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Brawling Over Hot Wheels Toys

Posted by frikafrax on May 31, 2009 2 comments

It's a sad fact that some toy collectors are willing to get into physical fights over toys!   Pathetic!

It's these kinds of collectors who perpetuate the image that people involved in the hobby are losers with no lives.   There are things in this world worth fighting for and toys isn't one of them.

Here's a recent story that was recounted by Sickman on the Spawn.com toy forums

Sickman:

I had some down time between service calls today so I stopped at a TRU to kill some time.

I got there like five minutes before they opened.   I was sitting in my work van listening to the radio waiting for them to open.   I see a couple of parents with their kids and like four or five older looking dudes waiting at the door.

I noticed that the four dudes were very anxiously waiting for the doors to open. 10:02 rolls around and they still haven't opened the doors. One of the dudes starts banging on the door.

They opened the Exit doors first and when they opened the Entrance doors two of the four dudes ran for the Exit door and the other two ran into the Entrance. I was laughing to myself that these must be "Scalpers" that I have heard so much about.

I get to the sports aisle and I hear all this commotion coming from a couple of aisles away. I follow the noise and see two grown men fist fighting over the Hotwheels!!

The two other guys were just watching and not saying anything.   A couple of TRU employees make their way over to try and break them up.   They separated them and then they went right back at each other.     They knocked a bunch of toys of the pegs and trashed an end display, knocking a bunch of the 12" Batman's over.

I was tripping out, I couldn't believe these idiot's were fighting in a toy store.   There were kids and parents watching.

I decided to step in and grabbed one dude in a full nelson and the TRU employee got control of the other idiot.     I kinda lost it and was telling this guy what an idiot he is and that he's lucky I didn't smash him to the surface right there.

They called the police and I took off before they asked me to stick around. It was unbelievable!

"Unbelievable" is right!   Two grown men fighting over toy cars! Talk about completely losing perspective!

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised...   People have fought and been killed over much more trivial matters.

It's stories such as these that make me think we should push the button and nuke the entire planet and let a more worthy species evolve to take our place.

Still Alive!

Posted by frikafrax on April 3, 2009 Post a comment

We haven't updated in a couple of months but we are still alive.

We're trying to track down a technical problem with WordPress and/or this host before we start any sort of publishing on a regular basis.   Since the solution may require a radical change to the blog, it's best not to load it up with new content at this point in time.

Just letting people know this blog hasn't been orphaned. :-)

Slow But Not Dead!

Posted by frikafrax on January 9, 2009 Post a comment

Trapped in Plastic hasn't been updated regularly but that doesn't mean we're dead. :-)

A good portion of the new content planned for Trapped In Plastic is dependant on getting a number of build projects off the ground, and those projects in turn, require some substantial preparation.

It may be a little while before things get rolling, but they will get rolling nonetheless!

Tough Times

Posted by frikafrax on December 21, 2008 Post a comment

With the economy in the condition that it is, as well as my personal situation, I won't be able to blog as much about collectibles as I'd like.

It looks like I'll have to shift the focus of Trapped in Plastic to show case more personal projects.     Although the shift in focus may not result in more frequent postings, I believe the posts will be more informative and hopefully be of more value to any readers that wander in.

New Full Scale Alien Facehugger from HLJ

Posted by frikafrax on December 7, 2008 Post a comment
1:1 scale Facehugger

1:1 scale Facehugger

Hobbylink Japan is now taking pre-orders for a new full scale Facehugger creature from the ALIEN franchise.

According to the ad, this facehugger is over 85cm (33.46 inches) long   The price isn't bad too at around $16 USD!

Facehugger by Halcyon

Facehugger by Halcyon

Many years ago, Halcyon released a 1:1 scale Facehugger soft vinyl kit as part of their Movie Classics kit line.

I had purchased it a long time ago but it's yet to be built.   Ha!   The story of my hobby life...)

Since it's made out of very soft vinyl, I had ambitions of making it articulated so it could be posed.   But without machining tools and experience, I can't make the kind of joints that I wanted, so the project was put on the back-burner.

Upon seeing the pre-built Facehugger, I got the idea that, instead of using mechanical joints, I'd braid the copper wires inside the 3-wire sheathed household electrical wiring cable to make one larger, thicker cable.

This thicker cable would then be wrapped with pipe wrap (made of soft, self-adhering rubber used to stop leaks) with another layer of tape (perhaps Tuck tape) to ensure the pipe wrap doesn't unravel.

This bundled cable will have the strength to hold a pose while still maintaining a suitable degree of flexibility.

Due to metal fatigue, this type of inner skeleton wouldn't be suitable for constant posing and re-posing.   But this is a kit for display, not a toy, so the metal fatigue shouldn't be a problem.

I'd still work on my Halcyon kit but that new 1:1 scale Facehugger is really tempting, especially at that price tag of approx. $16 before shipping!

Cautionary Article about Harbor Freight

Posted by frikafrax on November 13, 2008 Post a comment

Harbor Freight is a well known discount tool and workshop supply chain in the U.S..   Unfortunately in many instances, you get what you pay for.

Here's a blog entry from ToolCrib.com where the author explains what is safe, and not safe to buy from Harbor Freight.

Pressurized Paint Pot

Pressurized Paint Pot

I'm posting it here on this hobby blog since Harbor Freight pressure paint pots are often suggested as being an inexpensive pressure casting vessel for squeezing the bubbles out of casting rubbers and compounds.

However, people have reported that the hinges on the Harbor Freight paint pots have failed, resulting in the lid flying off with explosive force.

Incidents involved the lid going through a ceiling; another, through a wall.   Typically, these pots are pressurized to 40 PSI to 70 PSI depending on the type of pot purchased and the casting needs.

I was considering buying a pressure pot from Harbor Freight.   The price is certainly attractive enough.   But I think I'd opt for a more expensive but better made product for the same reason I spent more money for a decent desiccator.

Better to spend a little more money and be safe than try to save a little on a do-it-yourself job that may fail without warning, requiring you to rebuild/replace thus negating any savings, and risk possibly severe consequences.

I've heard that Alumilite sells a decent pressurized paint pot for casting.

Remote Controlled Land Raider

Posted by frikafrax on November 10, 2008 Post a comment

Things have been slow lately.   With the economy the way it is, I've drastically cut down on my spending.

I've yet to set up my work station for modeling projects so I don't have anything to report in that respect either.   Ugh! :P   I really should try and get moving on that...

Here's a   video showing a remote controlled 4-up Land Raider tank from Warhammer 40,000 that someone scratchbuilt.   Rotating turrets, running lights, flashing gun barrels, the works!   An amazing project!

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