Showing posts with label america. Show all posts
Showing posts with label america. Show all posts

Thursday, February 27, 2014

The Avengers Captain America Goliath Assault Tank

The Avengers 3.75" line has so far proven a little disappointing in the action figure department.  A lack of articulation at a high retail price is a off-putting.  Sure, the sculpts the are beautiful and the paint is pretty good.  Heck, even the packaging really pops on the pegs.  But when you get past all that, you get a figure less playable than pretty much everything out there, except some of those "new" (read: re-released) Star Wars figures with all of 5 points of articulation.


But lo!  Beneath the pegs and on the shelves, in boxes instead of cards, full of compartments and moving parts and every inch as great-looking as the 3.75" figures themselves, were the Avengers vehicles!  Theres the Quinjet, Iron Mans jet, the Assault Armours, and this, the Caps Goliath Assault Tank.  The problem is that their price points are also quite high.  And if it werent for the Rangerlord finding this in Manila for 2/3 the retail price in Singapore, I wouldve gotten this much later.  So lets see whether its as good outside the box as it looks in packaging!


Like: The squat, low design thats reminiscent of the Iron Man Rolling Battle Headquarters but smaller.  Also, it has none of that red and gold shenanigans the Iron Man base has, with a more muted red, blue, and grey colour scheme.  Also, the wheels, gun turret, cannon lip and view hole arent moulded in black but a dark, sort of shiny brown.  Its kinda...funky?

If not for the Avengers logo at the front of the vehicle, the Goliath Assault Tank could even pass off as a GI Joe assault tank as is.

Like: It can fit 3 guys, albeit snugly.  The pilots on his own, while the two at the back get to face backwards, with the one directly behind the pilot awfully close to the rear "monitor" which is an unmarked, unstickered, unpainted could-be-anything panel from a weapons targeting system to a really uncomfortable forehead rest.

Dislike: Lack of heft.  It makes the tank seem more like a cart for kids, you know, the Fred Flintstone type where leg power propels the vehicle.  Heck, even Freds stone-made car looked a lot heavier than this tank feels.  Thankfully the plastic used is solid despite its weight.

Like: The little tampographed details like "no step," "access hatch, "caution," hatch-rotate locking pin," "power core access" and the little computer console for the pilot.  They serve as a reminder to everyone that Caps super cool, especially when hes drivin down the boulevard in his sweet ride.

Dislike: Wheels dont all roll on an even surface.  Only 3 of them rolled when on a smooth table, while 4 or 5 rolled in my light box studio.  I think rubber tyres on the wheels or at least a hard rubber layer wouldve worked better, not to mention add some of that heft thats sorely missing.

Like: Swivel/hinge cannons.  Tight as the joints are, they are there, contrary to some reviews Ive heard of saying that the guns dont swivel.  The hinge involves both cannons and their perpendicular posts and is a 90 degree affair, with the cannons able to be positioned on top of the tanks or at the side equally well.  The swivels are heavily ratcheted and and can be hard to rotate.  You might wanna use two hands to initially "break" the joint and ease the stiffness.  After that, the rotation should come easier--this almost sounds like physiotherapy!

Like: The hatch.  You cant really put figures into the vehicle this way (unless you go nuts and have no regard for the condition of your toys) but its a really nice touch that allows for some great play opportunities.  It also gives one more really nice option for posing.  Its a simple hinge and hatch but yet so much fun!

Like: Running boards with pegs.  The tanks got 2 of these, one on each side just in front of the two rear wheels.  So at max capacity the vehicle can actually carry 5 figures total, unless you have the guy in the hatch stepping on a couple of crotches. :P

Dislike: The lame excuse for a Captain America figure thats included.  Its only got 5 PoAs. Five!  In this day and age!

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 8/10 - Six wheels on a tank, two different cannons, and a ton of nice little tampographs.  Cant go wrong there.  Excellent sculpt, looks great next to any version of Cap, even the lame one that comes with the tank.  However, the vehicle does look a little plastic from lack of paint, though.  But the sculpt is good enough that if you simply sprayed it all black and dry-brushed the whole thing silver, it would look superb.

