Just a Heads up to everyone that there are some VERY VERY cool and interesting things going on over at Big Man Toys . New drops, Mini Figs...and EXCLUSIVE to Big Man Toys...TREEGAR!!!
Does this guy EVER sleep?!?!?
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Framed Micronaut Aliens
I have been meaning to do this for the last few weeks. Yesterday, I finally did. I stopper by Wal Mart and picked up a frameless 20 X 30 Poster Frame. Its a sheet of acrylic that uses snaps to lock it in place. Smaller versions use a glass sheet. I use them for everything. They are very cheap.
So I flipped the cover sheet over and made a template. Then
I cut out shapes that were roughly the same shape as the bubbles on the
Micronaut Alien cards. I put the Carded Aliens over the template, put
the freshly cut acrylic sheet over and now they are ready to hang. The
cut outs also help to keep the cards from moving.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Sultan
You have heard me mention it. Its no big secret. The next Homeworld Blog Exclusive is Sultan. Sultan is a 3 3/4" remake of Baron Karza similar Flight Commander. Once again I have enlisted the help of Micronaut Guru and CGG artist MicroBry. (Que eerie Halloween music) Bry is once again doing the labels for Sultan which will be packaged similarily to Flight Commander.
Fortunately, I have been kind of fortunate naming figures. Flight Commander, Roboid, my (hopefully) next figure 'Marauder'. I havent stepped on any toes with those names and they just came to me. For the BK, I was lost. And you have to follow an unwritten rule of protocol. I cant turn around and reduce him to a mere captain.
I work with a man. I think we all do. You know the guy. From 40 feet he looks like Homer Simpson. He hates it when I say that, But its true. He is also a great friend and a very imaginative and ingenious individual. Funny, Funny man. Rodney. I bounce alot of ideas off of him. Anyway, we sat down for our coffee break and he lets me ramble on about my toys. One thing leads to the next and I tell him I am stumped on a name and explain it to him. So he follows my train of thought and starts throwing out a few possibilities when he looks at me and simply says...''Sultan.''
It has an evil hiss around the edges. It commands respect and attention. Sultan it was.
Unfortunately Mr. Michael Jaecks only made the Flight Commander Head Sculpt. He didnt do a Mini BK. So Bry is working on that as we speak. I called and my resins are in. So I can resume pumping out parts this weekend which also just happens to be a long weekend here. So hopefully I can have everything but the heads at least made. I would like to have them ready before Christmas and then relax and make a few variants for myself.
Sultan is going to be limited to a run of 25 just like Flight Commander.
I am looking forward to the next set of figures after Sultan. You are all in for a nice surprise at the very least.
Fortunately, I have been kind of fortunate naming figures. Flight Commander, Roboid, my (hopefully) next figure 'Marauder'. I havent stepped on any toes with those names and they just came to me. For the BK, I was lost. And you have to follow an unwritten rule of protocol. I cant turn around and reduce him to a mere captain.
I work with a man. I think we all do. You know the guy. From 40 feet he looks like Homer Simpson. He hates it when I say that, But its true. He is also a great friend and a very imaginative and ingenious individual. Funny, Funny man. Rodney. I bounce alot of ideas off of him. Anyway, we sat down for our coffee break and he lets me ramble on about my toys. One thing leads to the next and I tell him I am stumped on a name and explain it to him. So he follows my train of thought and starts throwing out a few possibilities when he looks at me and simply says...''Sultan.''
It has an evil hiss around the edges. It commands respect and attention. Sultan it was.
Unfortunately Mr. Michael Jaecks only made the Flight Commander Head Sculpt. He didnt do a Mini BK. So Bry is working on that as we speak. I called and my resins are in. So I can resume pumping out parts this weekend which also just happens to be a long weekend here. So hopefully I can have everything but the heads at least made. I would like to have them ready before Christmas and then relax and make a few variants for myself.
Sultan is going to be limited to a run of 25 just like Flight Commander.
I am looking forward to the next set of figures after Sultan. You are all in for a nice surprise at the very least.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Micronauts Lobstros Finally Replaced
I had a complete Lobstros years ago. Oddly enough the seller of it lived only 10 minutes from where I was living at the time. It was the MEGO version. Oddly enough when I sold it in 06, it only sold for $450.00 which really sucked since I paid $750 for it.
This will make 3 Lobstros vehicles I now own. However 2 are incomplete. But with 2 incomplete ones to play with, I wont have a need to display the one I just bought. I'll let you think about that last statement. Keep your eyes open.
There are 2 Micronaut vehicles(?) I have never had and never will own. I gave up being a completist a long time ago as I was never happy. So I only collect those things that do. These 2 vehicles just dont make any sense to me.
