ketchup

oct 31 — scott and annie move to washington
nov 2 — new president
nov 5 — the incredibles, a disney presentation of a pixar film
nov 9 — halo 2
nov 16 — half life 2

the halo 2 toys are out. i picked up the yellow civilian ‘hog, with phat rims and a spare tire instead of a gun turret. need to pick up the brute, he’s as good as i’d expected.

no surprise, joyride managed to screw up the amazing h2 mc prototype. it and the new warthog are both lighter colors than before, which while still not accurate are at least more pleasing to the eye. but the screenshot of the mc on the card shows quite clearly how badly joyride botched the proportions on his helmet. (this is why mcfarlane doesn’t include reference photos on their packaging, and to my mind, why people still think mcfarlane is amazing at headsculpts when they’re not really any better than anyone else…)

there’s no paint wash or anything to bring out the detailing in the sculpt either, so the figure is just a bunch of green molded plastic. the articulation is doubled, but still isn’t that great, and the fit of the parts is pretty sloppy for such a large figure, meaning there’s big noticable gaps EVERYWHERE.

ultimately, though, those are things that only i will notice. most people will think it looks pretty okay, possibly enough to warrant paying $15 for it. i think i’ll probably pass, since the only option for a better head would be to swap it out for the h1 helmet, making it a $30 figure and leaving me with a worthless h1 mc body.

it is a drastic improvement over the h1 mc, despite it’s flaws. it IS more articulated in some very good ways, and the sculpted details are there even if they don’t stand out. it’s just that joyride’s standards are so low that even a drastic improvement still isn’t very good.

i wish neca or mezco would pick up the half life 2 license and make a gordon freeman toy.