Another promotion?????

I wish!!!!!

Since the boss has gone over to the other side - we're taking turns to be "acting" Manager for the time being. 2 weeks each. At least until the new one has gone through the selection and interview process. I guess its just a temporary promotion.

Attended my first Management Cascade today - wasn't very long. About 30 - 40 minutes tops. What was the point of the whole thing? Cost and how to reduce expenditure. Report due end of week on how to maximize seating capacity and avoid wasteage of space. Argh!

Also found out that the first friend/colleague I met in this department is resigning. Damn.

Nothing much interesting happening. Except that I've been invited to a couple of colleague's open house next weekend. Potluck and booze required it seems. Will see who's going before I decide.

Oh - its almost the middle of the year too. Damn.

Some of you might remember, a few weeks back - I mentioned Dei showing me a newspaper article about this college guy who was a Star Wars fan. You might remember how my sister told me not to end up like him. I remember writing that what I have isn't even 1% (or something like that) of what that guy has. I've got a long way to catch up.

To further emphasize my point, I present to you some pictures. This isn't to point out that I want to be like collector's like this but to show that I have not crossed over yet. These people are real hardcore.

(All credit goes to Mr. Bone Dust, wherever in the world you are. It's an awesome collection you have there)

This is not a store!!!!!

This is not a store!!!!!


This is not a store!!!!!


This is not a store!!!!!

The best part is - this guy only collects Spawn and McFarlane stuff (or at least from what I can tell from his pictures).

Still not convinced? Here's something closer to home.

The teacher's collection

Yes - I met this lady once as I bought something from her. She's a school-teacher, young, married and collects toys.

Still need more convincing? I can assure you my room looks nothing like the one above, or below - yet. And you can rest easy, I don't think it will. But then again, never say never! If my interest doesn't die out.....

This doesn't look like a store for sure!

Scrutinizing the evidence.....

I've always thought that I had an eye for small/fine details. I managed to pull off some CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) / detective work the other night on what else - but toys *winks*

I've recently come across a very excellent version of the Spider-Man action figure online. If you're a comic-collector/Spidey-fan/Todd McFarlane fan, you'd recognize this figure.

We've come a long way - compare the 2 following Spider-Man figures below. The one on top, which I got about 20 years ago, and the newer sculpts. The articulation is so much more advance as well. 20 years ago - my Spider-Man could only move his head, the arms (at the shoulders) and the legs (at the hips). *NOTE: Jargon - parts that move is called 'articulation'. This means my 20-year old Spider-Man only 5 points of articulation*

Secret Wars Spider-Man (1984)



Super-Poseable Spider-Man (2004)

Super-Poseable (that gave it away didn't it?) has I believe 30-points of articulation. If you look closely at the picture on the right, you'll see even his fingers have movement for him to do his "web-shooting" pose. He bends at the wrists, elbows, knees, feet and even toes.

20 years ago - most, if not, all toys only HAD 5 points of articulation.

So why go through all this "detective" work? There happens to be a guy who was selling a set of 5 "Spider-Man Classics" for RM 200. And in that sales thread, he had a picture as well. I actualyl emailed him to see if he was willing to sell the Spider-Man figure by itself. Apparently, he would only sell it in a set. The rest of them are actually rare figures. I asked him to send me a picture of the Spider-Man by itself, to help me decided if I would plonk down the dough for the other figures I didn't really want. But - I guess he wasn't even bothered to.

Imagine, the villains being the rare figures. In toy-collecting jargon, this would be called "shortpacked". As an example, a case of 20 or 30 Spider-Man figures would contain maybe 1 or 2 of these so-called "chase/shortpacked" figures. Hence - these would be rare figures. I've got my own theory for this - I don't know if manufacturers have the same thinking. As a kid - I would always buy the heroes for all of my toys. ALWAYS. I hardly get the villains thought I had a few of them for "battles" between the forces of Good and Evil. Now - if someone thought like me as a kid, only going for the heroes and leaving the baddies on the racks, there would be plenty of villains left about now, wouldn't there? I suppose that's why these days, the villains are "shortpacked". But hey - I could be wrong.

