Sunday, April 29, 2012

Quick Shot Lazer Pistol Mod.2041

Now for something different, a reminder (if any was needed) of how great the 80s were. IR Guns and Targets to run around and battle with friends!

  
One of the most spectacular-looking gun of the sort, made by Quick Shot, a company better known for their cool joysticks for Spectrum and other platforms.


With scope, silencer and magazine!


Check out a demo video before we go into detail!


Main body, infrared toy gun. Trigger activates sound and IR signal.


Barrel mouth, lens view.

 
Magazine. Insert 4 AA batteries like you´d load rounds. Nice!


Scope.


Crosshair look from both front and user´s perspective.


Silencer, 3 positions from shorter to longer barrel.


Beautiful thing. Back when the hype was "V" (83/84), Star Wars was big, and G.I.Joe was conquering the civilized world along with Transformers among so many other cool stuff like He-Man...


The target. Could be placed at far distances and still be hit.


With a clip and 2 belt loops. 4 AA batteries are needed to perform.

Status: Available for trade

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Adventure Man Action Figures 6-Pack #1

A deeper look into these curious sets of figures brings us today to one of their 6 pack issues.

  
Colorful and sturdy 3 3/4" figures with a variety of weapons.


These figures were available worldwide, packed in the same boxes or blisters but distributed by different companies such as Fun Maker (pictured) and Globo (in Europe) and Magic in North America.


Included accessories. There was a wide range of weapons and many of them were G.I.Joe ARAH knockoffs such as the ones originally from Royal Guard, Major Bludd, Torch.


Figure #1.


Figure #2 (same body mold as #1).


Figure #3.


Figure #4.


Figure #5.


Figure #6.

As far as my research went and as far as present information goes, no names were given to these figures as individuals. However, if any of you guys know their names, please drop me a line!

Status: Unavailable

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Tutorial: Cleaning with Isopropyl alcohol

Marker pen ink is a terrible and a formidable opponent. Ever got a used toy with such "war markings" you though oh well, I´ll get another one in the future? Maybe you tried washing it. To no avail. Now see isopropanol at work!


Before I went all the way with (really) valuable stuff, I picked up a Playmobil 3534 Shuttle (actually, a rare Famosa - Geobra´s Spanish version). Someone had "police" written on its front section and windshield. This has quite a few years and when I got it I thought someday I´d figure out a way...

  
I started with the good old fashioned bath with neutral pH soap to access vessel damage.


As you can see, the markings were still present, "like an Alabama tick". So "It's time to let Old Painless out of the bag."


Isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol. Be careful with your eyes, and always use it in a well ventilated area. I recommend the use of a surgical disposable face mask because of the strong odor.


The best way to test it - a clear plastic windshield. After a deep bath with neutral pH soap and a lot of cleaning cloth time (a great thing to overcome 90% of any problems with plastics), that horrible markings remained. So it was time to unleash the ultimate power!


Find an appropriate recipient and pour about a finger high (from bottom) just enough to partially bathe the part you´re cleaning. 


You can either dip it and let the Isopropyl alcohol work a little...


... or you can help out with a brush. Do not use nylon brushes, remember you´re working with plastic and usually (generally) it´s a better idea to get a natural hair brush of some sort. This cleaning process can take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how much paint you´re removing. The outcome will compensate your time. Also keep in mind not to use it on any part that has been painted originally over the plastic. Take an action figure´s head for example. You have the skin color (to which you can apply this technique) BUT it most likely had painted eyes, hair, etc. And THAT will come OFF!!! Beware. This is a powerful solvent.


Here´s what I´m talking about. I took just a little and dropped it on the shuttle´s wing.


And the isopropanol immediately started to kick in. Remember it evaporates quickly but don´t let the mixture go anywhere near a sticker (especially paper-based) you might want to keep. Also remember most toy stickers are painted so it´s a great risk to "clean" them. You´ll probably wind up with a clear sticker, so refrain from doing that. It´s a suggestion, of course.


