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Review – Jurassic World Tyrannosaurus Rex Lockdown Playset

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As you might have guessed from my last Jurassic World toy review, I am a Jurassic Park fan, and a T. Rex fan. And while most of the toys from the current Jurassic World toyline didn’t interest me, a few did. The first one being the Chomping T Rex I previously reviewed, and the second being the T. Rex lockdown playset that I will be looking at this time.

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The first part of this set is a T. Rex figure that is just a repackaged Basher and Biter T. Rex. It has the same paint, the same terrible proportions, and the same poor gimmick. I’m not as bothered by the many easily visible screw-holes as others seem to be, but they are a mark of getting a lesser quality product. Overall, it’s a disappointing figure that I wouldn’t have purchased on its own. It does offer some play value with its head biting and thrashing gimmick (this is accomplished by moving the tail) but there are too many faults to catch up on. At least it is almost the right size to look like a juvenile next to the larger Tyrannosaurus figure.

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The other parts of the set that are not the fence are even more disappointing. The gyrosphere is really bad. It is a small sphere of plastic with a cardboard cutout of a person inside. And there seems to be a problem in the manufacturing/packaging of this product that scratches each ball in the same place (though this could be dino-damage, another thing Jurassic park toys have been doing forever that I’m not really a fan of). I just wish this set had come with a human figure to get eaten, even if he was one of the little dinky figures the rest of the line came with, instead of this ball of plastic that can barely be played with and almost (if not entirely) breaks the suspension of disbelief in toys. The other thing is the net launcher, a weird looking hook with a spring that you put a piece of rubber on and fling it across the room. I guess it’s relatively safe and it will knock the dinos down, but it won’t look like you “captured” them with a net. Still I can almost see it being a fun toy to mess with; I just wish they had used that plastic to go toward something better. If they had combined the gyrosphere and net launcher plastic and made a better version of one or the other I would be happy, but here I’m just disappointed. Both of these items went back into the box.

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And finally, there is the good part of the set, and it doesn’t disappoint (for the price and size of the set at least): the fence and gate. Both of them look like redone (and slightly smaller) versions of the Jurassic Park gate that came with the command compound all of those years ago. It’s more film accurate to the Jurassic Park original than the sequel, but it looks quite nice, and the logo sticker is well done. The gate itself is smaller so older vehicles won’t fit through, and while the fences are smaller they are more solidly built, and it seems like this set should stand up to play pretty well. Some of the assembly points for the gate might be weak, but they are still stronger than the older version. There is also a secondary gate with a silly gimmick for the gyrosphere to smash through. It looks good when stood up, but I think the “shock” gimmick could have been improved. Still, it’s a decent play feature. The fences and gates are pretty well sized to keep the small bashers and biters figures in, but not really any of the larger ones.

I should mention at this point that I didn’t pay the MSRP of $25-$30, I paid $20 for this set. And, as a collector, I think the fences and gate were worth the money. But I’m not sure I would pay an extra $5-$10 for all of the rest of the junky plastic in the box. The dinosaur, gyroshpere, and net launcher are sub-par toys and display pieces, and the fence is a bit smaller than I think it really should be. I still don’t regret the purchase. I like it, and most collectors know of the problems with the Jurassic World toyline. As a toy for kids it would highly depend on the kid whether or not the set is worth it. It’s just bordering the price line where exactly how much they will like it really counts. Fun can be had with the set, but I might look elsewhere first for higher-quality toys. And as for collectors, I’d recommend waiting to get a deal on this one. It is one of the two pieces of the Jurassic World toys I would say are essential for fans, though, and maybe a little expense is justified.

 

Review – Sharpie Colors Part 1 Neutrals – Black, Brown, Slate Gray

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I’ve taken a look at several of Sharpie’s products in the past, from their regular markers to pens and liquid pencil. But their main product comes in a large variety of colors I have not yet covered. I received a gift of a set of 24 Sharpie pens some time ago, but haven’t looked at them until now due to the fact that I didn’t know what the colors actually were. Sharpie and several other well-known pen brands are notorious for not having their colors easy to identify, so this series took more research than usual. I will say that I might not have identified all of the colors correctly, so if you see something that seems like it has been misidentified here, please leave a comment and I will reevaluate it.

