Wallas Toy Reviews

Some low light fun with HG YF-19 (Macross Plus)

The idea is simple and easy to do: take a few pictures of the object where each frame has a small light source aimed from a different place to create different shadows, and then perform the simplest possible image overlay in a picture editor.

On a side note, doing things like this makes me appreciate the Shortcut Change gimmick of the Macross HG kits (this one, anyway).: it took me maybe a minute to convert it from robot to plane form, something that would take way longer (and I'd be much less willing to do on a whim) with a full transformation 1:60 YF-19.

#マクロス

Time to remember a bit of JoJo fun I had with HG Try Burning Gundam, combined with some word play :)

Low light fun with Retrofire Zeo Megazord (Power Rangers Zeo)

Not exactly Super Robot Chogokin, but when life gives you lemons...

#スーパー戦隊シリーズ

Super Robot Chogokin Daizyujin / Mighty Morphin' Dino Megazord (Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger / Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1)

Not entirely sure what I'm doing here, but I guess that's part of the fun sometimes ;)

#恐竜戦隊ジュウレンジャー #超合金

HG 1:144 Hi-Nu Gundam Vrabe (Gundam Build Fighters Amazing)

I've found some unused pictures of Hi-Nu Vrabe I did some half year ago, and they remind me a lot why I like playing with light and shadows; same object can look vastly different depending on how you apply them :)

#ガンダム #ガンプラ #プラモデル

Sometimes you just want to have some spontaneous fun with low light pictures :)

HG YF-29 Durandal Alto Saotome Use Battroid mode (Macross Frontier)

#マクロス #プラモ #写真撮影 #プラモデル

Transformers Classics Voyager Optimus Prime + Revoltech Yotsuba Summer Ver.

"... I swear, those influencers must be stopped, no matter the cost!"

Yes, Prime drinks have reached Poland sometime ago and can be bought in more and more stores. I just hope there won't be any kind of craze with this stuff on the scale I observe in some countries.

Also, thanks to Flashgitz for giving me the inspiration for this :)

Yay, Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA ligh novels got a new print run in Poland, time to finally grab them all and read them. Are they good? No idea, but I've always wanted to give them a try, so I will :)

+ Revoltech Eva 01 Test Type (Rebuild Of Evangelion 1.0 ver.)

I'm a toy photographer, but I am also a book reader, and let me show you a fairly new cycle that I enjoy a lot in recent months.

This is a Polish fantasy/slice-of-life series "Necrovet" by Maszyna do opowiadania - Joanna W. Gajzler about, well, a vet team that cures both regular and magical creatures in a world where magic is a relatively new concept. With a human, a faun, and and their undead boss. It's a fun, relaxing story where half the fun is all the bizarre and strange creatures that end up in the clinic (the author really tries to show more than just your standard roster of commonly known species), and the other half is how our vet medics deal with their ailments and other things that can happen in and to a place like this, helped a lot by the fact that Ms. Gajzler is a dayjob vet technician herself. Also, the characterss personal interactions are nice, too. And the cover art for all three books released so far are just awesome (and made by this gentleman here Piotr Sokołowski / Ilustracje ) If these ever gets translated into English, give them a try :)

Transformers Movie 2007: Allspark Power Voyager First Strike Optimus Prime

A simple, random picture I just thought of taking. I think I need such shots too, especially when I'm not in a mood for fireworks.

The rest of my HG-YF-29 build process all in one post (as will the massive photo gallery of the built thing be next time).

Stage 03
Time for the first test fit of parts for the fighter mode. While some modules are still missing and several are not touched up, this gives me a good overall idea what to expect from the finished kit and I like what I see. It's also good to check where the fighter parts end up and how they mesh together in the context of applying stickers focused on this mode, especially when they are supposed to form a continuous pattern together. With that in mind, I'll most likely place them in position while they actually are physically next to each other in completed jet mode rather than individually on the cutting mat like I did in the earlier stage of this build.

Stage 04
Just 14 more stickers to go XD I mean, not to completion, but to clearing the whole sticker sheet. Gonna count them all for the next post XD

Stage 05
I'm done with with applying the stickers. All 77 of them! Yikes. I'm treating this as a WIP post, because I want to (try) do one more decorating trick with this kit, but at this stage I already have a solid opinion on stickering it up. It's. Not. A fun. Process. It leads to a very cool looking mecha plane that would appear like a bootleg without them, sure, but getting there is just sooo tiring! Like I correctly guessed before , it's best to apply stickers in the assembled mode they're most visible in, because in this case they require immense precision to align together, and even when you try there's no guarantee it'll look right, especially with so many detaching / moving parts that can break the continuity illusion by just not being fitted together tight enough. HG YF-19 was a much better experience in this regard, as its stickers are commonly placed in semi-independent sectors where you need to align them only against the few decals right next to them rather than half of the jet like here, and most of them end up far apart enough not to pick up minor misallignments immediately. I think this is my first and last time working with a model kit YF-29, so no touching the blue Super Durandal kit (that has EVEN MORE stickers!) or future variants from me, just not worth the sticker chagrin that comes in the box. I hope YF-21 will be a return to form for me in this regard.

