Chap Mei

[Spectre]

Stopped into the RT4 TRU today and found 3 of these new "Sea Life" sets! I snagged the recolored Giant Squid and the Killer Whale (which I have wanted for some time now but didn't want to pay the $20.00 for the set with the helicopter in it). I passed on the Tiger Shark/sea turtle set as it is the same exact shark (not even redeco-ed ) as Razor Sharkie from the "Pirate Expeditions" line (which I have already).

Here's the Giant Squid:



Here's the Killer Whale:



And here's the boxes' backs:



At first glance, it appears that all 3 of the Frogmen are identical except for their vest and fin colors, but they're not! The one packed with the Giant Squid has articulated ankles, a differently molded pair of swim fins, and a working ankle sheath for a diving knife (no knife is included though ). Sadly, it looks like Chap Mei really cheaped out on the decos for the Frogmen, they only have 1 or 2 color applications on the entire figure, they don't even have their exposed skin painted

They also had a "Knights" set as well! It was the larger dragon previously only found in the K-Mart set and the smaller, blue dragon often seen packed with Orcus The Wizard Count, and the King Leo figure for $14.99. I probably should have snapped a pic of this set (along with the Razor Sharkie repack) on my cell phone, but I was actually on the phone with Rasputin (from JoeCustoms) at the time and didn't think of it until I was back on the road again

[Jesse James]

Interesting.  I didn't realize these were at TRU.

What's up with the little sled thing?  Does it run on batteries or some such since it's so oversized?  I'd dig it for customs maybe if it did work I think.  I've not seen these but there's maybe good customs potential with some of those.

[Spectre]

Side by side comparison shots of the "Sea Life" and "Pirate Expeditions" versions of the Giant Squid (called "Sticky Long Arms" in the "Pirate Expeditions" line- I kid you not :rotfl: ).


"Sea Life" Giant Squid on the left, "Pirate Expeditions" Sticky Long Arms on the right.

Jesse- The sleds don't actually work, sadly

[Errex]

Those things are nice!

I myself  favor more the jungle sets (the elephant is awesome), but these sea critters are very good too. I don't find the human figures specially interesting, but the creatures are  plain cool. There is this one sea creature from the Dinosaur line that could give the Naboo sea monsters a run for their money.

[Spectre]

I hit TRU again on the way home from work today looking for more new Chap Mei sets (they did not put out any new stock since last week yet ) and snapped pics of the Razor Sharkie repack and the "Knights" set of dragons.

Razor Sharkie repack:


"Knights" dragon 2pk:

[Jesse James]

Hmm, are the squid's tentacles "bendy" like the DIanoga's grabber arm thingie?

They look kind of cool...  Always cool getting wildlife that may fit in a SW diorama of some sort.

I wish the figures were a better bit of fodder is all.  That's my only gripe really.

[Spectre]

I went into Eckards tonight and look what I found for $19.99:







The long-awaited Chap Mei "Pirate Expeditions" small pirate ship!

This thing is a little on the small side but very cool none the less.

Enjoy the pics:







It comes with 2 figures (Captain Mad Gunn and Scorpio Morgan), several accessories, and the tigershark "Rayzor Sharkie".

The set also comes with the complete four-piece treasure hoard (usually only available one piece at a time in the boxed figure/small animal sets)!





Eckards also carries the boxed figure/small animal sets for $5.99 and single carded figures for $2.99.

[Reid]

Pardon for asking, but what exactly is Chap Mei?

[Jesse James]

Bald pirate looks interesting for fodder if he's available as a single pack... 

Man that company knows how to get mileage out of molds.

[Spectre]

Pardon for asking, but what exactly is Chap Mei?

Chap Mei is the manufacturer of many, many different action figure lines that can be found at a variety of different retail venues but are most commonly known for their single carded figures that show up at Dollar Tree every spring. The various boxed sets are more difficult to find but are quite striking and very affordable. You really get alot of bang for your buck.

And Jesse James, the bald pirate is available single carded, I'm actually using a number of them at the moment as base bodies for part of my "Super Secret Custom Project" (which will be unveiled sometime in early June ).

[Smartypants1635]

Hey spectre, maybe you can help me out, somebody pointed me in the direction of a "skeletor clone" chapmei figure for a custom im doing, but i have no idea what it looks like, can you dig up a pic.