Back to the story - from afar, the one in the set looked like the one I was looking for. Because the seller didn't provide me with a picture, I decided to try search online. And because the seller didn't do a good job in stating the description in his sales thread, it made it even harder.

After the detective work (and 4 hours later), I struck gold! Or Mary Jane Watson would say "You've hit the jackpot, Tiger!". I finally found what I was looking for. How? I actually looked through all 17 series of Spider-Man figures or whatever was available. Each "series" had about 4 or 5 figures and 3 of them were normally different variations of Spider-Man. It wasn't easy but I pulled it off. How? Take note of the white circles in the following pictures.

Now I know that this isn't the Spider-Man figure I was looking for. The site which reviewed the figure I'm looking for states a different kind of accessory. The one that the guy is selling is called "Sneak Attack Spider-Man". I'm glad now I didn't throw that RM 200 on figures I didn't want.

The one that I want is available at www.bigbadtoystore.com

Superposeable Spider-Man with Wall Crawling Action (US $8.99)

So what am I to do? I don't think I've ever seen them in Malaysia before. Its funny how old toys seem to disappear. What happens when people don't buy them? Where do they go? Do they go back to the distributors? Sold in bargain bins? Goes back to the manufacturers to be melted down and used as recycled raw material and plastics again?

I managed to find them both online from stores that ship internationally. The downside? The toy costs US $8.99, shipping - a whopping US $29.99!!!!! Shipping the toy over is going to cost more than the goods itself!

Another store has the following. Shipping would be in the same price range as well depending on value of goods purchased.

I will also settle for the following (based on another favorite Spidey artist of mine, Mark Bagley)

Spider-Man Classics - Red and Blue version, year 2000 (US $14.99)

So, assuming I really decided to risk it and try my luck getting something off the Internet, I might as well make the shipping price worthwhile. I've done a little "window" shopping as well.

The package says "Spider-Man Classic Clashes - Spider-Man vs. The Abomination". Who the fuck is The Abomination? I've never seen him in my comics before. Is he a new villain? Is he a mutant? What powers does he have? But if Toybiz thinks he deserves an action figure....this caught my eye while I was doing my detective work as the Spider-Man looks like the Superposeable Spider-Man I'm looking for. Again, I've never seen this in Malaysian stores.

Spider-Man Classics 2-Pack (US $39.99)

The Batman - this is the latest Batman animated series. ASTRO and the local stations are screening it at the moment. I've never seen any of the normal figures in the market. This one's "special" as the costume is all-black instead of the grey-dark blue color scheme on the cartoon. Like some people on the forums complain - its so hard to find a Batman figure that does not have any glow-in-the-dark or neon suits that's flooded the market.

The Batman Ultimate Defender (US $4.99)

Street Fighter Ryu (US $59.99), Sagat (US $59.99)

Street Fighter Ryu & Sagat 2-pack (US $29.99)

Now - what is wrong with the picture above? Ryu and Sagat on their own costs $59.99 each! Even on this site, the Ryu figure's sold out. These are rare figures - you can no longer find them in the market unless some collectors are selling them off.

But the 2-pack for US $29.99 is a steal! It's also limited to 3000 units and only available exclusively at www.superherotoys.com. Oh, the temptation.....

Street Fighter Ken (PRICE: US $29.99)

I saw the Ken action figure for sale a few months back. A collector was selling it through the shop for RM 50.

The price on this site US $29.99 x RM 4 = RM 120. Someone just bought this figure for RM 60 at a place called ToyQuest. There were only 2 left after he got his. I've never been there but its near Toy City in Jalan Bukit Bintang. Opposite Bangkok Jam I was told. Do these places even exist along Jalan Bukit Bintang? Again, extremely hard to find figure. Someone wanna volunteer and go check it out for me when you're in the vicinity?

Ryan wants the one below, Halo Action Figure. I have never, EVER seen any of these around in Malaysian stores before. NEVER. According to the site, most of them have already sold out as well.

Halo 2 Series 1 - Master Chief action figure (US $49.99)

So tempted right now, would be easy too - just keying in a few numbers, punching a few keys and that's it. I'll need to seriously think about it. I know I want it - you know I want it!

Dei decided that we should give mum a treat for Mother's Day. We decided yesterday that we would take everyone to Paddington's House of Pancakes at The Curve.

