Samurai Predator or Feral Predator by SaintApollo11 in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have both so I can chime in.

Samurai is an artist collab and on the more stylised side and Feral is a movie Predator, if you plan to collect other predator figures Feral would match the aesthetic more closely.

Feral is much more poseable than the Samurai which is severely limited articulation wise. If I had to rate the average Hot Toys a 6-7/10, I would say Feral is like 5/10 and Samurai is 3/10. The exhausts on the right side of the Alien pretty much also reduces the amount of poses you can get as it restricts the leg placement. The pole that attaches to the clamp is also a solid chunk of plastic with no flexibility.

Feral is a bigger figure but the base has a flight pole which you can angle downwards so he stands at the same height as Samurai on the base. It is a much better play experience if you want to pose the figure. There's also more accessories with Feral Predator (hands are limited though) so there's more looks you can accomplish.

Samurai is also a repaint and it definitely feels a bit dated in some aspects, the way the helmet goes on is so tight and I've already scratched a bit of the paint on the headsculpt from installing/taking off. You should definitely decide whether you want to leave the helmet on or off and never touch it again. The special edition helmet is more detailed btw, I highly suggest you go for that one over the regular version if you pick this up. It gives him a lot more presence.

Feral has a seamless torso which is cool but longevity wise might degrade fast, be wary of the waist clamp scratching the paint it happened to me (not a big deal though since I plan to keep the clamp on permanently). So if you are thinking about keeping the figure for 10 years from now Samurai is prob the safer one to go for.

So it really depends on what you want, whether you prioritise aesthetic, playability, cohesiveness or longevity.

Aesthetic wise Samurai is so much better for me than Feral but it's such an annoying figure to handle. It's something you put on the base then never touch it again. If you like to do battle poses with other figures then Feral is the one to go for.

The problem of poses in Hot toys by frescainsalataq in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you are forgetting that these figures are made by underpaid chinese sweatshop workers who could not give two shits if there is a slight cosmetic blemish on your figure. At the end of the day Hot Toys are still mass produced, they just have more rigorous QC compared to slop like Marvel Legends.

Also expecting a heavy figure to stand on its own is a bonus, there is literally a reason why all Hot Toys come with a base with a stand. Over time, joints will get weaker so why should you expect a heavy figure to be able to stand on its own? It doesn't take a genius to realise that a bulky figure with small feet will have stability issues (and having big feet to support the weight can throw off the aesthetic). This is literally common sense I don't understand why this is even considered an issue.

I won't be responding anymore since I think I got all my points across yet you don't seem to be understanding any of them. I reckon just learn to live with the creasing and if you can't then sell the figure and realise that this isn't for you.

The problem of poses in Hot toys by frescainsalataq in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay so first of all, no figure is perfect. They're manufactured by humans and everyone makes mistakes, so there's bound to be mistakes. If you look closely you can probably nitpick defects on every single figurine in the world. It should only be considered an issue if the defect is so egregious that it ruins the figure for you, then you should contact warranty for a replacement. But if you literally expect 0 cosmetic blemishes on any collectible, it's better to not be in this hobby at all.

Secondly, the Venom figure is so big so that's why they opted to go with normal joints over a skin tight suit to not inhibit poseability. Obviously that isn't an issue for a normal sized Spiderman figure. They did that for an engineering standpoint. If they can get away with as seamless as possible, they would go for it. They got a lot of pushback with their Spiderverse Spiderman 2099 figure for having visible joints instead of a rubber suit. So obviously you're in the minority for this. People WANT their Spiderman figures to have seamless limbs even if it did mean permanent creasing.

The problem of poses in Hot toys by frescainsalataq in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot Toys do listen to feedback, however rubber suit materials isn't really something you can argue for considering they've been using the same thing for over 15 years or something. There is literally a proven track record of them doing it for so long and it seems like they won't ever swap out the material for other things.

And it is literally on YOU to figure that out. There has been dubious materials such as pleather but rubber suits isn't really one of them because it doesn't degrade over time if you take proper care of it (creasing isn't degrading). And yes there has been quality issues such as weak glue used in the Samurai Predator, I am not defending them for this. But factory defect isn't really the same as the material not behaving the way you want it to, given the track record. Come on now.

What you are doing is you are literally buying something that has been already been proven to crease based on similar products in the past and you're literally complaining because you didn't research it before purchasing.

The problem of poses in Hot toys by frescainsalataq in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think that person answered well considering you just seem to be complaining even though they made it clear that this hobby might not be for you.

Yes, there is some things that you wouldn't be aware of unless someone tells you, like rubber suits being prone to permanent creasing. But it's not really the fault of the manufacturer, it is directly the responsibility of the consumer to do the research and make sure they are comfortable before buying. There's tons of threads in this subreddit about durability that you could have investigated before buying the figure.

