Tag: collectables

The LMTD Ace of Spades Blaster: When a Video Game Weapon Becomes a Real Object

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased September 29, 2024 · $92.03 CAD ($67.77 USD) via Bungie.net

The Bungie LMTD Nerf-style Ace of Spades blaster, styled after the Destiny hand cannon
The Bungie LMTD Ace of Spades blaster. Photo: Bleeding Cool

There is a specific kind of joy in holding a physical version of something that has only ever existed as pixels and a satisfying reload animation.

The Background

The Ace of Spades is arguably Destiny’s most iconic weapon, a hand cannon with over a decade of lore, community attachment, and in-game history behind it. Bungie’s LMTD collectibles line, produced in partnership with Nerf-style blaster manufacturing, turned that weapon into a real, licensed foam dart blaster, sold directly through Bungie’s own store rather than through general retail channels. I ordered mine in late September, paying $67.77 USD, which converted to $92.03 CAD on my card.

This is squarely a fan merchandise purchase rather than a general toy purchase, and Bungie’s own marketing around the LMTD line has always leaned into that: these are built for people who already care about the in-game weapon’s design and lore, not positioned as a generic blaster that happens to have game branding slapped on it.

Living With It

Build quality here exceeded my expectations for a licensed collectible in this category. The blaster uses real spring-action firing rather than a cheap, flimsy mechanism, the deco work faithfully translates the in-game weapon’s distinctive rose gold and black colour scheme and engraved detailing, and the packaging itself was clearly designed with display and unboxing in mind, the kind of presentation that makes a purchase like this feel like a genuine collectible rather than a toy aisle impulse buy.

As an actual foam blaster, it performs the way a decent mid-tier Nerf product should: solid range and consistent firing for casual use, nothing revolutionary, and that is exactly as it should be, since firing performance was never really the point of this purchase.

Where this lives or dies, entirely, is prior attachment to the source material. Someone with zero context for Destiny would be looking at a somewhat expensive foam blaster with unusual styling and no real way to appreciate why the colour scheme or engravings matter. For a longtime player, it is a genuinely well-executed piece of fandom merchandise.

What I Liked

  • Build quality and deco work exceeded expectations for a licensed collectible blaster
  • Faithful translation of the in-game weapon’s distinctive design and colour scheme
  • Real spring-action firing mechanism, not a cheap or flimsy toy build
  • Packaging and presentation clearly designed with collectors in mind

What I Didn’t

  • Entirely dependent on prior attachment to Destiny to justify the price
  • Firing performance is solid but unremarkable compared to dedicated Nerf products at a similar price
  • A niche purchase that will mean nothing to anyone outside the game’s community

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

For Destiny fans, this is a well-made piece of fan merchandise for a genuinely franchise-defining weapon, and it delivered above my expectations for build quality. If you have no attachment to the game, this price will look steep for what is, at its core, a foam dart blaster, and that reaction would be entirely fair.

Where to Buy

The Star Wars Hangar: A Display Base That Finally Gives My Ships Somewhere to Live

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased May 27, 2024 · $775.99 CAD via Vonado

A large brick-built Star Wars hangar bay diorama with ground crew figures and support detailing
A comparable large-scale Star Wars hangar bay diorama. Photo: MOC Brick Land

Buying a large diorama base right after buying a large ship is either very smart planning or a very effective upsell. I will let you decide which this was.

The Background

Purchased the same day as the Ghost (VCX-100) covered previously, this large hangar and diorama-style set is designed to give one or more ships somewhere purposeful to sit, complete with ground crew figures, support vehicles, and hangar bay detailing, rather than leaving an expensive ship model to sit awkwardly on a bare shelf. Modular hangar and display bases like this are a popular category within the MOC community specifically because official LEGO rarely produces display bases at this scale on their own, usually bundling smaller docking or landing elements into a ship set itself rather than selling the base separately.

At $775.99, this is one of the pricier single items in my entire 2024 haul, and its value is genuinely tied to what you already own or plan to display alongside it.

Living With It

As a standalone build, the hangar delivers a lot of the same satisfaction as the Coruscant Diorama covered earlier in this series: real detail work in the flooring, support struts, and background elements that make it feel like a lived-in space rather than a blank pedestal. Ground crew figures and small support vehicles add points of visual interest at a smaller scale that contrast nicely against a large ship once one is placed inside it.

Where this set truly earns its keep is exactly what I bought it for: giving the Ghost, and potentially other ships from this collection, an actual context to sit in rather than floating awkwardly on an otherwise empty shelf. Once I placed the Ghost inside it, the combined display genuinely looked like a professional diorama rather than two separate, unrelated purchases sitting near each other, which is the best compliment I can give a display base like this.

On its own, without a ship to put inside it, this is a much harder purchase to justify. The value here is almost entirely relational to the rest of the collection, which is worth knowing before buying: this is an accessory purchase dressed up as a standalone set, and it should be budgeted for accordingly.

What I Liked

  • Genuinely elevates the display quality of ships placed inside it
  • Detailed enough to stand on its own rather than reading as a blank pedestal
  • Ground crew and support vehicle details add scale and life to the whole display
  • Transforms a collection of individual ships into something that reads as one cohesive scene

What I Didn’t

  • Value is almost entirely dependent on already owning (or planning to own) ships to display in it
  • One of the more expensive single items in the whole year’s spending
  • On its own, without context, this is just an expensive backdrop

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Rate this one based on what you already own. As a companion piece to the Ghost, it turned two separate purchases into one genuinely impressive combined display, which is worth something real. Bought in isolation, without ships to put inside it, this would be a much harder recommendation.

Where to Buy