I've decided to go with the the double sausage, beef salami and fried mozzarella pancakes today. They ran out. Dei and Eddie's initial order for some seafood topped ones had run out as well. The waitress came back to our tables on 2 different occassions to inform us that some of the items we wanted had sold out. There was abit of complaining.

In the end, there was a complimentary serve of 3 pancakes for our "troubles".

I finally settled for the cheesy scrambled eggs, hash brown and mash pancakes. The verdict - next time I'll stick with the chocolate rolls. Remember, its the one with the Belgian chocolate chips, peanut butter and the chocolate sauce with chocolate ice-cream.

Of all the things I did last night, I read an Enid Blyton book "The Secret Island". I have no idea why, it was just lying on the table. Decided to pick it up - less than 200 pages. Pretty short book. I used to read Enid Blyton's books when I was much younger. The school used to had book sales for the Malay-translations as well. I thought I had read this one before but I guess I got it confused with something else.

Reading the book, it was about 4 kids who decided to run away and hide on an island where no one could find them. I don't know when this book was written but I think the characters are meant to be British. I didn't know British kids talked like this.

For example: one kid (the leader, Jack) gives a suggestion of some sort, and one of the girls go "ooh, we must, we must, we must". This kid, Nora, must be one of the most annoying characters ever written. She emphasizes her statements not once, not twice but three times. Just like the one above. It seems all British kids (maybe the grown ups as well) speak funny - pick up any Harry Potter book, even the Lord Of The Rings have these "proper" English dialogues.

Well, that's a few hours of my life I won't be getting back. Maybe I need new books!

If anyone at work asks how my weekend was - I'm just going to say one thing - "SHORT". I don't know where the time went. It did really feel short. I think I need more rest. More 3-day weekends! The next one coming up on 29th May 2006.

I'm currently training someone as my backup now. During my absence, someone will know or will need to know what has to be done, reports etc. Now I don't have to worry too much about taking long days away from work.

Mission Impossible.....?

It's going to be summertime in the USA soon. How do I remember? Playing WWE (Wrestling) games of course. The years of watching WWE on TV as well as playing the Smackdown! games and all 6 sequels have implanted into my memory that the PPV (pay-per-view) "Summerslam" is always been traditionally held in August. And it is during this period that all the summer blockbuster movies start screening to cater for the long holidays in the US of A.

With so many movies coming out - am I going to have time to catch them all? Mission Impossible I'd think. If I'm going to miss any of them on the big screen - I'd have no choice but to catch them on DVD when they are released.

I've already caught Mission: Impossible 3 if you've been following my last post. Within the next couple of weeks - there's going to be at least 1 movie a week that's going to be released that has my interest. A quick check on www.gsc.com.my reveals:

May 2006
- The Da Vinci Code
- X-Men: The Last Stand

June 2006
- Superman Returns
- The Omen (supposedly to show on 6th June 2006 - 06.06.06 or 666 - the mark of the Devil!)
- The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift

July 2006
- Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest
- Lady In The Water (M. Night Syamalan's next movie - dunno about this though. Personally, I think his movies started going downhill after "The Sixth Sense". I still think that's his best movie to date)

September 2006
- DOA: Dead Or Alive (video game adaptation starring Devon Aoki - purely for the action of course)
- Miami Vice (Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx)

OK - so maybe things don't get as interesting towards the end of the year. I've been googling and doing movie searches and I'm sure there are bound to be movies coming up here and there not mentioned in the list.

Another one - Casino Royale, the next James Bond movie. The amount of publicity surrounding this movie is crazy. I was just checking out the site craignotbond.com which some people have set up to request all Ian Fleming fans to boycott the movie coming out in November 2006.

There's also talk that the sequel to that comes out in 2007 - to mark the new direction of the 007 (Agent 007, Year 2007 - see the connection?) franchise. All the complaints I've read have been pretty amusing - Daniel Craig is too blonde, he's too short, he's too ugly. They said he would be more suited to play a villain who gets killed in the opening sequence instead of the main character.....

The same site said that he was too "skinny" at one point but then in another article - it said that he was now "too buff". Alot of them wanted Pierce Brosnan back.

