Ferrari On Fi-yahhhhh!!!

Whew! After a blogging "drought"...

It's just an amazing coincidence that a friend and I actually saw this car whiz by Buendia Avenue in Makati City, the same morning before this happened at the South Luzon Expressway:

"Isn't it a bit too early to start a bonfire?"

White Honda Civic: "Betcha I can outrun you now..!"

Guy at left, to the two other guys: "Hey, guys! Good thing I brought some marshmallows!"

Orange, red and black IS an attractive color combination...

Up in smoke goes a $200,000 piece of precision equipment.

What's even more of an amazing coincidence is that this is most likely the very same car I took some pictures of, during the car show last March, 2007.

Guy in white shirt: "I knew I should've given that old woman the WHOLE Fita biscuit..." (inside joke)

Asche zu Asche...

From an article in Wikipedia: "The F430 has displayed a notable engine irradiation problem for early model years. This issue regards an engine-overheating flaw which caused a fire in the engine bay, usually leading to the destruction of the car. The catalyst for the fire is the sustained high-RPM work of the engine. The massive heat exhaust flowing through the exhaust manifold may come in contact to a variety of hoses or oil perspiration which act as the fuel for the combustion."

Might not be a work of "precision" after all.

From what I've read in several forums, Ferrari was to send someone to investigate the cause of the fire and, if found to be entirely a defect, will replace the car 100% free of charge.

Except, perhaps, for the taxes in importing the vehicle over to Philippine soil.

But if I were the car's owner, I wouldn't worry too much about the taxes. I bet with that kind of money, to be able to afford a vehicle such as this in the first place, he'd most likely know some powerful people working at the Bureau of Customs. So it won't be a big deal for him, bringing them Customs big guys over to some exclusive club and giving 'em some "freebies".

Good thing that it wasn't a Porsche or a Lamborghini, 'coz then I'd be upset. Ferrari? Meh.

Where Did All The WWE Shirts Go?

The local release of some 'licensed' (meaning they were locally manufactured) WWE merchandise -- shirts and apparel, to be exact -- more than a year ago, was something that was appreciated by many Filipino WWE fans like me. It allowed local fans to wear their favorite wrestler's shirt, without having to spend as much as $25 for a piece of WWE merchandise (these licensed shirts cost only around $7).

So, where have these WWE stores gone?

Not trying to be a market analyst or anything, but in the beginning, they released the popular shirt brands (HHH, Batista, John Cena, Edge, etc.) which was instantly gobbled up by the consumers. Further down the road we experienced a shortage of the hot items and were treated to the lesser attractive shirt designs as they shifted their focus to shirts such as those of Booker T, and shirts with pictures of half-naked male wrestlers.

A picture of a half-naked muscleman on my shirt? I'm a WWE fan alright, but I'm not THAT kind of fan.

Adding to this was their now-worsening slow production and very limited stock distribution of the more popular brands. I think this started with Triple H's "King of Kings" shirt design, which took a MONTH to finally get one for my own. This delay in production eventually deteriorated further during the release of the DX cartoon shirt which, after searching for almost two months, I had to finally settle for a shirt that was one size smaller.

This lack of foresight doomed our chances to buy the latest WWE shirts, just like the one pictured above, and contributed to the closure of the WWE stores. Too bad. It was cool while it lasted.


Photo courtesy wweshop.com

PERSONAL COLLECTION #5: Sigma Strike Duke

Suffering from writer's block a couple of days now after being so pissed off at the Customs for greedily taking advantage of some items shipped over to me by a friend overseas, I decided to just write about another item in my action figure collection.

I wanted to post pictures of the items in question, but it would only spoil things down the road when I finally get to feature each of those items in another one of my "Personal Collection" posts.

I've never been a Duke fan -- not during the ARAH 3.75" figure days, and even up until now. And I personally think Duke's been overexposed in the Sigma 6 'verse due to the number of versions Hasbro made of him (Snake Eyes also had several versions out, but he's my favorite character so... so I'm biased! Shoot me! *lols*).

