Ultraman Taro by Medicom, 2008

Ultraman Taro (ウルトラマンタロウ Urutoraman Tarō) is the 6th show in the Ultra Series produced by Tsuburaya Productions which aired from 1973–1974. In the series, he receives aid from his Ultra brothers - Ultraman, Ultraman Zoffy, Ultra Seven, Ultraman Jack and Ultraman Ace - whenever he encounters monsters stronger than him. Ultraman Taro is the second Ultra being who is pre-dominantly red with silver stripes, after Ultra Seven whilst the rest are pre-dominantly silver with red stripes. When in human form, Ultraman Taro is Kotaroh Higashi who is part of ZAT (Zariba of All Territory). ZAT's weapons and vehicles are the most garish, including the helmets and uniforms they wear, which is why I can't wait for the human form to be released by Medicom.

This is Medicom's recently released 1/6 scale 12" Real Action Hero (RAH) Ultraman Taro which follows in the footsteps of Ultraman Ace.

Medicom's RAH Ultraman Taro only comes with five extra hands with different gestures for his signature poses. On his left hand, he wears the Taro Bracelet which converts into a lance. It also fires blue rings of light (Set Beam).

All Medicom's Ultra brothers have a strange looking neck, probably because of the mask/head

Close-up of his head and horns, only Ultraman Taro have horns like Father of Ultra

The Ultra beings' main weakness is that they can only stay on Earth in giant form for a limited span of time, usually not longer than three minutes, owing to a limited supply of energy (Earth's atmosphere filters out solar energy). This is marked by a light on their chest, usually called the Color Timer, or "warning light," which eventually begins to blink with increasing frequency as his energy supply dwindles (turning from blue to red).



Medicom's Ultraman Taro has ribs on his back like the other Ultra beings




On the whole, I like the Ultra brothers of the Showa Era, along with the Kamen Riders and I'm quite happy with this release.

Up Next: Henshin Cyborg Ultraman Taro

Kitbash Bruce Wayne Biker

With the release of "The Dark Knight" DVD, I got to watch the movie all over again and I still enjoyed it the third time, especially Heath Leadger as Joker. One of the reasons I'd been waiting eagerly for the DVD was to catch a glimpse of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) in his biker outfit. This is when Bruce Wayne goes to the apartment of a suspect who has links to the Joker and turns up at the scene where the Joker and his henchmen attempt to kill Gotham City Mayor Robert Garcia (Nestor Carbonell, who played Batmanuel in "The Tick" TV series).

I'd kitbashed Bruce Wayne in his suit, Bruce Wayne going spelunking, now I can kitbash a biker Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale head sculpt by Hot Toys) in his biker's outfit

Not the MV AGUSTA which he rode in the movie but a borrowed bike from a certain masked rider

Love that this helmet's visor (an Action Man accessory released in 1994) still shows Bale's face

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) removes his helmet

Gandalf the Grey from LOTR by Sideshow

Sideshow's 1/6 scale 12" figure of Gandalf the Grey from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" may be the last Middle-Earth figure they are producing. That means that the Fellowship will not be complete since we are missing two more hobbits, Merry and Pippin, and Gimli the Dwarf :( sad sad news indeed! Especially since they are getting really good with these figures.


Basic Gandalf out of box - reminded me a little of Moses, he who parted the Red Sea and received the Ten Commandments from GOD - LOL!

Under the wizard's long grey robe he actually wears a knitted long sleeve sweater and billowy, huge pants with intricate designs at the bottom, plus boots. He also has a small bag slung across his right shoulder (Sideshow listed it as a haversack).

Sir Ian McKellen portrayed Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. He was also Magneto in the X-Men films. Gandalf's old and wise demeanor seems to have been well captured by Sideshow's sculptors.

Without his wizard hat, he really looks like Moses, especially with his robe and cloak

Sideshow Gandalf's accessories include his Glamdring sword with sheath and leather belt, another dark grey cloak, one staff with pipe and tobacco pouch attached and another darker staff with a crystal on top for illumination plus extra pair of hands

Close-up of the two staffs: you can make out the pipe well placed at the top, next to the tobacco pouch and the other staff with the crystal

The spare hand holding the pipe, removed from the staff

Gandalf the wizard wearing the darker cloak, much like the poncho we used to wear in the army (quite useless actually because you get wet anyway)

With his wizard's hat and staff, Gandalf the Grey looks complete. Notice that the sleeves of his knitted sweater is cut such that his thumb goes through it like a glove, albeit a rather long glove.

