Wednesday 29 April 2015

Selling off my Syco Collectibles' Mortal Kombat Statues..

Was dreading this day but it was inevitable. It's time to sell off my Syco Collectibles' Mortal Kombat statues..

Several reasons behind my decision..

Just need more space for other new stuff coming. Don't have the same love I used to have for these. Need money for other new stuff... etc etc.

So it's time for these to make way..

It certainly hasn't been easy coming to this decision.. Looking at all these pics and especially when I was packing them aside, I kept telling myself to keep these. 

But it has come to a point, where in a collecting point of view, I have come to accept that I can't have everything I want.

So, with a heavy heart.. these are the list of Syco Collectibles' statues that I have for sale.

All prices are in Singapore Dollars.

New
Scorpion 10" Exclusive - $220 + $116 Shipping

Opened but never displayed
Noob Saibot 10" Exclusive - $275 + $116 Shipping
SubZero 18" Exclusive - $325 + $183 Shipping
Ermac 18" - $325 + $183 Shipping
Scorpion 1/2 Size Bust - $275 + Shipping
Sonya Blade, Kitana, Mileena, Jade 10" - Not sure I wanna sell these unless I get a very good offer

Displayed
Scorpion 10" Exclusive - $150 + $116 Shipping
SubZero 10" - $150 + $116 Shipping
Raiden 10" - $150 + $116 Shipping

- Shipping prices are for US and UK. For other countries, do request for a quote. For local Singapore buyers, we can do a meet up so there will be no shipping charges.
- Shipping prices are fixed, there is nothing I can do about that. But I'm willing to negotiate on the selling price.
- Items will be packed very, very securely as I would like you to receive it in the same condition as I would when I'm a buyer.
- For International buyers, I can only accept PayPal.

The first 2 categories are in absolutely mint condition.
The displayed ones are also in excellent condition but they have been displayed on my shelves. Nothing wrong with them but just thought you should know..

I'm a bit more reluctant to sell the ladies but they look good and NetherRealm has stated that the MK women will be more realistically proportioned in MKX.. Mehhhh..!!

So.. perhaps in the last game where they had better proportions, I would like to keep these statues.

Anything else, you would like to know, you can drop me an email at jveron004@gmail.com or PM me on Facebook.. My Profile Link.

I would  be offering these via my blog before going on to eBay and other sites. We'll see how things go.

Do help me share this post with your fellow Mortal Kombat kollector friends, would really appreciate the help.
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Monday 27 April 2015

Mezco's Mortal Kombat X Series 1 Figure Variants

We have already seen the Series 1 figures previewed at NYCC 2014, but now Mezco will be doing variants of those 3 characters; Scorpion, Sub-Zero & Raiden.

A Scorpion Bloody Variant, Sub-Zero Ice Variant & a Raiden Displacer variant. What do you guys think? 

Not too bad I feel, at least they are better than the colour variants I was expecting them to make in this post

My friend at Gamers n' Collectors is also asking if there's any interest in these figures as well as the standard Series 1 & 2 figures they have previewed. He will be able to bring these in for Singapore collectors at SGD$35-$38 if anyone wants them.

Pic Source: ToyArk.com
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Mortal Kombat X Coarse Kollector's Edition pics

Coarse Kollector's Edition!

Done by Coarse, who seem to be entering the Video Game market.. The only other figure that I'm aware of them doing was the Assassin's Creed Ezio figure..

Opening up the Collector's Edition..

X for Mortal Kombat X!!

Game disc..

DLC vouchers..

So what's so special about this Coarse Edition?

The Designer Scorpion Figurine that they created for this special CE..

COA of sorts..

A look at all the contents..

A decent CE to be honest. Nothing to be overly excited about. 

I was in 2 minds about this right up to the end. I'm not really a fan of this kinda artistic figures in my collection. Yes, I can appreciate the art of it, but feel it doesn't go with the rest of my collection.

I think the deciding factor was the inclusion of the Gold Scorpion skin in the game. At least that gives some kind of connection between the figure and the game. 

My heart definitely won the battle over the brain this time round. (How often has this happened!)

