DST Marvel Select Avengers Giveway

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Marvel’s Avengers movie is on the way, and so are the Avengers movie action figures from Diamond Select Toys! DST’s new, movie-based Marvel Select figures are currently en route from the factory, but they couldn’t wait to do an Avengers giveaway, so they thought they’d give away some awesome comic-based Avengers instead! One randomly selected fan will get Marvel Select figures of Iron Man, Spider-Woman and the four Disney Store-exclusive Avengers: Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and the Black Widow! Plus, the lucky fan will get a solid blue prototype version of Thor, straight from the factory floor!

All you have to do is click “Share” on this photo and share it on your Facebook wall, and we’ll choose the winner at random on Wednesday, May 2, just as you’re getting in line to see the Avengers on the big screen! Check DST’s Facebook page on Wednesday to see who won! Contest is open to U.S. residents only.

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A Tribute to Marvel Cosmic

A Tribute to Marvel Cosmic

It’s been a really fun week putting together all of this custom mayhem for you folks out there.  However, at the end of the day, it’s really all about the characters and figures I love.  That’s why I made this site, to share that passion with you.   My biggest fave in the Marvel Universe is all things Cosmic.  Ever since the Infinity Gauntlet series came out I’ve been hooked.  Everything just feels bigger with so much more than just Manhattan, or America, or even the Earth at stake.  In Marvel Cosmic, it’s always for all of the marbles.  For a guy that east planets for breakfast, what is Earth really but an appetizer?   It’s that grand scale of proportion and consequence that has enamored me since I first stumbled upon it and I’ve made a point to read as much of Marvel at the galactic level as possible.

Unfortunately, while I know this part of the universe has it’s fans, I also know that in the grand scheme of things, Nova Prime doesn’t move books like Spider-Man, and the Fallen One won’t sell figures like Iron Man.  I’ve gone to great effort to obtain as many official Cosmic representations as possible from statue form down to HeroClix scale.  For your consideration, I have put together some of my scale appropriate collection (excluding statues and HeroClix).  It includes all of the main line release Cosmic figures I could find, as well as a slew of incredible customs from Onlinebuyer21, CruzAzul08, 1andonly5711, and many other custom makers from days gone by.

I’ll outline a few teams / scenarios below and let you enjoy with your imagination in the gallery. I hope you enjoy having a look as much as I enjoyed collecting them, and as much as I enjoy displaying them.  With real estate in my house at a premium, EVERYTHING you see featured is on display because I love it that much.

Guardians of the Galaxy

 

 

 

 

Heralds of Galactus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annihilators

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best of Enemies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whole Family

 

 

 

Guardians Of The Galaxy Custom from CruzAzul08

Guardians Of The Galaxy Custom from CruzAzul08

This is the mother lode of Custom Week.  Below we look at an expertly created full team of the Guardians Of The Galaxy from eBay custom maker cruzazul08 .  Being that this is a massive team, I’m going to let the images do most of the talking and discuss all the figures at once below rather than giving a specific section to each figure.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy – Bug, Mantis, Captain Universe, Gamora, Moondragon, Jack Flag, Adam Warlock

Packaging

This set of figures did not come in a box / on a card.

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Paint

Through the team paint was consistent.  The colors match the existing Hasbro Guardians of the Galaxy team set perfectly.  You really can’t tell the difference between the uniform on Star-Lord and the uniform on Mantis.  The green skin of Gamora matches the existing Drax green and all paint is even and finely detailed.  The uniform lines and molding all looks amazing here across all figures

Articulation

These figures will not be touched but all figures have the articulation and range of motion of some of the better Universe main line figures.

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Character Likeness

The treatment and attention to detail from Warlock to Mantis and Bug is incredible.  Gamora was replicated perfectly down to the skull belt buckle.  Even Jack Flag’s hair is a tri-colored spot on tribute to the original.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accessories

Gamora has a well color-matched felt cape, otherwise these Guardians don’t have accessories.

Overall

I know I was brief with the description and review details above and that was intentional.  I wanted you to get here quickly because the images tell this incredible story better than I could ever put pen to paper over.  My only complaint with this team of incredible customs is the fact that it still leaves my Guardians roster incomplete.  We still need Cosmo, Hollywood, and Martyr / Phyla-Vell.  Otherwise, my cosmic Marvel obsession has been well sated with this team set.  Cruzazul08 doesn’t have much up now because I think I may have cleaned him out, but look for great things from him in the future!!  Stop reading! Go check out the image hotness!

Grade

Displayed front and center – Perfect score (5 out of 5)


Rating System: Each figure will be reviewed under the following categories:
Packaging
Paint
Articulation
Accessories
Character Likeness
Overall: Each figure will then be given an overall grade out of 5 levels:
Displayed front and center – Perfect score
Displayed but more to the side – Second best, nothing wrong with that
Displayed somewhere I might see it – Displayed, it’s good, I like it, not as much as others.
Displayed but buried in the back – Not all that great, but no other options for this figure
Stored* – It’s really not worth displaying. 
*This will be caveat-ed, if the figure is excellent but is being moved out in favor of a better version of the same character, this will be explained.

 

 

Fallen One – Dad Custom

Fallen One – Dad Custom

Allow me to start this review by stating, I am biased, there is a conflict of interest here.  My dad made this custom for me so as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best one I’ve ever had made.  If that bothers you, read something else, or just look at the pictures.

Fallen  One

Packaging

This figure did not come in a box / on a card.

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Paint

This is probably the single most evenly painted customer I have owned or seen.  Fallen One wasn’t the hardest, most detailed paint application I could have dreamed up for my father to tackle, but that only makes how great it came out even better.  The nice deep blue is highlighted with a shimmery gloss that captures the Fallen One very well.

 

Articulation

As per usual, with a custom, I’m not touching it, so I won’t say much about articulation.  Great care was taken here though to avoid paint rub and it shows.

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Character Likeness

He looks just like the Fallen One and that’s what I was hoping for!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accessories

Does hair count as an accessory? I think so, and here, it came out amazing paint wise.  I know the Fallen One has longer hair, but an exceptional thing was done with the hair at the length that it already is.

Overall

My favorite custom ever.  As said before, I’m biased here.

Grade

Displayed front and center – Perfect score (5 out of 5)


Rating System: Each figure will be reviewed under the following categories:
Packaging
Paint
Articulation
Accessories
Character Likeness
Overall: Each figure will then be given an overall grade out of 5 levels:
Displayed front and center – Perfect score
Displayed but more to the side – Second best, nothing wrong with that
Displayed somewhere I might see it – Displayed, it’s good, I like it, not as much as others.
Displayed but buried in the back – Not all that great, but no other options for this figure
Stored* – It’s really not worth displaying. 
*This will be caveat-ed, if the figure is excellent but is being moved out in favor of a better version of the same character, this will be explained.