With that said, let’s get to the pens.

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The first set I’m going to look at is the neutrals. There are only a few, which makes sense. But these are some of the most useful: they show on many surfaces, are not an eyesore in general, and are workplace appropriate.

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Black – Black is the gold standard Sharpie color (except for the actual gold ones) and it is very good. It is quite dark and professional. It does have a tendency to shade as most dark inks do, but if gone over a second time there are no problems. It’s pretty waterproof (they all are so I won’t mention that again), has almost no spreading or feathering, and is tied for the least show/bleed-through with navy. It’s a great, well writing color, but it can be a bit dry.

Brown – Next is brown, a color that doesn’t seem that popular (but I’ve ended up with a few, take that as you will). It is a very dark brown, distinct from black in even poor lighting, but it looks more like a gray in that case. It is also fairly dry, and thus feather- and bleed-resistant, though not as much as the black. It’s good for sorting, but not for art, really.

Slate Gray – I don’t know where the trend of having “slate gray” be standard gray started, but it continues here. This is a “just over the dark line” gray. It’s not a very natural color, and isn’t even something you’d really see in a city. It is very wet and really does feather and bleed, meaning it’s not the greatest for use on thinner paper. It is almost the same on both sides in that case, and it even goes through card stock a bit. I’d say it holds the title as wettest, and is just a boring color.

And that’s the neutral colors. They’re good for office use, and for sorting things by color, but for art applications they are limited. Next time I’ll take a look at a few of the blues Sharpie offers.

Review – Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen Brush Manga 6 Color Set

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I’m not a Manga artist. And I usually don’t use color in my art. Mostly because it’s hard, like using brush pens is hard. What I’m trying to say is that my perspective on this particular set of art implements might not be the view of the average person who might find them very useful. With that said, let’s take a look at this set of Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens, the Manga 6 Color Brush set.

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The pens themselves are fairly plain. There is an indication of the size (“B” for brush, in this case) on the top of the cap. The cap has a set of groves running around it with a shiny finished top and clip. The clip is the same piece of plastic as the cap and does its job in an unspectacular way. The body is straight until the very end, which protrudes as a fluted section for posting, at which it’s effective. The body contains all of the needed information in several languages, which makes it seems a bit too crowded, but I can’t really complain. The section is slightly textured, which is wonderful; it isn’t slippery or uncomfortable. After that is a tapering section for the cap seal and the brush point itself. The cap seals and holds well onto this point.

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The brushes themselves aren’t of the bristle variety, but are more like a flexible porous point. This makes them much less finicky, and better for a disposable item like this one, as they would wear out faster than a bristle brush. Their flexibility is nice, going from a medium point to one several millimeters wide with relative ease, and they can be bent to some pretty severe angles without any long-term damage being done. The amount of ink they lay down is good. It increases with the pressure on the tip, and makes a full line. At times it skirts on “not enough”, and layering will definitely change the color significantly. Sharp turns with the lighter colors will leave a darker area on the corner. On office paper this amount of ink will bleed though, especially at the ends, but on cardstock there is barely show through.

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The six colors themselves are a decent selection, but not great: Dark Naples Ochre is a nice, natural looking yellow. Orange glaze is a bit pale and not really a color that is found in many places. Pink Carmine is a bit too dark and is hard to use. Purple Violet, besides having a redundant name, is dark and pleasant, but again not very natural. Phthalo Blue is a great looking lake or ocean blue, but is a bit dark for most uses, and Permanent Green Olive is quite dark and olive, which is more suited to deeply forested areas or jungle than to plains or some more common areas. Still, the colors interact with each other very well, and they dry fast, but do mix on the paper, meaning one can get interesting color combinations while still having their pens keep relatively clean.