#プラモ #マクロス #プラモデル

Time for another rediscovered piece of my childhood's pop-culture :) This is the Polish edition of the French-Italian comic book "Timothee Titan: Rendez Vous at Proctor V" by Francois Corteggiani and Giorgio Cavazzano. Man did I adore this comic when I was a kid! The action, the designs, the art...delicious! I don't think I've touched this comic in the last 20 years, but with my current interest in European comics I'll probably dive right in as soon as I finish posting this.

Also, I just realized the artist behind this is not only still alive, but here on Insta as well :) .official

+ Transformers Legacy Autobot Cosmos

I don't play all that many racing games, but when I do, I want a feeling of sheer speed engulfing me. Burnout, F-Zero, Sonic And All Star Racing Transformed, Mario Kart (on higher settings), this is what draws me to the genre. And just some time ago I was able to find a copy of Wipeout HD Fury in very good shape on a flea market. I never played anything from that series, so that will be an interesting experience... assuming my PS3 Super Slim will turn on after over a year of Steam and Switch-induced neglect XD

+ Transformers Animated Deluxe Blurr

"Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You" manga has just arrived in Poland, and I'm happy to have it as this is a really relaxing non-drama slice-of-life story about a middle-aged salaryman bonding with a twenty-something woman over their shared love of ci******es. Nothing less, nothing more. And in this case, this is all you need to get sucked right into it, even if like me you don't smoke yourself :)

Also in this picture is Autobot Smokescreen from Transformers Masterpiece, my local specialist in tactical use of smoke ;)

HG YF-29 Alto Saotome Custom progress part 02

Finished the all-mode wing / weapon pack and most of one arm. This is starting to look really pretty but man is there a lot of stickers to achieve the effect . Thankfully the legs rely much less on adhesive printed foil, so that stage of building should look a lot less like a surgery.

#プラモ #マクロス #プラモデル

Time to bring things back to speed here. Let's start with my big small adventure that was building the HG 1:100 YF-29 Durandal Valkyrie Alto Saotome Use from Macross Frontier this month. Each new post for now will document the next build step, until I end up with the complete kit that I've been shooting on Instagram beginning today.

Stage 01 - Battroid head and torso.

I'm panel-lining it as I go, because it's much easier to do before applying the wacky amount of color and detail correcting stickers that come in the box. Slow and tricky process, but just like with YF-19 I expect to end up with a really cool, poseable and easy to transform VF set after all of my effort. Reducing my huge backlog is also an added bonus, I catch myself on wanting to buy more stuff while the boxes of existing stuff collect dust waiting for their turn. One needs to respect his earned and spent money, after all XD

Got myself the Dspiae Model Parts Detacher / Separator to make sure correcting my gunpla-building mistakes are easier to backtrack and fix, but this thing is also very, very useful in splitting Lego and Cobi bricks, as well as in working with transforming toys where parts don't want to come apart when they should. Definitely a good and quite inexpensive tool.

Super Robot Chogokin GaoGaiGar + Revoltech Yotsuba Summer Ver.

Every once in a while I like to return to this figure combo with this particular pose, and this is my newest take on it :)

Huh. Just recently I've watched a video from my beloved animation vlogger Saberspark about the countless content farms exploiting the smash-hit online series Amazing Digital Circus by , and what do I find in my local supermarket? All the characters from the pilot in brick form! At 3 dollars a piece, this was too bizzare to pass up, so I've picked up Caine as the ambassador of the bunch... I mean Ragatha. Someone clearly swapped out the box content. No problem, Ragatha is a sweet character, and definitely the heart of the group. Still, just the fact this exists shows how popular the Circus it and I sincerely wish the creators that one day someone will offer them to make an authorised, licensed toyline for the series.

One way to entertain guests when your hand turns into a dinosaur head ;)

Photo phor today: HG RX-78-2 Gundam Revive Ver.

Weekend spent mostly on house maintenance and cleaning inspires to make adequate hobby pictures. So, today Super Robot Chogokin GaoGaiGar presents... the MacGyveron Hammer!