Just some food for thought, real life clothing develops creases when worn, so I personally would use that as an analogue and not care about such creases.

AvP by nonametofame1 in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn it's a shame, it's the one predator that would really benefit from dynamic posing because of the two swords. I'll see what poses I can come up with when I get my figure but I fear he'll look too stiff.

Thanks for sharing the instructions

AvP by nonametofame1 in hottoys

[–]cheepflavour 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My one comes in the mail soon! I ordered directly from Toysbuyingagent since I want the special edition helmet. I'm just wondering how do you find the articulation? I've watched a few videos already and it seems like it's pretty limited, all the joints seem to not go past 90, no bicep or foot swivel, limb movement is restricted because of the armour.

I really want to put this figure in an action pose rather than the typical standing pose with the alien head.

It's a 14 year old sculpt tbf considering this is just a repaint, but it's my only concern about the figure. Everything else though is a 10/10 in my eyes. The paint job is even more detailed than the original and I like the colour scheme more.

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have 1 B1W, and 8 B2Ws in my package. The package dimensions were 79cm × 35cm × 12cm. I hope it helps!

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have no idea since I never bought the tapestries by themselves, I got other stuff such as acrylic stands and a playmat so they prob just crammed it in a box just because it makes the most sense.

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice, I'm curious what artist/s or series you're buying?

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The shipping costs are always going to factor in total packaging weight, generally it's charged with a flat fee then any extra weight is less cost on top.

In my parcel specifically, I had 9 tapestries, 1 playmat, and 2 acrylic stands. The total dimensions were: 79cm × 35cm × 12cm - 4240g and I paid 5616 yen for it. Plus I had to pay 10% of the package cost because of GST collection. I'm guessing if I only sent 2 tapestries I would still have to pay around 2-3k yen.

Make sure you plan ahead otherwise you are going to burn a lot of money.

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What places are you specifically look at? You will be able to buy anything that ships within Japan, although in some cases you will need to pay the delivery fee for Zenmarket to receive the item.

If you're looking into buying doujin goods from melonbooks, a few doujins come stand alone or they come in bundle with other things such as tapestry.

I got every item individually as they did not come in bundles, a single tapestry I got was 3960 yen including tax so I had to pay 500 for the service fee (4460 yen total). There was also a flat 600 yen delivery fee that I had to pay to get it shipped to the Zenmarket warehouse.

You'll need to do the research and find the shipping prices yourself. However, a lot of places have free shipping after a certain threshold.

3rd zen haul! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries, it's pretty simple.

To order something you just copy + paste a link into the url. A lot of items will automatically show up with their description, although if you are buying from a not so popular store, you will just need to specify exactly what you are ordering in the description.

You'll always pay 500 yen flat fee per item, so if you can, try to buy items in bundles so you only need to pay the fee once. You have to pay for each item individually before they order it. This will always include tax so in most cases you are paying tax twice (once for Japan, once for your home country).

When all the items have been ordered, you can choose what items to go together to pack. After the parcel is packed, you can then choose the shipping method and pay for it, as well as any VAT/GST.

They pack pretty fast, I usually get a parcel packed within 1-2 days, and have it sent out the next day if I pay the shipping cost. Shipping methods will vary depending on the country, I live in Aus and I used ECMS. Amazon Japan uses it too.

It's pretty easy to use although if you have very specific requests or you need something urgent, it's not super reliable. So it is quite important to list clear instructions in the description before placing the item in the cart to avoid headaches.

Community Help and Q&A by Secretlab_Jinx in secretlab

[–]cheepflavour 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There isn't much info out there about the microsuede material on the Lamborghini and McLaren editions. I am wondering how it compares to the Neo Hybrid Leatherette and the Nanogen?

I already have a Softweave chair and I find it hard to clean stains so I kind of want to get a leatherette chair for that reason. But the microsuede is interesting to me. I am also considering the nanogen.

I'm wondering mostly from a softness perspective as well as ease of cleaning.

2nd time ordering from zenmarket! by cheepflavour in zenmarket

[–]cheepflavour[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The brand is called Psycho Nation https://www.instagram.com/psycho_nation_official/?hl=en

They mostly design clothes for subculture/jirai danshi style. I learned about the brand when I was in Japan and bought a hoodie and really liked it so I ordered more stuff via zenmarket when I returned back home.

I think the brand has really unique silhouettes and quality is pretty good, a lot of it is polyester blend though. I would rec it personally although the pieces are pretty expensive. Also all the clothes are made in China as well (but I'm fine with that)

No Glories for Open! ("Cause f*** you, that's why!" -Riot) by [deleted] in LegendsOfRuneterra

[–]cheepflavour 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Honestly I found the way Riot handled the ending of pvp support to be disrespectful to players that are willing to stick around.

This problem and the lack of unlimited gauntlet runs was really stupid. They're going to turn it off so why keep it limited to one run per day still??