. So Nolan's Dark Knight got no love from your locally and common toy suppliers huh? 

Iron Man is the equivalent of Batman when it comes to quantity and sometimes lacking quality in regards to toys. Stark himself has enough peg warmers that it is kind of sickening; mostly merchandise from Iron Man 3(wonder why?). Well, these are not coming out of the box, rather they will remain inside their respected box as a display case, more or less. Kind of cool but lacking articulation as well, but again, I won't' be playing with them anyways so that part doesn't matter.

There are a few more to talk about when it comes to my 2013 gifts. Stay tuned for this blog might explode for January's duration.