Chloe & Dylan ~ Bubbles..

The two precious havin great time blowing bubbles in the wind...with the "united nations" line of flags and Leo wanderin about behind them hehehe.

Chloe & Dylan ~ New cousin.

Ee Ling's baby girl. Dropped by to have a look at my sis, niece (s) and congrats to Billy...BTW, Dylan seems to say, "Okie dokie artichoke, 'hi' baby cousin. Now wot?" Octopus lips again, Chloe?

Chloe & Dylan ~ Study Time.

The two precious ( I sound like Gollum, Esther always said...*sigh*) havin nightly studies before sleep. A habit in their daily routines Esther insists on instilling in them while young. Alas, each time I got home, sayin hi in their room, they would revert to their cheeky selves, much to the irk of Esther...

ThreeA ~ Popbot : Old Guard Tomorrow King SBV RVHK Kenshiro (Red Version).

A (mis) interpretation :

Category: Mass production replicants.
Model type: The Tomorrow Kings - GEN 1.5.
Unit type: The Old Guards.
ID: Kenshiro / The Crimson King.
Function: Close assault.
Rank: Kyodai.
Manufacturer : The Luthor Bean Jr. Corporation.
Incept date : 15th November 1986.
Serial no.: TKG01.5MAC15111986.
Longevity : 4 years.
Physical Level : A.
Mental Class : C.
Abilities : Panzer Kunst - anti-armour martial art; superhuman physiology.
Armaments : Monomolecular-edged katana x 1; Ion cyclotron glove x 2.

The Old Guards Tomorrow King series are the longest running genetically engineered replicants or clones by the Luthor Beans Jr. Corporation hatcheries as the primary army to fight against the corrupted machines of Mortis Legion in the Underverse Warp rift. Also known as The Original Four, they are the first mass produced replicants in the Tomorrow Kings catalogues. As each four years pass and newer models are introduced, the hatcheries continue to release these first series, but with their rankings elevated to that of a kyodai or big brother, leading small groups of younger and newer siblings into battle within the insane and corrupted zone of the Underverse.

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Lots of trades and monetary involvement spanning over six months just to score this mofo...used, and with a loose left arm. Argh.

Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Before writing Dracula, Stoker spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories of vampires. Dracula is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of realistic, but completely fictional, diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added a level of detailed realism to his story, a skill he developed as a newspaper writer. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.The original 541-page manuscript of Dracula, believed to have been lost, was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. It included the typed manuscript with many corrections, and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD."  Stoker's Notes for Dracula show that the name of the count was originally "Count Wampyr", but while doing research, Stoker became intrigued by the name "Dracula", after reading William Wilkinson's book Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia with Political Observations Relative to Them (London 1820), which he found in the Whitby Library, and consulted a number of times during visits to Whitby in the 1890s. The name Dracula was the patronym (Drăculea) of the descendants of Vlad II of Wallachia, who took the name "Dracul" after being invested in the Order of the Dragon in 1431. In the Romanian language, the word dracul can mean either "the dragon" or, especially in the present day, "the devil". Vlad III would later partly inspire the vampire in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula”. Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, a visit to the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin and the novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Although Dracula is a work of fiction, it does contain some historical references. The historical connections with the novel and how much Stoker knew about the history are a matter of conjecture and debate. Dracula has enjoyed enormous popularity since its publication and has spawned an extraordinary vampire subculture in the second half of the 20th century. At the center of this subculture is the legend of Transylvania, which has become almost synonymous with vampires.The story of Dracula has been the basis for numerous films and plays. Stoker himself wrote the first theatrical adaptation, which was presented at the Lyceum Theatre under the title Dracula, or The Undead shortly before the novel's publication and performed only once. The first film adaptation of Dracula was released in 1922 and was named Nosferatu. It was directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and starred Max Schreck as Count Orlock. The 1931 film version of Dracula was based on the 1927 stage play dramatized,  starred Bela Lugosi, directed by Tod Browning, is one of the most famous versions of the story and is commonly considered a horror classic. In 1958, Hammer Films produced Dracula, a newer, more Gothic version of the story, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. It is widely considered to be one of the best versions of the story to be adapted to film. This was followed by a long series of Dracula films, usually featuring Lee as Dracula. Bram Stoker's Dracula (also released as Dracula), the1992 American Gothic horror vampire romance film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola remains the most popular modern adaptation of the book to date, a box office hit, won several Academy Awards and other recognition. It stars Gary Oldman as Count Dracula, Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, Anthony Hopkins as Professor Abraham Van Helsing, and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker. As of 2009, an estimated 217 films feature Dracula in a major role, a number second only to Sherlock Holmes (223 films).

