VC Beaker and Tux Kermit review

[Michael Crawford]

It's a Muppets night! I've been a little tardy with these two, but it's been a hectic couple weeks. While there's two figures, it's only one review.

I've included the very cool Vanishing Cream Beaker, Wizard Word exclusive, with the Tuxedo Kermit, Toyfare and TRU exclusive. But are extremely good figures, and excellent examples of what a terrific new line the Muppets really are.

Check out the review with photos at:

http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_INDEX.htm

Michael
MWC

 

[uncleduke]

Very nice reviews. However it did make me realize a flaw in the Beaker that had never occured to me before....
If he squeezed the Vanishing Cream into his hands to apply it, shouldn't that hand be invisible also?
Uh, oh........

 

[grail]

hey i have a question, what do you use for your pictures? i've got a really nice Sony digital video camera that does great stills, but i'm having a horrible time with lighting the suckers...

everything i do looks washed out, or has huge shadows, and the last set (which admittedly, i did with something i set up in my bathroom) looked half yellow...any suggestions?

 

[Aerosmith]

Good review as always Michael!

 

[Luke]

Nice reviews and yeah, love the photos too !

 

[Michael Crawford]

Lighting is everything

Okay, so maybe not everything, but it's pretty important to good shots.

First rule, never use a flash.

Second rule, it's okay to have some shadows and darker areas - it will make the figures look 'real' and 3D.

Third rule, and this one is a personal feeling, never cut the figure out from a background. It ends up looking like a 2D sticker. Use an interesting background whenever possible, but not too busy.

Fourth rule, get lots of light, from several sources. I have three lower watt lights that I clip on or position around my set up for back lighting or spot lighting. These are 100-150 watt type lights.

Then I have two 500 watt lights, one on a stand and one that I hold to position just where it looks best for any one shot.

Fifth rule, if you're still counting. Play around with angles, height, etc. Get creative.

Finally, take advantage of the fact that you have a digital camera. Shoot 20-25 shots to get 4 or 5 good ones. I never used Photoshop, at least not for the review photos. I use what I shoot, so that I get exactly the picture I want in the view finder. That also saves me time on the back end when doing the actual review.

Michael
MWC

 

[Pschtyckque]

UNCLEDUKE,

The tube also fits in Honeydew's hand. Who says Beaker applied it to himself?

 

[kane31666]

Not sure if MWC posted this here, but this is a site that he put together recently:

http://www.atomgroup.org/archive_main.htm

 

[Michael Crawford]

Yep

I plan on having the rest of the pages taken care of by next week, before I get Fozzie in SDCC. Then I'll go back and fancy up the main page, with a better logo and layout.

Michael
MWC

 

[grail]

wish i had the kinda leeway to do that on Zen...but it's more "entertainment news" than "toy news" maybe i'll start doing some things on my own and just tying into Zen...