The first one...Ampzilla...if that doesnt say it all, how about the fact its an overpriced last minute piece together toy. It has the same hands. They couldnt even have been bothered to make opposing claws. And the second is the Sharkos. Meant for the water, but sinks like a rock. Also it doesnt stay upright. Looks cool enough, but it just isnt for me.
And yes...I stole these pics from the auction because I still need a camera. Altho... buying this doesnt help me get one any quicker.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Real Steel
I recently saw the Movie "REAL STEEL" starring Hugh Jackman.
Real Steal is a combination of Sylvester Stallones 'Over the Top' and 'Rocky 1'. Instead of using actual people they use Robots. A not bad feel good David and Goliath movie. however the Robot designs arent too bad. I purchased the Wave 1 without Twin Cities in the Licensed 7.5" version and should have them in about 10 days. The obvious winner in the Robot Sweepstakes, is Nasty Boy. The coolest of the robots shown.
***LOOK AWAY MOVIE SPOILER*** Unfortunately he doesnt have a very long acting career.
A definite looker, I will post more when he arrives.
Real Steal is a combination of Sylvester Stallones 'Over the Top' and 'Rocky 1'. Instead of using actual people they use Robots. A not bad feel good David and Goliath movie. however the Robot designs arent too bad. I purchased the Wave 1 without Twin Cities in the Licensed 7.5" version and should have them in about 10 days. The obvious winner in the Robot Sweepstakes, is Nasty Boy. The coolest of the robots shown.
***LOOK AWAY MOVIE SPOILER*** Unfortunately he doesnt have a very long acting career.
A definite looker, I will post more when he arrives.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Why Micronaut Centaurs Are Unstable
Just WHY are Micronaut Centaurs so unstable? Is it the Legs, the knees the O rings? What is it?
I believe I just solved a 35 year old problem.
When I made custom Centaurs I thought the problem was the knees. Plastic wearing on plastic. Any substance rubbing against itself will breakdown and become loose. So I thought that by installing knee rivets I had taken care of the problem. I tightened them up and then I made a stand.
Now between the rivets and the stand I greatly improved the balance of the figure and made it more rigid as well. To make it even tighter, I use O rings that are almost half the size of the ones found in 3 3/4" Micronauts. But it wasnt perfect. If it was perfect, then I should be able to pose the Centaur in a rearing mode without a stand. I cant.
Since 06 I have been without a Vintage MEGO Centaurus. So recently I purchased 2. One was stated as complete the other was in pieces. Unfortunately time reacts to plastic pretty much as it does to die cast. The plastic gets extremely brittle. When I opened the package both back legs fell apart at the knees. The extra parts were junk. Mostly broken pieces that had been glued, so I couldnt use them. When I finally was finished, I had rivets in 3 knees. The fourth leg was nice and tight (front) so I didnt want to touch it. But it doesnt look right with 3 rivets.
But in my messing around with the Centaur, I found the problem. The true problem with the Centaurus and why it has so much difficulty in holding a standard pose is because it wasnt fully engineered properly for the parts or rather one part in particular. The O ring.
The distance of the underside of the hook in the front legs to the top of the circle that holds the O ring when assembled is roughly 9/16" or .5625".
On the back legs, that same distance is almost half that. Its slightly smaller than 9 mm or roughly .340"
They use the same size O ring for both parts of the figure. The distance is great enough to stretch the O ring and make the front legs tight. But for the back legs it hardly stretches the O ring at all, allowing the back legs to move on their own instead of holding a pose. There is no tension on the O ring to keep the back legs tight.
My custom figures were holding a pose better than the factory figures only because I use smaller O rings. And even then they werent small enough to take up the slack required to make the rear legs function as they were intended.
I was in the process of taking pictures to illustrate this when my camera gave up the ghost for good. This really sucks. Because that means it will be about 90 days before I can get a new one. So no new pictures for a while. Its been just a terrible 48 hours in my house. If it aint broke...wait a minute and it will be. Shit.
I am on afternoons Monday and will see what assortment of O rings we have at work. If I can find the proper size needed I'll post a diagram of the measurements.
I believe I just solved a 35 year old problem.
When I made custom Centaurs I thought the problem was the knees. Plastic wearing on plastic. Any substance rubbing against itself will breakdown and become loose. So I thought that by installing knee rivets I had taken care of the problem. I tightened them up and then I made a stand.
Now between the rivets and the stand I greatly improved the balance of the figure and made it more rigid as well. To make it even tighter, I use O rings that are almost half the size of the ones found in 3 3/4" Micronauts. But it wasnt perfect. If it was perfect, then I should be able to pose the Centaur in a rearing mode without a stand. I cant.