Reading the site, I managed to dig up some interesting tidbits of information. For example:

a) Casino Royale is not a version of the novel but a reboot. Apprarently, the character will not be the same James Bond that everyone knows and loves(??). The character's history will be different - he will be 28 years old in the movie, a rookie secret agent I suppose.

b) The number 007 - the zeroes actually denote the number of people he had to kill to get promoted to his current "rank" 007. One "0" denotes one man killed. I've read abit of the spoilers describing how that will be in the movie's introduction.

I might not be a James Bond fan #1 so sue me. It is interesting information nonetheless. And for the guys, apparently there's quite a bit of nudity as well. On a sidenote, I also recall reading that there will be a torture scene (I think it was supposed to be 007 who's tortured) involving testicles and a carpet beater! Whatever the hell that is - I have no idea.

Personally - I don't really care about Daniel Craig being the new James Bond. If the movie doesn't suck - I'm all good. Here's a surprise, according to this source, fans are delighted with the new teaser poster.

Fan reaction to the poster has been universally positive, with many on the CBn forum praising its "air of sophistication" and "class". Words such as "amazing" and a million various synonyms have been bandied about and one member even outed it as "probably the best Bond poster since...well, I don't think that they've ever made a Bond poster as good as this one".

Diehard fans always have something to complain about. I don't remember anyone making a big fuss when they got Val Kilmer and George Clooney to play Batman. Or did I miss that?

They complained about Batman having armor in the movies (not specifically the armour but I believe there was a big fuss over the nipples on the armour itself), they complained about the X-Men wearing leather suits instead of skin-tight spandex. There's an online comic that I've been reading called "Shortpacked" about toys! The comic poking fun of the comic adaptation movies is somewhere in there.

Movie Wolverine (left) and Comic Wolverine (right)

I've been let down.....

TGIF's 1 Utama - you've disappointed me on so many levels yesterday. Yes - I finally had TGIF's again after god knows how many months and I end up being disappointed.

First - a few months back, they were having this set meal promotion for RM 39.90. There was this main course called the "Mardi Gras Special" which was actually rice and fish with a special buttery-sauce. Well - the promotion's ended. No more "Mardi Gras Special". Instead, the replacement main courses in the new set menu isn't really that interesting anymore. Maybe I've got to try something else the next time.

We had the 3-chilli Fried Calamari (something tells me to stay away from anything with the word "3-chilli" in it. The last time we had the 3-chilli Wings - it was nothing to shout about either) for starters. BBQ Chicken Breast (again, nothing really special) for the main course and Chocolate Malted Turtle for dessert.

I ordered the Mushrooms, Chicken, Mushrooms - the chicken tasted kinda dry. I really must try something else next time. Maybe that was too much chicken in a day (speaking of chicken - KFC for dinner today! arghh - but I think even KFC tasted better than what I had at TGIF's!)

But the worst part of the visit was - I found a piece of plastic as I was eating my Cheddar Mashed Potatoes. It was probably a piece of the microwave container that was broken and got mixed in with the mash. Thankfully - no injuries to the mouth.

Thought by pointing it out to the waiter, I'd get some sort of discount or something. No such luck. Maybe I should've kicked up a bigger fuss! Should've gotten the manager or something. Maybe I'm just being too tolerant.

Window shopping is no longer safe - saw so many things that I want to get. A new pair of Nike Cortez with black and bits of neon yellow/green on it.

First time I got my hands on the iPod Nano as well. Alot smaller than I expected. Wouldn't mind having one of these if I had the cash to spare.

Of course - there were some toys as well. Maybe time to go for another shopping spree!

It was off to watch the 6pm screening of "Mission: Impossible 3". It wasn't too bad - different from the previous installment. There seems to be less emphasis on action and more drama this time around. I enjoyed it. Go catch it!

2 days of annual leave gone just like that - could have done so much more with it but the rest I get is very much welcome.

The department gathering will be held later on tonight at Sri Hartamas. Plus I got invited to the ex-departments annual dinner/gathering too. Not going for that one because:

a) Its going to be held somewhere in KL. I think they told me it was Chorus Hotel (did I get the spelling right?)
b) It costs RM 50 for the ticket and its going to be Chinese food

Most of you know I absolutely hate driving down to KL - I just hate it. Second point, RM 50 for Chinese food!?!? I don't have much faith in balls, proms and annual dinners - the food normally ends up being a disappointment.