Poseability: 8/10 - Though its from the Avengers movie line, the vehicle looks more comic series than movie series.  And its looks and plays great with Marvel Universe figures, which are taller than the movie figures but fit better because of their better articulation.

Fun: 8/10 - Cap would drive this into battle, leap out just before, ramming it into the major big boss bad guy, then find a way to drop the tank right onto the unsuspecting baddie.  Best part is--itll be all part of the plan right from the start.  Aww yeah.

On its own, the Goliath tank provides action figures with a really great base to work out of, whether its as a display piece or for play.  Its got a nice large top that opens up, a small hatch for that gung ho hero, two movable guns (one of which fires), and rolls along like any decent wheeled vehicle does.

Oh, and theres also that nice battering ram in front for when you want to run over villains, fences, or your pet cat/dog.

Value: 7/10 - Youre paying for the vehicle only, really, since it comes with a rubbish excuse for a Cap.  You do get two articulated cannons, and a detachable antenna.  But thats par for the course (its a tank, for cryin out loud.  It should have these things anyway.  Heh.)

On discount or clearance the Goliath Assault Tank is more than worthwhile.  I paid S$30 for it in Manila (thanks again, Rangerlord!), while it retails for S$49.90 here in Singapore!

Overall: 8/10 - Its a keeper! - Vehicles are the kings of accessories.  Good ones are worth getting if you have the figures for them.  great ones take on a life of their own.  Im gonna say the Goliath Tank falls in the latter category.  It doesnt matter if you have Cap for this vehicle.  You could have any of the other Avengers and still get maximum enjoyment out of it.  In fact, you dont even need Avengers for that.  Heck, you could even buy this for your GI Joes and it would still be awesome.

There are hardly any downsides to the Goliath tank except for maybe the dud Cap and the retail price. But those are two things we know wont matter when this goes on clearance. But I wouldnt recommend waiting too long, though.  If the CAGAT happens to make a cameo in the movie, it might just get snapped up real quick. ;)


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Captain America The First Avenger 6 Captain America

Ive had this guy for months now but hadnt gotten round to opening him for some reason or other.  Along with 6" Movie Thor and 6" Nick Fury from The First Avenger movie line, the trio would form the base of what would form my 6-inch movie Avengers collection.

But it wasnt until I started seeing the Avengers 3.75" stuff in stores that I felt motivated to open this bad boy.
The Rangerlord deserves yet another special mention for snagging me Movie Cap from Malaysia for about half of what it would cost at retail here in Singapore.  And with this figure and the recent release of Waves 1 and 2 of Marvel Legends all I can say is this: when it comes to making 6" figures, Hasbro has got down to a T.

No, the "T" doesnt stand for Turkey any more than the A on Caps forehead stands for France! ;P
Like: Just look at the detail on this guy!  The texture of his costume is exactly as it looks like in the movie, all the straps of his harness, his belt, and even bottom of boots are sculpted really well!

Like: The paint apps are simply superb.

The afore-mentioned straps and their buckles, the grey wash on the white parts of his costume, the stars on his shoulders and the tampographed one on his chest, and the "A" on his forehead are all really sharp.  Special mention goes to the head and face, which are molded in brown plastic and painted in.  Just look at those eyes!

Like: His double-jointed elbows and knees!  The elbows bend all the way like a human elbow and you get about 120 degrees for his knees.  Nice!

Like: Swivel/hinge wrists.  These are essential for gripping his guns as realistically as possible.  Id say it helps with the shield as well except that the two straps for the thing are made of stiff plastic, so when you have his forearm through it, his wrist is sort of locked.

Dislike: His height.  Or lack thereof, rather.  I didnt even notice this until I was lining Cap up with a shot next to Nick Fury and Thor.  Actually, Cap is smack dab at 6-inches tall.  Fury stands at 6.7 inches and Thor is at a whopping 7".

While Im fine with Thor being a big un, hes actually not 7 feet tall in the movie.  Its even forgivable because he comes from his own movie toy line.

Nick Fury on the other hand, is from the movie Cap line and yet is way too tall!  Having said that though, Cap still needs to be a bit taller.  Funny thing is that the Cap 3.75" line also suffers from being too short next to the Thor line and Marvel Universe figures.