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Overall, the set is a good set to introduce oneself to the Pitt artist brush pens. It has a nice simple selection of colors that allows for experimentation and can be used for the base of a larger set. But I certainly wouldn’t consider it a complete set for creating an art work. Many more colors would be needed, and more tailored to one’s specific purpose. For instance, there is very little here to make skin tones with, which would be very important in Manga. They’re very good pens, but the set is incomplete.

Addendum: I failed to mention the water/smear proofing of these pens when I first completed this post. Both of which are very good. When interacting with other inks or materials the lines generally stay solid, which is good for resilience but bad for blending. When hit with water the lines don’t move, but they do bleed a tiny bit of pigment.

Review – Bull & Stash Notebook Travel Stash

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Bull & Stash was a kickstarter for a notebook company that I only found out about because my brother was excited about it. The particular product he was looking at still hasn’t entered regular production, but I figured I’d test out one and see if they were any good in general.

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The basic idea is that the notebooks have removable pages. This way, different types of paper can be used, and notes can be organized after they’re written, both inside and outside the notebook. This is accomplished by having two posts on the back of the notebook that have removable screws to allow paper to be put in an out.

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The cover is a simple slab of supple leather with two holes in the back, and a logo stamped on the front. I’ve seen some complaints that the logo is stamped unevenly, and while it is on mine this doesn’t bother me. The cover did have an unsightly curl when I first received it (the back and front didn’t match up) but this has gone away with use. On the inside, the hardware is simple, and it screws down a flimsy cardboard piece with a place for basic lost and found information. Inside this is the paper. Around 40-45 pages can fit in at a time, but I’d recommend fewer. The cardboard and leather cover do provide enough stability to write on in most situations, but I wouldn’t be taking long notes or more than a few without a stable writing surface. The cardboard is also prone to bending, decreasing the stability over time.

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The paper is all right. It is fairly bleed resistant, but prone to feathering inks. The graph and lined refills are only printed on one side, which is fine by me because I only use one, but others might find it annoying. It would be difficult to use both sides in this book, though, because the hardware makes flipping through pages difficult. I’d remove the first few pages regularly to prevent them from being destroyed, and I can say that writing on the back of a page is almost impossible. The hardware also cramps the writing space. If things were a little smaller I’d be more happy.

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In the end, it’s a solid first attempt. It seems more like a portfolio builder, though, and I don’t know how supported the books will be. There are little inconsistencies and design problems that make me shy away from recommending the books. It’s not worth the current asking price to me if the cardboard and stamp quality aren’t fixed. And the edges of the notebook aren’t finished very well, leading to a very strange appearance. It definitely will last a long time: the leather and steel hardware aren’t going anywhere. But it just seems like the designers dropped the ball a little bit. It’s almost too simple and feels like it’s slapped together from existing items. Maybe my problems with the hardware are solved in the larger version, but I doubt it. Until a more usable and better finished version is released, I’d hold off.

Review – Autopoint All American

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There are tons of pencils out there, but sometimes the old designs just call to me. And they still work very well. It’s hard to beat some of the most simple writing utensils in many cases. The Autopoint All American is not the simplest of pencils, but it is quite a classic and simple design that works very well.

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The top of the pencil is a hard, but functional, eraser held in by a metal sheath; removing this allows for access to the lead storage area. There is a metal collar that holds the clip just down from that, followed by the faceted barrel with 10 sides. This continues until the break for the twist mechanism, at which point the tip tapers down to the point of the lead. The only information is the lead size and brand on the clip, which is quite hard to read, and leaves me wishing the model name was somewhere.

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The mechanism is a simple wire-twist one that is a bit stiff to use. Once lead is inserted, one can twist to the right to advance the lead, or twist to the left and push on a hard surface to retract it. While stiff, the mechanism is quite solid, and the lead is held firmly in place. I have a .9 lead size version (in blue) and the lead is large enough that breaking isn’t very common anyway, and I haven’t found it to be a problem. The lead included is fairly standard in and of itself.

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It’s a good pencil with a classic design. The mechanism isn’t the easiest to use but it’s robust and sturdy. The pencil itself has a very utilitarian look and feel that I quite like. It feels like many of the classic pencils I have. So for those looking for a classic, rugged pencil design, this is one to look out for.