[Joe Moore]

Castlevania Select Series 1 Figures by Diamond Select Toys - Toyark Photo Shoot

[Ant]

Hi, i just got my Alucard and Trevor yesterday, and yeah the finger thing is a common problem. Of the four hands that hold daggers, two of them are glued in and can be peeled off. I was missing the big cape, that would have been cool, and the pale of water should have a disk of blue at the top going off the previews. But overall i'm impressed.

[Dolemite]

I really appreciate this review and photo gallery, as I saw that these were out but there was no info on them and their quality. Glad to hear that they're all solid releases, but yeah, I knew that there was no way that Sypha's elbows were bending for shit after taking one look at those joints. Do they even bend at all?

Speaking of elbows, how much range do you get out of Alucard and Trevor? The pics in the review look like they really don't go much past 90 degrees, but I just wanted to confirm. I mean, can Alucard do 2-handed sword poses?

As for the lack of double-jointed elbows, you'll notice that while the solicitation images do indeed have them, they're also lacking bicep swivels. I assume that Diamond Select compromised and went with single-jointed elbows an bicep swivels instead? Who knows?

Bigger bummer regarding Trevor's lack of cape, rolled-up whips, and gripping hands. As for the hands, does it look like it was supposed to come with gripping hands but they forgot to include them with the specific figure you got (QC issue), or is this affecting the entire run?

Anyway, great review, Joe. You always deliver the goods.

BTW, fun piece of trivia about the show, which I just started watching (and am currently loving)- despite looking like traditional Anime, it's actually a 100% American-made production, from the writer (Warren Ellis, who earned permanent godhood for Nextwave: Agents of HATE alone) to the animation studio (some outfit in Texas, of all places). Really impressive stuff, and as a huge Castlevania: Symphony of the Night fan, it's so cool seeing Alucard in action.

[Harbinger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Really impressive stuff, and as a huge Castlevania: Symphony of the Night fan, it's so cool seeing Alucard in action.

I love the insults and barbs trevor and alucard are constantly trading.

[snake5289]

Vampire Killer intensifies...

[Harbinger]

If only diamond would release a vampire hunter d figure.

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbinger

I love the insults and barbs trevor and alucard are constantly trading.

"Eat shit and die."

"Yes, fuck you."

Then they both laugh and sit down. I love it.

[GizmoTron]

I skipped the Castlevania figures from years back and have regretted it since, so even though I'm not 100% a fan of the looks from this series I still may get them before I one day regret missing out again.

[Joe Moore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

I really appreciate this review and photo gallery, as I saw that these were out but there was no info on them and they quality. Glad to hear that they're all solid releases, but yeah, I know that there was no way that Sypha's elbows were bending for shit after taking one look at those joints. Do they even bend at all?

Speaking of elbows, how much range do you get out of Alucard and Trevor? The pics in the review look like they really don't go much past 90 degrees, but I just wanted to confirm. I mean, can Alucard do 2-handed sword poses?

As for the lack of double-jointed elbows, you'll notice that while the solicitation images do indeed have them, they're also lacking bicep swivels. I assume that Diamond Select compromised and went with single-jointed elbows an bicep swivels instead? Who knows?

Bigger bummer regarding Trevor's lack of cape, rolled-up whips, and gripping hands. As for the hands, does it look like it was supposed to come with gripping hands but they forgot to include them with the specific figure you got (QC issue), or is this affecting the entire run?

Anyway, great review, Joe. You always deliver the goods.

BTW, fun piece of trivia about the show, which I just started watching (and am currently loving)- despite looking like traditional Anime, it's actually a 100% American-made production, from the writer (Warren Ellis, who earned permanent godhood for Nextwave: Agents of HATE alone) to the animation studio (some outfit in Texas, of all places). Really impressive stuff, and as a huge Castlevania: Symphony of the Night fan, it's so cool seeing Alucard in action.

Elbows get at most 90 degrees on Trevor and Alucard. Sypha’s elbows barely bend at all. There’s not much chance of getting them to hold a sword with both hands, at least not easily.

From what people are saying on social media is the Trevor’s hand issue is on the entire run. Fortunately, those throwing knives come off really easily, it’s a separate piece glued in.

[Dr Kain]

I wish they would do game accurate Castlevania toys like NECA did for 30 seconds a decade ago.

Not a fan of the animated series. I watched the first season and it was so boring and hardly anything like Castlevania. The least they could have done was given the show a gothic rock operatic soundtrack.

[RickyRockstar]

you should continue watching as it gets better, i didn't care too much for the first season but enjoy it more as it went on. i'm also not a "fan" of Castlevania so i dunno if that matters lol

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Not a fan of the animated series. I watched the first season and it was so boring and hardly anything like Castlevania.

Hardly anything like Castlevania? Well, it would have been a pretty boring cartoon if Trevor did nothing but walk from left to right the entire time while whipping at enemies over and over. Obviously they had to expand on things from the NES game this is based on and deliver an actual storyline, which so far seems pretty loyal to the established lore to me.

I mean, it's about Dracula and a guy named Belmont with a whip who fights him and his monsters and it uses Ayami Kojima-style art & character designs, so I fail to see about the inaccuracies you're talking about.

