Weekly Halloween: Make mine Monster

 

As we're heading into the Spooky Summer, Marvel Mech Strike is taking a rather nasty turn. Mech Strike Monster Hunters is the new expression of the line that's taken my attention completely by storm. I was already enjoying Mech Strike (I do need to get a few more toys though) and seeing it go whole hog into a monster theme is just wonderful. Dr. Doom is using the 'Eye of the Kraken' to give himself some ghoulish new powers that he's shared with his fellow evil companions. The Marvel Heroes have no choice but to use the Eye of Kraken on themselves to combat this threat! Now their mech suit enhancements are full of supernatural powers! 

The delightfully monstery new toys are wonderful. There's a range of action figures, role playing toys, Funko pops, and other merchandise with this cool mix of monsters and mechs. I'm mainly here for the action figures, but maybe tempted by other stuff as it's all so cool. The larger mech suits have changed since normal Mech Strike. Instead of a pilot figure that fits inside the suit, the line features larger mech versions of the characters. I'm not complaining though as the toys are solid. The addition of horror really ads something, and not just because I'm crazy about this stuff. It almost has a Ultraman slant that works pretty well. I could definitely see a tokusatsu show based on this.

The bad guys are obviously the more monster flavored, while the heroes have a more knight like appearance. I see a lot of Lovecraft in the designs of the bad guys. I'm sure that's the idea, the Eye of the Kraken (itself used in gaming before) does hint at ancient evils. With some of Lovecrafts works not aging very well (it was a different time and can be rough sometimes) I'm sure Disney/Marvel would like to keep potential problems from popping up. There's a comic as there was with Mech Strike. I haven't read any of it, but may. Personally I like my little head cannon that I've formed. Which is really just the lines basic description but with zombies and skeletons. I'm a little ridiculous. 

Avengers Assemble Mech Suits

I saw the damnedest thing Saturday morning. The wife and I made a quick run to Walmart for a few things and whilst looking around the toy section hoping to find a Mechagodzilla (man that movie sold some toys) I saw something new. Avengers MECHSTRIKE! There was NERF role play themed toys and two of these new MECH suit sets. Captain America and Ironman. I grabbed a Captain America as I was just blown away by it all. 

A quick Google search later and I discovered MECHSTRIKE is a new major event in Marvel comics that's getting a bunch of merchandising including these new toys I found. My days of heavily reading comics has been over for awhile, so I had no clue. The action figure line though has really captured my interest. There's the MECH suit sets I've mentioned as well as regular action figures. The standard figures have a more sci fi look to them to fit the theme and have nifty shields that I'm sure play into the story.

There's an obvious comparison to Transformers Pretenders when you first look at the toy, but it's a little different. The front opens with a hinge on the top of the suits head and you load the figure in. The figures arms hang out the sides of the suit as well. That's not a deal breaker for me, but maybe for some.The figure is pleasantly articulated and you can put it into a bunch of poses. The suit... not so much. It has basic articulation in the shoulders and elbows. Once again that might be a deal breaker for some, but once again not for me. I really liked my Captain America MECHSTRIKE toy and plan to get more.

There's a variety of ports on the suit, so I assume the idea is to attach things from other toys and deck out your MECH. This isn't the first time Marvel characters have been given this type of gimmick and it usually works well with them. The figures are the 6" scaled figures more recent Marvel figures have been, which has resonated well with me. In the suit, the toy is 9" and is pretty beefy. It's cool and even in it's simplicity manages to grab a lot of attention. It's that cross of bright colors, manga/sci fi theming, and well loved characters. So far I think it's pretty great. You may have noticed.

Captain America and the Avengers attract mode

Like many of you I'm excited for Avengers Endgame this weekend (tickets for Sunday morning woo!), which has me thinking back to the old Data East Captain America and the Avengers arcade game. I still remember the first time I played it. It was Halloween night in 1991. I was in the eight grade (same day as the Terminator 2 make up kit with horror robe *sigh*) and that night Mom took my brother and I to Pizza Hut and Fun Putt.

Fun Putt was a local amusement type place (the fun) with mini golf (that would be the putt), go-carts, batting cages, and an excellent arcade. It was there that I discovered the game and sunk a ton of quarters into it. Later the arcade at my local mall (my beloved Gold Mine Arcade... I'll morn ya till I jorn ya) got a machine which I put many quarters into as well. Later the home version came out and the local Blockbuster was all too happy to provide a copy for one great weekend. I hope it's on one of the upcoming Marvel Blast consoles from At Games, that'd be freaking amazing.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Ok, I'm sold.