Congratulations, MacGyver!!!

I recently read at the Joe Battlelines forum, that our fellow member Mac won for Best Sigma 6 and Custom Of The Year, over at Commando Customs.

To say that this gal (you heard that right, Mac's a 'she') does amazing custom figures would be an understatement. And, to prove my point, may I present some of Mac's customs:

Shipwreck

I personally like Mac's treatment of Shipwreck over Hasbro's "Sigma-ized" version. That one may look scary tough, but in this custom version Shippy demands respect while still looking as tough as ever, always ready to kick some Cobra butt.




















MacGyver

Mac's all-time favorite character (hence her nick), she really made a good-looking custom of the man who can do anything with his Swiss Army Knife.

It even has MacGyver's don't-leave-home-without-it kit, which includes the Knife.






















Murdoc

What would McGyver be without his persistent nemesis? This custom Murdoc looks deadly serious, getting ready to make MacGyver's life harder than it was the last time.





















Scarlett

I believe this was the pièce de résistance. I have no idea how she did it, but Mac really pushed the envelope on this one.




Way to go, Mac! You deserved to win. Here's to more of Mac's customs in the future.

NOSTALGIA: My First Action Figures

Googling through pages upon pages of websites, I stumbled upon another set of memorabilia which was once part of my childhood: my very first action figures.

I can only remember that it was around 1980 when I first saw one of these, from my neighborhood friends. And, naturally, I wanted one for myself. Little did I know at that time, that it was to be the beginning of one of my "obsessions" that I still suffer *lol* up to this very day: collecting action figures.

ACTION JACK Sea Rescue
This 3-inch (I might be wrong on that measurement, though) yellow figure started it all. These were priced much, much cheaper, compared to the Voltes 5 and other Japanese manga robots that were very popular in the country during those days. So it was easier to ask my grandparents to get me these without having to get very good grades in school and show them any awards, and convince them into finally buying me one (after much groveling, at that).

This figure came with a helmet, a pair of flippers, a lantern, a weapon which looked pretty much like a spear gun, and an oxygen tank whose flimsy straps broke all too quickly. But it did the job during those days: endless fun playing in the water (this was a sea rescue figure, in the first place) -- either in the pool when our family and relatives had summer outings, some big water container, or whenever my grandma was doing the laundry and wasn't looking I would put this in the washing machine (sans the accessories, or risk losing them in the spin cycle). This figure kinda floats in water, so it was easy to take this out of the washing machine when grandma was going to check on her laundry.

Matchbox's Mobile Action Command
Looking through some Matchbox cars to add to my collection one day (I collected die-cast cars made by Matchbox, Tomica, and Majorette. But that's for another post, some other time), I saw these on the shelf beside the cars. So it was my luck that I had recently received another award at school, and grandpa had just received his pay from work.

Grandpa bought the Snow Rescue Vehicle (the blue one on the catalog picture above) by mistake. D'oh! No snow here in the tropics. I was wishing he got me the black one in the middle, but it was too late.

Oh well, it still did the job. At least I had another figure. As for the accessories: aside from the snowmobile, it came with a pair of skis, a helmet, a pair of ski poles, and an oxygen tank. This figure was a bit heavier compared to the Action Jack and sunk in the water, so he didn't go into the washing machine during laundry time or else I'd be in trouble with grandma. *lol* It also had an added articulation: it's feet can swivel left to right. This was also more durable than the Action Jack, because I remember the yellow figure's torso splitting along the seam after 5 years or so.

I have no idea where these figures went, though. A friend could've taken them, or got lost during one of our change of residences. Or they could've been gagged and buried by my GI Joe figures when I was sleeping. *lol*

MINI 4WD: The Death of a Hobby

Several years' worth of trial-and-error, searching - and researching - for the right parts combinations to build cars that could at least complete the full three laps. Of hunting for hard-to-find cars, parts and accessories. Of customizing those hard-to-find cars - irreversibly damaging some, in the process. Of travelling more than 20 kilometers, come rain, come shine - 15-pound toolbox in tow - just so I can test my car setups. Of bearing with greedy merchants, all trying to earn bigger money by creating demand, through stock manipulation. Of keeping my patience with equally greedy race organizers, who ask so much by letting a race last up to the wee hours of the morning so they could earn more through the number of race entries, but only give so little in prizes. Of participating in disorganized race events. Of seeing the same faces win races, over and over and over.

But the fun has disappeared. Competition replaced by gambling. This wasn't what I wanted to be in, this wasn't how I envisioned things would become. I wanted to race with hobbyists who were into this hobby as a source of entertainment during their free time, not with gamblers who made it a source of income by entering every race event they get to hear of. I made some friends, and saw the ugly side of people.

NOSTALGIA: My Very First Rock Album

I was seven years old when my dad brought this album home, for me. When other kids were still listening to kiddie stuff, I was already having my first taste of rock music.

It has been 28 years since that summer night when I first played this album on my grandma's turntable, but I can still remember the first time I heard My Sharona's drum intro on her old "quadrophonic" audio system. Lols.

That drum line was what made me want to become a drummer. Their music taught me to like rock music.

It has been 28 years. Their drummer has died, the lead vocalist has to undergo brain surgery to remove some tumors, and My Sharona is still on the list of my favorite rock songs.



And I still haven't gotten that drum part down pat.

PERSONAL COLLECTION #3: Sigma 6 FIREFLY

Guess what? Yeah, another toy review. Hey, it's either this or I could blog about the stuff I ate at someone's party like some people do, but that's just not me. Who cares about what I ate? Why should anybody care about what I ate? And why should I give a (expletive deleted, rhymes with "buck") about what other people ate?

So what's with the cocky attitude, one might ask?

Well, cockiness is what this character has lots of. Codename? Firefly. A saboteur and mercenary who offers his services to Cobra in the ARAH storyline -- yes, he is not a member of Cobra and as such, has to be paid by Cobra Commander after every mission.

Though in the Sigma 6 storyline, he initially sides with the Joes; unbeknownst to all his Sigma 6 teammates and his superior, Lt. Stone, that he is actually a Cobra spy. Firefly traps the Sigma 6 team and turns them over to Cobra. He then shaves his head as a sign of loyalty to Cobra and, after a climactic battle with Lt. Stone, leaves with Cobra Commander.

Going back to the action figure, I can say that the body was molded to a straightforward Sigma 6 style suit. What sets this apart though, are those unique looking boots and shoulder pads which I think makes him stand out among his Sigma 6 teammates.

And that head sculpt -- that face molded into a cocky grin with that evil-looking soulpatch. He's a bad guy all right.

The paint scheme for this figure is an attractive black / reddish orange combination which fits his personality since he's mostly into explosives.

As for his accessories, I like the elastic webgear and his removable hockey mask. The elbow and knee armor also give another dimension to this figure and lets him stand out among his Sigma 6 "teammates".

His weapons include a submachinegun with a removable magazine, two "flame sticks", and a spin-trap device. In my opinion, I would have liked it more if this figure came with two SMG's instead of just one. And those flame sticks kinda remind me of Star Wars, so I don't really know whether to like them or not.

What I find useless is the spring action spin-trap device that is included with this figure. I have no idea how he would be able to lug around such a large weapon in battle. I think it would've been better if he came with some explosive and incendiary devices instead of that clumsy-looking spring action spin trap thing.

Overall, this is easily one of my favorites in my Sigma 6 figure collection. I highly recommend this figure, especially at it's price point, and is a must-have for everybody's 8-inch Sigma 6 collection.