Close-up of Sideshow's Gandalf the Grey

I like how they sculpted his wizard's hat - very nice indeed!

Gandalf the Grey drawing his sword Glamdring, a sword that represented the unsurpassed workmanship of Elven weaponcraft.

Close-up of his woven belt with buckle (more like a rope tied around his waist) and his leather belt with sheath for his sword

Glamdring was a long two-handed sword but was so beautifully crafted that it could be wielded with one hand by Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey with his other staff, the one he used when the Fellowship was formed and began their journey to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor: the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.

His sword in sheath when not needed

Gandalf's regular cloak with hood

Gandalf utters the famous words "You shall not pass!" to the advancing Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm in the Mines of Moria, allowing the others to escape the subterranean realm, while he falls with the creature into the abyss below.

Likewise Sideshow's "The Lord of the Rings" line will fall into the abyss with Gandalf's release as it seems there won't be any more 1/6 scale Middle-Earth characters to be added.

Previously reviewed figures:

Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Faramir, Boromir, Legolas Greenleaf and Aragorn

2008 Top Ten Fave Toy - No. 10

Pearl Harbor (2001) - P40 pilot

The air portion of the attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:48 am December 7, 1941 Hawaiian Time (3:18 am December 8 Japanese Standard Time, as kept by ships of the Kido Butai), with the attack on Kaneohe. The only aerial opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks and P-40 Warhawks. (source: wiki)

In 2001, "Pearl Harbor" the movie was released. It was directed by Michael Bay and starred Ben Affleck (Lt Rafe McCawley), Alec Baldwin (Lt Col Jimmy Doolittle), Jon Voight (US President Franklin D. Roosevelt), Josh Hartnett (Lt Danny Walker), Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Jaime King, Jennifer Garner and William Fictner as Danny's father. The roles that the two male leads (played by Affleck and Hartnett) have in the attack sequence are analogous to the real historical deeds of US Army Air Corps Second Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth M. Taylor, who took to the skies during the Japanese attack and, together, claimed six Japanese aircraft and a few probables.

The attack on Pearl Harbor sequence alone is worth the movie ticket, despite much criticisms from various quarters about inaccuracies. The dramatic sequences were produced by the team of Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer, who had previously worked on summer mega-blockbusters as "Armageddon" and "The Rock".

Dragon released this figure of a US Army Air Force P-40 Pilot “Lt George Taylor” in 2001 (first posted here) wearing Type A-9 summer helmet with brown leather ear cups, B-7 flight goggles, A-4 summer flight suit made from light olive drab gabardine with waist belt over light olive drab shirt, B-3 life preserver, S-2 parachute with “bayonet” type harness fittings, M-1936 web belt with M-1911A1 pistol in its M-1916 leather holster plus 2 extra clips and standard GI service shoes.

Dragon's P-40 Pilot of December 7, 1941 "Lt George Taylor" looked a lot like Josh Harnett, the actor who played Danny Walker in the movie and whose aerial prowess is based on real historical deeds of US Army Air Corps Second Lieutenants George Welch and Kenneth Taylor.






This would be the first of two Josh Harnett head sculpts to be released by Dragon, the second Josh Harnett 12" figure was for the movie "Black Hawk Down (2001)" which also starred William Fichtner as well as Eric Bana and Ewan McGregor.

"Air Raid Pearl Harbor. This is no drill."

It was on a Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers. The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service late in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. (source: wiki)

Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero" fighter aircraft were used in the attack. BBI released this 1/6 scale 12" World War II Japanese Zero Pilot "LT Sakae" in 2000. Lt Sakae comes with leather flight helmet, flying goggles,”Kamakaze” headband, white scarf, brown flight suit, binoculars with hard case, pocket watch, Nambu pistol with removable magazine and hard-case holster, padded life/survival vest and green harness rig with die-cast fastener, die-cast wakazashi (Samurai sidearm) and flying boots.