I'm hoping the announced season 3 deals with the Symphony of the Night storyline (it's really the only direction that makes sense given the ending of season 2) so we can possibly get some figures based on that game. Alucard looks fine in season 1 & 2 but I'd really like to have a figure based on his gothic renaissance look from that game. The NECA one released years ago is okay, but it has a lot of shortcomings and it's really expensive on the secondary market.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Hardly anything like Castlevania? Well, it would have been a pretty boring cartoon if Trevor did nothing but walk from left to right the entire time while whipping at enemies over and over. Obviously they had to expand on things from the NES game this is based on and deliver an actual storyline, which so far seems pretty loyal to the established lore to me.

I want to see Trevor actually traverse through Dracula's castle fighting actual Castlevania monsters. Not spend his time sitting in a village dumping exposition with an occassional battle against generic looking Silent Hill creatures.

Quote:

I mean, it's about Dracula and a guy named Belmont with a whip who fights him and his monsters and it uses Ayami Kojima-style art & character designs, so I fail to see about the inaccuracies you're talking about.

Castlevania is supposed to be about a Belmont traveling through a huge castle full of gothic designs, battling various monsters, bosses, acquiring new items, all encompassed by an exceptional gothic rock operatic soundtrack. The animated series was Trevor and Sypha talking to each other and maybe fight a monster every few episodes, and they weren't even actual Castlevania monsters, but like I said, generic creatures. Also, the soundtrack was just generic sounding Netflix music.

This is what Castlevania should sound like:

Quote:

I'm hoping the announced season 3 deals with the Symphony of the Night storyline

That wouldn't make sense to me. The animated series is on Trevor, so they have to do Simon and then Richter before they can cover Symphony of the Night. They're nearly 300 years apart.

As for the NECA figures, yes, they left a lot to be desired. They also never even bothered to at least finish off the cast with Maria and Richter, but they went ahead with a pointless Succubus figure.

[GizmoTron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

I wish they would do game accurate Castlevania toys like NECA did for 30 seconds a decade ago.

Not a fan of the animated series. I watched the first season and it was so boring and hardly anything like Castlevania. The least they could have done was given the show a gothic rock operatic soundtrack.

I understand what you're saying. The show is not a direct adaptation of the games, and takes a little here, a little from there, and then still adds something new.

But not in a bad way, just different. Give the next season a go. The second season does delve more into the lore, though, and they do eventually play a song from the games (although it's likely they really can't use the game music very much because of rights issues and not having Konami themselves involved with production).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Hardly anything like Castlevania? Well, it would have been a pretty boring cartoon if Trevor did nothing but walk from left to right the entire time while whipping at enemies over and over. Obviously they had to expand on things from the NES game this is based on and deliver an actual storyline, which so far seems pretty loyal to the established lore to me.

I mean, it's about Dracula and a guy named Belmont with a whip who fights him and his monsters and it uses Ayami Kojima-style art & character designs, so I fail to see about the inaccuracies you're talking about.

I'm hoping the announced season 3 deals with the Symphony of the Night storyline (it's really the only direction that makes sense given the ending of season 2) so we can possibly get some figures based on that game. Alucard looks fine in season 1 & 2 but I'd really like to have a figure based on his gothic renaissance look from that game. The NECA one released years ago is okay, but it has a lot of shortcomings and it's really expensive on the secondary market.

While getting a SotN styled Alucard would be nice, I don't see them jumping ahead 300 years for the next season. Season 3 will likely involve some adaptation of the PS2/XBox game Curse of Darkness.

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

I want to see Trevor actually traverse through Dracula's castle fighting actual Castlevania monsters. Not spend his time sitting in a village dumping exposition with an occassional battle against generic looking Silent Hill creatures.

Castlevania is supposed to be about a Belmont traveling through a huge castle full of gothic designs, battling various monsters, bosses, acquiring new items, all encompassed by an exceptional gothic rock operatic soundtrack. The animated series was Trevor and Sypha talking to each other and maybe fight a monster every few episodes, and they weren't even actual Castlevania monsters, but like I said, generic creatures.

I get you, but adapting a video game into watchable entertainment obviously isn't easy based on how many shit adaptations there are. You can't base an entire series around Trevor fighting his way through a castle and nothing else every episode, after all; if that's all you want, just play the game. There's gotta be talking and stuff when it comes to TV shows and movies.

Quote:

This is what Castlevania should sound like:

Not going to argue with you there. Castlevania is known for it's totally kick-ass OSTs. I actually own several, and they're all awesome.

Personal favorite of mine, which would have been awesome to hear in the Netflix series:

Quote:

That wouldn't make sense to me. The animated series is on Trevor, so they have to do Simon and then Richter before they can cover Symphony of the Night. They're nearly 300 years apart.

It's called a time jump, dude. I mean, it makes sense to me since Dracula has been killed in the second season (apparently whatever version of vBulletin this forum uses doesn't support spoiler tags. Sorry!). Really nowhere to go based on that fact except into the future, since the games generally deal with Dracula's castle reappearing every 100 years.

