Jetpacks!

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Confuzzled Apples

Alright, here’s the last of the reviews: Jetpacks

To be blunt, I feel these stand out the most out of this new release. Arealight’s jet pack design was already amazing, adding to them is just like icing on the cake. I was really excited about these when I was first told he’d be producing them and even more so when he sent me one of the original runs that didn’t turn out just right.

The one on the left was the original run, the one on right is the final version of the Jango Fett Pack.

Left To Right: Boba Jetpack II / Isabet Jetpack / Mij Jetpack / Jango Jetpack / Vizla Jetpack / Boba Jetpack I

Arealight released 6 jet packs. Each one comes with the rocket accessory unlike their unprinted versions which include a warhead. Warheads and rockets are both sold separately.

I find the rocket goes better with the jetpacks anyways.

I’d rather not bore you with describing each on it’s own since they all have very similar print designs, so instead I feel it’s best to just let the pictures speak for themselves in regards to that. Each of them is colored specifically toward a character and Arealight did a great job of matching those colors. I personally felt would have improved them would have been having the print on the boosters go all the way around, but the printer’s ability to print on that type of surface is pretty limited. Regardless, the printing on all of these are extremely clear and crisp. I can easily suggest getting any of these to anyone even if you aren’t that big of a Star Wars fan. Even though each design caters to a different character, the variety still allows you to make your own custom figure in the star wars universe or outside of it.

Small side note: The two Boba Fett jetpacks have the same print on different colored jetpacks (Sand Green and Blue).

Being completely honest here: It’s hard for me to recommend one over the other, so if you do intend on picking just one or two up: go with the color scheme you enjoy the most. You really can’t go wrong with any of them and they are definitely a step up from the normal Lego jetpacks which were just a wee bit too small.

As a closing note to this:

In regards to Wave 3 itself, I personally see it as a stepping stone for future print designs. Arealight printed onto two items he’s never printed on before: the AT-RT Helmet and the Jetpack. Both of these items have odd shapes as well, which in turn make the printing process harder than it already is with the normal helmets. While I can’t exactly say what is planned for the future I can easily tell you that more great print designs are definitely in store as well as a few other fun things.

I hope you enjoyed these and I hope they help you in your purchases.

-Apples

AT-RT Printed Helmets

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Confuzzled Apples

More reviews~ 🙂

Arealight has never printed on AT RT helmets before so I’m actually pretty excited about this.

Left to Right: AT-RT Assault Helmet / AT-RT Pilot Helmet / AT-RT 212th Helmet.

(I apologize for the lack of more references, it was hard for me to find anything besides the AT-RT pilot reference)

AT-RT Assault Helmet: This helmet sports a yellow print with black detailing. I personally have never been a big fan of the design of the AT-RT helmet, but these do look nice. I’d like to point out a few minor issues that occur on all AT-RT helmets, the print doesn’t reach the area above the visor due to printer capabilities. This actually caused one of the AT-RT designs to be scrapped unfortunately. Now back to the AT-RT Assault helmet: There is a small print error on the back as well where the print doesn’t reach the back of the helmet. I would say get this helmet if you want an AT-RT helmet and want to add some yellow to your collection.

AT-RT Pilot: This is your typical AT-RT pilot printed onto a white helmet. I think it turned out pretty well, but the printing itself didn’t turn out as crisp on this as it did on other helmets. I feel it’s probably due to the odd shape of the helmet. The print on the back of the helmet is also a bit off. There isn’t much to say. It’s a new print on a helmet that has never been printed on before. I’m a bit biased due to the fact I’ve never been a big fan of the AT-RT helmet, but I think it turned out alright and could recommend it if you want to add an AT-RT driver to your collection.

AT-RT 212th Helmet:
Out of the three AT-RT helmets released, I feel this turned out the best. The simple design allowed for easy printing and it works with the bomb trooper torso. The back of the helmet is a bit uneven, but it’s not exactly easy to notice. As I said before, the printing on this turned out the best, it has the crispest printing out of the three and looks nice. I can easily recommend this to you if you want an AT-RT helmet and are trying to decide between the three.

In conclusion:
It’s always exciting to see Arealight branch out to printing on new items; but I feel the over all awkward shape of the helmet sort of ruined the printing capabilities here. I mean, they look nice, but there are subtle issues here and there. If you overlook those small print errors then it’s no big deal. All in all, these are fun new prints and I would recommend getting these if you like the AT-RT helmet.

Hope this helps~

-Apples

Wave 3 ARF

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Confuzzled Apples

As usual, new product means more of my tacky reviews.
With this review, I’ll be giving a brief run through of the new printed ARF helmets. (sans the Shadow ARF, I didn’t receive that one yet.)

Left to Right: Trauma Helmet / Geonosis Camo Boil Helmet /Geonosis Waxer Helmet

And here are a few shots at different angles. I apologize for some of the photos. Although to be honest, there’s not really much to see on the back of the helmets.

