June 2015 Haul: ArkhamCity Batman, Avengers2 Captain America + Bandai Ashigaru Stormtrooper

May 2015 was a relatively quiet month as I didn't get anything LOL sure I pre-ordered some stuff but hauls are about receiving the physical goods and opening up the box. In the old days, pre-orders didn't exist and you have to wait for the toys to arrive at the shops and hopefully beat the queue and the crowd to get what you want. These days, pre-orders are necessary for you to reserve the figure you want so that you can be assured of the figure when it arrives. Otherwise, you might just miss the boat and end up paying secondary market prices. In the past, you would walk into the shop and pick up what you like when you are there but these days, you pick up what you like from the images posted on the world wide web, place your order and wait months before the figure arrives. Times certainly have changed. As you can tell, I was a very patient man for the whole month of May.

On the other hand, June is already looking up with some nice picks :) Nothing perks me up more than getting new goodies to play (um... I meant 'pose') with.

Hot Toys VGM "Batman: Arkham City" 1/6th scale Batman Collectible Action Figure arrived, along with Hot Toys "Avengers: Age of Ultron" 1/6th scale Captain America 12-inch Collectible Figure and Bandai Star Wars 7-inch tall Movie Realization Ashigaru Stormtrooper figure. Three of my favorite topics: Batman, Captain America and Star Wars – what more can I ask for? That answer is time! I need more time to appreciate all these that I have but unfortunately, time and tide waits for no man.

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Batman Arkham City has been a very popular video game among fans since its debut! As a celebration of Batman’s 75th anniversary in 2014, Hot Toys officially introduced the Batman: Arkham City: 1/6th scale Batman Collectible Figure. The collectible figure is specially crafted based on the image of Batman from the game featuring a newly developed masked head sculpt with 2 interchangeable lower faces, newly sculpted muscular body and Batsuit, and detailed weapons. You can check out the preview pictures HERE

And just to show that the box isn't empty, here's a sneak peek at Hot Toys VGM "Batman: Arkham City" 1/6th scale Batman Collectible Action Figure inside the box. There have been much debate about whether one should open the box and play with the toy or keep it inside it's plastic prison and when it comes to Hot Toys, there have been accusations that some people just collect empty boxes and actually have no figures to show for it. I even have a toy blog post titled: "Hot Toys Collector or Hot Toys Box Collector? Age-old question: To open / not to open the toy!" You can check it out HERE

Next up: Hot Toys "Avengers: Age of Ultron" 1/6th scale Captain America 12-inch Collectible Figure which was previewed earlier HERE. I'm a big fan of Captain America since I read his exploits in the Marvel comic books growing up. Never could I have imagined that all the comic book heroes I read about and grew up with would one day grace the big screen in such a big way. It's really nice to see these heroes realized as believable live-action figures. Even better that they get made into 12-inch fully pose-able action figures with highly accurate details with realistic life-like head sculpts. Great time to be a 12-inch figure collector. 

Here's a tease of the good Captain in his box. I much prefer this costume to the earlier version seen in the first Avengers film. You can check out my reviews and pictures of the Hot Toys The Avengers: 1/6 Captain America 12-inch Limited Edition Collectible Figure HERE, HERE and HERE. Before this latest Avengers film was released, I was okay with the costume but after having seen Cap's newest costume which is much closer to the comic book version, I found myself leaning more towards this newest rendition. Still it's nice to see how the Captain America uniforms / costumes have evolved. Check out the 'Captain America' Characters' Evolution From The '40s To 'Winter Soldier' (1940 comic to 2014) posted HERE

Last but not least, there's Bandai Star Wars 7-inch tall Movie Realization Ashigaru Stormtrooper figure. Since I saw preview pictures of the Bandai Star Wars Meishou Movie Realization Samuraidaishou Darth Vader 18 cm action figure (posted HERE), I have been very excited about this series. The designers at Bandai have managed to give the sci-fi characters from a galaxy far far away a whole new look by bringing them back in time to feudal Japan in the 1300s. It's quite ironic since Star Wars creator George Lucas was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and some of the character's costume designs had references to Japanese samurai, including Darth Vader's helmet and costume design.

These Bandai Star Wars 7-inch tall Movie Realization action figures look really authentic and I just love the designs, much more than the Play Arts Kai Star Wars Variant figures. These look way cooler and promises a load of FUN!

Do check back for the reviews as and when I can get to them :) and thanks for all the great support for my toy blog!