A really useful multi-tool that I have in my collection. Not good for turning enemies into light particles, but perfect for small repairs to which you can bring limited amount of stuff :)

YFD-19 Mousecalibur

So' I've heard Disney+ will show Macross shows in some areas. I wonder if mine will also get the treatment?

Inspired by a very cool Mickey Mouse / Macross Plus crossover art done by theartofrenwong on Instagram and achieved by putting a Lego Mickey's head on the HG YF-19's neck ;)

Plus a combo of HG Gouf Custom [Gundam 08th MS Team] + Lego Minifigures Disney Series 1 Stitch, because if I have the idea and the necessary figures, why not? :P

A good material for a post before bed: found these two see-through blind-bag figures of Pinkie Pie and Applejack from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic in my storage and immediately knew what I wanted to try out with them :)

To all who celebrate it, Happy Easter 2024!

Today it was announced that Akira Toriyama, the man behind Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, has passed away, and it saddens me in several ways as this news rings in my head. I'm not a die-hard fan of DB in all of its iterations, but it was nontheless integral part of my childhood, a crucial componenent to the development and acceptance of anime and manga industry and fandom in Poland. Every otaku of my generation knows who Son Goku is, and probably has a favourite character, attack and action scene from the series. We loved the simple yet colourful and exciting world Toriyama created, and can easily spot the influences his works had on other titles, including those that became pillars of shonen manga alongside Dragon Ball. Our pop-culture would not be the same without Toriyama. I myself have watched the whole Dragon Ball Z when it aired locally, recently started collecting toys and models from it, and for many years have planned to also buy or at least properly read the entire original manga. I think this year might be a good time to finally do it. Sigh, so many thoughts running through my head as I write this. Along with Kevin Conroy, the voice of Animated Batman, this is probably the biggest popcultural loss for me in a longer while, and I will need some time to process it. In some ways, it's kind of amazing how someone on the other end of the globe who never even knew that I existed influenced my world in such a profound way. That alone is a power stronger than any kind of Kamehameha will ever be.

What would you do if the potential end of the world coincided with the potential end of your very own, personal world? Jake, a promising Heavy Metal prodigy whose career ended before it really started, finds himself in this exact situation. And just as he's about to fully surrender to his fate, he's found by Murder Falcon, an amazing warrior from another dimension who knows how to save the planet... but to do that, he needs the untamed power of Metal still deep inside Jake. This is the beginning of an epic journey that can not only save the world from destruction, but also help a young musician regain what he lost in his darkest hour.

"Murder Falcon", a stand-alone minisieries by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer, originally published by Image Comics and very recently by Nagle Comics here in Poland , is so far one of my biggest comic book discoveries of the year. For me, it's not even about it being a visually stunning graphic tale full of energy-overflowing illustrations showing the power of music, and how important it can be in our lives. What's more important, this quest to save the world also weaves in a very personal and real story of a man who may soon lose everything no matter what happens. Witnessing his struggles and the choices he makes in the light of both these disasters is what really sells this title for me, making it one of those special comics where all that crazy action is a cool aspect, but not neccessarily the best part of it despite what the cover might suggest. Of course, if the crazy action is what you primarily expected buying it, you definitely won't be dissapointed either, so one way or another, Murder Falcon is worthy of a spot in your comic book collection :)

Also, here with Super Robot Chogokin Mazinkaiser SKL, probably the most Metal toy in my whole collection :) And HG YF-19 from Macross Plus, another story where music is a power that can help you fight for a better tomorrow :)

PS. After this reading I kind of want to learn more about Heavy Metal, which is also an interesting side effect :)

Transformers Kingdom Blackarachnia and Poseable Spider-Man [Amazing Spider-Man 2]

So, I've heard Madame Web is out? Not sure if interested in watching it, I already am in contact with a spider-themed female character ;)

HG Nobell Gundam + Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon- Eternal Edition Vol.1

Sailor Moon was the second manga title ever released in Poland (way back in 1997) and arguably triggered the manga revolution here; many believe that without Sailor Moon, Polish manga market would not be where it is right now. So of course I had to buy at least the first volume of this classic's new release to show my support and appreciation for what the Sailor Senshis did for our country's pop-culture :)

Now back to firing "Makenai" and "Otome No Policy" at full volume!

Lego Icons 10331 Kingfisher

Yes, I'm one of the people who fell in love with this set the moment it was announced, there's something super-pretty and majestic about this 800+ brick construct. There will be regular photos of it here too, but I just wanted to try a kind of "night flight" shot like this beforehand. I hope you like it, and I'll see you after the weekend :)