Also because it's Scorpion. Might have let my brain win it, if it was some other character..

The CE also lacks any other physical content.. No Soundtrack CD, no Artbook, no Steelbook.. nothing. Just the figure and game. 

However, a real big bonus was the inclusion of MK X's "Season Pass", the Kombat Pack. I believe this is the first ever time, I have had the "Season Pass" included in a CE. Real big bonus for me. 

Considering I almost always buy a game's Season Pass, there wasn't any doubt I was going to buy it for MK X. Great that it came along with the Coarse Edition.

Definitely not a CE for everyone, but if you think you can appreciate the figurine, go ahead and get it. If not, just skip this..
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Thursday 23 April 2015

I'm playing: Mortal Kombat X Mobile!

Been playing Mortal Kombat X Mobile for a week now.. Addictive stuff!




For those who have played the Injustice: Gods Among Us Mobile game, you would feel right at home with this game.


Similar to it's spiritual predecessor, my 'team' consists of 3 chosen cards/kards from my deck (kollection).


Sadly, you start off with 3 random goons instead of your favourite kombatants.

You will usually be pitted against 3 other cards, or occasionally 1 Boss Card.


You will then progress through mini-towers, with each tower consisting of several teams.


Like a lot of mobile games, you have a max no. of turns that you can use, which replenishes over time.


Each match earns you XP and koins.. XP earnt levels up your character kard as well as your account level.

In most battles (I don't know why it's most and not all. I think you must be connected to WBID or something like that), you get to choose an ally to help.

Using an ally in a battle earns you Alliance Points.

So.. Koins, Souls & Alliance Points are the different currencies you can earn in the game.

It can get a bit confusing what each of these currencies can purchase.

First let me explain what are the different cards in the game.

Looking at the 4 Tabs below..
Characters, Equipment, Support, Upgrades.

Characters
The different card characters in the game, split into 3 tiers;

Bronze - Only the goons are in this category. They only have 2 Special Moves.

Silver - Your various MK characters, they have 3 Special Moves.

Gold - More of the MK characters, mostly the same characters in different skins. 3rd Special Move is the X-ray move, so these are what you want. 

Equipment

Equipment cards can be worn by any character. There are 3 slots for each character; weapon, armour, ring.

For these 3 gear slots, they are several available cards. You can equip any character with any card, as long as it's for the right gear slot.

The cards aren't permanent so I can remove this Blood Stone Ring from my Scorpion and give it to Kotal Kahn in another battle.

Support

A bit similar to Equipment cards, but not entirely.

I don't need to equip these. They just stay in my collection and my cards reap the benefits.



However, these are specific to a character, so like the above card only affects D'Vorah characters.

Upgrades

There are several types of Upgrade cards..




Some that levels up Special Attack moves and some that levels up a character. 

I would suggest keeping these cards to level up later. The more you upgrade a character's level/special move, the more expensive it gets. So it will definitely be more worth upgrading from lvl 9 to 10 rather than from lvl 1 to 2.

Random Screenshot, I took that I'll use to move on to the next topic, which didn't turn out so random.

So how do you get these cards?

By purchasing packs of course.. I'll cover the ones that you can purchase with in-game currency..

The Koins, Souls & Alliance Points I mentioned before..

Alliance Points - Purchase Alliance Packs.

Alliance Packs give you 1 random card. So far, I remember only getting Upgrade & Low-tier character cards. Maybe with a bit of luck, you can get better cards. 

You will be able to purchase lots of these because every battle that you use an ally nets you 100 Alliance Points. So if you need help with Maths, that's 1 pack/5 fights. Save up those Upgrade cards and give your characters a boost when they are near their max!

Souls - Purchase Kombat Packs

You will love these! Kombat Packs are the best packs that you can purchase, netting you 1 Gold character. 

They are hard to earn however, being randomly given out when you level a character but keep a lookout for the daily missions. They are your best bet at earning extra souls. 

You can also purchase selected single cards for a higher price, if you don't like the randomness of the packs.

And if you are like me, going for the full kollection of cards.. you will need plenty of souls..

Some Kombat Pack Exclusive cards..