Chloe & Dylan ~ Kinderworld Concert 2013.

 

When it comes to the annual nursery concert, I wouldn't miss it for the world just to watch my two treasures performing. Close the shop early just to get there in time. This year's concert is comparatively more entertaining...guess that's because of different management now at the nursery. Both Chloe and Dylan really enjoyed themselves - Chloe rocking to a 50s rock and roll songs while Dylan dressed all up as a bee together with Suet Nee. This year also marks the final year Suetch would be at nursery. Next year she would be off to Standard One. Time's going too fast for me...

Hot Toys MMS 69 ~ The Dark Knight : Batmobile (Re-launched Version).

 

Technical specifications :

• Length: 15 feet 2 inches (4.62 m)
• Width: 9 feet 2 inches (2.79 m)
• height 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m)
• Weight: 2.5 short tons (2.3 t)
• Acceleration: 0-60 in 5.6 seconds.
• Engine: 5.7 liter GM V8 engine capable of 500 horsepower (370 kW).
• Fuel: The "jet engine" on the back of the car was fed by propane tanks.
• Tires: 4 Interco "Super Swamper TSL" tires standing 44/18.5-16.5 in the rear, and two 94.0/15.0-15 Hoosier Checkerboard dirt tires on the front, with superior grip.

Features :

• Rear flaps to assist brakes.
• Attack mode, the driver's seat moves to the center of the car, and the driver is repositioned to lie face-down with his head in the center section between the front wheels.
• Dual front autocannons.
• Rocket launcher.
• Landing hook to Sprung landing stabilization.
• Integrated fire-extinguishing system.
• Integrated safety connection to gasoline control
• Jet engine on back of car for quick boosts/"rampless" jumps
• Stealth mode, which turns off the car's lights and cuts off the main engine. The vehicle is powered by an electric motor making the car very hard to find in dark places (which makes the mode most useful at night), and can easily throw off pursuers.
• Explosive caltrops are deployed from the rear of the vehicle, which can take out any cars that make contact with them.
• Front of car is heavily armored, so the car can ram as a practical offensive attack, and also protects the driver (Batman) while in the prone driving position/"Attack" mode.
• Both front wheels can eject when the vehicle is damaged to form the Batpod, a motorcycle-like vehicle (the rest self-destructs).

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'Ere's da Batmobile, more popularly known as, of all names, The Tumbler, from the Dark Knight trilogy. This is the re-launched version, as I missed out on the first release. Dat was when I first got enticed into picking up this moolah sapping hobby. Time sure passes by fast. I was so closed to press that "buy now" button on the 'Bay, which was going for RM5k and above at that time. Thank goodness I did not. Much have been said and covered on this beast, so I won't go into details 'cept that it is big, and...big. There is absolutely no room to display it at all. So after oogling and tinkering over it for some time, it goes back straight into the box. A masterpiece in its own right, and for moi, captured the essence of a Batmobile.  A personal perspective of what should be a Batmobile, and my imagination of an ideal one would be a cross between a tank ala The Dark Knight Returns (though not to that extremity) and a typical, previous incarnations of Bats' ride. Made of plastic of course, which makes it kinda flimsy on certain parts like those flaps for example. I would imagine if Taowan were to make one out of iron like they did for their military vehicles. Now, I wonder if I could add one or two mini-guns on it?  In the first two movies, The Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, the action sequence involving the Tumbler highlights its potential, which has its beginning as a shelved prototype military bridging vehicle. After Bruce Wayne enquired about it from Lucius Fox, he took it for a spin, followed by the line "Does it comes in black?". In the first movie, Tumbler moves like an Ah Beng in a Myvi criss crossing and weaving through the traffics on a Saturday night with Gotham's finest after its tail whilst saving Rachel Dawes. It shows how it could hide itself with a stealth mode, leaps across buildings, enough armours to mow through thick concretes, moves across rooftops and possesses cannon to blast apart obstacles. In the Dark Knight, Tumbler once again shows its tough nature when it engages a dump truck heads on, ramming onto it directly and the sheer momentum causes the truck to literally do a front flip up and  flies backwards. It also intercepts a bazooka rocket launched by the Joker, which finally signals its demise. Damaged beyond repair, and after a few flicks on the command console by Bats, the two front wheels screeches and burn rubbers, releases itself from the chassis to form the Batpod. Tumbler's onboard computer says farewell to Brucie before self detonating. Cute. Like Jim Gordon says, "I've gotta get myself one of this."

