VENOM

You'd be surprised where I picked up this 12' Venom! It was from a local video store rather than a toy shop. Although in the past few years I've been focusing my collection on the Transformers line, I couldn't miss out on this item. This was how I came up with part of my blog's address many years ago.

Although this figure stands about a feet tall, it isn't really stable. There have been many occasions that Venom has toppled off my office table & the cleaner lady has to pick it up again.

As you can see, the figure is very articulate & can be posed in a variety of manner. The tongue can be rotated around while the jaw & fingers can be move about. One main weakness that my figure has is that the joints at the ankle are not that sturdy. This could be the main reason why the figure topples every now & then.

I've become bored of toy figures that are too small nowadays. Hence this serves as a great display piece. The only problem as I've mentioned is the ankle joints. What I've done is to apply some white glue to fill up some of the gaps in between. When the glue dries, the joints can still be moved about & you won't see the stain. Do give this a try on some of your toys that have joint problems.

MAN-08 (ELMETH) MOBILE ARMOR LALAH SUNE USE

Gundam was the first toy line that I started collecting during my early college days, before my interested in toys started to grow drastically.

However, one flaw that I have as compared to other collectors out that is that I may have very limited knowledge on the history of a particular toy when it comes to the cartoon or comic background.

Having said so, let's now take a look at Mobile Armor Elmeth.

This behemoth of a vehicle is supposed to be a Newtype mobile armor to be used in battle against Gundam mobile suits. Although this toy looks like a small soccer ball, there are numerous gimmicks that will keep you entertained, for a little while. To begin with, the two huge front cannons can be aligned & moved about.

At the rear of the vehicle, this behemoth actually comes with 7 missile-like weapons known as 'Bits'. There is a button at the top of the vehicle that you push to launch the Bits out.

Top view of the vehicle.

The landing gears as you can see can be closed up.

In the cartoon, each of these Bits carrying a mega particle cannon can be remote controlled by the pilot. From the pictures above, I only have 6 Bits, there's actually another one somewhere among my other Gundam figures.

There is a transparent piece that comes with Elmeth. In case you're wondering what it does, for those of you that have a Char's Gelgoog it's for you to simulate one of the scenes in the cartoon where the battle damaged Gelgoog holds on to the rear end of Elmeth to retreat.

These are the extra parts that come along with this set to be replaced with Char's Gelgoog if you have one. In conclusion, this is a classic piece of Gundam figure you should own if you've been a fan of this series since the mid 80's.

AUTOBOT SWERVE WITH ARMS MICRON SOU

This is one good example of Takara reusing a previous mold & making it into a new character right in the middle of the same series. The first mold that came out was Breakdown from the Decepticon faction that came in blue. But here, we have Autobot Swerve.

In vehicle mode, Swerve looks like a huge armored truck. There are a total of 12 sockets for you to attach your Microns all over the chassis of the vehicle.

Here we have Arms Micron Sou, the partner of Swerve.

This is an example of a few Microns attached into the vehicle.

Swerve's face looks funny. It reminds me of a bee or a hornet.

Although this figure looks bulks, it is fairly proportionate and stands very well in terms of balance & stability. Like other toys from this line, Swerve comes with a sticker sheet for you to apply onto the figure.

Now, let's take a closer look at Arms Micron Sou. In weapon mode, this Micron comes in the form of a buzz saw cutter.

Transformation only takes a few steps for you to turn Sou into robot mode.

Here's both Swerve with his Micron weapon.

There is a fair bit of articulation & poseability that can be performed. Here we see Swerve with the Cosmotector Micron set.

This is one of those toys that you would assume many collectors would pass. For that reason alone, I felt that it was a good gamble to get hold of this toy before people start to look for it in the years to come.

COUNTDOWN

At last, I have the time to sit down & take a better look at one of those hard to find hauls that I made sometime towards the end of last year.

Countdown comes in the form of a mobile launch platform. I got hold of this set from a fellow collector in town who is a fan of G1. Although the sticker condition of this base isn't perfectly great, I intend to get a new sticker sheet from Reprolabels. This set however is almost 99% complete, as it is only short of a mechanical arm.

 

Here's other views of the base. The red elevator platform at the back of the tower can be moved downwards. At the back of platform, there is another cannon turret for another Micromaster to command.

Here is the fully transformerd base. The tower leans forward and splits apart forming a huge & flat platform, while the base splits open three ways. Unlike the usual Transformers, you'll have to move about a number of components to complete the transformation.

It is in base mode that you'll have to attach the three additional ramps that come with it, a helipad & an overhead ramp that leads to the rear of the base. The rocket splits open at the bottom forming what seems like a depot bay.

The left image shows the left part of the base where you can attach the mechanical arm that I currently do not own. From the image on the right, there's actually a twin laser blaster that you can actually flip out from inside the rocket. I did not notice this during transformation as I didn't have the actual manual with me.

Here's the back right of the base where you can see the long ramp, leading to the back of the base. It just doesn't really make sense when the base is fully protected & to have a window of opportunity for enemy fire.

At the centre of the base is the command centre & watch tower above it. The layout of this area reminds me of GI Joe's PIT Mobile Headquarters.

Here, let's take a look at the front of the base. This is where the cannon turret is placed which makes more sense since you're going to place a ramp entering the base next to it.

Just showing the side views of the base.

Now let's take a look at the bot in charge of this command centre, Countdown.

In vehicle mode, Countdown resembles a space exploration buggy with a radar dish attached to the back of the vehicle.

All you have to do is to flip the arms forward & the legs down to transform this Micromaster.

There isn't much you can do about posing this small but but overall, this is one of the few must have toys if you're into collecting bases.