Botcon 2012 - Dallas, TX April 26th - 29th

Sometimes, things just work out. I was planning on going this year, damn the expense! Then its announced that it is being held thirty minutes away from me. WOOO!

http://www.botcon.com/BotCon2012/

Star Wars Vintage Collection Bastila Shan

From the Knights of the Old Republic game, fans choice winner Bastila Shan finally joins the ranks EU/video game figures in the Star Wars line!

Dual Model Kit - Optimus Prime; Inner Frame

Most Master Grade (MG) Gundam kits from Bandai typically have what is known as an "inner frame." Basically, it the skeleton of the kit, and the armor and bits are built on top of it to complete the looks of the mech. This kit is from TakaraTomy, a company that rarely (to my knowledge) dips into model kits. While a Bandai kit comes completely unassembled, this Optimus Prime has an almost completed inner frame straight outta the box. It only lacks the hands and parts of the feet, so the inner frame can basically be completed and ready to go fairly quickly. In theory! This kit, while pretty amazing and detailed when finished, was a pain in the ass to build at times. Many pieces are simply too big to plug onto to where they are intended, and without shaving them down, can lead to stress marks, and potential breakage. Thankfully, I read about this beforehand, so I took my time to make sure parts were going in as they should. This however, makes it take much longer than it could have to assemble. The feet and hands took long enough to put together that I shelved this kit for about a week before continuing. (This is something that would happen several times over the course of the build...)

Deluxe Mechtech Optimus Prime

Human Alliance Whirl

"Rally" Sidearm Sideswipe

This version of Sidearm Sideswipe is exclusive to Wal-Mart stores, and was fairly easy to get for a month or so. Haven't seen them around much lately though. Aside from repainting that awful "allspark blue" in several places on the figure, I may go back and line the chest at some point, but he is pretty far back in line.

Cyberverse Powerglide

Battle Blades Optimus Prime

 I originally took more pictures for this post, but unfortunately put off pulling them up to weed out any blurry pictures and do any necessary retakes. I have already started working on lining, and a little paint additions, so I'm going to hold off taking more until I'm done with that. In the mean time, here's a look at Battle Blade Optimus Prime straight out of the box.