Two More Makers Enter The Star Wars Minifig Fray [CB Toys and Bom Bom Star Wars]

The Star Wars franchise, man, it won’t ever run out of steam. At least in my lifetime, it won’t. It’s practically a cash cow for merchandise makers, whether it’s officially-licensed or otherwise.

So it really comes as no surprise that two more makers hope to cash in on the Star Wars minifig gravy train. Both of these, I haven’t covered yet in this space, so this also serves as an initial look-see if these two are as good as, better, or worse than the ones we’ve seen so far.

Lele Tries Its Hand At Star Wars [Lele Star Wars Set]

Around the same time that Sheng Yuan's Star Wars minifig set started appearing here, Lele's own Star Wars set also popped up alongside SY's offering. Knowing what we know of Lele's minifig quality, would this Star Wars set fare any different? I took a flier and dove in to find out.

These Could Be The Bootleg Star Wars Minifigs You're Looking For [Sheng Yuan Star Wars Set]

A long time ago, in a galaxy, well, not far away (we're actually in it), a young George Lucas brought to the world a genre-breaking sci-fi film we now all know as Star Wars. It has been a cultural pop icon and fixture for so long, it has spawned so many merchandised items. Obviously, Lego saw it fit (and rightly so) to license Star Wars for their own sets. The bootleg makers, seeing an opportunity to cash in themselves, also saw it fit to, uh, "incorporate" those designs in their own product lines.

So now we have Sheng Yuan (previously seen in this blog making superhero minifigs) dipping its toes in the SW line (the Clone Wars timeline, in particular). Pricing is as per usual, so that's PhP 27.50 per minifig when bought as a set of 6.

30 NES Games From My Childhood [Listicle]

Credit: Wikipedia

Gaming made up a big part of my childhood. Alongside Saturday cartoon binge-watching sessions and playing with an assortment of toys, I was lucky enough to have gotten a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES for most people) as a kid growing up.

I spent hours a day playing on that console when school was out. Fun times. The graphics were far from the spectacular imagery kids of today probably take for granted (to be fair, I also took for granted the relatively spectacular graphics of my time as a kid) and the sounds weren't exactly orchestral quality, but they were memorable. I'd even go so far to say that there exists a charm to them that many of today's games routinely utilize pixelated graphics and chiptune music even when even the most basic of today's smartphones can push Playstation 1-level graphics (i.e. full 3D with bells and whistles).

"Holy Bootleg, Batman!" [Sheng Yuan Batman Set]

With the exception of Superman, Batman, and Zod, most of the Super Heroes sets we've seen so far in this small corner of the internet mostly contained Marvel characters. Whether that's indicative of bootleg makers' view of the market, in that they think they'd sell more units with Marvel characters than DC characters, is a good topic for discussion.

There's no doubt, though, that DC characters have a solid following, and their long and storied publication history means that at least some of DC's staples will resonate with people from all walks of life. Batman is one of those characters, and Sheng Yuan is looking to capitalize on that.

The Super Heroes Set We Don't Deserve [Lele Super Heroes Set]

Because superheroes are absolutely in vogue lately, it's hardly surprising to see another bootleg minifig maker enter the scene, hot on the heels of Decool and SY. Today we're looking at Lele's own Super Heroes set. Is it any good? What secrets lie hidden in these small paperback-sized boxes? The answers will surprise you! (Not really, I just wanted to try my hand at a viral post-style lede.)

Decool Super Heroes Set 1 [Toy Impressions]

Here's Decool's answer to SY's Super Heroes set. If I recall correctly, these two sets came to our shores within days of each other. Fierce competition between bootleg makers, who would'a thunk it, eh? I ain't complaining, though, competition is good, the more options there are, the better.

Pricing is still at PhP 30 (USD 0.69) per minifig when bought as a set. That's a bit higher than the SY minifigs that retails for as low as PhP 25 (USD 0.57) per minifig. These are, again, Divisoria prices. If you plan to buy each separately, the prices bump up to PhP 50 (USD 1.15) per piece.

Decool Iron Man Set 1 [Toy Impressions]

If you need proof of how great and charismatic an actor Robert Downey Jr. is, the Iron Man movie is it. Before that film, only comic geeks are familiar with the character. Even in movie media circles, the general consensus is that Marvel Studios took a big risk in making that movie, knowing full well that Iron Man isn't as popular to the general public as, say, Wolverine or Spider-man.