Alright so here are my personal thoughts on the helmets:

Trauma Helmet:

Trauma seems to be quite popular, not exactly sure why; but he has a nicely designed helmet and Arealight definitely captured that. Incidentally, I received two of these; one has crisper printing and the other doesn’t; both of them are a bit lighter above the nose area of the helmet though. The helmet has green print for the design, although I personally would have preferred it to be sand green to match with the new clone trooper battle pack. I feel it would have made it a bit easier for people to make their own “custom Trauma”. All in all though, it’s a great helmet. I personally like the design of the ARF trooper helmets, so it’s a bit biased; but I could suggest getting this helmet if you’re a fan of the character/design of the helmet.

Boil Helmet:

Alright, now I’m usually not a big fan of camo; but I actually do like this helmet and the Waxer one. They both look great. The Boil helmet has a few inaccuracies: it’s missing the little face on the side and according to Arealight, a yellow triangle up top. I personally couldn’t see the triangle in any references I found though. The helmet sports a brown camo printed on a tan ARF helmet: something many people requested if I recall correctly. Although, as with the previous Camo ARF helmet, it lacks printing in a triangular area on the back. This is due to the printer capabilities, and isn’t really that big of a deal in my opinion. The rest of the helmet honestly makes up for it. I can easily recommend this helmet or the Waxer helmet.

Waxer Helmet:

As I said before, I’m not a big fan of Camo or brown or tan; but for some odd reason, I really love this helmet. It sports a thick yellow stripe down the top and brown camo printed onto a tan helmet. As usual, arealight did a good job matching the reference, except he missed the small face on the side; but it’s no big deal. I feel it actually looks a bit better without the face on the side. Like the other camo arf helmets though, it lacks printing on the back. I can easily say that this was my favorite ARF helmet out of this round. I would definitely recommend getting this helmet.

Summary:
All in all, these are great helmets. The printing on them is very crisp, sans that single spot above the nose on the Trauma helmet. I can easily recommend picking up these helmets, especially the Waxer helmet.

As a side note: if you’re wondering about torsos for the tan helmets and you’re a bit strapped for money : Brickforge’s Decals work well if you don’t have the option of printing your own decals. The decal on the torso of the waxer helmet is put over a Kingdom’s Torso.

I hope this helps with your purchase.

-Apples

Here we go again~.

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Confuzzled Apples

So, it’s around that time again. As I did before, I’ll be giving a quick run through of the new product to hopefully help you decide what you want.

Where to start?

Alright so: Commander Helmets and Neyo Helmet.

With this new wave Arealight will be adding two new Commander Helmet Designs and one “new” Neyo Helmet design.

From left to right: 501st Clone Jet Trooper / ARC Fordo Helmet / Galle Helmet

With the front view, you can already see a few defects with the commander helmets; the Fordo helmet turned out perfectly though.

Alright, so:
501st Jet Trooper Helmet:

This helmet actually has a pretty nice design. It was actually one of the first ones I had received a long with the Galle helmet, so I suppose it may have grown on me. The helmet sports black and blue (Lego Blue) print for the design and black and dark bluish-grey detailing. All in all, the helmet itself is pretty accurate in regards to looking like the references photo. What was a bit of a problem for me was the printing that went out of the little grove on the side of the helmet. The black marks on the side really should be a bit lower and it probably would have worked out much better. On the other hand, the printing itself is very clear and crisp. I feel that it’s still a pretty good helmet over all. If you’re a fan of the blue 501st colors or the clone itself, then this would be a great item to pick up. Otherwise, I personally would go for one of the other helmets.

Fordo Helmet:

Fun story about the Fordo helmet was that it a long with the Galle helmet were suppose to be released earlier. It was originally scheduled to be released with the other Neyo helmets, but had to be held back for printing issues. Anyways, the helmet itself is actually one of the best helmets in my opinion. The print on it is a Lego Red with black and dark bluish-grey details. In regards to the ink itself, it is a very crisp coat and over all looks great. If you only plan on picking up a few helmets, I can definitely suggest this helmet. Whether you’re a fan of the character or not, it is a great helmet with a great design.

Galle Helmet:

The Galle helmet is essentially a yellow version of the Deviss Helmet. It sports a yellow print going from the back to the front of the helmet and dark bluish grey and black detail print. I can see a lot of people using this for regular 327th Star Corps clones. There isn’t really much else to say. the yellow print on the front is a bit off to the right. Beyond that it looks pretty good. In comparison to the Lego version; I would say the Arealight version is far better. Much more detail and I personally like how Arealight’s helmets are more angular vs the roundness of the lego version. If you’re strapped for cash and like yellow or the character or maybe you want to make your own 327th star corps clones, then I would recommend getting it. Otherwise; I would go for one of the other new releases.

In regards to these helmets:
All in all they’re pretty nice. I personally like the jet trooper helmet despite it’s slightly messy printing; but I feel like out of these three the Fordo helmet turned out the best.

I hope that sort of helps, there wasn’t too much to say about these helmets.

I’ll be uploading more reviews within these few days.

-Apples

Wave 3rd printed items!

Posted on September 22, 2011 by arealight

Yeah, we have ready to show you our new 3rd wave printed items after few months hard works. Thank you for your great patience all the time. There are 16 printed items come out for you this time and it will available on October 1st. Hope you enjoy it and welcome to visit our site at the time.