Hot Toys DX12 ~ The Dark Knight Rises : Batman.

It feels just like only yesterday when I first got Hot Toys DX01 and 02, which are the Joker and the Batman respectively from the first sequel of Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight. I still remembered when Sam (whom has moved on since) of xl-shop told me all about Hot Toys new product line called the DX series. It is supposed to stand for "deluxe", which I take it to mean as a notch above the standard lineup. Thus "justify" the more "premium" retail price. Then there's PERS i.e. movable eyeballs (made famous by Enterbay's line of 1/6th Bruce Lee. Where art thou Arnie Kim?) and a DX series figure would be loaded with tons of extra goodies/accessories and premium looking packaging. It does. I remembered how excited I was when the first two figures landed onto me grubby hands. Except that my expectation on the lineup is a tad too high. The Joker's fine, but the Batman comes with a belly oil that perpetually refuses to stop oozing. Even now. As I am typing this. It is as if Hot Toys decided to reward its customers with personal oil well. Wishful thinking coz I would be fart tart, rich, and can afford to escape the daily grind of works, thanks to a figure with au naturel oil. I often wonder what oil grade it is, and seriously, is the "substance" toxic? Which makes me think about some of those 3A super dust coated figures which explodes with mushroom clouds of fine particles, but that's another matter for another day. Sometimes I wonder if the "substance" would turn me into Venom. Just kidding.

Anyhoo, the DX series has marched on to figure no. 12. Actually, HT skipped DX10 and 11 (T-800 and The Joker v.2), and went ahead with releasing this one first. Another Batman but based on the second sequel and finale, The Dark Knight Rises. DX12 is comparatively the most "premium", nah, scratch that, expensive of all DXes thus far. Maybe I could be wrong on the pricing but at above RM700, it has gotta be a great action figure, ok, toys right? Nope.

When the teaser and full revelation were released, I was so darn excited with the prospect of this latest Batman (I mean, Hot Toys seems to be milking certain franchises to the last drop). The specifications are impressive and I rubbed my palms together gleefully sayin, this is the creme de la creme version of the Chris Nolan's Bats coz I darn love the trilogy and thus is a must have. I wouldn't say it is the ultimate representation of the Bat coz there would not be one in my personal opinions and there are so many versions (would love to have the comic book versions like the fat Batman from Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and Mike Mignola's 19th century version from Gotham by Gaslight) I would like to see in 1/6th format.

OK, back to this figure. After braving strong, lashing tropical rains last evening, and a particularly horrible traffics all the way along the watchtower, I mean, Jalan Kuching to Bukit Bintang, I finally got it in hands, courtesy of DJ Davey Dave David (whom has partly "poisoned" by me to go into 3A lines of vinyl figures after selling him the African Defense Heavy Bramble). Now, what they had covered in those YouTubes (I really, for the record, couldn't comprehend all those "unboxing" vids. It is so trivial and it is just a box, for goodness sake. Or is it?) and forums are true. I am with the "regret" camp. Why?

OK, the packaging is not as "premium" as previous DXes and could not hold a candle to the DX02. It feels like HT could have had sell this as a standard MMS instead coz it sure feels like one. The figure stand is awesome though, best thus far.