But I've always had this fascination about the Sigma Strike Duke, ever since I first saw this version in the reviews section of Sigma 6 Central early this year. During that time this was still being sold abroad and on evilBay in the range of $24 up, and I can only vaguely remember seeing this on the store shelves last year (probably glanced on it, but since they were priced way higher locally back then I might have selectively erased any traces of this in my memory). So I guess anyone can imagine my surprise when I came across this item on sale for around $15.50 about six weeks ago. Such dumb luck! It was payday and I had the dough to shell out for the two remaining items on display, but finally decided to pick up just one.

The first thing I noticed about the figure after removing it from the box, is that it is a bit heavier than one would usually expect of a Sigma 6 figure. This might be because the figure was sculpted with body armor, thicker arms and legs, to simulate a full-armored, battle-ready Duke. The downside to this is that the upper body weight seems to make the hip joints loose, or this could also be a manufacturing defect. And the arms were molded in black plastic, so the flesh parts on the elbow joint instantly chipped off when I first moved the joints.

The helmet slightly resembles the ones used in the HALO video games, hence some people calling this the HALO Duke. My only gripe with this headgear is that the visor/faceplate seems loose and easily detaches from the helmet. Otherwise, it really complements the overall look of the figure. Duke's removable shoulder armor also nicely adds to the overall bulk of the figure.

For the backpack, Sigma Strike Duke is supplied with a variable-payload mission-specific weapons system (or that's what I would like to call it) with a battery operated (3 x AA-size) backpack/jetpack which, by pressing three different buttons located at the top of the pack, produces several sound effects and also triggers either the red LED lights on the jumpjet's boosters or the green LED lights on the main weapon. The red button triggers the "power-up mode" sound of the backpack, and makes the jumpjets' LED's flash. Pressing the blue button triggers the thruster sound of the jumpjets and also makes the red LED's light up. The green button activates the sound and light effects for the weapon systems. The jumpjet's nozzles can be rotated, and there is a switch on the lower part of the backpack which has settings for "on", "off", and "demo" which was the default setting when the figure was still in the box, so one can sample some of the sound effects.

Sigma Strike Duke's backup weapon is a Switchfire pistol which comes with a holster that attaches to the right thigh of the figure. Too bad that the holster's peg mounts are smaller than the standard pegs found on Sigma 6 figures. Maybe this indicates that the holster is an integral part of the Sigma Strike weapons system, but I'm not sure about that one, though.

As for the main weapon systems, Sigma Strike Duke carries four large weapons, all of which activates a cool sound effect whenever a weapon is attached and detached:

Perhaps the least useful of these weapons is the Power Cutter Saw. I cannot see it's usefulness in battle -- perhaps in rescue and structure breach situations this may have some kind of use. Pressing the green button on the backpack activates the saw sound effect and lights up the blade.

The Flame Blaster flamethrower is something I would prefer over the Cutter Saw anytime. Green button on the backpack activates a flame sound effect and lights up the flamethrower nozzle and tank. Weapon also fires a spring-loaded flame projectile.

The Power Pulse Blaster is a better weapon than the previous two, IMO. Again, pressing the green button activates lights and sounds but also firing the spring-loaded weapon projectile will trigger a missile firing sound effect along with a whistle and then, boom! A nice touch if I may say so myself.

And finally -- the biggest of the BFG weapons systems of the Sigma Strike Duke -- the Laser Cannon. This weapon is BIG. In fact, it is so big that the figure can hardly support it's weight, especially with those loose hip joints. It can be quite tricky to pose the figure with this weapon. The barrel has a hinge which allows the weapon to be folded. Again, green button on the backpack triggers a very cool laser sound combined with a strobing green light effect.

I can say that this is an excellent figure to add to one's Sigma 6 collection, especially with the reduced prices now. But since Hasbro is paving way for the new figures (not Sigma 6, sadly, but still 8-inch figures), stock availability might be of a problem nowadays. Good thing I went to the mall that day.