Like: Super flexible ball/hinge head! This was the first thing that caught my eye right after the great detail of his sculpt.  His chin can touch his chest and the back of his helmet tilts back to near the top of his rear harness buckle.

Even without this awesome hinge joint, his head can already tilt side to side and look up and down pretty well on its ball joint.  And he can do all this without looking like hes got a broken or weird looking neck

Dislike: The slightly warped shield out of packaging.  The shield is made of a softer plastic with two stiffer straps.  And I have no issue with the firmness of the material theyve used except that its susceptible to becoming misshapen.  The bright side is that a little hot water will get it back into shape. :)

Dislike: That hes given an old school machine gun.  Well, I guess hes not quite modern Cap yet.  But he cant hold onto the gun properly anyway because the stock is in the way. But give him an assault rifle with a shorter stock and it looks magnificent!

Like: The usable holster for his sidearm.  Its glued on to the side of his leg with matching sculpted straps.  But the best part is that it doesnt get in the way of his leg articulation. :)

RATINGS

Aesthetics: 9/10 - Hed easily be a 10 but for being too short.  The lack of height is really just too stark to ignore.  Everything else about him is close to perfect, with a superb sculpt and all of the necessary detail picked out with little to no paint spills.  Heck, he even looks a lot like Chris Evans.  Its just a real pity he falls a little well, short.  Heres hoping the Avengers movie version of him doesnt suffer from the same problem.

Poseability: 9.5/10 - His overall poseability is simply astounding.  Other special mentions that didnt make the "like" list but are also outstanding: chest pivot, swivel/hinge ball legs with thigh cuts, and the swivel/hinge ankles.

The chest ball joint is especially pleasing because it tilts an pivots seamlessly while giving maximum movement, so that he doesnt miss not having a waist swivel.

Fun: 10/10 - With the poses he can achieve and how good he looks even just standing there, its hard not to have fun with this guy in your hand (thats what she said!).  And thats without his accessories!

Really, its hard to beat an action figure of a character who uses a shield, especially when said character is known to use it for all sorts of things from deflecting bullets to throwing it to using it to bounce off walls and such.

While this figure of Cap cant literally do those things, it certainly feels like he can with the way he can move!

Value: 8.5/10 - Hed be rated lower if I didnt manage to get him via the Rangerlord at just under S$30 (US$23 in the current climate).  Thats a whole S$20 less than what hes retailing for right now.  I dont recall the major department stores putting the Cap movie line figures under clearance, but they definitely wont be doing that till after The Avengers hits theatres in less than a month.

With the new Marvel Legends figures going for S$39.90 in this neck of the woods, S49.90 is a lot to pay for a figure thats about a year old.

But if you can get a discount on him then hes more than worth it.  When he goes on clearance a month or two after the movie hits the screens hell be even more value for money.

Overall: 9.5/10 - Id take your arm and leg (non-plastic) for this figure! - Because its simply that good!

Its seldom I find a figure this close to perfect except for his one major flaw--his height.

Cap was so good that I didnt even notice how short he was till the end of shooting his photos.  And I still couldnt believe it when I lined him up next to Fury and Thor.  I was so taken by surprise that I had to go look for measuring tape--and Ive never been bothered by measuring tape.

Usually, I prefer how I feel figures look next to each other rather than just their "stats." But in this case, I just had to find out whether my near perfect Cap was in the wrong or whether Thor and Fury were simply being dumb by being too tall.  Hah!

All in all, the only way Ill want another version of a big-screen Cap is if the Avengers one turns out better.  And that means having all the good stuff this figure packs and having decent height as well.  Now that would be the perfect movie Captain America.


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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Harold Hamm Net Worth In 2011 Richest Person In America

Harold Hamm Net Worth In 2011: $ 8.6 Billion (USD)

Harold Hamm

Harold Hamm is an American oilman. Hamm is a key player in Hiland Partners and Hiland Holdings as well as the oil-exploration company Continental Resources.

Hamm, founder and chief executive of Oklahoma-based A Continental Resources, owns more oil and gas than any other American — including oil in the Bakken, which covers much of western North Dakota.

He is a high-school graduate with five children who lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with his family.He was ranked in the March 2011 issue of Forbes as the 33rd richest person in America and 136th on the list of world’s billionaires.

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