And onto the figure, there is no longer any free belly oil on the Batsuit. And the idea of having separate glued on "armour plates" onto the fabric instead of wholly molded piece like DX02 looks fantastic. But it seems to escape HT's attention that the elbow guards are all out of place. Nevermind, as I can probably re-imagine it to act as an offensive weapon. The gaunlets are the same as DX02 version i.e. have double rows of blades/scalloped fins.  Watch out for it coz it is still sharp. Comes with additional two alternative facial gestures, but I am still not so keen on the "smiley" one, of which DX02 also comes with. Makes Brucie looks, uh, ham sap, lecherous, for the lack of better word. Maybe that's for him to pose, and ogle at Selina Kyle. At least it is not the "Huh?" looks of Lt. Aldo Raine, Chris Taylor and the "big boobies" Black Widow. But no more lighted up eyes like DX02. The heads are attached via magnetic joint, same, which is positive coz I hate those tight pegs. Which is ironic. Removing Spiderman's hand pegs are made for exercising my wrists and fingers. Each breakage is an exercise for my patience. Good news for Olympian finger wrestlers. But the DX12's hand joints are quite loose. Good news for fairies heh.  

The head sculpt of Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is as close as it gets to the real deal. Aged and more mature looking as in the movie. Or at least that's what my eyes' tellin my perception. It is also kinda more "weighty" comparatively. It is also an improvement over the ole version of Wayne.

HT shortfall of this figure, personally, comes from the overall design of the figure. DX12 armour seems abit "compress", like not enough volume, particularly on the two slabs of chest muscles and shoulders when compared to DX02. Maybe HT transplanted it onto the thigh instead, which looks better than DX02. But the "reduction" in the "mass" of the upper torso makes this Bat figure looks a tad "narrow" when viewed from the side profile. And "fat-ish". Yes, that's right. The "narrowness" or "shallowness" on the upper torso or perhaps to "realistically" tell us that due to lack of exercise of the older Bats makes the lower portion of the torso, excentuates by the bigger thighs, makes Bats looks like he has gained a couple of pounds over the course of eight years, as in the movie. Unless I pose it in a "heroic, fluffy" fashion, which I always do, a side by side comparison with DX02 really highlight the differences. But then I would have to re-watch the Dark Knight Rises again to see if it were like that in the movie. The armour is not as dark too, then again, I do remember that the movie's armour is also slightly "lighter" in colour. 

Then there's the cape. Like DX02 (removal for the back pack), I am required to slot in the cape onto the body. Perhaps for allowance for me to pose and put the figure into the Tumbler. I realise that one of the plastic locks (of which we are supposed to "slide and press" onto the shoulder slots) is loosed from the stitching. This seems to be a nagging problem with HT figures that have alot of accessories. I managed to slot it properly but a removal of the cape if I wanna to would means gluing time as it is now "linked" together just with a single, bare thread. The cape's material somewhat feels less "weighty" than DX02. And there's two, short wires for "pose" running along both sides of the cape. HT could have gone abit further and runs the entire wire line down the whole cape. I would reckon that would give me more opportunity to show off the cape flapping in the wind style.

There're two belts as usual. One for the grappler and another for the sticky bombs, foldable gun. And of course, the new EMP rifle. Here's a gripe from me. The hands provided just could not grip nor position it properly.

And finally, there's the boots, of which I think DX02 is better. HT seems to be fond of making small boots.

I would not have any gripes if there's no DX02 in the first place. But the reality is there is predecessor to this figure and I can't help but to compare as well as curious. DX12 Bats is fine. Just that it does not match the retail price. Coz there's no significant difference between DX02 and DX12 'cept for the Batsuit. This is just version 2. And on top of that is the lack of upper torso mass. This could be perfect, the ultimo version, if one were to remove DX02 upper torso and replaced the DX12 ones. As well as the girl sized boots. And the darn snap on cape. The gap between the two releases maybe too short. And could have been released as a standard MMS lineup. There's just too many repeats like Pete. Now, I am abit scared of how DX10 T-800 and DX11 Joker would turns out...