Not only did RDJ fully embrace and own the role, he turned Iron Man into a household name, as well as a heavy merchandise-selling machine. Today we'll be looking at Decool's Iron Man-themed minifig set.

Decool (Teenage Mutant) Ninja Turtles Set [Toy Impressions]

Talk about a comeback. As a kid, I enjoyed watching the original TMNT, though the series itself, looking at it today from a non-nostalgic perspective, feels a bit dated. Must be the lingo Michelangelo used. I can't recall the last time I heard "cowabunga" used in everyday conversation.

But the basic concept is solid enough that producers thought it might still be a hit today, they just need to update the visuals and feel for today's generation. Boy were they right. Not only did the rebooted TMNT become a hit among kids (my nephews are all over that stuff), it's such a hit that Lego gave it their own stamp of approval and acquired the license to create sets based off of it.

Quick and Dirty Streaming From Computer To Your Android or iOS Device [Tips]

Credit: The Guardian

Sometimes you just want to lie down and watch movies from the comfort of your bed instead of sitting down in front of your computer. If you have a laptop, go nuts, bring over the laptop to your bed and watch away. If you have a desktop, though, good luck with that. If you have a mobile device, just load it up with your movies and you're set, right?

But sometimes you simply just run out of space on your device. Sometimes people opt to be more economical and choose say, an 8 GB model and pocket the savings. Or it could simply be that you have more content you want to put in your device than what it could hold. Between apps and music alone, your device could already be reaching its max capacity, and you still want to shoehorn in a whole season of Game of Thrones to watch before you go to sleep.

Why not stream those bad boys and save space instead of reshuffling your device's files over and over? If you have a Wi-Fi router in place, then you're almost there.

Sheng Yuan Super Heroes Set [Toy Impressions]

We've covered the SY Hulk minifig in this space before, so now we turn to the seven other minifigs that form part of the set.

As with the Hulk figure, the minifigs come in a box with pretty impressive-looking CGI rendered art, which I would agree, looks better than just posing the minifigs themselves and taking photos of it. As with this Wolverine image to the left, doing that with just the minifig would see Logan's arms touching his head - less action-y that way.

Also standard with each box is a set of cards adorned with more CGI minifig art and some base stats. As to how the cards should be played (if those are playing cards at all), it's a mystery to me, since the cards do not come with instructions themselves. It's best to just treat them as collectible cards and then we're golden.

X-Men: Days of Future Past [Musings]

Credit: E! Online

Bryan Singer, welcome back to the X-Men fold. I enjoyed watching Days of Future Past. The movie, with all its many different plot points, manages to flow along smoothly and I don't think any part of the movie felt dragging. It's about as good as it gets with the usual summer blockbuster fares. If you enjoyed First Class and the Singer's other two X-Men flicks (2000's X-Men and 2003's X2) back then, you'll definitely enjoy Days of Future Past.

Some spoilers below. Just a heads-up.

Tong Toy Story Set [Toy Impressions]

So you've seen Woody, now see the rest of the gang. As mentioned before, though, there are only four figures in the set: Woody, Jessie, Buzz, and one of the aliens (feel free to buy two more to complete the trio if you want). Basic pack-ins are a set of cards and some yellow-orange weapons.

Seeing how crappy the Woody minifig is, though, can the rest of the gang redeem this set? Place your bets now, and let's find out.

Everything is Awesome (With This Movie)

"As if I were a kid again." If I had to summarize the experience of watching The Lego Movie, this would be it.

Moving on to the technical stuff first, the animation itself isn't the smooth, detailed movement we're used to seeing in big-budget films (or even Lego videogames on previous generation consoles). Rest assured that it's intentional, and once you get to the heart of the story, you'll understand why the directors did it that way. It's amazing what they did with the effects, to be honest, opting to keep using bricks and Lego parts instead of putting some snazzy CGI effects.

Tong Toy Story Woody Minifig [Toy Impressions]

I've been remiss in keeping this blog updated, which normally would be fine and status quo for the most part, except that those Lego knockoff makers in China have been hard at work into putting out sets quickly. And being that I've made it a personal mission to document here some of those here, I also have to ramp up on my side.

For your reading pleasure and possible buying information, of course, and not because I'm into them now.

*nose grows an inch*

So today, we'll be looking at the first of four Toy Story minifigs from Tong.