PISSED OFF

Here is a simple message to all the corrupted monkeys in the government -- from the lowest, bottom-feeding clerks to the heads of state -- who have pushed this country deeper into the dunghole that it has already been in for so long:And along with this message, my fervent hope that God strike you dead sometime soon. Amen.

Future Superhero Flicks

Avi Arad Productions has several superhero film projects in line until 2009.

Here's a tentative list of what's up and coming in the next two years:

* The Hands of Shang-Chi (2007) - In 2009 there will be a Shang-Chi movie, but this has not been confirmed.

* The Punisher 2 (2007) - As of May 2007, director John Dahl was in talks to direct the movie, but recently has stated that he will not helm the film.

* Iron Man (2008) - Slated for a May 2, 2008 release. Starring Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

* Iron Fist (2008) - It has been announced that the film is currently in development, with Ray Park set to portray Danny Rand/Iron Fist. Slated for a 2008 release.

* The Incredible Hulk (2008) - Starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, and William Hurt. Target release date: June 13, 2008.

* Nick Fury (2008)

* Ant-Man (2008) - In February 2007, director Edgar Wright said that the project was in "a holding pattern" while the script was revised, with casting yet to begin. The director reported that he would have news for the film in a few months. He has been researching nanotechnology for the film.

* Wolverine (2008) - The script was finished as of October 15, 2006, and Jackman indicated there would be a year before shooting. Vinnie Jones and Tyler Mane may reprise their roles as the Juggernaut and Sabretooth, respectively. Twentieth Century Foxare scheduling Jackman to start filming in September or October 2007 once he completes Australia, for a 2008 release.

* Deathlok (2008) - In 2007, a Deathlok feature film is at the script stage at Paramount Pictures, with screenwriter David Self.

* Sub-Mariner (2008) - On September 13, 2006, Universal Pictures announced that director Jonathan Mostow was attached to rewrite and direct Marvel Studios' Sub-Mariner. Kevin Misher is producing through his Misher Films, along with Marvel Studios. The screenplay had initially been written by David Self.

* Luke Cage (2008) - No stars have been confirmed, however actor Tyrese Gibson is in the running for the title role.

* Dr. Strange

* Ghost Rider 2 (2009) - On February 9, 2007, Marvel producer Avi Arad announced the development of Ghost Rider 2 at a press event.

* Magneto (2009) - In May 2006, Ian McKellen said he would reprise the role using the computer-generated facelift applied to him in the prologue of X-Men: The Last Stand. In April 2007, David S. Goyer was hired to direct, with the announcement actors in their twenties would play the characters. Goyer will use the script by Turner, which follows Magneto trying to survive in Auschwitz, and meeting Xavier, a soldier, during the liberation of the camp. He hunts down the Nazi war criminals that tortured him, and this lust for vengeance turns him and Xavier into enemies.

* The Avengers (2009) - It was revealed in early August 2006 by a stock market report that The Avengers was listed under Marvel films in development. It was later revealed that Zak Penn, writer of X-Men: The Last Stand, will be writing a live-action Avengers script.

* Thor (2009) - In mid-2006, Marvel Studios announced plans to release a Thor feature film scripted by Mark Protosevich. Matthew Vaughn was negotiated with to direct in 2007.

* Captain America (2009) - In 2007, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige announced that a Captain America movie would follow the 2008 Iron Man film as the studio's next independently financed project.

* Spiderman 4 (2009) - In January 2007, Dylan Baker, who portrays Dr. Curt Connors, expressed interest in portraying the character's villainous alter-ego, the Lizard, as has Raimi. Producer Grant Curtis is also a fan of the character, and has also expressed interest in Kraven the Hunter. The Lizard was in an early draft of the second film's script. Raimi said that if he returned to direct, he would take advantage of the established character of Dr. Curt Connors to introduce the Lizard. Raimi also expressed interest in setting up the Sinister Six with introductions to the Vulture and Electro. Sony plans to release Spider-Man 4 in the summer of 2010.


Source: Wikipedia