Quote:

As for the NECA figures, yes, they left a lot to be desired. They also never even bothered to at least finish off the cast with Maria and Richter, but they went ahead with a pointless Succubus figure.

If I recall, the Succubus wasn't even posable. Well unless you counted her removable top that exposed her boobies as a "pose."

[GizmoTron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Really nowhere to go based on that fact except into the future, since the games generally deal with Dracula's castle reappearing every 100 years.

Except, you know, Curse of Darkness was literally only three years after Castlevania 3 and Dracula returned at the end of that one for what I believe still is his first canonical resurrection, and they have both Hector and Issac in the show already. Plus the hanging plot threads involving them as well as Carmilla (who is already featured in the one promo image so far with some more lady vamps), they have a lot of better stuff they need to do first before they jump all the way to SoTN. But I suppose we'll see in March.

[Joe Moore]

Castlevania Season 3 debuts on March 5th. Netflix announced it today.

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Moore

Castlevania Season 3 debuts on March 5th. Netflix announced it today.

Woah, great news! Thanks Joe!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GizmoTron

Except, you know, Curse of Darkness was literally only three years after Castlevania 3 and Dracula returned at the end of that one for what I believe still is his first canonical resurrection

Yeah, the 100 year rule was bound to get Konami in trouble if they had stuck hard to it...many games in the series have broken this rule, actually. If they didn't, we'd eventually have Belmonts fighting Dracula in space with laser whips and shit like that.

According to a 2010 thread in the The Castlevania Dungeon forum, this is a list of every game in the series that cheated the 100 year rule so far:

Curse of Darkness (1479)
Simon's Quest (1498)
Harmony of Dissonance (1748)
Dracula X/Rondo of Blood (1972)
Symphony of the Night (1797)
Circle of the Moon (1830)
Legacy of Darkness (1844)
Castlevania 64 (1852)
Order of Ecclesia (Mid 1800s)
Bloodlines (1917)
Portrait of Ruin (1944)

[Harbinger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

If they didn't, we'd eventually have Belmonts fighting Dracula in space with laser whips and shit like that.

I would rather have that than an 80’s castlevania where the belmont has to have a breakdance off fight with ol’ Vlad. ) haha

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

this is a list of every game in the series that cheated the 100 year rule so far:

Curse of Darkness (1479)
Simon's Quest (1498)
Harmony of Dissonance (1748)
Dracula X/Rondo of Blood (1972)
Symphony of the Night (1797)
Circle of the Moon (1830)
Legacy of Darkness (1844)
Castlevania 64 (1852)
Order of Ecclesia (Mid 1800s)
Bloodlines (1917)
Portrait of Ruin (1944)

Not quite true on all of those.

Curse of Darkness, SotN, Order of Ecclesia, Bloodlines, and Portrait of Ruin had someone else trying to resurrect Dracula early. He wasn't just reborn then. Bram Stoker's novel is his first true reincarnation since Rondo.

Also, Circle of the Moon is not a cannonical game. I also believe Konami removed the N64 games too.

As for Simon's Quest, Dracula's not truly in the game. Additionally, Simon's Quest is 1698, not 1498. Oh, and the same for Harmony of Dissonance, Dracula is not back, the villains are just collecting his remains.

Lastly, Rondo of Blood didn't cheat because that's about the 100 year mark from Simon's job.

[snake5289]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Moore

Castlevania Season 3 debuts on March 5th. Netflix announced it today.

I definitely need to catch up. Not to go off topic but has there been any updates on the Devil May Cry series?

[Kernel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Moore

Castlevania Season 3 debuts on March 5th. Netflix announced it today.

Yes! Loved the game (Castlevania III) and loved the show. I hope they introduce Grant in the show.

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Not quite true on all of those.

Curse of Darkness, SotN, Order of Ecclesia, Bloodlines, and Portrait of Ruin had someone else trying to resurrect Dracula early. He wasn't just reborn then. Bram Stoker's novel is his first true reincarnation since Rondo.

Also, Circle of the Moon is not a cannonical game. I also believe Konami removed the N64 games too.

As for Simon's Quest, Dracula's not truly in the game. Additionally, Simon's Quest is 1698, not 1498. Oh, and the same for Harmony of Dissonance, Dracula is not back, the villains are just collecting his remains.

Lastly, Rondo of Blood didn't cheat because that's about the 100 year mark from Simon's job.

Someone knows their Castlevania, it seems.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Someone knows their Castlevania, it seems.

I own half of the franchise and have beaten most of them.

I have never played the N64 games since I never had an N64 and I was never able to beat the two NES sequels. Same goes for the Playstation remake of the original game. Oh, and I never bothered with the two Lords of Shadows sequels due to how terrible the first one was.

I have beaten everything else though. My top favorites include Lament of Innocence, Rondo of Blood/Dracula X Chronicles, Symphony of the Night, Bloodlines, Order of Ecclesia, and Aria of Sorrow.

I absolutely loved the franchise until Konami screwed it up. I am ashamed to say that I have not gotten Bloodstained yet though.

[BagJo]

Aria of Sorrow is my fave