I guess I've learnt my lessons, and pretty expensive lessons they are. I remember one of the old college annual dinners - we paid about RM 70 for tickets, I had a suit tailored for the event etc. The conclusion? We should've used the RM 70 and gone down to Planet Hollywood for a decent meal with cash to spare for drinks!

MO asked me if I was going to attend the dinner with the ex department as she overheard G and M inviting me on Tuesday night. I told her I wasn't going to - and she playfully told me that she was glad that I'm loyal to the current department. Have I unknowingly joined the triad/mafia/gang? Loyalty and whatnot! :p

I'm on Google!!!!!

While searching for some pictures - I found this blog on Google! If you search for Masterpiece MP-01, you'll find me on page 4. 11,600 matches on Google and I'm on page 4! Do I get a prize or something?

Met up with PF today. Decided to have lunch at The Curve. Went to Thai Express and I had the Pineapple Fried Rice. Ordered the Thai Fried Chicken with Pineapple but the waiter forgot to inform me that that they had run out of the sauce. The rice wasn't too bad - I will go back there and order that if I have to.

After a little browsing around for Nikes - they had the shoes but not the size. Stopped by Borders too. It was the first time I had been to the one at The Curve. Berjaya Times Square has a much better selection since its so much bigger. I know where to go if I ever decided to complete my Lord Of The Rings: Extended Edition DVD Collection. They had a few more copies of Return Of The King in the display case. They are having a sale too - 10% off DVDs and most of their other stuff. And they had quite a few copies of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith as well! Restocks maybe? It was so difficult to locate before!

Then it was off to Paddington's House of Pancakes. Had the chocolate roll again. 2 crepes stuffed with peanut butter, Belgian chocolate chips and a chocolate sauce. They ran out of chocolate ice cream so I went for the strawberry. I must go back to try some of the other stuff on the menu. One that caught my eye had 2 cheese sausages, fried mozzarella. Anything with cheese is a winner for me! Just reading the description made my mouth water.

It's back to work tomorrow - Happy Labour Day! Or what's left of it.....

They don't make them like they used to.....

Mr. K was nice enough to send me a sms after the auction ended to tell me no one else outbid me. That meant I could actually take the MP-01 out of its plastic wrapped box. It was like being 10 years old again - opening Christmas presents. Come to think of it - we never celebrated Christmas and I hardly got good presents for Christmas. It was more like opening up my birthday presents. Like the time when I got my first G1 Optimus Prime. Or the time when I got my first die-cast Voltron set.

I opened the package carefully and slowly - taking care not to damage it in anyway. I don't know who wrapped the box up in transparent plastic wrapper (the kinds I used to wrap my school text and excercise books with) but I guess it was a wise thing to do.

I've read people complain about twist ties on this thing to secure it in but I thought it was all exaggeration. Until I had the task to remove the twist ties myself. I should actually snap some pics when I am in the mood to do so.

TAKARA were also pretty generous with their plastic wrapping as the cardboard tray inside the box was also wrapped in plastic wrap! The reason the tray was protected was because it can actually be folded into a trailer for Optimus Prime.

After removing Prime from the plastic shell that protected the toy - it was time to examine it. The thing was solid with die-cast legs and parts of the body was die-cast metal as well. The plastic used seems pretty solid. Well - for RM 600 it'd better be! Quality wise - its fantastic - no complaints there. I'm sure it will last a long time.

Who would've thought that it would take an hour to actually transform a stupid toy?!?!? That's about the amount of time I spent trying to figure out how to change the MP-01 from robot-mode to truck-mode. Sure, the diagrams in the instruction manual do help a little but I don't read Japanese so there are some steps which requires a little guess work plus some trial and error.

All in all - from the instruction manual, it showed about 20+ steps to transform Prime from robot to truck. 20 fucking steps! Apparently, it was designed in such a way that it mimics the transformation of the cartoon version of the character. Whatever. And I don't remember there being an instruction manual with the first version. Maybe there was but it was negligible.