Souls are also used to refresh your character's energy bar so you can keep fighting but with how hard they are to earn, I would rather just wait for their energy to replenish.

Koins - Kard Packs & Everything else


Before you can get the Gold Tier cards, you will have to make do with the Silver cards, purchaseable at 30k koins/pack. The 2 random cards also gives a good chance at the Equipment & Support Cards, so don't hate these.


All Silver Tier character cards can also be purchaseable individually with coins. 






Individual Support Cards can also be purchased by Koins. So, we can purchase that elusive Support card missing for Scorpion.. 


No Equipment cards though. 


You can also use Koins to upgrade the various Special Moves. Definitely one of the most important currencies in the game.





Another random pic to break paragraph, which doesn't make sense considering Faction Wars are still not ready yet.

I like the fact that there are different currencies for the different tiers of cards. Gives me less of a headache on whether I should save or spend my koins. I can now safely use koins to upgrade my Gold cards, while not affecting my Souls tally for the Kombat Packs.

And while upgrading my Gold cards, I still have Alliance Points to purchase random cards with the Alliance Packs. It still isn't easy to earn enough for everything but I don't feel like I am back to 0, each time I spend some koins. Keeps me playing as well!

Of course, Of course! Microtransactions!!!



If you need more Koins or Souls..

Alright that I have shown you the cards (and how to spend your savings), let me show you Mortal Kombat!

Mostly 3v3 kombat.. Fighting is simple, you either attack or block..

Tap 3 times for a 3-attack combo.. (No 10 hit combos here) Or hold 2 fingers down to block.

As you fight, your power bar increases so you can use 1 of your special moves. All 3 bars need to be filled to use a Gold card's X-ray move.

Special moves come in different types.. some will require rapid taps to do more damage.. others will require timing to hit the right spot..

It's basic kombat, knowing when to attack and when to block does turn close fights in your favour. But if you are getting thrashed, it doesn't mean you are lousy, it just means you need better cards. Just keep playing to earn more currency and to level up your character. No real skill involved, so don't go thrashing your phone please..

Or you might want to buy some koins?


Some of the special battles allow you to perform fatalities as well..

What's left of Kano..
Shirai Ryu are dead, Scorpion! :O
Every now & then, you have Test Your Might challenges that make you look like a complete fool in public..

You only have 1 chance at this.. if you fail, there is no retry option so ignore the idiots staring and just rapid-tap your phone!

And Test Your Luck missions which is once per day.

Choose 1 and hope for the best!

There are more features coming soon for MKX Mobile..

You can choose your Faction already so don't resist the Brotherhood of Shadow's calling..

You won't have a choice once you're dead anyway.. ;)

Don't forget the cross-platform unlocks!



That's all from me.. think I have covered everything you need to know about MKX Mobile

For those going hardcore into this, here are a few tips you might want to consider.. Especially for the Raiden Challenge and whatever future challenges they throw at us..

- Don't focus only on the best 3 characters. Keep a well-rounded deck with strong cards from all 3 tiers. Look out for 'teams' like Special Forces, Martial Artists, Outworld etc..

If they follow a similar format to the Injustice Challenges, you will need a strong deck, rather than 3 ultimate characters. If you see the daily missions, they require objectives like "Win X fights using a team of at least 2 Outworld cards that you own.", "Win X fights with 2 Bonze Tier cards in your team". 

I'm predicting similar requirements for the Gold Card challenges only that the opponents will be much tougher. You wouldn't want to be caught out with weak cards when the Challenge hits.

- Save your Upgrade cards. As mentioned earlier, the higher your card's level is, the more XP it takes to level up. And the higher a Special Move's rank is, the more Koins it costs to upgrade it. So save the Upgrades for the later levels.

- Save some koins. We wouldn't know what the Challenge requires, so you might need to urgently purchase some extra cards that you are missing, so spare koins in your pouch might come in handy.

-Team Up!

Look at the top of the card, "Deadly Arts: +15% atack for martial artist teammates".

When level-ing up your other cards, team them up together to gain more benefits, making it easier and faster.

That's all I guess... Hope it was informative enough! Heard that the Android version has been just released so check that out Android users!
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