And here´s the final result. Clean and clear almost as new! I´ve heard a lot of talk about how isopropyl alcohol dries up plastics so I found a great view on Material Science Archives that if you´re concerned as I was:

Amyl Alcohol vs Isopropyl Alcohol

Neither of these alcohols "dries out" plastic, since there is no water (or any other substance) in plastic to "dry out" in the first place. Both of these alcohols act as both polar and non-aggressive non-polar solvents, which is very advantageous for cleaning. Acting as polar solvents, they are able to dissolve polar contaminants such as salts, and other water soluble contaminants.

Both of these alcohols are also able to dissolve non-polar contaminants such as oils and greases, with isopropyl alcohol acting as a somewhat more aggressive non-polar solvent because of its shorter carbon "backbone" and therefore lower molecular weight. Unlike many hydrocarbon solvents, neither of the two alcohols are damaging to any common plastics.


by Bob Wilson

Warning: Highly flammable and toxic. It should be kept away from heat and open flame. Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or absorption; therefore, like said before, well-ventilated areas are recommended. 


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Madelman 2050 Serpion

Serpion, star pilot of Zarkon´s invasion force!


One of the original specialists squadron members sent from Zarkon to invade Earth and make our planet their new home.


With his ugly mug hidden behind his human mask, Serpion does his very best to help Zarkonians accomplish their mission!


Figure: "Serpion". Cosmopilot trained in the cruel Zarkians mercenary troops.


Included accessories.


Weapon can be attached to his backpack.


Since their head contains a magnet and this clever "revolving head" idea involves a fairly complicated vertical balance which is crucial to its perfect functioning through time, the helmet (working as a container) does not turn. This makes Zarkons helmets pretty cool, since they probably had to compensate with really nice sculpting.  

 Status: Unavailable

 

Monday, April 16, 2012

Beavis & Butt-head: Butt-head

 Time for the brains (?!?) of all the operations, Butt-head!


The character to which Mike Judge relates to (if he HAD to pick one) is Butt-head. Care to comment? Most people know how really hard is to create a 3D model from a 2D basis. And this is how it should always be done. Perfectly.


MOC, Moore Action Collectibles, 1998.


Figure: "Butt-head". Uh huh hu... so... are we like... gonna do it?


Included accessories. The so loved remote!


Voice chip technology stand also includes a peg for the figure.


Once connected, it actually allows quite a few good angles even for Butt-head´s big and heavy (and hollow) head.


The chip contains 3 cool phrases. Originally, one of the 3 was supposed to be "This rules!", but I guess it must have been a hard (he said hard...uh huh hu) task to come down to these 3. Good job!


Toyfare#15 cover depicted the prototypes for the B&B figures.

Status: Unavailable

  

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Beavis & Butt-head: Cornholio

From all the cartoons from South Park to The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy and more recently Family Guy sort of "reality check" series, I´ll have to go with Beavis & Butthead. Uh... hu hu hu... that was cool. Hope it doesn´t say much about me, but I just love those 2. Especially Beavis who is always out of everything. And anyone who knows Beavis, knows the mighty Cornholio!


Created by Mike Judge and sculpted by Clayburn Moore, this is one of 3 action figures from 1998.


MOC, Moore Action Collectibles, 1998.


Comes with cool accessories and voice chip technology!


A long-awaited creation, Cornolio was recommended for mature collectors (ages 14 and over). What? Mature? What you mean?


The initial idea or concept was to insert (he said insert uh hu hu hu) the voice chip in the figure itself, but Moore (and MTV) felt quality should come first and thus the stand with 3 phrases was included.

  
Figure: "Cornholio". Beavis´s dorment persona. Moveable legs and arms (8 articulation points). His shirt reads Death Rock instead of Metallica to avoid licensing problems.


Included accessories: Nachos, soda and the mic with stand from Cornholio´s buttnicks "poetry session".


ToyFare magazine #15 (Nov 1998) gave B&B figures the cover, and a huge article to go with it.


 Although designed to be a small statue/action figure, you can surely move it around in Cornholio ways.


A brilliant work by Clayburn Moore. Always striving for perfection, he (again) did a great job here.




"Run as you may, you cannot escape!"


Status: Unavailable