I remember my old Prime - I'd say there was only about 5 steps or so to transform him:
1) Flip head 180 degrees into the body
2) Bend elbows to 90 degree angle, move shoulders back and slide arms into waist
3) Push toes 90 degrees downwards then flip the legs at the waist 90 degrees backwards

There - only 3 steps, slightmore if you want to count each individual step. None of the twisting and rotating that is on MP-01. But hey what the hell - it looks fantastic on my desk/shelf.

Honestly, how can you compare G1(left) and MP-01 (right)!!!!!
There is no comparison. PERIOD!

Another guy on the forum was having some promotions right up to the 30th of April. The Binaltechs and the Galaxy Convoy were cheap! RM 119 for Binaltech and RM 169 for Galaxy Convoy GC-01.

I was thinking about it long and hard - thinking if I really should. In the end - I couldn't restrain myself and decided to go get them. I managed to locate the shop in Section 17, PJ. Imagine, a shop selling computers and accessories which also sells toys! What's going on?

Spoke to Mr.K (another Mr.K) and found out that Galaxy Convoy GC-01 was sold out because it was cheap. I've seen some on EBAY going for RM 270. Who or what the fuck is Galaxy Convoy? I can always go for the American HASBRO version but Mr.K told me that there have been complaints that the HASBRO version has looser joints compared to the Japanese TAKARA versions.

There's a new Transformers series that's out called Transformers - Cybertron. Galaxy Convoy is actually the latest version of Optimus Prime that transforms into a futuristic fire truck.

I also saw the Generation 1 Optimus Prime that I used to have - except that this was the Japanese re-issue and it costs RM 550!

Finally, I settled for Laserwave (Mazda RX-8 Mazda Speed II version) and Prowl (Honda Integra Type-R) at RM 119 each. There are other places that forces customers to buy the blue version of Prowl plus the Police Car version of Prowl as a set for RM 400!

Laserwave (Mazda RX-8)



Prowl (Integra Type-R) - Vivid Blue version

So after all these - what next?

Met up with JC and NA at Bangsar yesterday. We've been trying to meet up with NA for a long time. The last time I saw here was before I left for Melbourne. TL was supposed to be there as well. Called him but he never answered. Didn't reply my SMS as well.


Funny how things turned out - I thought that JC had left for Brunei because he didn't reply the last SMS I sent him. He actually lost his phone and contacts. NA decided to have dinner at La Bodega. Horror - bumped into 2 AVPs from work there, IS and MS! Never expected to see them there.

I thought I never had that before but I found out today that I had in fact tried their Paella before.

The food was good, service was great. Price - extorbitant! But I guess that's Bangsar for you.

Our large orders looked like a small that we had to get a waiter to confirm that it was indeed a large order. RM 30 for 2 sticks of kebabs about 3 inches long? If that was the large serving, I can't imagine what the small would be. In the end, we split the bill 3-ways and it came up to about RM 50 each including a couple of drinks each.

For that price - I'd rather go to Chilli's or TGIF's and have a hearty meal thank you very much!

I'm currently on this protein shake diet. Meal replacement to be precise and I only have 2 meals a day - one of which, the protein shake, is just pure liquids.

I've been on it for about a month now. Every morning - I blend 2 green apples, milk, yoghurt, lemon-lime crystals, 9 vitamin pills, protein powder and vanilla. The drink takes me almost an hour to prepare with the peeling and cutting of the apples. The taste is palatable. Not too bad if I say so myself, especially if I use chocolate milk. I have a mug of this when I get up in the morning and I don't need anything until dinner time at about 7:30pm at work everyday.

It's to help to lose weight and it seems to be working alright so far. I hope it works! My pants seem to be loose around the waist. Previously, I could do without a belt but these days, I think the belt is a must. The point of this is not to show that the diet is working - but to emphasize how much I miss regular solid food!

When I went out with KC last weekend, we had dinner at Chilli's and I ordered the Monterey Chicken. Sure, the chicken was coated with a piece of bacon and cheese topped with BBQ sauce and chopped tomatoes. But when I had a taste of the mash potatoes - damn, mashed potatoes never tasted so good in my life!

I've been sticking to this protein shake diet but I must go back to TGIF's or Chilli's once in awhile. That is a promise I will make to myself.