Since 06 I have been without a Vintage MEGO Centaurus. So recently I purchased 2. One was stated as complete the other was in pieces. Unfortunately time reacts to plastic pretty much as it does to die cast. The plastic gets extremely brittle. When I opened the package both back legs fell apart at the knees. The extra parts were junk. Mostly broken pieces that had been glued, so I couldnt use them. When I finally was finished, I had rivets in 3 knees. The fourth leg was nice and tight (front) so I didnt want to touch it. But it doesnt look right with 3 rivets.
But in my messing around with the Centaur, I found the problem. The true problem with the Centaurus and why it has so much difficulty in holding a standard pose is because it wasnt fully engineered properly for the parts or rather one part in particular. The O ring.
The distance of the underside of the hook in the front legs to the top of the circle that holds the O ring when assembled is roughly 9/16" or .5625".
On the back legs, that same distance is almost half that. Its slightly smaller than 9 mm or roughly .340"
They use the same size O ring for both parts of the figure. The distance is great enough to stretch the O ring and make the front legs tight. But for the back legs it hardly stretches the O ring at all, allowing the back legs to move on their own instead of holding a pose. There is no tension on the O ring to keep the back legs tight.
My custom figures were holding a pose better than the factory figures only because I use smaller O rings. And even then they werent small enough to take up the slack required to make the rear legs function as they were intended.
I was in the process of taking pictures to illustrate this when my camera gave up the ghost for good. This really sucks. Because that means it will be about 90 days before I can get a new one. So no new pictures for a while. Its been just a terrible 48 hours in my house. If it aint broke...wait a minute and it will be. Shit.
I am on afternoons Monday and will see what assortment of O rings we have at work. If I can find the proper size needed I'll post a diagram of the measurements.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Ebay Selling Fees INCLUDE Shipping
I just thought I would throw this out there.
In Canada we pay the price of gas, then all local/provincial taxes. The two are added together and then you pay 5% GST. So the final price includes you paying tax on a tax. Nice huh.
Well ebay does the same thing. Instead of taxing a tax, they charge you a percentage of the shipping cost. Something you have no control over unless you overcharge.
When you send someone an invoice through ebay, you include the shipping you charge them. Ebay takes the final price of your auction PLUS the amount for shipping and then they take their percentage. So basically you are subsidizing the shipping because Ebay charges you 9% of the shipping cost. If you try to pass that fee onto the customer, Ebay takes 9% of that too. So if shipping is $10, its actually costing the seller $10.90 because Ebay wants $0.90 of the shipping cost. If you charge your customer $10.90 to cover the 9%, then ebay will get 9% of the $10.90 or $0.98 cents.
Below is a cut and paste right from Ebay.
(based on the total amount of the sale, including the cost of the item, shipping, and any other fees a seller may charge, excluding any sales tax)
This is for Auction style formats. For Fixed Item Auctions they charge 11%-13% based on which category you sell in.
.
In Canada we pay the price of gas, then all local/provincial taxes. The two are added together and then you pay 5% GST. So the final price includes you paying tax on a tax. Nice huh.
Well ebay does the same thing. Instead of taxing a tax, they charge you a percentage of the shipping cost. Something you have no control over unless you overcharge.
When you send someone an invoice through ebay, you include the shipping you charge them. Ebay takes the final price of your auction PLUS the amount for shipping and then they take their percentage. So basically you are subsidizing the shipping because Ebay charges you 9% of the shipping cost. If you try to pass that fee onto the customer, Ebay takes 9% of that too. So if shipping is $10, its actually costing the seller $10.90 because Ebay wants $0.90 of the shipping cost. If you charge your customer $10.90 to cover the 9%, then ebay will get 9% of the $10.90 or $0.98 cents.
Below is a cut and paste right from Ebay.
| Total cost to buyer (less any sales tax) | Final value fee (Based on the total amount of the sale, including the cost of the item, shipping, and any other fees a seller may charge, excluding any sales tax) |
Item not sold | No fee |
$0.01 - $50.00 | 9.0% of the item’s total cost to the buyer with a maximum charge of $100.00 |
$50.01 - $1,000 | |
$1,000.01 or more |
This is for Auction style formats. For Fixed Item Auctions they charge 11%-13% based on which category you sell in.
.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Bumblebee ROCKS!
The thing I like most about the Movie Edition Bumblebee is that they put in a display window. The packaging is a display box. So you can see whats inside without breaking the seals.
Bumblebee...He Rocks!
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